One thousand vertical feet into the climb, I encountered snow. From there on up (another 3000 feet) it was all snow fields, which made for good climbing, albeit a little slow. When I reached the ridge line just below the summit, the ridge was still covered in snow with a nice cornice. The pitch was a little steep, and without any poles or axe, I didn’t feel like pushing on to the top. So I turned around and enjoyed a 3000′ glissade back down. It took me an hour and thirty minutes to get up, and only thirty minutes to get down! At one point, I had been in my glissade stance for so long (probably about two minutes), that my legs seized up and I had a spectacular face-plant. After I picked myself up off the snow and untangled my calf muscles, I limped down the dirt section of the trail and back to the car.

It was an energizing way to spend a Sunday morning. My knees aren’t what they used to be, so I love hikes that offer a strenuous uphill and a snow (or scree) descent. Click the picture below for a 360 degree panoramic from the ridge below Penguin Peak. Penguin is in the far right of the photo.