Trip Report
Basic Snowshoe - Marten Creek
Icy road. Nice powdery snow. Mostly decent weather. Pleasant woods walk with territorial views.
David Butler
- Mon, Feb 26, 2018
- Basic Snowshoe - Marten Creek
- Marten Creek
- Snowshoeing
- Successful
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- Snow and ice on road
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Snow conditions on the trail was a a good powder. Not too deep but a work out further up. Lots of loaded snow on the trees but cold enough to limit the number of bombs. Some large downed trees that we had to work around. Route finding difficulties in the higher valley. Overall travel and trail were fairly good.
There was snow on the road from Granite Falls. More than usually seen on the mountain loop. About a foot over night but still driveable. A slow plow was running out of Verlot but we passed it on the way out as the unplowed road was still good for travel. Parking spot was a wide area on the side of the road that we basically plowed into until the car said it was parked.
Snow conditions were great for snowshoeing. A nice dry powder. Cold enough for things to be stable but not too cold to be uncomfortable. Lots of loaded trees but it was cold enough and no wind that we did not get very many bombs coming down. We reached a point in the upper valley where the trail was getting hard to follow and the warming conditions were starting to cause some trees to release so we made a clearing in the woods as our turn around point. Some views of local peaks in the upper valley.
When we got back to the trailhead it was warmer and the snow was slushy. The road was dry at that point with no snow but there was still snow on the road in shady spots on the drive out.
Weather was a mix of clouds and clearing. Nice sun breaks at times. Limited views but they did peek out on occasion. There was a short period in the afternoon where we did get some light precipitation. No wind.
We traveled around 5.5 miles in a little under six hours. 1300 feet of gain, most of that early on.