My first snowcamping trip…

This last weekend I finally went on my first snowshoeing/snowcamping trip and it was GREAT!  =)

In order to prepare for the trip I headed out to REI on Thursday with Marshall to rent snowshoes and get a waterproof jacket in case it snowed on us.  I was lucky and found the outer shell for my fleece North Face jacket and a really nice pair of Gortex gloves on sale.  Score!

So after getting home from work on Friday night I got comfy and then proceeded to lay out all my gear for the next morning.  I wanted to make sure there was no chance I’d be cold so I brought plenty of warm clothes so if anything got wet I’d have a backup set of clothes to change into.  Fortunately we had great weather so my extra clothes weren’t necessary but did come in handy for layering to keep warm at night.

Preparing for snowcamping by laying out my gear...all 37 lbs of it. =)

Since I had never snowshoed before I wanted to try them on to see how it worked.  I put them on and then walked into the front yard to try them out.  As I was stomping around in the front yard I was surprised by my neighbor coming home (from snowboarding at Yuba Gap no less) and chuckling at the sight of me in showshoes so I moved to the backyard.  Sierra and Lotus thought I looked pretty silly too.  Sorry Sierra, you can’t be a snow doggy.  =(

What do you think Sierra? I'm going to eat it aren't I. And sure enough as soon as I hit powder with a 37lb pack on my back I did eat it but at least the snow was soft and tasty. 😉

After testing my gear and packing up my backpack I was ready to go.  Girish and “V” met me at the house and then because they already had their gear packed we ended up leaving the Freestyle and drove up in Girish’s Camry.  Girish was a great driver (he drove fast and didn’t do a lot of  unnecessary breaking, just like me) so between that and having some Dramamine before we left I was good for the 3hr 20minute trip.

We parked at Boreal and grabbed all our gear to get going.  The trails were a bit icy but beautiful powder was all around us.  Here my tent mate Molly and drinking buddy Girish snowshoe through the snow covered hillside.

Molly and Girish showshoe through an absolutely beautiful forest of trees and snowy meadows.

Girish brought his camera and was nice enough to share the pictures he took with us. Thanks Girish! =)

Molly and Haitao were a bit (ok, a lot) slower than Sega, Girish and me so we found ourselves waiting a lot. Not so much fun when you're got a big ol' backpack on your back. Oh well. =P

We reached the base of the ridge and stopped for lunch.  Girish had hiked ahead so we started without him.  Eventually he realized we were still down the hill where it was less windy and came down to join us.  Girish thought we should setup camp right there but “V” thought we needed to have the full experience and sleep on the ridge where we’d be dealing with winds and cooler temperatures.  I was totally with “V” and that’s what we did.  =)

Beautiful Castle Peak in the distance. We considered heading up on Saturday but instead decided to have "V" teach us how to tie knots and use and Alpine ax. It was much safer, and more fun than getting stuck on an icy slope. =)

“V” and I scouted out places to camp on the lower ridge while Girish and the others checked higher up on the mountain.  We settled on a nice sheltered area up on the hill which was off the trail and offered a beautiful view of the sun rise the next morning. “V” taught us how to dig trenches outside of our tent so we could sit down and take off/put on our boots, how to tie various knots and how to use an alpine ax to self arrest and glissade.  So much fun!

After hiking with a heavy pack up to our camp I was pretty warm. Nothing better than the warm sun on your back as the snow cools you from below. =)

Sega, "V", Molly and Haotai practice the alpine butterfly knot.

Our last activity before preparing for dinner was to hike up the hill above our camp to the summit.  Sega led the way and found the deepest pockets of powder.  I sank up to my thigh once and then decided to be much more delibrate with my steps to avoid that happening again.  When we reached the top of the hill we were treated to an amazing view of the whole valley.  I also brought a bottle of Grey Goose vodka so Girish, “V”, me and even Haitao had a bit.  By the time we were ready to head back I didn’t care if I rolled down the hill.  Weee!!!!  😉

Our Crew: Sega, Girish, Molly, Haitao, "V", and me =)

Girish took this picture of me laying on the ground to take the one and only group photo from this trip. After laying in the snow I accidentally discovered that my camera WILL do a live preview through the LCD which would have saved me from having to lay on the snow. Ah well, it still felt nice. =)

Once back to camp we started up the stoves and began cooking our meals.  Molly shared her noodle, shrimp and mushroom soup with me.  Girish offered to share his mashed potatoes with me which we added my couscous and some Indian seasoned peanuts to.  I call it couscous gruel.  =)

Shrimp soup... the shrimp still had their shells and eyeballs. I ate it anyway and it was delicious. It pays to try new things. =)

Couscous gruel. Girish promised to help me eat this but got full before it was ready so I was stuck eating the majority of it. The rest went into a plastic baggy for me to pack out. =P

The next day we woke up early, packed up and headed back up the hill we had climbed the day before.

The sky was the most beautiful shade of blue and orange as the sun rose over the mountains.

One last shot picture at the summit before we start our descent back to our starting point. This is so awesome. =)

The hill seemed less intimidating this time even though we had our packs on our backs.  It was climbing back down the other side the was the dangerous part.  Going downhill is always more challenging than going uphill.  I slid twice but fortunately didn’t go completely over.  My quads were burning by the time we reached the bottom though.

The only thing left to do was head over to Yuba Gap and snowshoe up to the vista there.  The trail was totally pristine which made snowshoeing that much more enjoyable.  When we got to the top we saw a single set of bear tracks through the snow.  You could see where he (or she) had climbed up the hill and crossed the snow over to a couple of trees to root around for food.  He then circled back and went back down the side of the mountain.  Too cool!

Believe it or not this is a real bear paw print that was the only other track up at the top of the Yuba Gap trail. We figured the group of us could scare off a bear if in fact we did encounter one. =)

I had such a good time and am very appreciative to “V” for planning and leading this trip.  Next up, one of “V’s” famous week long trips to Alaska or something.  I’m ready for it!  =)

To see all the pictures from this trip, check out my Picasa album.