Snow
started falling last Thursday evening and it continued, slowly, through
about 4pm Friday. Accumulation was only in the two to three inch range
with a light and fluffy snow. Saturday evening saw additional snow, but
it too was fluffy with only about an inch of coverage. The curious
aspect is "how much did the mountains get?" We're looking to visit a
local trail - but would the snow be too deep? In the end, no, and
what snow the mountains received would help cover the pine trees for a
nice look.
Sunday presented a blue sky, warm sun, and very little breeze - a treat to be enjoyed.
The trail we're looking to visit is Bunce School Road. The old
schoolhouse is at the north end of the road. Some folks in the group,
me included, are looking to try out new tires - how well would they
work in the snow? The tires I recently purchased (Patagonia
Milestars) work much better than the prior set (BFG KM) - I did not
install tire chains - where the prior set I likely would have.
At the trailhead we ended up with a group of seven vehicles. Three 4x4
group members, three friends, and one vehicle we met at the trailhead
who asked if they could tag along - certainly.
We entered at the north end of Bunce and headed south to see how far we
might get. We made it to the seasonally locked southern gate with no
issue. Once the trail gets more snow, the southern portion is the
difficult area - deeper snow with some uphills. All of the tires in the
group performed well enough.
At the southern end of Bunce, folks were interested in going to the
more difficult "Ironclads" trail - with a stop near the beginning to
talk about it. Two vehicles declined to tackle it while five gave it a
try. We looked to run the loop clockwise. This would present a ledge as
a first obstacle to get up - all five made it up but not far after
after came another difficult spot - three of the five made it. The two
backtracked and the three, myself included, completed the loop.
I and another exited the trail system by what I call the side exit -
just to travel different trail and not backtrack to the north end.
A nice day out in the forest.
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