1/28, Sunday. Warm (60°F in the city). 9 of us met up at 8am. Drove in 2 cars to Barlow Pass, snowshoed south along PCT for ~1 mile, and then off trail up to Ghost Ridge to west (right). Had lunch on the top (there's a big cairn). Relatively clear of trees on the top, could see Hood quite well. Even though sun shined faintly through in the afternoon, still too many clouds to see far. It has been warm this year, so not much snow accumulated on the tree branches, and whatever was there was melting fast, so it felt like a bit of rain walking among trees.
I very much enjoyed the short off-trail section. The boulder field under the snow looked very pretty. Needles sparkled with tear drops (photo by Claudio - host of today's hike).Total about 5 miles, 1000' gain. Despite of bathroom and coffee stops, I got home by 3pm. Nice and early. Met 2 interesting ladies: Tamera who lost over 140lb last year, and Sandra who traveled for 3.5 years recently.
