No surprises: We woke up too early. We hiked in the dark. We put snowshoes on when the snow got deep. We went off trail. We emerged from the dense clouds to find the skies clear and fresh snow blanketing the mountains. We reveled in this ephemeral world bounded by the clouds below and the dark blue sky above. We descended into the clouds. We trudged back to the car.
What was a surprise was that this trip followed so closely the above-the-clouds wonderland adventure just a few days earlier. After all, it's the end of November and beginning of December. This is some of the worst weather for us.
And to be clear, it would have been pretty lousy all day if we had stayed in the lowlands. But climbing high to be beat the clouds is a privilege bestowed on only the overly athletic (not me) and stubborn (me). I'm still not good at predicting whether the high point of a trip will be above the clouds (as evidenced by the many times I've been stuck in a storm), but I'll always take the chance. Being above the clouds is too good a payoff to not try.
So go up when the weather is lousy. Maybe you'll get lucky.
📍On the lands of the Wenatchi people.
