spring snow on the boulder loop trail

Today's hike: 2.8 mi | 1.3 h | 2.1 mph

I took the loop clockwise today. It was surprisingly busy. I passed a couple of people and got passed by someone doing a very good pace with a dog.

Trail conditions are still a bit rough. Down low, I could easily avoid any snow or ice. This is a view as I headed up the trail, approaching the first significant snow.

trail on the way to the overlook

As I neared the first outlook, I saw someone ahead of me who appeared to be having trouble on the icy trail. At this point, I stopped to put on my microspikes.

Soon after passing the view, trail conditions improved so much that I had to remove the microspikes. Then they got worse again heading under the trees, and I put them back on. That happened a few times. I didn't want to damage the points on my spikes, so I removed them when the trail cleared up much.

view at the top with the overhanging cliff at right

Hard to say how soon the snow will be gone. There's some mud, too, but it's minor. It's not looking like we'll have much of a mud season, currently.

a fall leaf embedded in the spring snow