{"id":10532,"date":"2020-02-10T14:03:22","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T21:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/?p=10532"},"modified":"2022-10-20T09:55:08","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T15:55:08","slug":"troop-of-coatis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/?p=10532","title":{"rendered":"Troop of Coatis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

After studying the trail guide for these mountains, I’d made a short list of trails I thought would be good in winter \u2013 lower elevations \u2013 vs. summer \u2013 higher elevations. But on closer study of one of the “summer” trails, despite averaging more than a thousand feet higher than the trails I’d hiked so far, it appeared to mostly avoid northern slopes where the deep snow is found. And the guide said it had been completely cleared of logs and brush by volunteers last year. Plus, it offered an overlook of the 400′ waterfall I’d glimpsed on my first visit.<\/p>\n

Conveniently ignoring my past experience \u2013 that above 8,000′, deep snow can also be found on east and west slopes \u2013 I decided to give this “summer” trail a try, here in the midst of winter.<\/p>\n

Getting to the trailhead itself is a challenge for most folks \u2013 you have to climb a mile and a half up a high-clearance, 4wd-only road barely wide enough for a single vehicle. Most people are advised to park below and walk the road. Driving it was slow but fun in my Sidekick. It climbed through a beautiful riparian forest of sycamore, oak, and conifers alongside a rushing snowmelt creek, dappled with sunlight and shade.<\/p>\n

The trail began in unburned but open pine forest, and quickly rose into burn scar where long-thorned locust saplings and the hand-high briars of wild roses grabbed my shirt and pants and scratched the backs of my hands. Crisscrossing a steep slope on long switchbacks, I trudged awkwardly up stretches of hard snow crust where I had to kick footholds with my stiff boots.<\/p>\n

Clouds were closing in, and a cold wind came and went. An hour of hiking got me to the waterfall overlook. The waterfall was barely flowing \u2013 last week’s cold spell had turned it into a spooky ice sculpture. And the overlook was a narrow, precarious gap in the chaparral that only revealed the top section of the falls.<\/p>\n

\"Road <\/a>
Road to the trailhead <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8527\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"IMG_8393\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8394\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8396\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Wilderness <\/a>
Wilderness boundary <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Climbing <\/a>
Climbing to the overlook <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8410\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Tracks <\/a>
Tracks in the snow indicated that 3 other people had been up this trail since December, but at different times. Most recent was a small woman. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8512\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8513\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8513a\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n