After a successful ascent of Flagstaff in the midst of the storm on thursday night, which involved crawling through snow-laden ferns, and stomping through thigh deep snow in mountain bike cleats (first two pics), I felt that the time was right for a solo attempt on Flagstaff’s more formidable sister, the indomitable Mount Cargill.

I began the assault around 5:30pm from the East face of Mount Holmes (read: Mt Cargill Road), and made good time up the low rocky bluffs (read: staircase). However, I was soon slowed by extensive wind damage; I spent much of the night (around 30 minutes) pushing forward through a veritable graveyard of vegetation. As I neared the towering Organ Pipes, I came across a seemingly impassable wall of fallen trees. There ended my bid for the summit.

Figuring that this was good enough for a monday night stroll, I ran back down to the car and drove home. Got some nice views of an enormous full moon on the way down.