Thursday, February 5, 2009

First Dirt: Carbo Report

Tempted by its bare south slopes every time I make my way out to Rotarun, I  made my first assault on Carbonate of 2009 today. The bare hills were a bit of a Siren song, luring me toward the Scylla of extended deep snow in the draws and the Charybdis of some slick compact snow on the descents, but, I made it to the top via the switchbacks and even got to enjoy some decent sections of bare trail.  

I started by hiking up to the foundation, then began the switchbacks where there was as much walking as running because of a lot of long snowy sections.  The Jones-Wilkins cornice is still in place but not as aggressive as last year and once over that, it was pretty easy up the Jeep trail to the top -- again, some walking, some running.  At the top, short on time and patience, I just came down the spine, rather than return on the switchbacks.   

Unless desperation takes hold, I think I'll give it a bit more time before doing it again.  Yet, it still felt really nice to be climbing on bare earth in February.

Happy trails.