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| Snowshoeing | 4.50 Miles |
2,000 AEG |
| | Snowshoeing | 4.50 Miles | 9 Hrs 1 Min | | 1.36 mph |
| 2,000 ft AEG | | 20 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Steven and I met up at the closed ranger station and headed into the backcountry permitless. We ended up following the summer trail (very icy and slippery in some spots) to the first switchback. From there, we slowly crept up to Dutchman Glade.
Unbeknownst to me, I lead our northeast trajectory about half way up the glade without realizing how much further we should have gone. The result was the longest half mile I've ever traveled in my life - 700ft of gain in knee-high snow. Steven wasn't able to acquire a pair of snowshoes for this outing so I leveled the playing field and kept mine on my back for this section. The crusty, solid snow would give way to absolute powder any time I would begin to comment on stability.
To correct our premature NE spur, we began to gradually work our way SE, making mostly uneducated guesses on which spots of snow would give us the least resistance. In an open area below 11,000ft, I encountered the deepest I had seen all day. It took me about 3 minutes to move 20ft off to the side to some trees. Time was turning against us at this point and we were more than ready to reach the bomber wreck to assess our turn around time and the possibility of the reaching Humphreys.
Finally, around 230pm, we were at the bottom of the crash site and after some rest and calorie intake at the landing gear, the decision to head down and save the peak for another day won out. We made our way down some excellent powder, eventually met up with our tracks from earlier, and reached the parking lot with hardly any light left.
The majority of the day was type-1 fun, with a hint of type-2 to make things interesting. Very exciting to be out on snow for the first time. Going to have to make it back up there soon for some redemption. Thanks for the company, Steven!
- I'll have some pictures tomorrow, Jim. |
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