Lance, Karin and I headed up the San Bernardino Peak trail a bit after 6 AM last Saturday. It was a balmy 30 degrees. We parked in a pull-out close to the road due to ice/snow. The trail up to Manzanita flats was very uneven due to numerous footprints and the unpredictable quality of the snow. The high winds have also brought down multiple trees.
As we approached Manzanita Flats, the snow became deeper and we started to post hole. The trail disappeared well before the wooden bench. Some sections were icy, so we donned crampons. It took us four hours to get to the bench -- twice as long as usual. It was clear we were in for a long day.
From the bench, Lance picked the cross country route due to his excellent orienteering skills. We basically headed up the north face of San Bernardino Peak, thereby avoiding Limber Pine. The quality of the snow was very unpredictable which made the climb that much more challenging. Sometimes the crust was hard enough to support us, other times we broke through. On occasion we dropped up to our hips.
After six hours of climbing, we finally reached what appeared to be a peak and realized we were at the false peak directly west of San Bernardino peak. Lance headed over to bag SB peak -- Karin and I were content to stay where we were. It was beautiful up on the ridge -- no wind to speak of and a warm 45 degrees.
We started down a bit before 1 PM. Descending was fun until we rejoined the trail, then became work. We finally reached the truck a little after 5 PM after 11 glorious but tiring hours in the wilderness. Had a well-deserved and fabulous meal at El Mexicano in Forest Falls before heading home to shower and crash.
I'm really hoping for some new snow to fill in those holes prior to the next hike.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
