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We
rested at the Mizpah Cutoff for a few minutes and had a snack. While we
were climbing, we had taken off our jackets, but after stopping for a
little while, it was cold enough that we had to put them back on.
After
continuing along the Crawford Path for a short distance on the way to Mt
Pierce, the snowdrifts began to get deeper, and the path seemed to be
barely-traveled. Not having snowshoes, we soon gave up on this route and
turned back, then decided to try for Mizpah Spring Hut since the Mizpah
Cutoff looked like it had been used recently.
As
expected, the Mizpah Cutoff
was much better than the section of the Crawford Path that we had turned
around on; none-the-less, there were still several areas that were drifted
over, particularly closer to the hut where it was more open to the south.
One drift was particularly deep and long, but knowing how close to the hut
we were, we pressed on and made it through.
The
snow
was pretty deep around the hut too, and it was still snowing. On one
corner of the hut, the snow had drifted up onto the steeply sloping roof
and Erin was able to climb up the slope.
After
eating lunch and resting for a short while, we headed back down. Along the
way, we saw a tree wearing a snow hat, and had to duck under several
blowdowns.
We
stopped at the Crawford Hostel for a little while, then drove home. I was
disappointed that we had not been able to climb to any of the summits. I
also had huge raw blisters on both of my heels since I was breaking in
some new Scarpa leather mountaineering boots. Oh well, you can't win them
all!
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Me
at the Mizpah Cutoff Junction. Note how close to the ground the trail sign
is.
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