Leaving Upper Marilyn Lake I immediately found that my way was blocked by two conjoined trees that fell together during the winter, forming an effective wall about 6 feet high. I had to backtrack a bit to go around:
On the other side I spotted this rhododendron, covered in snow:
This one, on the other side of the trail, was better protected by a tree:
This ‘bridge’ looked dicey as I approached:
Yup, very slippery. Careful steps win the day:
Reaching the Gold Lake campground, the first thing I saw was the shelter:
It’s a 3-sided structure with a wood stove. The Forest Service is kind enough to truck firewood up here in the fall so that winter visitors can warm up:
They even left a maul to split more wood:
Like most shelters of this type, there is a sleeping platform in the back. The picnic table was probably dragged in there to get out of falling rain or snow:
This campground has only the one shelter, but the other sites have picnic tables and some rather nice bar-b-que grills built from stone that was probably found in the area:
A small tree fell on this double trash bin, caving in the top a bit. That’ll need to be repaired before the summer. Falling trees do a fair bit of damage in the winter:
After looking around the campground a bit I headed down the road back toward the highway. A little way down the road I found my goal: the Maiden Peak Trailhead. Maiden Peak is the big mountain in this area. The Willamette Pass ski resort runs are built on a lower peak of this mountain. The true peak is actually 3 miles to the east, and at 7788′ it is 1100′ higher than the top of the lower peak. The Maiden Peak Trail takes you to the top of the true peak, but I won’t be able to get that high due to snow. My plan is to take this trail to the PCT and then head north instead:
The trail was mostly easy to follow:
