The Donner Party Revisited

Sarah says this post is a bit long.  Perhaps approach it as installments.  I wanted to tell a longer story.  Section headings have been added for your reading pleasure.

Part I: Euphoria of Nature

Vinnie and I have been working toward this backpacking trip for the last few weeks. The other ski trips posted previously were our attempts to get in shape and improve our skills.  This is my second season on skis, and first with telemark style skis, boots, and bindings.  This backpacking trip represented Vinnie's third outing on skis!  Anyway, the original plan was to ski from Bassington Acres on Monday 5+ miles to Shindagin Lean-To for the night.  Then, we would ski about 10 miles to Kimmie Lean-To in Robinson Hollow State Forest on Tuesday, and ski out to a waiting car on Wednesday.  That was all before the weather report came in.  Sunday night we had a windchill advisory and for Monday, as well, so we opted to cut the trip to just Tuesday and Wednesday and to just go from home to Shindagin and back.  That was the plan.  In the end, the skiing was more challenging, and the temperatures colder than we expected.  Crucially, the unbroken snow slowed our travel time by more than the double we had accounted for.  We expected for it to take us about 3-4 hours to get to the lean-to, but in reality it took us about 6 hours, which didn't leave us with much light or warmth from the day.  We started in good spirits and ended safely and happily, so it was a great trip.

 We started at the intersection of Ridgeway and Coddington Road.  The first couple miles of trail were easy, they are my normal running/skiing route and have tracks laid on them.  Where you see the two arrows indicating trail closure on the right hand side of the map is where we first thought we might be in for a long day.  I was quite pleased with the performance of my new skis, and the wax we applied was spot on.  Although Vinnie did some more duck walking than I (due to preference and ski type), we were both relatively successful until we hit this section.  Here, we both found we had to remove the skis occasionally and trudge through hip deep snow up very steep inclines. 

On the second map you can see where we set up camp as well as the trail we had originally planned to take to Kimmie Lean-To, just off the North end of the page.  South Road will take on importance later in the story.

Happy and warm at the beginning of the day.  It was around 12 degrees.  You can see one of the white trail blazes on the tree in the background.  Interestingly, these became harder to see once we got into the wind whipped areas and the trees were coated with snow.  As I told Vinnie later in the day, I'll never again complain about how many blazes the volunteers put up... Seriously, though, it's kind of a lot.

The sun was brilliant and the snow looked like fields of diamonds.  Nature is incredible.  Incidentally, relative to much of our day, this is what I consider a broken trail.  I had skied here two days previous, and obviously there had been some hikers.

Foggy lens effect.  Many of you will recognize this as the section of trail across the street from our house.  Looks different in the winter.  Vinnie and I found this to be true of all the trails we skied.  it was really surprising how sections of trail were so challenging that we'd never given a thought to before.  This section was easy... and pretty.

Vinnie is good at duck walking.  I was happy that my skis and wax allowed me not to have to do this.  I am not good at duck walking.

Crossing White Church and side stepping up the snow bank.

We carried fully loaded packs.  Sleeping bag, two days worth of food, 3 litres of water, spare dry socks, fleece shirt and pants, pots and pans, fuel, first aid kit, ski tools and wax, tent, headlamp, trail mix and cliff bars for the trip, etc.  I don't know if I was more amazed at the difficulty of carrying the pack or how well we both handled it.  It definitely reduced our speed and glide.

This is what the world looked like through my violet goggles.  Very nice.

Looks pretty good with them off, too.

Part II: Trudging Toward Shindagin

The afore mentioned section of trail.  I was able to ski on a little farther than Vinnie.  My skis are wider and the surface area definitely helps when climbing, but I too succumbed to the incline and had to trudge.  We talked about maybe carrying snowshoes, too, but I'm not sure how that would work; if we'd be able to use the same boots...  Anyway, we didn't have them, so we trudged.

The hill ahead.  

The sky above.

