After Cottonwood Meadow, the trail dropped into the forest for a mile or two. Routefinding here was a bit more challanging, but the occasional tree tag and signs of trail maintenance kept it from being too difficult.

Unnamed clearing between Cottonwood and Smith. At this elevation/time there was 3-4 inches of new snow on top of the crust which got increasingly wet as the day progressed. 1/2 mile uphill section started on the far side of this meadow.

Smith meadow, with the Smith Peak ridge behind it. The snow here was quite wet.

Dicey creek crossing on the near side of Smith Meadow. Found this section that allowed passage in two hops.

Trail junction on the far side of Smith Meadow. The next 1 1/2 mile had a 1500ft elevation gain and would have required that I be out well after dark, so I turned around here after stopping for some lunch.

View back to Smith Meadow as I started the return leg. (Covered the leg from here to the peak on this trip from the Smith Peak trailhead.)

Tributary creek running across Smith Meadow.

Following my tracks back across Cottonwood Meadow

The moon rose in the mid afternoon and some clouds rolled in around sunset.