Twin Peaks 2nd Bench

I've hiked the Twin Peaks Trail several times in the last couple of weeks. Something always causes me to turn back at the first bench overlook. Today I was just hiking alone with my dog, Baby and we decided to hike at least to the first bench. It was kind of cold and the snow-covered trail was quite firm. I really needed my micro spikes. When we got to the overlook it was really windy and I figured we would immediately turn back like the last few previous hikes. But Baby seemed intent on continuing up the trail. It was only 1pm so early enough that we certainly had plenty of time. It did look like some weather might be moving in, but at least it wasn't snowing or raining yet. The trail was much rougher than the lower part had been. It was still frozen but was rough from previous hikers deep footprints and places with deep holes where they had broken through the snow. I had to kind of dance around some of those spots because it was hard to balance on such uneven terrain. It seemed like it was taking forever to get to the second bench. I guess simply because the trail was so rough. But we got there after about 45 minutes. I think that is longer than I usually take in the summer. But it's definitely harder on snow. At the bench, Baby wanted to continue on up to the ridge above. I think given the chance, she would have gone all the way to the top of Pepper Peak. But I decided not to venture up that way because the trail up there was not packed by previous hikers. There were some tracks, but nothing distinct enough to follow, especially if a snowstorm was moving in. We turned around and Baby ran down the trail, trying to pull me off my feet the entire way. I had to be careful not to step in one of those holes and break an ankle. Once back to the lower bench, the snow had softened up and it was slippery and a little easier walking. We actually ran about half the way back down to the car. The impending storm never arrived and it just remained cloudy and warm at 42 degrees according to the outside air temperature on my car.

Baby at the first bench

Baby at the second bench