Crystal Mt Loop 3600 ft elevation gain

Crystal Mt Loop

3600 ft elevation gain. Paul Smith, Glenn Rogers, and myself rode the Crystal Mt loop, counterclockwise. Reference: http://www.nwsource.com/outdoors/scr/of_detail.cfm?category=Biking&rt=41219 except in reverse of his directions. No snow on the climb. Lots of snow on the descent. Recommendation: do it clockwise to the top, then return the same way. I would wait at least 2 weeks before sending anybody down the way we did. The descent had lots of snow and navigation challenges just finding the trail, and even then it may be iffy.

The hikers we ran into were very friendly and spent time with us discussing routes and showing us a map. I'm sure we would have found our way out, but it was nice of them.

Currently, Crystal CCW to top and back would be fun. Doing CW or doing as a loop is strongly discouraged until the snow melts.