Today I started my "40 in 40" goal. I have a goal to hike 40 summits this year since it will be my 40th b-day. So today I was lucky enough to get off work and it was forecast to be a nice sunny day so I figured I'd start with an easy one, since there is a lot of snow still. So my son and I headed up early and Summited Prairie Bluff. It was a great day except it was probably the strongest sustained winds I've ever had for an entire hike. I've maybe had gusts that have been worse but this was sustained wind the entire hike. At some points we were actually crawling on the summit ridge. As a result we didn't spend too much time on the summit and so a few of the pictures didn't turn out, like my usual summit panorama. Anyways I'll definitely do this one again, even with the wind it only took us 3 and a half hours. We thought we may have needed snow shoes but there was only a little post holing at the beginning and end otherwise the wind keeps that ridge pretty clear of snow and the low lying areas are so drifted that they are strong enough to walk on.
 |
| Our beginning view of our goal for the day (summit on far right) |
 |
| A lot easier to climb over barbed wired fences when the drift are as high as the fence |
 |
| Walking on the packed down snow with Pincher Ridge in the background |
 |
| We would go up the ridge on the far right |
 |
| Looking back at the prairie with the beautiful sun shining down on us |
 |
| The steep section before we got on the main ridge to the summit |
 |
| This was right before he lost his sun glasses to the wind...they blew right off and we weren't able to find them |
 |
| Victoria Peak and Castle Mountain coming into view |
 |
| Summit Photo just to prove we where there, I usually get out my mini tripod but it wasn't going to work today with the wind |
 |
| On the summit...we didn't stay very long |
 |
| Another view of Victoria and Castle |
 |
| Looking back at where we had been |
 |
| Another view of Prairie Bluff near the end |
Track of Hike
