Happy Father's Day!!!
To all those Dad's that mean the world to their kids, most especially mine!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A Summer Snow Adventure
This past weekend Donnie and I and a couple friends went backpacking in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area in the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests in Colorado. Our plan was to follow the Buchanan Pass Trail about 7 miles and then turn off onto another trail for about 1.5 miles. There we would find a lake where we would camp for the night before attempting to reach the summit of Sawtooth Mountain in the morning. To reach the summit of Sawtooth we would need to retrace the last 1.5 miles in order to get back on the original trail which would lead us about 3 more miles to the summit, adding a total of 6 miles onto the 8.5 we would already be retracing to get back to the car.
For backpacking, we couldn't have asked for better weather! Both days it was mostly sunny and in the upper 60s, low 70s with a mountain breeze that was cool from the nearby river and lakes. In the afternoon, the typical cloud cover rolled in, but it passed over without a drop of rain and never once covered the sun. At night the sky was perfectly clear and stars shined for miles. At one point I noticed in the distance the lights from Boulder could be seen through the mountains. It seemed crazy that we were in such a secluded area of wilderness, yet could see lights from a city. The night and morning were cool, but not at all unbearable.
Anyway, back to the snow part of our adventure. As the hike wore on and we rose in elevation, the sparce patches of snow became increasingly frequent and much deeper. At points we were hiking up and over mounds of snow to stay on the trail, often times falling through the snow to our shins and knees. When it came time to turn off the main trail to the 1.5 mile stretch that would take us to the lake, we took a break for one of our friends to change from sandals to boots. As we were sitting here another man came down the trail we were about to take and engaged us in some small talk, at one point saying the trail was, and I quote, "completely obliterated." By this he meant that snow was completely covering the trail to the point where it was impossible to see the trail or know where it lead. But did this deter us? Not a bit.
As soon as Cameron had his boots on we started up the trail. Let me tell you, the old man was right! After a few hundred yards it was impossible to see the trail. We were literally walking on snowpack that was probably at least 2 feet deep. Luckily, our other friend, Tony, had backpacked at the same lake we were going to the year before, so he knew in which direction we needed to head (sort of). So we followed him into the woods, got pretty lost (or so it seemed), and eventually found the river that he knew the trail followed. We walked in the clearing along the river until we finally came over a hill and saw the lake in front of us.
Next task: find somewhere to camp that wasn't covered in snow. We did accomplish that, but some other hikers that came up behind us weren't so lucky. The next morning we saw they had set their tent up on top of the snow because there was no flat ground left not covered in snow. There were 3 other pairs and a large group of people camping that weekend at the same lake, so it was fairly crowded, but not too bad. We tried fishing for dinner but had no such luck, so we eventually busted into our canned tuna and crackers and dehydrated meals from REI. Not as good as fresh fish, but it worked.
The next morning we followed the trail (once at the lake you could see where the trail was supposed to meet the lake, although it was still mostly covered in snowpack) back to the main trail to start towards the summit. We only made it about 75 steps (I was wearing my pedometer) before we decided the snow cover was going to be way to much to try to make it to the top, so we turned around and headed back to the car. Maybe another day we will make another attempt, when we have more time and much less snow.
Take a peek at our fun!
The crew.
For backpacking, we couldn't have asked for better weather! Both days it was mostly sunny and in the upper 60s, low 70s with a mountain breeze that was cool from the nearby river and lakes. In the afternoon, the typical cloud cover rolled in, but it passed over without a drop of rain and never once covered the sun. At night the sky was perfectly clear and stars shined for miles. At one point I noticed in the distance the lights from Boulder could be seen through the mountains. It seemed crazy that we were in such a secluded area of wilderness, yet could see lights from a city. The night and morning were cool, but not at all unbearable.
Anyway, back to the snow part of our adventure. As the hike wore on and we rose in elevation, the sparce patches of snow became increasingly frequent and much deeper. At points we were hiking up and over mounds of snow to stay on the trail, often times falling through the snow to our shins and knees. When it came time to turn off the main trail to the 1.5 mile stretch that would take us to the lake, we took a break for one of our friends to change from sandals to boots. As we were sitting here another man came down the trail we were about to take and engaged us in some small talk, at one point saying the trail was, and I quote, "completely obliterated." By this he meant that snow was completely covering the trail to the point where it was impossible to see the trail or know where it lead. But did this deter us? Not a bit.
As soon as Cameron had his boots on we started up the trail. Let me tell you, the old man was right! After a few hundred yards it was impossible to see the trail. We were literally walking on snowpack that was probably at least 2 feet deep. Luckily, our other friend, Tony, had backpacked at the same lake we were going to the year before, so he knew in which direction we needed to head (sort of). So we followed him into the woods, got pretty lost (or so it seemed), and eventually found the river that he knew the trail followed. We walked in the clearing along the river until we finally came over a hill and saw the lake in front of us.
Next task: find somewhere to camp that wasn't covered in snow. We did accomplish that, but some other hikers that came up behind us weren't so lucky. The next morning we saw they had set their tent up on top of the snow because there was no flat ground left not covered in snow. There were 3 other pairs and a large group of people camping that weekend at the same lake, so it was fairly crowded, but not too bad. We tried fishing for dinner but had no such luck, so we eventually busted into our canned tuna and crackers and dehydrated meals from REI. Not as good as fresh fish, but it worked.
The next morning we followed the trail (once at the lake you could see where the trail was supposed to meet the lake, although it was still mostly covered in snowpack) back to the main trail to start towards the summit. We only made it about 75 steps (I was wearing my pedometer) before we decided the snow cover was going to be way to much to try to make it to the top, so we turned around and headed back to the car. Maybe another day we will make another attempt, when we have more time and much less snow.
Take a peek at our fun!
Yes, those are llamas on leashes.
Filtering water for the next leg of our trip.
Sort of a panoramic view of the lake.
The crew.
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