The aesthete's way to celebrate the New Year...

Whatever the aesthete's way is, it certainly wasn't mine.

I got up early and drove up the Angeles Crest Highway to hike to Vetter Mountain with a group from the - gasp - Sierra Club. The hike was about 12-13 miles round trip with only about 1200-1300' or so of elevation gain. Because the road to Charlton Flats is closed, the hike started at the big pullout around Mile Marker 44. It descends into a canyon, and then climbs the other side of the canyon to reach Charlton Flats. From there it's about 2 miles to the peak. I believe the trail taken to reach Charlton Flat is called the Silver Moccasin Trail, but that might be wrong.

However, don't take that trail yourself since there's a sign at the trailhead warning that the area was closed due to the use of pesticides. I was assured that five days of rain would have washed any dangerous dust away...

Because of the cloud cover there wasn't much of a view. There was a fair amount of snow near the top but not enough. Especially since the last bit was on a fireroad it wasn't exactly a wilderness experience. To add some excitement, I summitted by kick-stepping into slick, icy snow the last 15' instead of taking the stairs.

Still seeking some excitement after the hike, I decided to drive up the Angeles Crest and spend a little time practicing ice axe skills. Holy Moses! Apparently there's been news coverage of the fact that there's snow in them hills, because there were traffic jams in places and dozens and dozens of cars were parked along the road and filled every parking lot. To make it worse, the road was closed before the ski areas where there are appropriate slopes for the practice I wanted to do. The day wasn't that bad, but with a more vertical hike, many fewer people and with the road being open it would have been better.