Phelps

Excited to give this winter hiking thing another shot, I headed early to the LOJ parking lot on Sunday morning for a hike to Phelps. If anything it was a little warmer and less windy than Saturday. A familiar walk from the trailhead to Marcy Dam. From there to the Phelps split is a little more up hill but not much. Everywhere there is still a ton of snow. The trail up to Phelps was less steep to start but got progressively steeper the higher I got. Near the top it opens up so when you stop to catch your breath and let your heart rate settle down you get sweet views. On top it was a little windy but nothing like Saturday on Cascade. Again, coming back down was a joy and a lot less effort than going up with a few butt slides thrown into the mix. Back on the Van Ho trail I met more people on skis than snowshoes. Some had xc skis but others had skins over telemark skis and were headed to Marcy and Phelps. Am not sure where one would ski off Phelps but I'm guessing it involves deep powder and trying to avoid trees!