Elain ascending the lee side of the ridge
We had originally planned an overnight hike to Ruth Mountain this weekend, but heavy snowfall and increasing temperatures created too much avalanche hazard. Elain came across an article from the Post-Intelligencer that described Mailbox Peak as a good hike, so we decided to go there instead. Since it was New Year's Day, we got a late start. The directions in the P-I article had two factual errors which caused us some head-scratching, but we eventually found the trailhead without too much difficulty. When we began the hike at 10 AM, it was windy but rather warm, over 50 degrees. We walked up the gated logging road, and were at the old trailhead within 20 minutes. The lower part of the trail was muddy, but soon the trail went straight up the hillside and we were out of the mud. True to the route description, the middle portion of the trail is very direct. Above 2500' the wind picked up, and the trees began to sway back and forth; for once I was glad to be in young second-growth forest with no dead trees. Above 3000' we reached the snow line, but the trail was easy to follow. When the trail reached the ridgeline at about 3300', the southerly wind was quite strong. The trail appeared to follow the ridge crest, and thus would be exposed to the full force of the wind. We opted to bear left to the lee side of the ridge. Elain broke trail through a small snow-covered talus field, then through trees to reach the ridge line again. We spied a mailbox on a post that serves as an appropriate summit marker. At this point it looked as though staying on the lee side of the slope would involve trailbreaking through deep snow, so we headed out onto the windward side. It was a full-on gale, with wind-driven snow stinging our faces and eyes. We each got knocked off-balance a couple of times by wind gusts. When I reached the summit at 1 PM, I sought shelter between two boulders and waited for Elain. The wind was gusting to about 60 knots, so when Elain joined me on the summit, we took a couple of pictures and started back down. About halfway down the ridge, a gust knocked a snowshoe off my pack, and I had to run after it. I barely caught it before the snowshoe was blown off the mountainside. Lower down the mountain, the wind died down and the sun came out. I slowed us down a bit descending the steep trail, due to pain and fatigue in my ankle. We reached the car at 3:30 PM.
Elain ascending the lee side of the ridge
Elain climbing towards the summit, in windy conditions
Steve on the summit
Elain on the summit
One of two mailboxes (!) we found on the summit. We didn't bother checking
to see if there was any mail inside.
Elain walking down the logging road toward the car