The next day we strapped on our snowshoes and headed for the summit. Unfortunately it had snowed heavily a few days before. This slowed our progress as we had to claw our way up the loose deep snow - sometimes on slopes as steep as 50 degrees. We finally gave up with 2000 or so feet left to the summit. I didn't care much, but my brother was dissapointed and started going through a list of reasons why we didn't make it to the top.
The next day we returned home. I was happy with the trip. It was my first three day winter camping trip and I didn't freeze to death, which is always a bonus. The weather was decent and, when we weren't wandering through the trees, we were greeted with great views of the North Cascades. There was also a spectacular iced over waterfall along the trail, but unfortunately I couldn't capture it very well with my camera.
February 2001