A full-on snowshoe of Kepros is my first peak in the new year.
- January 16, 2010
- Team:Matt
- Summit: 5428', 1650', 5 miles, 3 hours
- Car to car: 10.5 miles, 2500' gain, 7 hours
Note: click images to see a larger version in a new window
Kepros is one of my favorite local hikes. I've done it several times in snow, including last December. But this time, we were on snowshoes right from the road. We parked down off the summit of Blacks Creek Road and hiked up to my preferred trail access. The cow trail was buried, but the snow actually made some parts easier. Here Matt is about to cross the ridge road to start the first trail section. |
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The weather was... interesting. NOAA said partly cloudy with a 20% chance of precip. This picture might indicate otherwise? At any rate, there wasn't much wind and it was fairly warm. So with a shrug, we were off. The snow was noisily crunchy under foot- so much so that conversation was difficult. |
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After a while, we finished the trail section and were able to walk side-by-side on the road section. We had meaningful talks about music, hiking, etc. Matt's cell phone rang just before the summit. The ring tone said it was his wife, but he couldn't get reception. We hoped she didn't take the dropped call the wrong way. |
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And then we were on the summit. It had taken a little more than three hours; not bad for the conditions. By this time, the clouds were moving in and we could no longer see Bogus. We wondered how long we had before they engulfed us. Ignoring the obvious hazard, we sat down on some dry rocks and had a leisurely lunch.
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| As we started our way back home we noticed that the warm temperatures had softened the crust on the snow. As it continued to warm, the crust started to ball on the bottoms of our snowshoes. Wonderful: an extra 4 pounds on each foot. And then it started to snow. Kind of wet and warm, but snow. The big white spot on Matt's chin is actually a snowflake illuminated by the camera flash. The valley behind him is the "long cut" on which I took him. Although this was the first peak I've been up in 2010 (and one well-known to me), this was the first time up Kepros for Matt. And his third new peak of the year. So congratulations to Matt. |
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Here's a map of this route from a different trip. But it shows our loop pretty well. Click for a bigger version. |
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Other splattski trips up Kepros: And the movie on the right, from 2011 |
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