The poor man’s Stairmaster – Quick hike to smokey Snyder Lake.
A funny thing happen today at training. Clocked in for an hour, and then I was done. I am only one of two returning Red Bus drivers in this training class. And as such, I don’t have a lot to catch up on this particular day and was let out early. And is not like Dave to miss a chance to hit the trail.
Last night we had some smoke blow in from out of the blue from fires up in Alberta. Yeah, this is pretty rare for May and we hope it is not a sign of things to come. It was almost noon, but I still wanted to get in some miles and gain. Just across the road is the trail to Snyder Lake.
I’ve done this one a few times. That last one was so wet and miserable that I didn’t think I would ever come back. But anyone who knows Dave also knows that he ALWAYS comes back.
The trail was dryer than I’ve ever seen it at ANY time of the season in the past. Which made for quick travel. Although the hazy sun was still warming the day, it wasn’t too hot and felt like the upper 60s.
On the other side of Mt Edwards is the Sperry Chalet. Last time I was there I had to stare down the scariest mountain goat I have ever seen. There is still some pretty good snow hanging in the shady spots on the backside. But summer is approaching fast and the odds against the usual late spring snowstorms grow greater each day.
Approaching the cirque that holds Snyder Lake. Little Matterhorn the tall peak in the middle. The smoke appears to be thinning just a bit.
I didn’t feel the need to go the last 150 yards to the lake. It would be brushy as always, and the shoreline yields marginal pictures on a good day. And without any good sun to make the colors pop, the pictures would be pretty mediocre at best. Plus the closer I got the worse the mosquitos were getting. I settled for this panorama instead.
A couple of nice little seasonal waterfalls coming off the back side of Mt Brown.
But of course, you have to hear me rattle on about nothing for a little bit. The price you pay for following GoatBoy.
Total up and down in three hours. Eight miles round. 2200 gain. A little off my times from last year. And about twice the time of my fellow Jammer in training Patrick. You might recall me mentioning him from last year. And actually, even the year before that if you want his true humble origin story. This 23-year-old North Carolinian string bean will be putting down hundreds of miles this summer and dozens of peaks. Just wait.
But in the meantime, this makes for me 35 miles for the 2023 season, and I haven’t given a single a tour yet!
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