Laying tracks through the woods.  At times, the trail was quite narrow, which was fun and challenging.  It added to the sense that we were explorers or trappers, picking our way through uncharted country.

As usual, the picture doesn't do this scene justice.  It is 12 degrees at this point, there is no wind.  The cold mutes the smell of earth and pine and adds a metallic scent and feel to the air we breathe.  This lone conifer stands in a grove of skeletal deciduous trees, lit and warmed by the sun... a nice place to stop for a moment and contemplate the beauty surrounding our struggle.

Cold and happy.

Are we there yet?  Seriously.

So, between here and the next picture there was a lot of trail.  It got quite technical and skirted a cliff for awhile.  We did as those in disbelief do and checked the map too often, unable to accept how far we had yet to go.  Although it was only around 3pm at this point, the light seemed to be fading, the shadows grew longer, and we began to feel a little apprehensive.  I didn't take too many pictures before we arrived at the lean-to, just focused on the tasks at hand; namely, breaking trail and looking for blazes.

Part III: To Lean-To or Not To Lean-To?

The view from the lean-to.  Vinnie had mentioned cold, wet feet a couple times before, and now it had become obvious that this was a real problem.  We took a moments rest, and then set up the in the lean-to.  We got the stove going under a pot of snow (we'd both lost a water bottle to the trail at some point) to make much needed water.  I headed out to collect firewood while Vinnie changed into dry socks and began trying to warm his toes. 

In the lean-to, the temperature is dropping.

The sun was dropping, too.  This is an accidental shot, and maybe my favorite of the trip.  We got a fire going and stoked it.  I was able to find quite a bit of wood to get started, but the area gets a lot of use, and as the recent deadfall was fed to the fire, I was traveling farther and farther to find more.  In addition, Vinnie was struggling to get warmed up and I was becoming increasingly tired.  We had to make a decision.

Part IV: Evac.

Decision made.  Pack it up and let's get out.  I called Sarah, but got her voice mail.  She called back and I explained the situation.  No problem.  She coordinated an evac and we started skiing again, headed for South Road and hoping.  We had no idea what the road would be like.  The most recent one we'd crossed was impassable to anything but foot traffic and snowmobile.  If Sarah could get to the trailhead, we only had one more mile to go.  If she couldn't, we'd have at least three.  We were headed out; onward again.  We didn't know what we'd come up against, though we did know it would be dark.  I looked at the thermometer one more time before I put it in my bag.  Zero.

This is the only photo I stopped to take.  You can see the blaze clearly, here.  The majority of the time, we had to guess a direction and knock snow off the trees to check for blazes.  It was a little tedious, but the terrain was pretty easy.  We didn't have to take our skis off but once or twice, which was great.  We made good time and Sarah met us at the trailhead (the road was clear, thankfully) with hot tea, a warm car, and a smile.  She was amazingly kind, and didn't even say "I told you so" or, "You guys are morons."

After doing the leg cramp shuffle for a bit, Vinnie and I both got comfy in front of the wood stove.  I cuddled with Sarah and he cuddled with Eva.  Eva loooooooves Vinnie.  My best estimation is that we wound up skiing somewhere between 7 and 8 miles of trail, not counting wood gathering and trail finding.  Of that, easily three quarters was fresh snow.  I have no idea how much we trudged through because the slopes were too steep to even duck walk.  It was a grueling, fun, amazing nature adventure.  We both learned more about our limits and built our skills.  Maybe next winter we'll try again for an overnight.  Maybe we'll look for a little bit warmer temps.

The Catskills

Vinnie and I went for a hike in the Catskills this week.  It was my first time there and Vinnie's second.  He hiked something called the Devil's Armpit or some such dramatic nonsense in what sounds like a fittingly biblical flood.  The Escarpment Trail that we hiked this time was one of the most challenging trails I've been on.  Between the rocks, the humidity, the rocks, the elevation change, the rocks, the heat, and the rocks, it was pretty... wait for it... rocky. 

