[smokeydon]

The White river is quite impressive as is flows through the small gorge during the high run-off. The trail is snowfree up to the White river/ boulder pass jct. Once up the trail to the pass the snow starts briefly at around 4,000 ft where it levels and heads into the ravine. It breaks up again and alternates between snow and dirt till 4.700 ft where the snow becomes continuous. The creek crossing at 4,000 ft was too swift to ford so I located a good log crossing back down trail a 1/4 mile. The upper basin is very picturesque and waterfalls cascade over the cliffs all around. There are also some stunning views of Clarks SE summit. Lost the trail in the snow but it is an easy jaunt up to the pass for even grander views of the surrounding mountains and the lovely Nepeequa. The trip back was uneventful until a mile from the trailhead when i stumbled across a bear. He was around 15 yards off the trail when I spotted him and he spotted me. I still don`t know who was more startled. The mosquitos were a little pesky down the last stretch of valley during the early evening hours, nothing too terribly bad though. A beautiful trip and a great workout. Left trailhead at 10:00 am , returned to my car at 8:30 pm; 10 1/2 hours and 20 miles later. Will definitely be going back this summer for an attempt at Clarks summit.