Black Mountain - November 23, 2024

Participants: Kaitlen O'Dell, Drew Iaderosa, Duncan Lennon

Trip Leader: Ryan Gregson

We started the day off with a crew of three, meeting up at The Trough near-ish to the trailhead.  Turned out to be an expert call by the trip leader, as the breakfast was great, cheap, and the surprise $3 obligatory mimosa was fuel for the poor conditions to be had.  The 4 of us met at the trailhead at 10am and started up the Obrien Loop Trail.  Intermittent rain and cool temps had us in and out of our rain jackets.  After about 2 miles we started to point up the hill toward the peak.  We encountered a little snow and consistently wet conditions on the way.  Higher up the wind picked up and we managed to top out after 2,400' of gain in a little of snow and 30-40mph wind gusts.  We took a quick selfie and got the hell out of that blustery cold and back down the mountain.  We were back at the trailhead after 4 hours of walking.  Despite the conditions, it was a great day out in beautiful country that is right next to town!  I don't tend to steer into hiking in the rain, but I always enjoy it when it happens.