I got out today. I did a snowshoe trek going east on the PTC and then up the Olallie Trail until my legs started complaining. Round-trip it was about 5 miles.
5 miles isn’t all that far, unless you are in the deep snow and pushing upwards. Plus, the Olallie Trial, which was created by mountain bikers for mountain bikers and hikers, is clogged with large blowdowns right now:
I hope the bikers have big saws, because when the snow melts and the bikers return, it is going to be tough to navigate with a bike.
The parking lots are nasty, lots of deep snow. The mountain passes are all closed right now, due to avalanche danger, and the store shelves are getting bare with no trucks getting through. I-90 is closed from Exit 34 to the pass (Exits 52 and 53) and that means every person looking for mountain recreation, like hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing was forced to squeeze into the area west of Exit 34.
And so, when I got back to the car, I was faced with a nasty traffic situation. The road in to the trail head is a narrow 2-lane strip. People were stopped in the lane going towards the lot, I presume waiting to see if a parking spot opened. But people were trying to pass the stopped cars, and that left no room for anyone (like me) going the other way.
I swear, otherwise intelligent people make the dumbest decisions when it comes to parking near trail heads. They don’t want to admit they let their lazy asses stay in bed too long and they got there too late. The smart choice would be to turn around. But no, they push on, clogging the roads and endangering all the people who parked far, far away and are using the road as a hiking trail.
Whatevs. A good workout.
