>>1216584After the trail turns northeast, (when you reach the saddle between kempshall and blueberry mt) the true vertical gain begins. I was still bushwacking at this point and the steepness of the mt and the very dense spruce patches made me doubt I could make it. I almost gave up at some points as I was scrambling up/on icy rock and fighting to get through thickets of spruce. My pack was constantly getting me stuck and dropping snow all over me. I started to zig zag in hopes of intersecting the trail and it took me awhile before I finally did. I can’t tell you how happy I was to find it. I hadn’t been lost (I knew where I was on the mt), but it was becoming impossible to make progress without it. Banking west and going back down wouldn’t have been any easier either.
A few trail markers helped ease and assure me I was going in the right direction, but I often lost and reunited with the trail. I had a hard time making out what was left of the winding path. After getting to about 3k ft, the inclination mellows out and the trail straightens out into a very awesome tunnel through the trees. I was exhausted by this point and enjoyed what I could of the trail, but I also just wanted to reach the top.
