We went to Crystal Mountain before the ski season started and headed up the Silver Creek Trail. The snow making machines were going full blast, but the parking lot was empty with very few people around. We saw no one on our route.
Early season snow at Crystal Mtn Ski area, weather approaching . . .
Headed to the Silver Creek trail . . .
It was fun to be on snow from the beginning of our hike. Fresh snow on the trees is always so pretty, especially early season. We used snowshoes(microspikes) on the trail, but decided to go straight up to Bear Gap when the snow seemed deep enough for snowshoes. We enjoyed being on snowshoes again.
Along the Silver Creek trail . . .
A little more snow as the trail climbs . . .
Off trail direct route to Bear Gap . . . snowshoes on for the first time this season
Watching the clouds move in from the NW . . .
Nearing Bear Gap
Even though a storm was coming in the clouds stayed high enough for good views. The views from Bear Gap and the PCT were really nice as we went south toward Sourdough Gap.
A view South from near Bear Gap
Labeled . . .
Bismarck Pk . . .
Pt 6624 (C) near Cougar Lake looks inviting in snow . . .
Pt 5940+ on the Cupalo Rock ridge
A view to the South as clouds scurry in . . .
A view SE that includes Bismarck Pk (CL)
Another view SE that includes American Ridge (L) and Bismarck Pk (CR)
Pt 6085 (C) above the Rainier Fork of the American River, and PK 6400 (R) above Cougar Creek
Another pano view of Bismarck Pk . . .
A little closer view of Bismarck Pk
The clouds finally started closing in so we decided to turn around before getting to Sourdough Gap. It was fun to watch the clouds rolling in and forming over the peaks as we ate lunch.
We descended our route, thoroughly enjoying the day.
Sourdough Gap, with Chinook Pk (L) and Pk 6708 (R)
Pickhandle Pt from the PCT near Bear Gap . . .
Cupalo Rock
Sourdough Gap area from along the PCT near Bear Gap . . .
View of Cupalo Rock (L) to Sourdough Gap Pk 6708 (R)
More clouds develop over Morse Creek Valley . . . Placer Lake (L), Sourdough Gap (R)(
did you create the labels in photoshop or was that with an app?
We just used Type Tools in Photoshop for the text, and Line Tool and Ellipse Tool for the lines. It has had a learning curve with it, but we keep working at it . . .
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