Photos from this trip can be found here.
Third time visiting this ridge since the first trip in winter of 2013, and so far the best weather out of all three trips. Last time pups and I visited the area, we went up to Diamond Head on the opposite side of Tronsen Meadow over Thanksgiving weekend 2016.
Quarter mile north of the gated Road 7240, I parked at the pullout area west of Highway 97. Then pup and I crossed the highway and immediately began snowshoeing up the west rib aiming for the ridge.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Terrible snow conditions for snowshoeing today, as I punched through a thin layer of ice crust with every step. Halfway up the rib we picked up old snowshoe tracks that saved us from needing to break trail for a while. Unfortunately, the tracks turned around few hundred feet below the ridge.
We look for better snow on the ridge crest, both the windward and the leeward sides, but to no avail. In the end, we travelled mostly on the ridge crest all the way to the high point. Nonstop wind during the entire time, we looked for tree coverage for breaks when possible. I finally put the balaclava to good use.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Breaking trail from Point 5575 to Point 5940 seemed to have taken an eternity in knee-deep snow. With the snow conditions and the constant wind gusts, I forewent the original plan of including Tronsen Head and Windy Knob. Thankfully, on the south side of Point 5940 there were fresh snowmobile tracks from earlier today. We followed the tracks for a bit and took a break to hide from the wind and enjoy some views.
Afterward we continued to move south on the ridge to 5,700′ before scrambling down the west slopes and picked up Tronsen Meadow Trail at 4,800′. From there, we followed the trail and picked up Road 7240 to hike out. Just before reaching Highway 97, we left the road and scrambled quarter of a mile north to where we started.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Access: Highway 97
Gear: snowshoes