New Years Eve +/- Run 2023

[tobyw]

For this year's event, our small group met up at the Maverick for an 0800 departure under foggy and gloomy skies, but we had high hopes for sunshine as we gained elevation. In the group were Dryside in the trusty white 6.0L powered JKU-R, Dan and Jenn in their grey 2021 JLU-R (accompanied by their daughter Madison), the minion and his girlfriend Payton in his white XJ complete with new rear locker , and myself with the missus in the blue LJ. As we rolled West the fog lifted around Grandview, but the skies were still pretty gloomy above us:

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We offloaded and aired down at the Windy Point staging area:

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With no pesky snow to slow us down on this snow run ( ), we rapidly made our way toward the summit on FS-1302, stopping at the snow shelter for a brief intermission and allow the dog to do what dogs do:

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Continuing our way to the top, we stopped at the Southern viewpoint overlooking Ahtanum and Rim Rock lake:

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It was nearing lunchtime, so we made our way down toward the fire tower. It was here that we encountered the only deep snow we've seen in weeks, and sure enough 3 out of the 4 of us succumbed to it's depths:

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A couple winch pulls later we were all back on the trail and heading for the tower:

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Sadly the winds were just a tad too much to bear on the top of the dirtpile, so we retreated down the hill a bit and found a nicely tucked in opening to setup camp:

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The conversation, food, and fire(s) were thoroughly enjoyable but soon enough it was time to head back down. Instead of taking FS-1302 all the way, however, we took the detour down to Cowiche Mill and then back up to 1302 again just to mix things up a bit. We arrived back at the Windy Point staging area around 1600hrs and aired back up for the road trip home:

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This is without question the least snow we have had for a New Year's run, and it's troubling to say the least With that said, it's always great to just GTFO and enjoy a day with friends and family. Happy New Year everyone