I have been trying to set a date for Mt St Helena but due to other commitments within our group and the weather, it got pushed back until winter !

Last year it was on a hot summer day that we hiked this trail. But this time it is the opposite as there were several snow storms earlier during the month. The date that we decided to go turned out to be a perfect day. The sun was out and the temperature was hovering in the house of 50’s. The first mile through the little forest had loose soil because of the rains couple days earlier but as we started off the fire road, we came across the snow-covered trails. Luckily our hiking boots were good enough to continue but in some places the ice formation made the trail slippery and our hiking poles helped  to traverse through. I slipped once but advise is to be little more extra careful if you are hiking this trail with friends. Reason so is that we keep chatting and sometimes loose focus on some of those slippery ice on the trail.

It was a great fun to hike amidst the snow trail though have to be careful in some portions of the trail. But just half mile or so before the summit there was hardly any snow.  At the peak we enjoyed some hot chocolate too and clicked a few pictures. The weather was perfect with clear skies and the surrounding snow scattered mountains looked beautiful. Another fulfilling hike ! It is worth going up this trail during early winter when there is some snow but not a lot as it would otherwise need some technical training and winter gear.