After last week’s successful snow hike up Charlton Peak, Ellen, Marilyn, and I thought we were on a roll. We thought a snow climb to Dobbs Peak and maybe even Jepson via Vivian Creek Trailhead sounded like a fun endeavor. We have done it in snow many times. The snow from the TH to Mill Creek was nicely compacted flat snow all the way. So far so good! Then we went up the switchbacks and crossed Vivian Creek at the log to where the cross country route begins. Still good! The approach to the ridge is always an exercise in route-finding to avoid brush, so that was typical. We were happy when we attained the ridge, except…our usual route that traverses the left side of the ridge was a definite “no” because of the snow and steep angle. “No problem” we said as we went up the center of the ridge. Then we came to an obstacle, but no problem, we swung around the right side of the ridge through a shrub infested but safe reroute. Eventually we made it back to the center of the ridge with nice snow coverage. Up we went until…dang! Here was a pointy steep obstacle. Ellen and Marilyn started up to check it out as I was about to get out my ice axe. They found that there was no way around it. We had made it to a bit over 8,800’ which was way short of the original plan. So, we had brunch and headed back down, a bit disappointed because we had already invested the energy to climb nearly 3,000’. To add to our woes, we totally screwed up the descent back to the trail while we kept coming upon brush and downed log blockades every which way we turned. Boy, were we elated when we got back to the trail. Once on the trail we made it back to the car with no further incidents. Dinner at El Mexicano in Forest Falls never tasted so good! We agreed that, as much as we love snow hiking, our next hike will probably be in the desert.