Big Schloss: Miles on Snow ! 12/15

Weather and travel plans are like playing hide and seek. Sometimes you win, sometimes you get caught and sometimes you think you are caught but then you still win. This is what happened here. After winter storm Boreas in Thanksgiving, it was turn of Dion (or was it something else) which again nearly cancelled the plan with heavy snow in north east including my trek destination. But then i was pumped for the trek, as it was long time since i trek'd long distances, so with no rain/snow forecast-ed on the trek day, i went ahead with my plan with fingers crossed

                                                                    __________________

I started before 6, and it was cold and dark, the dawn was still far away. I drove on mostly wet empty I-64 before turning to state highway towards Gordonsville where i reached just before dawn. It felt like the most Christmas-y town (if there is a tag like that) as every tree on the main street was covered with lights like this, which made whole town look like wonderland at pre-dawn.

As the morning approached , the fog spread its wings along the way

On the way to Shenandoah national park the first snow cover appeared

Well, thanks to the government (one of those good days) roads were clean and drive-able.

As i drove forward to my destination, the sky became clearer and snow layers on ground kept getting thicker.

I was so engrossed in the whiteness that i totally missed the 'Road not maintained' sign on Forest Road 92 and kept going ahead on snow covered road.

And in next 1 hour i just covered 3 miles in that road. Got stuck twice, skid'd multiple times. (Taking U-turn was impossible) Luckily first time, there were 4 people to push out the car and second time i had some good sense. And just before the destination ( for which by the way i was already 1/2 hr late) this red Ford 150 appeared. The good driver (i came to know later, steve- the driver was part of our group and missed the meeting spot) tried some tricks on reverse gear and got stuck in snow. We cleared out snow and tried again, which just made it worse. The F150 ended up in roadside ditch. The only good part was that it was out of road and not blocking traffic.

To my relief, there were still few groups behind me, running late due to snow covered road. I parked on the side hoping for snow to melt on a clear day. I met Kapahi (my college mate who made this plan) and rest of the group. It was good to see him after 10 years. The group started for the hike an hour late in 6-8 inches of snow filled trails.

.
The faster group went ahead. It was good for us as we could find their tracks. This was around mile 1

Some places snow was pretty deep, probably around 10-12 inches.

The day was turning out to be beautiful. White ground, blue sky and Grey/Brown trees.

And some Green bushes too....

Around mile 5, we reached first overlook.

We expected a great scenery and got it, what we did not expect was the strong freezing wind at the overlook

The sight was just so amazing that freezing wind couldn't deter us.

there we had this awesome picture together.

The peak was still far so we kept moving.

Around mile 7 near the second overlook, we could see the snow covered peak of Big Schloss

The first half of 8th mile was pretty easy, but the second half was steep climb to the top.

Near the peak, I was again amazed to see a wood bridge. A wood bridge at that far away place was no less than wonder.

And the sight from it was pretty fantastic too.

It was still early to show for victory sign but then we were so near.

It really took us good effort to find a way to get to the top. We tried jumping, clinging, pushing or whatever tricks we knew. Luckily we found a slightly covered passage without getting injured.

And then from the top we saw the magnificent views

And yes we took the pictures too.

The trek back to parking was much faster and shorter. As it was shorter part of loop we covered 3 miles in an hour. And as if the my morning prayers were answered, the roads were much cleaner, with the sun melted away some snow. So after saying goodbyes, slowly but without any hiccups, i drove out of unmaintained road.

And then it was the celebration time (we were famished too) at the local Mexican restaurant with some Margaritas. Needless to say, I  reached home tired ,and slept like no worry in the world.

END