SacramentoTrailMix.com

Let's get some exercise and enjoy the beauty of Echo Summit's snowshoe trail. It's one of my favorites, is incredibly serene, and poses little in the way of technical challenge or steep dangerous trail. We will plan on shoeing (suffering?) around 5 hour s. No snowshoe experience necessary, but participants should have eno ugh cardio fitness to enjoy the rigors of snowshoeing. This means the abil ity to hike AT LEAST 7 miles and 1000 feet of vertical on dry trail. As to distance, that will depend on each person's fitness, and the snow con ditions, so I cannot state the total mileage we will cover. The first mi le or so is really flat, then we will climb 450-500 vertical ft. to the be autiful Benwood Meadow, which for many is a good destination point. After this, the trail steepens and the views really open up, with incredible s now-cliffs and rock landscapes. For those who are most fit, the top of th e trail is at 9000 ft. for a vertical gain of 1700 ft. and total distance o f about 7.5 miles. Regardless of one's fitness, we will all follow the sam e trail and double-back along this trail. I've hiked the route many times , and this approach has worked well, for it allows folks to hike at a pa ce that is comfortable, and no one has to stress about "keeping up" with t he leaders. Moderate to Heavy snow cancels, as does lack of snow cove rage-----PLEASE CHECK STATUS OF MEETUP THRU MORNING OF JAN 30th. If con ditions are marginal at Echo Summit, we can drive an extra 30 minutes to C arson Pass, which will have more snow due to its higher elevation. Carson Pass also provides incredibly scenic vistas. If we end up going to Carson P ass, we will still meet at Folsom Park N Ride at the same time. SUGGES