While there’s still snow in the area, I am trying to get out as much as possible to test my winter gear. With the warm temperatures in Southern California over the last week, the snow is melting fast. Since I knew there was lots of snow within a few miles of the South Fork Trailhead, we decided to head to the same area again.
The Plan
I invited JP & TW for the the hike. I sent the following email outlining plans and suggested gear for the hike:
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Start Time & Hike Duration
I want to leave my house around 5 am so that we’ll be on the trail by 6 am ( 45 mins in the dark). If we just do the route I have planned, the hike should take us 6-7 hours and we should be home sometime between 1 & 2 PM. Route
10 miles RT with 2600 ft elevation gain
Weather
Looks like it will be relatively warm, but windy. Gear
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The Outcome
We got a late start. The pace was slow at first as we tried to avoid the patchy ice & snow. Around the 4 mile mark, the trail was mostly covered with snow & ice, so we started using our Trail Crampons. Once we started the cross country portion of our hike, we had 3-4 inches of wet snow on top of a harder layer of snow/ice. This made traction less than ideal once we hit the steepest section of our hike (see gear notes below). Around 9200′ we started to occasionally posthole. Since we were less than 100 feet from our turnaround point, we did not use our snowshoes. After a 20 minute break, we returned to the trailhead, cutting 2 hrs off of our ascent time.
Gear
Winter dayhike, so my pack was ~27 lbs including food, water and my winter gear.
Notable Gear
- Hillsound Trail Crampons (Full Review)
- I felt this was a good area to test the limits of the Trail Crampons. I confirmed some thoughts regarding the limits of ‘slip-on’ traction devices, which are meant for low angle terrain, and the inherent limitations of their design:
- ‘Slip-on’ traction devices don’t have any sort of snow release plates or skins.
- The ‘slip-on’ traction devices usually use some sort of elastomer or rubber harness to secure themselves to your boots. These harness don’t provide much lateral support.
- My observations on this hike:
- On the cross country ascent:
- The snow was wet and a few inches deep. Snow accumulated around the spikes (‘balling’) and was a major issue.
- On the cross country descent (~30% decline):
- Balling continued to be an issue
- Both of my heels slipped out. I was thankful for the hook & loop strap as they kept the crampons from completely falling off.
- They both pulled out on a side hill. If my toes were pointed down the hill instead of across it, I think they would’ve stayed on.
- On the cross country ascent:
- I felt this was a good area to test the limits of the Trail Crampons. I confirmed some thoughts regarding the limits of ‘slip-on’ traction devices, which are meant for low angle terrain, and the inherent limitations of their design:
- K•10 Hiking Crampons (full review coming soon)
- Handled the conditions better than the Trail Crampons
- The binding system is superior when compared to the elastomer harness; no danger of my boot pulling out of the crampons.
- The Snow Release Skins (SRS) worked very well.
- Handled the conditions better than the Trail Crampons
- Cotton Carrier StrapShot (full review coming soon)
- Continues to works well, but I am seeing some ways to improve the design
I wish I had brought…
- Hiking Poles
- I didn’t think we would use our snowshoes, so I left my poles in the car. While walking on the side hill near our turnaround point, they would’ve been very useful.
Geek Stats
- Notes:
- Timing breakdown
- 4 hr 30 min ascent || 20 min break || 2 hr 19 min descent
- 4 hr 30 min ascent || 20 min break || 2 hr 19 min descent
- Timing breakdown
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