How the heck am I going to get all this stuff in my backpack.

So happy and ignorant.  No rocks here.  This is gonna be an easy hike, huh, Vinnie?  Vinnie, why are you laughing?  It's just 10 miles to Blackhead Mountain.

Camp one.  "Newt Camp"

Sweet olde school trail markers.  The trails were really well marked and nicely rustic.  For those who're familiar with mountain biking, the trails were rarely wider than single track.  Pretty impressively overgrown for such a popular park.

The two camps we stayed at had lean-tos.  We were pretty concerned about this situation, but the campers were quiet, kept to themselves, and didn't bother us.  They all had their own axes and several of them had the same backpacks.  Not sure if they were working the trails or just some weird adult scouting club or something.  Anyway, they went to bed early, hung their bear bag away from camp and were quiet.  Did I mention they were quiet... it was a concern they wouldn't be.  But they were. 

The main reason we stayed at established campsites, besides a fear that they might be the only places sans rocks (turns out there were at least two other rock free places on the trail), was because they were the only places on the whole trail with access to water.  This is the extra wide, relatively rock free trail down to the spring next to "Newt Camp".

Water for dinner.

Dinner.  It was a burden on the uphills, but I brought fresh summer squash and some summer sausage (some fresh from Erik's father in law's deer camp) to add to the rice and beans.  It's such a luxury to have a good tasting hot meal at the end of the day.

Vinnie built a ridiculous fire that didn't burn out until the second time I got up and out of the tent to extinguish it.

It is also a luxury to have hot toddies at the end of the day.  Vinnie approved.

Breakfast.  Cowboy coffee and oatmeal with blueberries and cranberries.  Also cinnamon.  Vinnie is really into cinnamon right now.

Another part of the trail that was not terribly rocky.

Amazing fungus.  Possibly Discina perlata.

Big hike, day 1.  

This backpack and nalgene have seen more miles than I know.  Nice that we're all still going.

.2 miles from the second night's campsite.  Am I happy?!

There's a story here that's too long to tell in detail.  The short of it is we got into camp to find a family of eight sprawled all over the campsite, leaving Vinnie and I to pitch the tent on a small square of grass below a no camping sign.  No kidding.  They decided to hike out rather than hike on.  The 12 miles had been too much the day before.  We both felt for them as there were two young girls, a bunch of brothers in their 20s and 30s, and parents in their 50s or so.  I'm really impressed they made it as far as they did.  I was sorry they couldn't make it, but it was nice to be able to move our tent to a functional campsite.  After that, Vinnie laid down in the lean-to for a bit and I walked down a side trail to the only real river I saw on the trail.  The water was so cold it made my bones ache, but man did it feel good on my feet and knees. 

A blurry picture of a butterfly that kept me company for awhile.

Amanita frostiana.  Not edible.

This was the meal of the trip.  Black beans and rice, green summer squash, Len's venison summer sausage and some fresh wood laurel from around the campsite.  Out. Standing.

Note the smaller wood on the fire on night two.

Carved this for Vinnie.  The stick, not the axe head.

Chillin' by the fire on a windy evening

Some altitude gain on day three.  We opted to hike the remaining 12 miles on the third day since the thunder and lightening were certainly coming on Thursday.  We gained about 1000 feet in the first mile to find the peak of Blackface Mountain... the high point of our trip.

Probably the low point of whatever trip this was.  Haven't looked it up yet, but it certainly put my aching knees into perspective.

Speaking of perspective.

And here's the trail.  Full disclosure, we took "Out #2" to avoid 7 additional miles of hiking on slick rocks in thunder and lightening.  I'll defend the decision all day.

I kid you not, Sarah was making pizza when I walked in the door.  As any hiker knows, pizza and a cold drink are the topics of conversation after day two.  Great time.  Great to be home with my girl and my animals.