The trail climbs right out of the gate, similar to Dog Mountain, but peters out before too long and becomes downright civil.  The rain, hitting the lower elevation's snow, created quite a spectacle at Rodney Falls as they were flowing heavy and fast.  Soon after the falls, I ran into snow.  There were several inches of the cold, white stuff on the trail as it made the trail a but slippery.

At around 1500 feet, the rain falling down on me changed into snow as I slowly slogged up the slopes, enjoying the viewless white blanket that filled the valleys.  The trail sported many inches now with slush and small runoffs just below the surface.

Almost wanting to turn around, I decided not to.  For I had grown quite soft lately and did not like what I was feeling.  The Portland area does not get a lot of snow each year and I wanted to make the best of this trip.  I carried on.

The hike up really was not very difficult.  Only footing at times, hidden by deep snow, provided any real challenge.  I was enjoying the trail all to myself anyway.

Just before I crested out on the summit, the trail had been completely covered by over three feet of powder.  It was snowing as hard as I was working to tromp my way up the side of the mountain.  My back turned cold as I would graze the branches while passing them, dropping cold, wet snow in behind my pack.

Unfortunately, there were no views to be seen other than a lot of snow within the immediate vicinity.  I quickly snapped a pick and trudged downhill back to the truck where people were showing up in droves, wearing confounding faces.

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