Bird Ridge Hike

Beautiful hike with the Valley Wanderers today up Bird Ridge. It's a very tough rocky hike and the top half had a significant amount of snow still. We were able to get around the snow at first but finally decided to add our micro spikes. The snow up there was pretty slushy, but the spikes were helpful. It was very windy even at the start, but got progressively more windy the higher we went. Short of the actual high point, it got so windy that we found it almost difficult to stand up. I hiked most of the way with Erin. the others had turned back at about the same spot where we made that decision. We found a little snow-free area that at first was out of the wind. I fed Baby and finished my candy bar. But suddenly a huge gust of wind picked up one of my gloves and tossed it down the snow field. Erin was standing up at that point and tried to catch it, to no avail. So that beat up old pink glove is now somewhere out in Indian Valley living a new life! Fortunately Erin had a pair of extra mittens and loaned me the left one until we got most of the way down, which saved me from having a very cold left hand. The cornice along the summit ridge looked pretty scary and the wind speed was continuously increasing. So we decided it was time to make a hasty retreat. Three young guys passed us heading up, all three just wearing rubber boots. They passed us again on the way down and said they did actually make it to the top. They were braver than any of our group. Probably crazier too. A young lady runner also raced past us to the summit. She looked really cold and said she was a little scared up there. We kept the spikes on until just before the memorial bench to a young boy who was killed on that trail by a bear a few years ago. We were glad we didn't see any bears today. Baby, my dog was quite amazing with her ability to handle the steep rocks, and slushy snow. She has become a very skilled mountaineer!