[Sadie's Driver]

Well, today wasn't "quite" the same as last weekend . . . no stinkin' inversion to worry about . . .

A REAL inversion today!

Simply lovely views . . . Well, not quite . . . some details: Be aware that the "C Post" road sign on Hwy 530 between Arlington and Darrington is gone. Just be aware that you will need to turn left almost at Mile Post 38. The road is just plain crappy at the start - big ol' potholes. But it gets better once you cross the bridge and head left up towards the trailhead. Yes, the "hunters" are out in force doing target practice - a bit unnerving to see a guy with a rifle aimed up the road and you have to pass by . . . There is no snow at the trailhead. And, we managed to save this little critter from any further target practice!

Rescue duck!

We were on the trail at the reasonable hour of about 9:30 a.m. Our group included: Snow Dog (Elle), Rob, Barb E, Mtn Mike (Mike T), Suzanne R., Middle E (Barry), Izzy and Gus, and the Driver.

Everyone ready?

I don't have a lot of pics - no one got many. It was snowy all day and a bit nippy because your hands and gear were getting very wet with the heavy snow. Barry gets the "Iron/R3H" award for trail-breaking, leading the troops most of the way to the summit. I think he was just trying to stay warm! This was the first time I've seen an actual "easy" crossing of Dick's Creek.

Dick's Creek

First snow bridge crossing I've ever had at Dick's Creek

All made it across easily . . .

Heading up from the Creek

But "someone" was probably having other thoughts about how much fun we were having!

This man is thinking . . ."I could be skiing!"

Barry and Mike had GPS (I-phone for Barry; real GPS for Mike) and we were able to pretty much stay right on course for the summer trail. There were no tracks to follow and the visibility wasn't exactly stellar.

Winter Wonderland

Entering the swamp . . .

We weren't sure if we would make the summit within our turn-around time, but this plucky little group persevered and hit the summit around 1:20 p.m. We didn't linger long - - - enough for some lunch and for a change of clothes for some. Others have summit shots . . . my camera wasn't cooperating. Left the summit about 2:00 p.m. Soon, we were heading down.

On our way down off of Higgins

Uneventful trip back following our nearly filled in tracks (but if you're interested in heading up Higgins, there is a nice track for you!). We were back to the cars before 4:00 p.m. Fun trip. Thanks everyone! Stats: 9 miles (+/-) 3300' or so gain A little under 4 hours up and under 2 hours down Fun day, even if we didn't see the sun.

[Middle E]

No, not a lot of pictures of the winter wonderland. There was probably 18" of new snow at the higher elevations - it took a group effort at trail breaking to get us up the last few hundred feet to the summit. Here is my meager contribution...

Crossing Dick Cr.

Crossing the 'meadow'

Summit group

A fun trip with a fun group!

[Matt]

Aww, is that Sadie in the opening photo? Nice to see her again, even if only in memory. Torok & Rowan were there? Wow. The weather looks... honestly not very nice. But you are a fine bright group.

[Sadie's Driver]

[the Zachster]

Higgins...what a fine name for a mountain! The swamp sure is prettier this time of year, and no bugs!

[MtnMike]

Summit shot & Guz having Fun

Summit and happy Gus (SuzR hat only, but no Butt Shot!)

Deep snow and blizzard

Donut Tree

Map

[Snowdog]

Snow coulda been dryer- other than that- nice to tag this one. (4 of us were Higgins virgins) SD knows him well.

tea was a 'must have' today -

tenuous crossing of Dick's creek-

[BarbE]

[Gabigabs]

Congrats on the summit. It looks like a fun trail even on a snowy day.

[Highwalker's Daughter]

Glad you made it up to the top in that lovely snow. I enjoyed getting to the top in the summer and thought about trying it in the winter sometime. Looks like fun in spite of the fog.