Hiking along the Crawford Path
With time ticking away, and with more inclement weather surely on it's way, we decided to head off. We could still see the path we were about to follow, all the way along the broad ridge towards Mt Pierce. From there, we'd veer right, continuing down into the trees on the Crawford Path, and, ultimately, back to the parking lot.
The descent down Eisenhower's southwest flank and along the Crawford path was quite enjoyable. The trail conditions were good and much of the trail is in the open. Footing was firm, and it was only as we neared Mt Pierce that we needed to switch back into snowshoes. The weather continued to darken, and soon a solid bank of clouds rolled in, enveloping us. But, not before we got one more spotlight of sun on the summit dome of Eisenhower. Kind of like a show finale!
Another dark bank approaches
With little to see and with dusk not that far away, we marched briskly along. Soon we reached the junction where the Crawford Path heads off of the crest of the ridge. We met another hiker at that precise point, coming up the trail. He informed us that the trail was soon unfollowable -- it degenerated into a maze of tracks, and he was hiking back up to take the alternate route over the summit of Mt Pierce.
Although we weren't sure that the trail was in fact unfollow-able, we ended up agreeing that it would be an unpleasant bushwack if it was (and which Jenn hates), so we decided to also take the alternate route over the summit of Pierce. It would only add a few extra feet of gain and about half-a-kilometre of distance, so it wasn't too onerous.
Mt Pierce's summit was quickly achieved and passed, and soon we were passing through very pretty, thickly snowed forest. Huge heavy mounds of snow weighed down on the trees, creating a winter-wonderland type of effect.
