Winter Scramble - Humpback Mountain

Road Conditions: Tinkham Road was closed (with signs across the road) at the exit from I-90. We elected not to move the signs (although others might have) and did a road walk. That added about 3 miles round trip (we were hoping to start somewhere up Forest Road 5510), but not much elevation (turns out it was slightly uphill on the way back). Forest road 5510 was snow free until about 2200 feet (just pass the trestle). It didn't have much snow there, but it was a bit icy, so I wouldn't have recommended driving past it in the dark.

Route: pretty easy to follow except that we missed the trail off of FR 5510-110. It looks more like a washout than a trail. However, the bushwacking wasn't too bad to find the trail. Not much snow until around 4500' and then not solid until about 5000' (right below the summit). There were boulders to cross and snow areas of very thin snow and/or ice mud that posed challenges from time to time. At the summit there were some weak snow bridges between boulders that we steered around. No snowshoes required on this day, but ice axes were definitely essential. On the decent, some used microspikes. We returned the way we came. The most challenging thing was lots of wet roots and pine needles that made going down slippery at times.