When I checked the weather in the morning, it was a little warmer than expected, 9 degrees with wind chill near Wilmington and it looked like it might reach a nice 20 degrees early. Since a mountain climb wasn't of interest, maybe a good snowshoe along an old snowmobile trail would work. I decided on heading to Bonnie View Road and heading down the old trail toward Cooper Kiln Pond. I know my last post also mentioned Cooper Kiln and I didn't make it to the pond itself because of a self-imposed detour, but this wasn't that type of day. The trail from Bonnie View to the pond is 3.2 miles, too far for what I wanted today. My goal was to hike for a few hours or a few miles, whichever came first, as long as I hit at least 2,000 feet in elevation.
I reached the trailhead fully hoping some rouge snowmobiler would have run the length of the trail, giving me an easy snowshoe and maybe the potential to exceed my goal and actually make the pond. I was a little disappointed to see the only thing that had come along the trail was a sole skier that appeared to have passed through after the last storm. They had left a crude pair of ruts not wide enough for a pair of snowshoes, but I could at least follow what was there. I followed the ski tracks for about a quarter of a mile, but after that, the wind had blown them full of snow, so I was on my own.
The Trail Ahead
Shortly after, I came to a creek crossing. Its always a little chancy, not knowing what is solid and what is not, but it's a small stream with absolutely no depth. I sidestepped down the bank and gingerly stepped onto the snow covering the stream. Seemed good. Next step - post hole into the shallow water, oops. Pulling my snowshoe out, covered by snow, soaked in water, it quickly froze into a nice heavy weight. A few strong stomps and the frozen clump fell off, which was good, I didn't feel like removing the snowshoe and having to chip it off.
Oops
Immediately following the stream, the trail begins a steady climb and started to have fairly deep drifts. It wasn't too long before my coat was unzipped and my hat was in my hand. This steady climb was to last a little over an hour. No accidents, animals or other incidents, just a steady climb. I do have a little trouble with hikes like these, no overlooks and no "peak", but the woods were beautiful.
After about an hour of climbing, I checked the elevation and was near the 2,000 mark. Checking the GPS topo for what was ahead, it looked like a steady downward hike, so it was back the way I came. Fortunately, this hike I remembered to blow the water back into the bladder after taking a drink, so my water line didn't freeze. Unfortunately, I had Larabar food bars for snacks, but once again, I froze them in my backpack. I took one and put it into my pocket to thaw.
I had a nice easy hike down, but did have a shoe twist on a rigid snow drift, and ended up looking at the clouds. I took advantage of the incident and lay there looking at the clouds streaming by and decided the fall was a positive thing.
The Trail Back
I did find this snow sculpture attached to a tree. I'm not sure how the picture will show up, but it looked like a face, etched by the wind. Well, kind of, if you look close.
Snow Man?
I also found this Pine Tree Snow Flower.
The Flower
Walking back, I realized the grayness of the day. I had not seen an animal or bird, which was very unusual, especially not hearing the constant chatter of the little chickadee. I was by no means lonely, but it seemed odd the mountain was so quiet. I could tell from the sky there was the possibility of a little storm coming in, so maybe the rest of the woodland creatures were in for the day.
All in all, the most wonderful way to end the year. Now to look forward to the first hike of 2013.
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