No Way, No How
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Starting up the trail. We thought we could skin up at least the approach (Roostercomb to Hedgehog and possibly beyond), but the trail was either too rough, too icy, too narrow, or just plain too hard to negotiate with planks on our feet. This left us to slog with crampons fastened to alpine touring boots, and, as we made our way further along the ridge, wallow through deepening snow, boot up neve, and kick up a bit of ice.
By the way, that's food and a camera in that unsightly area under my arms and above my legs. It is most certainly not flesh. How embarrassing. For the record, here's what we were up against.
The most difficult part of the traverse, by far, was the fact that the trail apparently gets little use, and as such, is quite overgrown. Huge, snow-laden pine boughs at eye level were the norm (the deep snow underfoot helped lift us up to them). For every two steps we'd take, our skis would snag on a branch above us and toss us backward a step. This went on forever, and it was incredibly tiring. It was a power lower-back workout the whole way. You essentially had to walk bent over at a 45-degree angle. We both must have looked like Quasimodo. |
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