We braved the howling winds and relative cold to get some exercise in the Jones Pass bowls.
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| On the Jones Pass road with the bowl in the background. |
The sun was shining when we met at 7:30 at the Woolly Mammoth HH lot. The crew included Cathy, Sue, Mark, Dave, and Norm. After a bit of discussion, we mostly agreed to head towards Jones Pass to explore some of the bowls. After the usual stop in Downieville, we proceeded to the trail head. Mark was in the lead when we passed the empty parking area and drove up to the meadow above the Butler Gulch turn off. A friendly herd of feral Toyota pickups surrounded the 2 Xterras as we unloaded and strapped on our snowshoeing gear.
From the meadow, we attempted to find an off-trail route to access the bowls. After an lengthy 5-minute trudge through the steep trees and deadfall, we decided to climb back up to the road where we made much better time. At the second switchback, we left the road to ascend into the bowls. All too soon we left the protection of the trees and headed up through the meadow, attempting to avoid the willows. The group discussed the best route to take, split into two, then re-converged on higher ground. The wind was howling and the snow was sideways at times, making it feel brutally colder than the thermometer said. Luckily the periods of brutal gusts were short, and if felt downright warm when it turned calm. We did a bit more trekking, then huddled into a small grove of trees for the quickest lunch ever. From there, we beat an early retreat back to the road, then down to the cars.
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| Heading back to the cars. |
Stats: 2.8 mi / 1000' / 3.5 hrs.
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Jones Pass area slopes map. Trip route in blue.
Click on map for larger version. |
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