Heading up Wirtz Canyon, pausing for a clothing adjustment.
There was a lot more snow on the hike than I’d expected; there was snow halfway up Wirtz Canyon. It wasn’t until we got to the top of Headlee Pass that we realized it wasn’t the proper pass at all; we’d ascended about fifty feet to the right of the proper pass. The first ascent of Tom's Pass?
The ascent from the entrance of the valley clear up to the summit was almost nothing but snow, just a bit of rock.
At the summit, we ran into three guys who got up there ahead of us, drinking beers and at least one of them smoking a cigarette. They were from Granite Falls, and they knew just a hell of a lot about the area, pointing out features and mine tailings heaps and stuff. It was pretty interesting. They told me where the Sunshine mine adits were, but no the descent I still couldn’t see them. It may be they were hidden by the snow; I couldn’t see that small adit on the approach either.
We were able to glissade most of the way down the mountain. I did it standing, which isn’t quite as fast as a butt-slide, but dryer. Coming down Headlee Pass was pretty scary, without an ice axe.
Descending Headlee Pass.
On the drive out, we stopped for dinner at Hawkeye’s, the restaurant in Frontier Village that I’ve driven by often but never stopped in. It was nice enough, good food and friendly people, but too-loud country music.