A few years ago, before we got more into adventuring and photography, my friends and I decided to go out for a photo excursion to Iron Mountain. It was Jon, Jesse, and I. I'll do a retrospective write up on the trip at some point, but to say the least we failed and it was probably a good thing as we were greatly unprepared. Fast forward a few years and coming back to this mountain sounds like a fun weekend to reattempt this mountain.
The forecast was for an overcast day, so I didn't bother leaving too early for a sunrise, but halfway up to the trailhead I could see the sun poking through for a beautiful sunrise. Moments like these I almost don't know what to do. I start stressing out that I was missing out, but I kept reminding myself that it was a beautiful moment to experience and that it was out of my control.
In my planning for the hike, I noticed a forest service road that if taken, could save nearly half the distance on the hike. I had in mind that there would probably be snow as well, but thought my 4x4 could handle it. Also in this planning (looking at google maps) I thought it would be fun to also hike Black Butte afterwards, but more on that later. I made it to the service road, put the truck in 4 wheel drive and started my way up. Not more than a hundred yards up my rig stopped and I was completely out of traction. Turns out that the snow I was dealing with had a layer of ice under it. I decided it wasn't worth trying to traverse and I don't have much experience with ice, so I turned around and headed to eh trail head.
I didn't initially plan to hike the whole trail, but I was out there early enough it wouldn't mess up my plans, and I wasn't going to lose to this mountain again. There was snow on 98% of the time, but it wasn't a problem as the trail was visible, until 1/3 of the way up, the trail completely disappeared. I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I needed to go up and thought I would eventually find the trail again. After a bit of trailblazing and a fair share of post holing to my knees, I made it to the top portion of the mountain that was primarily exposed rock. I knew I was still off the trail and didn't want to come back down this route, but thought I could find it from the top.
While I was on the rocks, I took the opportunity to make a few pictures sneaking close to the edge to gain the best view. Though I was thoroughly safe, the thoughts of how alone I was out there started to sneak in, so I quickly made my way back to the accent.
Once on top, I was blown away by the expanse of the view. I had never been to a pinnacle point such as this with 360 views from such a small footprint. I began to think about the morning sunrise and how beautiful it would have been up here but also realizing how impossible it would have been for me to make it up the trail in the dark. I will need to come back.
After soaking up the view and taking as many pictures I could think of, I began my descent. I found the trailhead from the top that leads me around the opposite side from my accent. The snow drifts filled the trail, and I was up to my waist in no time. Soon I made it out of the waist-deep snow back to the familiar knee deep with soaking jeans; I was not prepared for that. I was able to make it down much faster following my footprints.
After getting back the truck and loading up my gear, I headed off to my next hike, Black Butte.
