Cox Hill - winter hike Off-Trail hike on 11-Jan-2025

Today was proof that any day spent hiking is a great day, thanks to the fun and compatible group and weather that was nowhere near as miserable as it looks in some of the photos (although the strong cold winds were constant). The flurries as we approached the ridge soon dissipated into blue skies and we had excellent views on our extended ridge walk, first past the usual summit to the far end for lunch, and then again on the off-trail loop back to the main trail. The excellent company and conversation livened up the admittedly boring walk back to the cars. Thanks to the group for coming out on short notice! Two different devices showed 16.5 km and 900m of elevation gain, which was more than I expected.

Participants: Carolyn, Ingrid (coordinator), Deborah, Christine, Deb

It's snowing and windy as we climb the big avalanche slope

Continuing along the ridge in strong wind

The snow stopped! We have sun and views!

Somewhat out of the wind for lunch

Much better views when we were coming back from lunch

On the OT route back

Even managed to fit in a bit of scrambling