Rick Unrau Follow
Frosty Mountain
Oct 1, 2017
I last did this one 30 years ago, almost to the day, and it was gratifying to see a special place like this just as protected and magical a generation later. We also timed it well in terms of weather - an overnight dusting of fresh snow turned the whole place into a wintry fairyland, which highlighted the fall colours and the larches, which are almost at their golden peak. We didn't do the peak, as it wasn't a peak kind of day (wind, cloud, snow, cold), and the larches were the focus anyway. This means we turned around at about the 8km point, covering the 16km round-trip in about 5 hours, with plenty of photography stops and a leisurely lunch and some exploration in the larch-festooned meadows below the peak. The trail is in good shape and not terribly steep, despite the considerable elevation gain. Long and very forgiving switchbacks make for a fairly easy climb, but it definitely adds to the overall distance. The trail wasn't terribly busy, but there were some large hiking club groups making their annual larch pilgrimage. An added bonus was the fall colour at lower elevations (vine maples) - I haven't seen colour like that on the Hope-Princeton in years. Turns out the prettiest hike of the season happened to fall in October!Reads:1201 Likes:5
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