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Friday we set out for the standard http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=huro1&peak=Huron+Peak North Ridge trail on Huron Peak. The trail up to the 2WD TH was clear and almost totally without snow or water. We set up camp for the night after carbo loading in anticipation for the day to come.
We woke up at 5:00am to prepare for the battle ahead. It was about 20F, which was warm enough to wear a base layer and shell as long as we kept moving. Two of us were strapping our skis for the descent while the other was going to hike the descent.
The road to the 4WD parking lot had some snow deposits but with recent improvements was still nothing that could not be pulled off by an experienced driver in a 2WD car. We hit the trail just before 6:00 am. There was snow on the trail the whole way up, but it wasn‘t problematic until we were above treeline. Trudging through a foot of snow was not difficult, however the numerous boulder fields covered in fresh snow did prove to be difficult.
Once we made it to the ridge at about 9:30 am. my friend and I decided to ditch our skis. The view of the summit left us feeling like any turns with the skis beyond the ridge would be futile.
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After climbing through more snow covered boulder fields, we made the summit just before 11:00 am. The weather was not as nice as we had hoped, but the wind did calm down for a good 15 minute rest at the summit.
Descending the boulder fields was a bit tricky with the blowing wind and the fresh snow. Two of us took pretty hard falls slipping on the rocks on the way down. I strongly recommend (as an experienced mountain climber and WFR) that utmost caution be taken especially on descents through snow covered boulder fields.
Once we made it to the ridge we commenced to gather our ski gear. The wind made it especially brutal to swap boots and strap our gear. My friend had to go barefoot in his ski boots just to get them on. We managed to descend about 1,000 vert skiing, but it was slow going and tedious. There was no base layer of snow, and so every turn was accommodated by rocks underfoot. We managed to hit a wind loaded northwest aspect that normally would have been high avi danger where we could manage a few decent turns.
All in all it was an exhausting trip! We made it back to the car by just before 3:00 pm. and were happy to be back. It would have been far easier without skis at this time, but C‘est la vie. It was still good to get some turns in, and get us ready for the ski season.
Happy Hiking!
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
How cold do you think it got up at the summit. Good job on the hike.
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