Feb 27, 2022
We picked another beautiful blizzardy winter day to climb the last of our Fulton Chain Trifecta, and unexpectedly we had the mountain to ourself. The parking lot for this trailhead is the same for Rocky Mountain. Instead of going to the trailhead at the middle/back of the parking lot, go far to the right (if you’re facing away from the road) to the very end of the parking area. We signed in at about 1:45pm and hit the trail in our snow shoes.
This trail can be done as a loop, or as an out and back. The shorter path up is also notoriously steep, while the longer path down is more gradual. We chose to go up the steep way and come back the gradual way to complete the loop.
There was already a worn trail through the snow, and even though it was filling with fresh powder it was still easy to follow.
The first 0.7 miles is relatively flat, until we reached a junction pointing to the right for the short steep ascent up to the summit.
The snow was falling so pleasantly, and the trail continued to climb a little more steadily as we trudged along in our snowshoes.
Climbing did pick up as we neared about 0.5 from the summit. Some spots were so steep and tricky that there’s a handy rope looped around a tree to help pull ourselves up.
Right as we approached the summit, some weather blew in, pushing icy snow directly into our faces.
At 4:10pm, almost surprisingly, we popped out onto the summit to the most stunning view…
There wasn’t really a reason to hang out up there other than to sit around and get cold, so we turned right around and headed down the opposite trail to take the gentler way down. It was still tricky and a bit steep in spots, but nothing necessitating a rope! Juno however was encountering some technical difficulties.
We stopped many times to break up the clumps of snow around her face and back legs. Good thing she had her snow suit on to cover the rest of her! But when times got rough, she got the VIP treatment.
When we reached about 2.2 miles until the trailhead, the going got much easier. The steepness was behind us and we could just plod along the trail.
We made it back to the trailhead around 6pm and began the lengthy process of defrosting. Happy Hiking!
Black Bear Mountain: 2454′
Total Duration: 4.5hrs
Round Trip Distance: 6.2 mile
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