12/9/12 Catherine Mountain

Cold gray morning with a winter weather advisory ( Snow, freezing rain, etc) . It was supposed to warm up but did not -23 degrees when we started and 21 when we finished. Wasn't doing anything but being cold and gray so we decided to try a hike- Catherine and then up to Caribou.

When we started up the trail from Dynamite Brook Rd. it was still cold and gray with no snow on the ground or in the air.

One of the first views from the trail

And Kelley found some unfrozen water

As we neared the top it started to snow

There were patches of ice on the trail but we had been able to walk around them

It began to snow harder but we were near the top

Kelley has a good memory. As we approached a spot she can not negotiate she headed off to do her work around before she was even near it. As I was taking a picture of it she appeared above it.

We continued over the top and down the other side to a short trail  to what are called Catherine Cliffs and a view of the other side of the mountain

The snow continued and accumulated making the rest of the hike a challenge. The snow not only hid the icy patches but made them slipperier when I stepped on them. I found myself a stick for support and we walked along side the trail in brush when we could but there were some large patches of partially iced granite that we could not avoid nor tell where the ice was. At one point I fell on my butt and then just stayed on it the rest of the way down that slope.

Still couldn't resist some nice grass in the snow

My good dog Kelley patiently waiting

A little further down the trail. This is the same spot shown above with Kelley in the water and not a speck of snow about.

When we came to the junction for the trail up Caribou I decided to leave that for another day. Kelley was game but it was just too dangerous. Once we were safely down I decided it had been a pretty good hike and Kelley seemed to have enjoyed it. Very slow coming down, so the relatively short hike took us 2  1/4 hours