This was my final hike of last year, and very purposeful one, as I had wanted to get in at least one deliberate snowshoe hike around the holiday.
Alas, the snow did not cooperate, and I only needed my microspikes - but that was okay.
Not okay was the hard fall I took when the edge of one microspike caught on the other, sending my knee colliding into a rock on the trail. I went down like a log and ended up half on/off the trail, trying not to squirm as I got the pain under control. After thirty seconds or so, I carefully clipped out of my pack and managed to scramble back onto the narrow trail. Still, it was a painful enough injury that I felt nauseated immediately afterwards.
Luckily, after resting for a few more minutes, the pain and nausea ebbed to a bearable level and I found that I could still hike. So, I did. Up and up, to the popular viewpoint of Mt. Hood, and then beyond that (since All Trails said the actual summit was farther along). I went far enough to see what All Trails was all about in regards to that summit (it can be seen in distance on the righthand side of the pinhole photo posted) and decided that I shouldn't attempt going any farther unless it was summer and the trail much more friendly.
These two photos represent that last hike of 2023, but they aren't the last images. I held back about two dozen from 2023 that I still need to share, so we'll dive into those over the next couple of weeks.
Image made with my Nikon FM.
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