Hope Mountain semi-whiteout

Snow falling, and light fading, but it was all too mild in HK. So I headed out for an impromptu run to Hope to check on conditions. They looked superb, with thick snow blanketing the mountain and heavy snow falling. The mist was lowering, the atmosphere superb, so I decided to head straight up through very obscure, very steep paths through the woods (finding some short-lived icy scrambling, a little-known possibility on certain, secret parts of Hope Mountain) emerging at the archery centre and then ploughing across a field that was unknown to me. In thick mist and heavy snow it was almost like being in the Cairngorms for a while! I emerged at the middle road, then took the connecting path to the top road and even deeper snow. It was falling heavily again, and continued for most of the descent until the familiar sleet resumed as I dropped down to HK with little light left.