Trip Report
Day Hike - Mailbox Peak
A beautiful winter day to check the mail!
Nancy Lloyd
- Sat, Nov 26, 2022
- Day Hike - Mailbox Peak
- Mailbox Peak
- Day Hiking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The gate to the trail parking area opened at 7:30, the sign says it closes at 4:00 pm. So anyone expecting to get back to their cars after 4 pm should park in the lower area outside the gate. You still need a Discover Pass there. The bathrooms were open, not much tp.
As expected, the old trail was in its usual steep, rooty, rocky condition for a great workout. Snow started roughly around 2,000' and got increasingly deep with about a foot or two at the summit. It became a little hard to see where the "trail" went while still in the trees, but that was part of the adventure! There are a few white diamonds on trees, but not many. Previous boot tracks in the snow helped, but I still had to look around in places to spot the route and checked gaia gps a couple of times.
Approaching the boulder field:
A few places were almost like mini-scrambles, which added to the challenge and everyone loved the adventure! It helped that the weather cooperated with no precip at all, and no wind. Snow on the trees was beautiful, and slowly swirling clouds surprised us with wonderful views. The boulder field was well tracked. We used spikes coming down, but didn't need them going up.
The new trail back to the cars was in great condition. There was only one stretch across an avalanche slope that was covered with slippery snow, but we were fine there without spikes.
Gaia shows our moving time at 5 hrs/20 minutes with 4,000' gain and 7.6 miles rt. A great day out before the storm!
