The climb to Mason Lake was lovely. Snow started a bit before the boulder field, but the orange sky promised nothing but loveliness and beckoned us continue. Mason itself was mostly frozen, but not enough to step foot on.

No worries. I'd never been to Little Mason Lake so I'd swing over there. There's no trail (or at least not one I could see under several feet of snow), but that just meant I could make a straight line. Tink enjoyed dashing around and walking out onto the snow-covered lake when we arrived.

Little Mason Lake looked suspiciously like Mason Lake. Had I gone in circles? Nope. Mt. Defiance stood over the little lake like Bandera did over the larger. They seemed the same size from where we stood, but looking at the map they clearly aren't. Weird.

Rather than return the way I came (where's the fun in that?) I climbed up to the Mt. Defiance trail. That meant I'd be walking through a snowy forest with no tracks while the sun tried its best to penetrate the trees. Lovely? What do you think?

At the junction with the Mason Lake trail I had a decision to make. I could go back the way I came. It'd get me home earlier than expected. I'd probably take a nap. Maybe work a bit to get ahead for the week to come. Or...

I could head to the summit. I'd done this route once before. Right at the beginning of the end. (We'd been so innocent back then.) The weather was still looking good and I was riding a high from easy walking through the forest so we started up the ridge.

By the time I was having second thoughts it was easier to keep going than turn around. Yes, that's exactly the kind of thinking that can get you into trouble. As we got higher a storm approaching from the west began to overtake us. Even though we stood in the sun, the high winds threw the storm's snow at us. It was actually kind of nice and made for some stunning visuals.

It wasn't until we neared the ridge that I realized the error I had made. All this time we'd been sheltered from the southerly winds, but as soon as we crested we were completely exposed. No problem. But notice we didn't linger.

As we descended along the exposed ridge the winds somehow got stronger. Even Tinkham, usually oblivious to storms, clearly didn't approve of my choices. Oops.

Now we really didn't linger and in fact made good time down the ridge. We opted for any route that would buy us shelter from the trees or boulders. Except the lee side was corniced so we couldn't really take advantage. When the summer trail turned straight down the slope we stayed on the ridge and descended the winter trail. It was far better in the trees.

The rest of the hike out was the same old same old. We joined the main Mason Lake trail and descended under the slopes. We were moderately blown about, but nothing like on the summit. There were even some other hikers on their way up to the lake. Nobody we talked to admitted to having designs on the summit.

They're all smarter than I am.

So the lessons are... uh... beats me. It's not like I would learn them or apply them next time I go out. As I mentioned in the summary, "I'm an idiot."

📍On the lands of the Wenatchi people.