Outdoor Diversion: Wintry Day on the Willey Range Trail

The past few days have been frigid here in the mountains but today was supposed to be a bit milder although still cold. The forecast was calling for temps in the 20's and cloudy skies slowly clearing over the course of the day. I would be hiking the Willey Range today with fellow hikers Larry, Jill, Jim and Amy. Our summits would include Mount Tom (4,051'), Mount Field (4,340'), Mount Willey (4,285') and Mount Avalon (3,442') with three of these being on the 4,000 footer list.

The route for today's hike would start at the Crawford Depot going up the Avalon Trail to the A-Z Trail then up the Mount Tom Spur to the summit of Mount Tom. We would descend Mount Tom and ascend the Willey Range Trail to Mount Field then over to Mount Willey turning around on that summit and returning to Mount Field and descending the Avalon Trail with a short climb up Mount Avalon before continuing down and back to the Crawford Depot.

We all met at the Crawford Depot and started our hike shortly after 8:00 AM. There was snow and ice on the trail right from the start. We got to the first water crossing where we found a covering of ice on the rocks that we had to cross. I could see across to the trail on the other side and it was all ice. The microspikes went on here and stayed on for the entire hike.

We reached the A-Z Trail junction and found the tree that has the trail signs toppled over, a casualty of the recent big storm. There would be more blowdowns along the way but none that presented a problem. We dropped our packs for the hike up to the summit of Mount Tom. We were greeted at the top by some gray jays looking for a snack. As there are very limited views and there were more summits to climb we were soon on our way down.

We picked up our packs and were soon on the Willey Range Trail. It was a beautiful hike through a snowy forest. I was in the lead and as I came around a bend in the trail I saw some familiar faces, it was Ryan with his dog Cooper and fellow hiker Jason whom I had never met but have followed his hiking adventures through his photos online. It has become quite common to meet Ryan on the trail lately.

We passed over the top of Mount Field and kept going. There seemed to be about the same amount of snow along our entire hike today, a couple of inches. There had not been much melting going on since the last storm because the trees were still hanging heavy with snow.

When we arrived at the summit of Mount Willey the last of the clouds were clearing away and the sun felt nice and warm. Down at the outlook the views were spectacular. We stayed here and ate our lunch. The gray jays seemed to have followed us here and they were pestering us for some food. They can be quite relentless and they're never satisfied with just a few handouts. We finished eating and started our return trip.

Back on Mount Field we took a very brief break. It was then a steep descent down to Mount Avalon on a sometimes very icy trail. At the Avalon spur trail we dropped our packs once again and climbed the 100 yards to the summit. The clouds had completely cleared and there was lots of blue sky and sunshine. There was some fantastic views from this lower summit. We took some photos and were soon on our way back down. It was all downhill from here.

The Avalon Trail continued its icy steep drop from Mount Avalon. Careful footing was required over the sections of sheer ice. We made it past the two water crossings and were back at the trailhead. I removed my microspikes just before getting to the Crawford Depot.

Although it was a cold day there was no wind. The temperature held in the 20's and was very tolerable. The weather actually turned out much better than I thought it would and made for a very enjoyable hike. It was a fun hike with a great group of hikers!

Enjoy the photos!