Hiked November 12, 2005 by Tim and Valerie
Conditions: What a great walk for our first "snow" hike of the year (and since we moved to NH). We were trying out some new equipment - our ultralight packs and new gaiters. Everything did very well. Parked at Rt 302 (due to the ice on the driveway to the summer parking lot), walked in to the shelter for lunch, then back out. Mt Willey looms over us in the background. Rock-hopping on the snowy rocks to get over Ethan Pond was a little nerve-wracking for Val. One bad move and you're WET.
We met a huge number of people on the trails. We could not believe how many of them were planning to stay overnight at the shelter/tentsites. I guess that stuck in our minds because that's exactly what we did later in March. See Ethan Pond Winter Overnight for pictures from that trip.
Stats: 6.0 miles round trip, 1800 ft elevation gain