In Which the Fine Art of Kick-Stepping was Learned, and Bricks were Shat
After surviving a week of exams, visiting the climbing gym, getting a bit of jogging in, and other miscellany, I headed up into the mountains again for a snow climb. By and large, the route was comparable to the last peak I did...
I met up with the same group of guys I'd hiked with last time, and we made it to the trailhead in decent time, under blue skies, bizarrely warm temperatures, and high wind. Another guy was planning to meet up with us from elsewhere in the state, and after waiting a while, we found out he'd gotten stuck on the road in after going off the side of the road. Well, fuck. We all piled in and drove the short distance to his truck, and proceeded to spend the next hour or so digging him out. He finally extricated his vehicle, jumped in with us, and we got started.
For a while, things were going great. I was actually leading the pack on the uphills, finding a good rhythm of ascent in the thin mountain air. I snowshoed up to a windy saddle 400' below the summit, where I was able to hike on some bare rock and remove my snowshoes. Here's where it got interesting...the only apparent route was up a steep, 35-degree snow slope with a moderate runout. And I didn't have an ice axe...I proceeded to slowly and cautiously kick-step my way up the slope: move trekking poles up the slope, ram them in, start kicking a step into the snow until it was sufficiently large and stable, transfer weight, repeat 400 times. Exhausted from the physical and mental effort, I finally reached flatter ground and pretty much collapsed for a few minutes, then found the energy to make the last short climb to the summit. Moderate winds, amazing views, and my hiking partners awaited me there.
Going down, I found a much more gradual route back to the saddle, making it back in good time in spite of the added distance. Back at the saddle, I had the lovely experience of getting blasted in the face by ice crystals in near-hurricane-force winds! Even with goggles and face protection on, it was pretty miserable, and I was overcome with unadulterated frustration in the constant barrage of wind. I finally got in good position to glissade, and proceeded down the mountain in a couple of fun, controlled slides, to less windy territory. Spotted a few ptarmigan near treeline, made it back to the car without incident, and we headed out, parting ways with the other guy.
Unfortunately, the day's adventures weren't yet over--our route home was blocked by an accident, with no clear information on when the road would be passable again. We ended up taking a very backwoods road through the mountains, adding probably almost 100 miles to our trip! We had snacks, beer (except for our driver) and good conversation, so the time went by quickly enough, and I eventually made it home.
Classes should be more relaxed for a time, now that exams are over. One exam was expected to go well, and did. With another, I'm still waiting for my grade but feel fairly confident...with the third, I was sure I'd done horribly, but ended up with the high grade in the class! (directed by M. Night Shyamalan =P ). Other things went better than expected, too...
I doubt I'll post pics from this trip (they'd look pretty similar to the last one, minus the cool clouds in the valleys) but if you're dying to see them, drop me a line.
I met up with the same group of guys I'd hiked with last time, and we made it to the trailhead in decent time, under blue skies, bizarrely warm temperatures, and high wind. Another guy was planning to meet up with us from elsewhere in the state, and after waiting a while, we found out he'd gotten stuck on the road in after going off the side of the road. Well, fuck. We all piled in and drove the short distance to his truck, and proceeded to spend the next hour or so digging him out. He finally extricated his vehicle, jumped in with us, and we got started.
For a while, things were going great. I was actually leading the pack on the uphills, finding a good rhythm of ascent in the thin mountain air. I snowshoed up to a windy saddle 400' below the summit, where I was able to hike on some bare rock and remove my snowshoes. Here's where it got interesting...the only apparent route was up a steep, 35-degree snow slope with a moderate runout. And I didn't have an ice axe...I proceeded to slowly and cautiously kick-step my way up the slope: move trekking poles up the slope, ram them in, start kicking a step into the snow until it was sufficiently large and stable, transfer weight, repeat 400 times. Exhausted from the physical and mental effort, I finally reached flatter ground and pretty much collapsed for a few minutes, then found the energy to make the last short climb to the summit. Moderate winds, amazing views, and my hiking partners awaited me there.
Going down, I found a much more gradual route back to the saddle, making it back in good time in spite of the added distance. Back at the saddle, I had the lovely experience of getting blasted in the face by ice crystals in near-hurricane-force winds! Even with goggles and face protection on, it was pretty miserable, and I was overcome with unadulterated frustration in the constant barrage of wind. I finally got in good position to glissade, and proceeded down the mountain in a couple of fun, controlled slides, to less windy territory. Spotted a few ptarmigan near treeline, made it back to the car without incident, and we headed out, parting ways with the other guy.
Unfortunately, the day's adventures weren't yet over--our route home was blocked by an accident, with no clear information on when the road would be passable again. We ended up taking a very backwoods road through the mountains, adding probably almost 100 miles to our trip! We had snacks, beer (except for our driver) and good conversation, so the time went by quickly enough, and I eventually made it home.
Classes should be more relaxed for a time, now that exams are over. One exam was expected to go well, and did. With another, I'm still waiting for my grade but feel fairly confident...with the third, I was sure I'd done horribly, but ended up with the high grade in the class! (directed by M. Night Shyamalan =P ). Other things went better than expected, too...
I doubt I'll post pics from this trip (they'd look pretty similar to the last one, minus the cool clouds in the valleys) but if you're dying to see them, drop me a line.