Winter is coming - even closer!

John M and I camped on the Cascade Crest above Cement Basin Wednesday - Thursday this week. We went from a trace of new at the parking lot to 4 inches with drifts to maybe a foot by the time we got to the crest.

After we set up, John took off towards the north, eventually getting as far as Point 6703 which might be thought of as an eastern extension of Castle Mtn. John also went over Norse Peak, but the hoped for view was lost in the snow and clouds. This would have been a nice walk for me if there was no snow, but alas, not under those conditions. Instead I sat in my tent and watched the snow fall, accumulating 4 inches in 4 hours and then tapering off. I kept thinking that it was an honor for me to watch as winter came to the high country.

The low for Wednesday night was 15 degrees as the sky cleared off. That's not a typo! It clouded over by morning so the temp was up to 23 deg.  As we started walking out we waded through a few knee deep drifts; amazing.

Here are a few pics to give a flavor, one of the tents as it was snowing, and one looking across at Exterminator taken while we were hiking out.

Larry

Nice shots Larry,
Hopefully the snow puts a major delay (like one year) on the installation of the Northway lift!
With that depth (1ft) there is some skiing to be had on grassy hillsides.
Kudos to John trailblazing out to Castle in that storm, that's a good long walk, must have been an exciting hike out.
Joe

What, no skis Larry?  But looking awfully content anyway.  Thanks for getting me out of the house!
John
P.S. You and Charles will be happy to know both your tutoring attempts actually stuck--not only did I brighten this pic., but I properly resized it as well!