That’s Mt Hood in distance 
Behind me – where we’ve come 
Bez first trip this high
Only a few have broken this trail today, heading higher onto Mt. Hood’s flanks. Following White River, crossing over it – covered in layers of snow. It’s been snowing consistently for about two weeks by now.
In all my time coming to this same spot over the last decade I’ve never seen it this deep. Never been able to cross over the river and head higher. So we do it, still following maybe two other tracks so our snowshoes still crunch as we further break the trail.
I make Bezoar follow us rather than his usual lead dog so he doesn’t completely sink. He’s so tall and at 75 pounds without snowshoes of his own he still sinks, but less so, his webbed paws usually helping a bit.
We’re going higher, but it takes effort. We switch leads to conserve and realize neither of us has many of the 10 essentials. We have food, water, extra jackets and gloves, but no shovel to dig us out if we get into more avalanche areas, not much to keep us warm if a sudden storm comes in or one of us gets hurt and the other has to hike down for help.
That, and realizing that Bezoar will never stop trying to keep up as he sinks in the deeper snow – this is danger zone. We decide to come back another day, more prepared, sans Bez, and go even higher.