Thursday, May 19, 2016

A Rainy Day on Tom, Field, and Willey, 5/15/2016

3,400 feet of elevation gain
Avalon Trail, A-Z Trail, Mt. Tom Spur, Willey Range Trail
10 miles

We started off with a wet and rainy day ahead of us.  Dressed in our rain pants and rain jackets, we were all set to hike.  Sage and I recently got new rain coats and wore them for the first time on this hike.  Sage have a purple rain jacket and I have a blue/green one.  The whole time it was either raining or sleeting.  When we got down low it was raining, but higher up on the peak it was sleeting.  A wet, wet, wet day!


Starting off...



The first major river crossing.  Sage and I each took turns demonstrating our judgment skills by determining the best way to cross based on the water depth and rapidity.  Sage did this one.  Here she is talking to Mom.


Continuing on...


Here is another crossing...



Moving on...



We heard about a man who, when this part was covered in snow and ice, slipped and fell all the way down and into the water below.


More crossings...we unbuckled our backpack straps so that if we got stuck, we could easily tear ourselves free and wouldn't have to worry about our backpack holding us down in the water.


Trees are looking snowy...


Here we are at the Mt. Tom Spur.  Such a beautiful place.  Memories of when I was younger on Mt. Tom flashed through my mind.


Here we are on the summit.  I tried to take a picture of a gray jay.  It is on a tree branch in the photo below.


Mt. Tom summit picture!


After that we bopped on over to Mt. Field.  Here is the Mt. Field summit photo...


On our way over to Mt. Willey, Mom noticed the snow-covered plants alongside the trail resembled flowering bushes.


Sage is talking to me as I take a photo...


Mt. Willey summit shot!


During different parts of the hike, there was a stable monorail of snow in the middle of the trail.


We hiked near Mt. Avalon on the way back.  Looking at clouds.


That's the end of our cloudy and wet loop hike.

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