The gate on the way up to Little St. Joe Trailhead (aka Bass Creek Overlook) is closing today as it does every year, so I was hoping to get in one last hike up there this week. But the weather just didn't allow it. Jamie and I were planning to go even with the rain and snow and cold, but the extreme wind held us back for safety reasons. Steady winds in the 40's and gusts in the 60's is just not a good combination with so many standing dead trees around.
So we took a drive up to the trailhead to get a glimpse of the Bass Creek Crags with fresh snow before the gate shuts us out again. You can still walk the road and then hike the trail, but it adds quite a bit of mileage to the trip. So my next planned trip up Little Joe will be next year after the gate reopens.
It was getting dark and quite windy when we got up to our view of the crags. The snowy crags against the dark stormy sky was awesome, and the fresh snow made them look extra big and close in person, like we could almost reach out and touch them.
