At least 3 snowshoers and 3 skiers summited today; there were 2 more snowshoers still ascending around 13k when I was heading down. 1 snowshoer headed off down the South Elbert route not sure how far he went (last seen near South Elbert).
Both the trail and the road from the winter lot are broken out (I took the trail up, road down) - the road can be booted, skied (with care in a few thin spots), snowshoed, whatever you'd like; the trail in the morning was a mix of thin snow cover and up to knee-deep loose powder. The CT is getting fairly packed (especially from the 4WD lot to the East Ridge turnoff) and was crusty in the afternoon. East Ridge Trail is still fairly loose powder all the way up, flotation recommended for now, but there's a good trench the whole way.
The recent snowstorm(s) dropped a decent amount of snow with little wind, so there is continuous snow all the way to the summit, though coverage is thin in several areas above the shoulder around 12.4k'. The skiers all opted to boot down to near that point after a couple tried it from the summit for a short while before abandoning due to sharks. Snowshoes worked best from car to car today, though I don't think they'll be needed much longer on the CT, and above treeline should consolidate soon with the sun and mild temps for a couple more days.
Mega thanks to the 2 skiers that broke out things this morning! Simply a perfect winter day today - temps near 20 at the summit, ZERO wind (maybe 1-2mph here and there), and barely a cloud in the sky. I ascended most of the upper 2500' in just a base layer and only needed a jacket at the summit for a 30+ minute stay.
|
