My bum knee was telling me to squeeze one more winter hike in before the Equinox this afternoon. Who am I to argue with my body. I had the chance today to do a short solo hike that's been on my list for some time; the Pinnacle Ice Wall in the Shaker Mt. Wild Forest.
I hit the trailhead around 9:30 and everything was frozen up nicely. However, the last half-mile of Pinnacle Rd. looked like it would be a little "soft" on the way out. Slipping the microspikes on, I signed into the woods where I noticed the trail sign to County Line Lake was missing from the mighty hemlock. :confused:
The first part of the well traveled trail is a little steep as it climbs through the hardwoods up the shoulder of Pinnacle Mt.
After that, the trail meets up with Pinnacle Creek in the hemlocks and gradually climbs over the next .8 mile.
Once the trail got close to the creek, I noticed beautiful ice formations glistening in the sunshine. Foreshadowing? :rolleyes:
Pinnacle Creek is scenic in any season, but today it was especially stunning.
As the trail was pinched between two steep hills, I noticed several snow rollers that had come down the slopes.
After a mile of so, I came to the turn off for the ice wall. I took off the spikes and put the snowshoes on, not knowing what to expect. The path was well packed down as the last six people in the register have gone here. In 15 minutes, I was at the south end of the vly.
I followed the snowshoe tracks across the frozen vly and was soon looking at the beginning of the ice wall.
Well, this was nice, but is that it? Not so fast. I followed the snowshoe tracks into the woods and discovered a 400 yd long wall of ice. The photos really can't do this place justice. The colors, the sounds of dripping water and the wind in the hemlocks really rounded out a neat experience.
I followed the ice wall up to its northern terminus and marveled at the beauty of it all.
I know there are several more ice walls on Pinnacle that are perhaps more spectacular than what I visited today. However, my knee was telling me I really shouldn't be climbing anything else this morning. Especially Pinnacle :eek: I took one last look at this secluded, yet popular spot and headed back down the path towards the now super-muddy Pinnacle Rd. This is a great short hike that I will certainly do again when I have a chance to explore some of the other ice walls in the area. Now, two hours before spring begins, I hit the Submit New Thread button on my last winter hike of 2018-2019.
I hit the trailhead around 9:30 and everything was frozen up nicely. However, the last half-mile of Pinnacle Rd. looked like it would be a little "soft" on the way out. Slipping the microspikes on, I signed into the woods where I noticed the trail sign to County Line Lake was missing from the mighty hemlock. :confused:
The first part of the well traveled trail is a little steep as it climbs through the hardwoods up the shoulder of Pinnacle Mt.
After that, the trail meets up with Pinnacle Creek in the hemlocks and gradually climbs over the next .8 mile.
Once the trail got close to the creek, I noticed beautiful ice formations glistening in the sunshine. Foreshadowing? :rolleyes:
Pinnacle Creek is scenic in any season, but today it was especially stunning.
As the trail was pinched between two steep hills, I noticed several snow rollers that had come down the slopes.
After a mile of so, I came to the turn off for the ice wall. I took off the spikes and put the snowshoes on, not knowing what to expect. The path was well packed down as the last six people in the register have gone here. In 15 minutes, I was at the south end of the vly.
I followed the snowshoe tracks across the frozen vly and was soon looking at the beginning of the ice wall.
Well, this was nice, but is that it? Not so fast. I followed the snowshoe tracks into the woods and discovered a 400 yd long wall of ice. The photos really can't do this place justice. The colors, the sounds of dripping water and the wind in the hemlocks really rounded out a neat experience.
I followed the ice wall up to its northern terminus and marveled at the beauty of it all.
I know there are several more ice walls on Pinnacle that are perhaps more spectacular than what I visited today. However, my knee was telling me I really shouldn't be climbing anything else this morning. Especially Pinnacle :eek: I took one last look at this secluded, yet popular spot and headed back down the path towards the now super-muddy Pinnacle Rd. This is a great short hike that I will certainly do again when I have a chance to explore some of the other ice walls in the area. Now, two hours before spring begins, I hit the Submit New Thread button on my last winter hike of 2018-2019.
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