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With school out and the weather forecast looking good, we headed out to Buena Vista for some outdoor fun. Knowing that the holiday weekend had the potential for large crowds, we decided to attempt a peak where crowds shouldn't make a big difference. Ahh, Princeton...
View of Princeton from our campsite.
We weren't sure about the Mt. Princeton road, so we parked at the main parking area at 8,900 ft. After hiking the road (which was in good condition), we wished we had driven our Subaru Forester to the radio towers.
Overall, the hike was fairly straight-forward, albeit long. The start to the trail was not obvious from the road (snow-covered; should have taken a picture). However, once we got on the trail, it was pretty easy to follow. The trail crossed several snow slopes (some pretty steep). We took crampons but did not use them (the snow was soft enough to get good footing and our poles helped with our balance).
I'm hiking the trail. You can see a faint outline of the trail through the snow. There is a nice bootpack.
The most obvious trail to the summit followed the ridgeline, but it was pretty windy and we found it easier to stay slightly below the ridgeline.
A few summit photos:
Ben on the summit.
Good thing Ben has long arms to take the standard summit shot.
On the way down, I really appreciated the expansive views of the valley.
Leo enjoyed the hike.
At times, the road seemed never ending, but we got down eventually.
Once we got back to the car, I started looking through the guidebook to choose the next peak...
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
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