altitude slickness

Dean and I weren’t feeling too ambitious. It had just been too long since we’d been outside, and with only a limited amount of time, and in-shape-ness, we decided to play it easy and head back to Franklin Falls for an easy winter camping shakedown.

Quick load-up of the snowshoes and packs and we headed up to the Pass. The trailhead was mostly empty, so we backed into place and started heading back down towards the falls. It only took us an hour or so to make it back there but it was dark by the time we were able to stomp out a place for the tent… ON THE ICE.

Yup, on the ice. The only flat place stable enough for us to pitch the tent was about 40 yards down from the main falls near where the trail headed back up. The ice was about 4-5 inches thick, but after getting things settled and dinner going, it was a bit unsettling to hear the water flowing directly underneath you. It wasn’t the quietest campsite I’d ever been in – the falls was doing its thing quite nicely and the westbound side of I-90 was just overhead with snowplows coming by every 30 minutes.

Dinner was quick and easy, with Dean’s Jetboil knocking out water quickly for a couple of freeze-dried meals. We had neglected to pack cards or a book or an iPod or anything, so we decided to just get some rest and call it an early night.

A couple hours later – maybe around 10…

POW! KA-RACK! Shuffle shuffle shuffle slide slide slide

I was instantly awake – heart pounding and my feet already scooting out of my bag and heading towards my boots.

Dean was doing the same thing, but it was over as soon as it started. Adrenaline pumping, I pulled on my jacket and boots and stepped outside with my camera to see what had come down, and how close it was. We had picked this destination because of the snowfall up higher and the considerable avy danger, so we figured a chunk of ice had broken free and tumbled down in the rocks. I took a few night shots and shuffled back into the tent.

It took both of us a while to get back to sleep, and even then it was fitful and light. The water running under your head wasn’t the most comforting sound, even though we knew the ice was solid. The rest of the night pass uneventfully though, even with the sounds of snowplows dropping their blades on the freeway above our heads that sounded like avalanche cracks. The next morning we were up early, downed some water and packed up. It was just barely snowing, but there was around five inches of fresh stuff to plow through on the way back, which provided a lot of good photo ops. The whole excursion wasn’t that spectacular – a simple overnight hike in the snow – but it was a good exercise in snow camping and stretching out the legs. Didn’t see too many people on the way out, but we did come across a nice solid igloo someone had made…

Breakfast at Gordy’s – excellent as usual, and a perfect way to finish off the morning.