Enough folks had already driven up to and past the East Crater TH so as long as we kept the car in the ruts and didn’t meet anyone coming the other direction, we were good. I used every inch of my cars 8”: clearance and scraped the underside a few times on the snow ridge in the center of the road but all went well and there was no one coming in the other direction - whew!
Typical road condition:
Looking back from the TH parking.
There were already some tire tracks in the TH parking and the snow was only 7” deep so no problem there. A couple of folks had hiked about ½ way up to Junction Lake so there was at least a little bit of packed snow to make our hike easier. Their tracks showed that they had turned around where the snow was about a foot deep, so it was first tracks for us from there.
It was 25 degrees at the start with crystal clear skies making this a stellar day for a hike like this. We used short gators to help keep our boots dryer and that worked well. I used micro spikes and I think that helped a little on the few short steep spots. Kel seems to be able to climb up anything, so no problem for her!
East Crater in the distance from the second little lake we passed:
Kel could walk out on the ice but big fat old me, no way!
First tracks:
A sign at the two-mile mark: There was another at the TH warning of a bridge out, so this was not unexpected.
The bridge:
Kel ignoring the warning, of course. Obviously, the bridge is broken, but very solid, nevertheless.
Junction Lake.
New signs in many spots:
Coming back, we met five cars and trucks coming the other way but luckily, every time there was just enough space for both of us to pass without getting stuck off to the side of the road.
5.4 miles, 867’ EG, hike #115
