1/31/10 Another full day in the snow without seeing a single human being, only this time on snowshoes! Almost 14 miles, 5200' elevation gain, in 5 feet of fresh powder. Unquestionably one of the hardest workouts I have ever done.
1 I had been wanting to try some mountain trail snowshoeing. Not walking around on a nice, flat, snow-covered meadow, but rather the same steep mountain trails I would hike in the summer. So, I did my research, bought my snowshoes, and picked a trail. I decided on the Acorn and Backbone trail to Pine Mtn. at Mt. Baldy because I knew it well and had already tried it in light snow. Sounded like a rational decision, but that trail is also one of the steepest and hardest trails I have ever been on, hiking, trail running, or otherwise. Turns out, that's not the best type of trail for your first time snowshoeing. But hey, if it's worth doing, might as well as do it all out! I didn't get home the night before until 10:00pm. I packed and was in bed by about midnight, was up at 4:00am, out the door by 5:00am, and was on the trail by 7:08am. So, away we go...
A snowman on the way to the trailhead. A cheery way to start what would be an otherwise brutal day. The weather though is beautiful. Low 30s, almost no wind, and not a cloud in the sky. Cold enough to keep the snow from getting slushy, but warm enough to not be frigid.
2 A look at my Atlas 12 snowshoes (25"). I ended-up with these after quite a bit of research. These are the equivalent to technical trail running shoes. Specially designed for mountain trail snowshoeing with aggressive crampons, heel lifts, spring loaded suspension, etc., etc. The best part is the Wrap-Pro bindings, widely regarded as the best snowshoe bindings out there. The Atlas 12s are awesome and are definitely worth the investment already.
3 A look at the toe, heel, and lateral traction provided by the Atlas 12 crampons. Great for ice or relatively packed snow, but not much good in deep powder.
4 The same Acorn trailhead sign, only this time barely visible. Looks like I have someone's snowshoe tracks to follow for a while at least.
5 The sun rising through the trees. Not a bad way to start the morning.
6 I made it to the top of the Acorn trail without too much drama this time. It was SLOW going though. Fortunately I was able to follow the existing snowshoe tracks all the way to this point.
7 One of my favorite spots along the trail. This is supposed to be the place to spot bighorn sheep in the summer. You can see the snowshoe tracks going right along the ridge. Looks fun, but my route goes a different direction.
8 The fireroad at the top of the Acorn trail running parrallel to the PCT. Looks a little different than last time I was here! The previous snowshoer didn't go past this point, so it is 100% virgin snow from here on out. Turns out, that makes things really, really hard. Normally you snowshoe with 2 or more people so that you can take turns "breaking" the trail. The first person in line makes the snowshoe prints, then everyone else follows in his/her tracks. When the person in front gets tired, you rotate. I'm all alone, with no tracks from here on out, so I'm breaking my own trail the rest of the way! But it is kind of cool knowing that not a single human being has been here in at least 5 days (the last snow was Tuesday and it is now Sunday with not a single footprint in sight).
9 My first view of Mt. Baldy in the distance. Could I actually summit today? Ha, not a chance.
10 Still one of my all-time favorite sections of trail, only this time in deep snow. What would it be like going up that incline in snowshoes?
11 Start of the Backbone trail in the Sheep Mountain Wilderness. This sign is normally just about hidden off the fireroad (see pictures from the last trip), and now it is almost entirely hidden! Good thing I have it marked as a waypoint on my GPS now.
12 This picture gives some small idea of how steep this trail is. It is one of the hardest I have ever been on with no snow. With 5 feet of snow, it almost made me turn around. I have never come so close to calling it quits during one of my adventures then during this stretch. Now I know what an overweight chain smoker must feel like on a steep hike. I was dying.
13 Almost to the top of this mini-peak.
14 I nice view looking down at some clouds rolling in to the valley below.
15 The last major climb to Pine Mtn. I am honestly not sure if I can make it.
16 One wrong step and you will be sliding a long, long ways down. Might be fun on skiis, but would make for a really bad day right now.
