Elephants Back Group Snow Climb
2-25-12
2-25-12
I love sharing my passion for hiking and peak bagging, and I love nothing more then experiencing a first summit with a friend. Today I got that opportunity on a grand scale. I had the honor of sharing a Sierra Summit with my long time hiking partner Jeannie, her boyfriend Rich, her best friends Sarah and Cam and her new hiking puppy Lena. I had hoped to take them to the summit of Round Top, but snow conditions and route difficulty lead us to a lower and safer peak nearby.
Rich and Jeannie
Elephants Back is just to the north east of Round Top, and is a prominent peak when viewed from Hwy 88. It is made up of mostly volcanic scree, and has a steep eastern face with great views.
Cam and Sarah
Lena the Wonder Dog!
We spent a couple of hours on the summit enjoying the views and celebrating with wine and beer. It was very cold on top, the temps hovered near freezing all day and the wind chill was near zero. We decided to walk around to the eastern side to get some protection from the wind. We all had an amazing day and made it down safe. Although there is very little snow, hopes are high for an awesome March!!
The total stats for our day of hiking were:
6 miles
1,000 feet of climbing
6 miles
1,000 feet of climbing