Snowy Mountain

Was a spectacular late winter day to make the ascent of Snowy Mountain. Snowy Mountain is higher (3,950ft) than some of the 46 High Peaks, but is not officially one of them, although it is listed in the 100 High Peaks list. Nolan and I decided that given the weather was so favorable, (sunny 35-40 degrees, no wind) that it really doesn't get better than this, so we saddled up and headed north. Snowy Mountains trail head is just a few miles from the Village of Indian Lake. We got there around 11:30 (we were the last ones to head up on the register) and headed up in boots and on Yak-trax. This was a mistake because the conditions were better suited to snowshoes, especially about 1 mile from the summit when the snow got deeper and powdery, as opposed to the wet firm packed base the first few miles. Most of the 10 or so other trekkers on this day were coming down when we approached the last mile of the ascent. There were four people and one dog at the summit, and no one at the ranger tower about a 1/4 mile from the summit. So, Nolan and I had the whole sun-drenched mountain to ourselves for a while. There was no wind so except for an occasional plane flying over Indian Lake, so it was beautiful and absolutely quiet. It took us just under 3 hours to make the ascent, but we were able to make the descent in about 1.5 hours even with photo ops and bathroom breaks. We signed out around 4:30, and promptly headed to Charlie John's store in Speculator to grab some chocolate milk and beef jerky. No doubt that this adventure will always be favorably and forever etched in Nolans and my memory.