17 Made it to the top of Pine Mtn. You can see here what "kicking-in" looks like on a really steep incline. You have to literally kick the toe of the snowshoe as deep as you can into the snow hoping that the crampon will grab and give you enough traction to take a step. The result is almost a staircase of steps leading up the slope. It is insanely tiring, and insanely slow. Probably 1-2 mph. Keep in mind this is now at over 9600' elevation.
18 Coming down over the other side of Pine Mtn., I had my first major butt skiing incident. Basically you lose traction going down a steep decline, end-up on your ass, and then are in a completely uncontrolled slide down the hill. Arms and legs flailing. Trying to stop yourself with poles, snowshoes, anything. Nothing to stop your slide. On this particular wipeout, I was able to steer myself towards a tree so that I could do a controlled crash into it and finally come to a stop.
19 The winds, and maybe melting, create interesting patterns in the snow.
20 A lone fallen log makes the perfect spot to eat lunch. It is now about 1:00pm, and I am exhausted.
21 A view from my lunch spot with Mt. Baldy in the distance. Beats sitting inside a McDonalds. This is normally a very windy peak, you can see how the snow is almost blown away in places. But today the winds are fortunately quite calm.
22 My second major butt skiing wipeout. Sometimes you lose your footing and a mini-avalanche of lose powder starts and you are riding it downhill with no control. This time there were no trees to stop me. I finally came to a rest maybe 30ft. from what looks like a cliff. On an all my adventures so far, this was the first time I legitimately felt like that things here could have been really bad.
23 A look uphill at my butt slide. A combination of butt and snowshoe prints. Since it is close to my turnaround point anyway, I decide to stop while I'm ahead (and still alive!) and head back.
24 A US Geological marker somewhere between Pine Mtn and Dawson Peak that would just have to be my summit for the day. It is now 2:00pm, I have had my adrenaline rush for the day, and it is time to head back.
25 Posing at the summit marker.
26 A look East from my summit for the day at a particularly snowy peak whose name I do not know.
27 A look at the trail along the ridge towards Dawson Peak. Maybe next time I will make it that far.
28 The trail runs right along that ridge. I want to keep going SO bad, but I have the will power today to turn around.
29 Headed back down the ridge. At least I shouldn't have to break trail on the way back.
30 My third, and worst, butt skiing incident of the day. Here is the look up the hill from the point at which I finally stopped. This one was close to being very, very bad.
31 The view from where I stopped my butt slide. Maybe 20' from a drop-off of a couple hundred feet. At this point, I am officially no longer having fun, and am getting a bit scared of this downhill business!
32 I always wonder if these snow banks will give out when I walk over them.
33 The only trail sign on the Backbone trail. Ironically it is at a place where the trail is very obvious. Naturally, there are no signs where you really need them!
34 Believe or not, I am actually wishing I was going uphill again. While the uphill was brutally hard, at least I wasn't fearing for my life.
35 I kicked a little chunk of snow, which turned into a snowball, that rolled all the way down the hill making this little trail. Looked kind of cool.
36 I have never been so happy to see the backside of a sign in my life! In this case, the Sheep Mountain Wilderness sign marking my return to the fireroad and relative safety.
37 Headed back down the Acorn Trail. I thought I was going to be easily back before dark. Wrong again. I followed a set of snowshoe prints different than the ones I followed coming-up. It started to feel like I was going off-course, so I checked in with the GPS. Turns out I was quite a ways off and I was afraid I would not end-up back at my car. So, I tried to head back towards the real trail, got lost in the process, and ended-up getting back to my car at about 6:00pm. Almost completely dark. In fact, my worst wipeout of the day came walking from the trailhead back to the car. It was quite dark, and the pavement was covered in black ice. My snowhoes were off and I landed on my ass hard a couple times. Couple nice bruises, a small dent in my snowshoes (which went flying), and a lot of swearing. But I did eventually make it to my car, then to the Evergreen Cafe for dinner, and then home!