Up/Down Greg/Ranger (moderate pace on the up/casual and cautious on the down). Gregory Canyon has a lot of dry sections where wearing traction would just totally suck, but there are some critical icy/snowy sections where it just sucks without traction. What to do? Both up and down, I opted to tip toe carefully without my Microspikes through Gregory and it was particularly slow and tedious in a few spots and even slow on the dry sections of rock, as the soles of my shoes were always wet/sandy adding to my slow and cautious pace. From the top of Gregory up though, coverage is much better and well packed. We need a few good significant snowfalls, or a few 80 degree days. Otherwise, I may just opt for the front side the next bunch of trips.
Oh, I found a headlamp on the upper section of Ranger below the switchbacks and set it on the sign board at the Gregory TH. Figured there might be a good chance it belongs one of my fellow blog pals, or the two guys with their dog I had passed on the ridge on the way up and down (don't recall seeing it on the up, but found it on the down, though did not have time to run back up to see if it belonged to them).
Splits:
Cabin: 16:45
Greenman/Ranger: 20:30
4-way: 35:25
Summit: 38:40
Descent: 24:41
RT 1:03:21
sounds like a few strategically placed screws in the shoes might be a good strategy for the current conditions.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I am out of screws and need to buy some at McGuckins. Got spoiled with the snowier conditions and Microspikes last year. Back to basics.....
ReplyDelete