Mountaineering Shakedown Hike

In preparation for my trip to Washington in late May, I've been accumulating the gear and, especially, the skills necessary for a mid-spring attempt at the Wonderland Trail and Mount Rainier. This past weekend I put my mountaineering kit to the test by heading out to the Hessie Trailhead for an overnight stay that would mark my first winter camping attempt and first snowshoeing trip. A trail report follows:

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Day 1: 12-30-2012

Arriving in the tiny town of Eldora around 11:30 AM, I was on the trail well before noon. Unlike during 3-season conditions, one must park within the town limits of Eldora and hike 1/2 mile to the 3-season parking area and an additional 1/2 mile to Hessie trailhead. This stretch provided time to acclimate to my snowshoes and the level of traffic on the trail, which consisted of people on snowshoes, skis, and wearing your average winter boots.

This portion of the trail was hard-packed and snowshoes could have easily been replaced by crampons or microspikes, though almost everyone I encountered made use of skis or snowshoes. The frequent rocky patches on the 1/4 mile after the junction between paths to Hessie and 4th of July trailheads caused most skiiers to remove their skis and walk intermittently, though some chose to risk the damage to the bottoms of their skis.

I passed several people who inquired at my pack and seemed bemused that anyone would want to camp in snowy conditions - let alone on a day with highs in the mid 20s F and a low for the night hovering just below 0 F. It was when I told them my intention to head to King Lake that shock became the typical reaction as nobody else intended on going beyond Lost Lake.

At the junction between Lost Lake trail and King Lake trail, I took the one less traveled. Heading roughly west, I began to encounter deeper snow that hadn't been as compacted by snowshoe traffic and clearly hadn't seen any ski traffic this season. This made my progress slightly slower, but my snowshoes were up to the challenge even with the ~30 pound out-of-skin weight they were forced to support (a gear list will be posted once finalized).

My footwear system was up to the task at this point, however I began to deeply regret forgetting my gaiters back in Denver. I didn't realize this error until I'd arrived in Eldora, and probably should have driven back down to Boulder to grab a pair. The GoLite thermal tights I was wearing were able to keep most of the snow out of my boots, but by the time I made camp at around 4 PM my toes were feeling damp and I became concerned about my feet. Because of this, I ended up building a small fire to dry out my feet, socks, and boots - and because fires are a great way to pass the time, conserve liquid fuel, and reinvigorate oneself.

I typically try to use all of the daylight provided to me, but this time I began setting up camp well before dusk for two reasons: first, I hadn't ever camped in such snowy conditions before and wanted to do it properly in full daylight; second, I wanted to give myself enough time to bail out and return to my car before it became too dark/perilous.

Setting up camp consisted of walking in an ever-shrinking circle several times until the area was hard-packed, getting my shelter together, and gathering some dead limbs for fuel. I've gotta say that a fire can make all the difference when you're half killing time and half exhausted/unnerved from a day of snowshoeing in 3 feet of powder.

I took this period of waning daylight to test out my cooking/hydration system, which consists of the MSR WindproII and a 1.4 liter pot. I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I should upgrade my pot to something closer to 2 liters, and figure this will become more of an issue once I'm obtaining the majority of my water from melted snow. That said, I was able to quickly melt down and boil snow for my meal using the stove - it felt quite good to have warm food in my belly. Also of note, I attempted to use the fire to melt snow and, while it was successful, the feasibility of this method is doubtful due to the difficulty of maintaining hot coals on a bed of snow.

Once I felt properly warm and dried out, I hit the hay and drifted off to sleep listening to a RadioLab podcast about bliss.

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Day 2: 12-31-2012

Sleeping relatively well, I awoke around 8 AM or so, made myself a quick cup of tea before breaking camp and heading back toward Lost Lake. My decision to head back was largely a function of my footwear, which failed to keep my feet more than moderately numb for most of the morning (actually, I don't think I regained complete feeling in them until about 20 minutes before I reached the car). The videolog I kept has a bit more detail on this, but what it boils down to is I didn't have sufficient means of (1) keeping my boots/feet dry and (2) drying out my boots/feet once wet.

The hike back was quick pleasant and I managed to billy goat around a fair amount on my way back, though Lost Lake wasn't on my mind due to the expectation of an overly crowded trail. My focus was largely on the testing out the limits of my snowshoes and clothing system - both of which I was quite satisfied with.

I arrived at my little MG B a little after 11:30 AM and allowed the poor little thing to warm up while I did inventory on the (almost nonexistant) wear and tear my gear had sustained over the course of the trip before stashing it away for the long ride back down to Denver.

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Lessons Learned

1. Don't forget gear
2. Melted snow tastes flat and isn't thirst quenching
3. Consider a different footwear system for extended trips (e.g., and overboot)
4. Vapor barrier liners should be implemented
5. Consider a closed cell foam pad - less chance of puncture
6. Talk to Miranda Podmore about adding battery pockets to GoLite tights
7. The MG can reliably access the town of El Dora year round (so this may be my beachhead for winter trips)

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VideoLog

Photo Slideshow