Traversing the snow slopes was slow going due to deep rotten snow.  We had hoped to be across them before it was too hot but the rotten snow slowed our progress and we ended up traversing them at 11am - which is about the worst time to be on an east facing slope in March.

After we reached the couloir, the snow was much more compact and we made quick progress upwards.  About 100' from the top of the couloir, the couloir splits.  We took the right branch and followed steep (up to 45 degrees) snow up to the summit ridge.  After that it was a simple walk (in deep snow) to the summit.

To descend we opted to take the   [Read More... ]

At 1:30 we reached the top of the Bird Ridge trail and began to traverse the ridge that heads east towards Bird Ridge Overlook (4,600'), the peak that sits at the end of the ridge.

The hike is a total of 12 miles round trip; 3 miles to the top of Bird Ridge and then another 3 miles to Bird Ridge Overlook. After ascending Bird Ridge, we dropped down about 300 feet and then began a long rising and falling traverse to Bird Ridge Overlook. Hiking was easy and straightforward with an excellent well traveled sheep trail just below the ridge crest that kept us on more or less a level plain as we traversed the ridges.   [Read More... ]