Write-up: Kevin Perez

Leader: Kevin Perez

Co-Leader: Peter Franz

Six Tramps enjoyed the beautiful snow-covered trees, majestic views, and friendly banter on a cold and sunny day. With only a couple inches of snow and numerous icy spots on the trail, we wisely chose micro-spikes over snowshoes for the climb.  While lack of snowshoes led us to forgo bushwhacking Echo Cliffs to Panther summit (after trudging through a couple hundred yards of deep off-trail snow), all agreed that the hike was still great – and that we should revisit that bushwhack in fair-weather months. 

The deep snow at the cliffs did provide a great snow-angel opportunity!

A thanks to Darlene for lending Terry her spare micro-spike (a fun story why she carries a spare) after Terry lost hers on the ascent. And a shout out to Peter Franz for his “leave no trace” attitude during our descent – he searched for and found the lost crampon!  And a “you go girl” to Deb for busting Peter’s chops on numerous occasions despite not knowing him well (our collective encouragement helped)!
I had a moment of insanity on the descent when I climbed a large rock, with a little help from my friends, and did a bare-chested proclamation (I’ll spare you that picture).
And thanks to Pete for his superb co-leading and sound judgment.