Was surprised to see some snow on Minnie Peak, figured I won't see any
A brief stop at windy Elk Rock Viewpoint, a few miles from the lake, made me stick with lake hike (a plan B was to hike from Hummocks to JR Observatory). Note the dust around MSH - the hike to Observatory would be very windy and hazy. Coldwater Lake, on the other hand is in deep valley SW to NE, and was mostly sheltered from east wind.
Almost no snow at Elk Rock, at 3400'
With early afternoon start, the temps at trailhead were climbing to almost 60 degrees (as the day went on, it would warm up considerably near the lake). 30 miles earlier, it was 34F and intermittent fog in the valleys.
While mostly open hike, it's pretty lush & the trees did a good job reclaiming the area
The trail crosses this creek just below one waterfall and above another one. This day the creek was low, but after heavy rains it may be an obstacle to cross.
Oregon Grapes
The bridge over Coldwater Creek about 5 miles in & the start of the climb
Jagged rocks at Minnie Peak up close
Head of Coldwater valley. That big rocky summit just right of center, which I always thought to be Coldwater Peak, is actually The Dome
The trail ascends on north side of the hill, and after 3000' elevation I started running into snow. By 3600' the trail was covered, but while the snow was very compacted it was also super-grippy and not slick at all (just when I passed snow area after sunset, it was starting to turn really icy). I've been on this trail in summer so it was easy to follow.
Snow and warm wind - it felt like June afternnon
Elk or Mountain Goat track? (note the 2 "spikes" behind large print)
I was a bit late (or early?) for huckleberries
Road-building or logging machine, destroyed by eruption. I just like to cal it the tank
Time to celebrate the inversion with Inversion IPA
Sunset on Minnie (I almost made peace with its name
)
It's getting dark fast
View to "real" Coldwater Peak. Not much snow up there
More old logging machines (wish I've taken a tripod)
Almost back at the car, I remembered the topic on PH earlier last year, where among other things it was discussed whether Monument Pass is needed to hike Coldwater Lake trail. I went down to trailhead to see what the sign says. Well, they do require it, and say to go JRO to get one (15 mile round trip from Coldwater Lake and back, which may add half an hour to the road time). Certainly the rule I'll try to forget by my next hike
It's been another awesome day out in the hills
) So far, I think I've only gotten stormed upon once, too. That's a lot of exposure, if you pick a crummy day to get up there!