The Yurtathon Part Two

Saturday morning our group of 7 headed up with heavy packs to overnight at the Yurt in the Mount Tahoma Trail Association (Skimtta.com) system near Mt Rainier. It is early in the snowshoeing year and the Yurt is the most remote destination in the system.

The first 2 1/2 miles were steep but the trail was groomed so we were able to leave our snowshoes strapped on our packs. At that point we reached the Lower Yurt trail which is the path less travelled. We elected to take the lower trail and put our snowshoes on.

It was clear from the outset that this was going to be a real workout. The snow was deep and and the going was slow. On the first steep section of the trail the snow was so deep that it was difficult to get my feet up and over. I pushed through in animal mode, but the lasting effects of the exertion weighed on the rest of the trek.

We continued along with everyone getting some time breaking trail. It was actively snowing at this point. We were making a rut in the snow that was an average of 18 inches deep. This section of trail was more than 4 miles before we met up with the partially groomed trail with 1 mile to go to the Yurt.

 

We arrived at 5:30 and fired up the heat in the Yurt and took our gear off to dry by the stove. My cap had 3 inches of snow on the bill and there was at least that much on my pack.

Once we were settled we set to getting a dinner of Grilled Veggie tacos with Quinoa salad and Spanish rice together. There was some wine consumed I am told, but what I remember most was taking the pack off.

We played a cool game that Annelise packed with her until we were good and tired and set up to sleep. We were treated by a fantastic moon and stars all night.

 

In the morning we took our time and finally left at around 10 AM for our return trip out the more groomed trail. It was a wonderful and clear morning which gave us great views most of the way down.

Mt St Helens

Mt Rainier

The Gang at the Yurt

High Rock Lookout

This is where the Lower Yurt trail meets the main trail showing our track from the day before.
 

Heated seats have never been as great an option as they were when we were again de-packed and heading back to Ashford.

The pure enjoyment that you get from a shared adventure with like minded people in a quiet, pristine environment is almost impossible to put into words.

Happy New Year! Please be safe and be very well and more next year, but soon....

Revolving Resolving

This is the time when we are supposed to decide what we are going to change for 2 or 3 weeks at the start of the year. We announce our intentions and then give the idea up as quickly as we can. I have a different idea.

I think the problem with change comes when we make them for some specified amount of time and have them be overly complicated. That being said, I have an easy resolution that will last a lifetime.

I resolve to get stronger and faster and more fit until I can't get any faster or stronger. Then I plan to hold on to that level of fitness as long as I can and then fight to hold onto what I can for as long as I can until I'm just too old to do it anymore.

It seems like the right thing to do especially since the alternative is to go to step 3 and give into old age and illness before the time actually comes to do it. I plan to have us be that cute old couple that blew by someone you know on some mountain trail somewhere.

This I resolve to all 8 of my loyal readers.

Be ridiculously well and more soon.....

Rapido - Rapido

Pam, Gary and I decided to hike/snowshoe up to Copper Creek Cabin in the Mount Tahoma Trails Association (skimtta.com) system yesterday. There is a tree down between the lowest sno park and the next so we were facing nearly 6 miles each way.

We hit the trail at 8:40 and headed up with microspikes on our boots and our snowshoes strapped on our packs. It was about a mile to the downed tree that kept them from plowing to the next sno park.

 

 

Since we didn't have a limb saw, we went around and headed up. What a difference a week and a change of location makes! The snow packed well and was not fluffy and difficult like the week before. The trees were flocked and drooping from the weight of the snow and the scene really looked like an over done painting.

 

 

 

We were screaming along until we hit the upper sno park at about the 1 hour point. There the snow was deep enough that we needed to put our snowshoes on. We headed up the trail and within 1 - 1 1.2 miles we arrived at the area that was already groomed by MTTA. We could have taken our snowshoes off at that point, but we decided to continue.

 

In 2:40 we arrived at our goal - Copper Creek cabin and had a nice lunch in the warm cabin which is a nice change from our normal lunches where we try to find a spot out of the wind.

 

 

 

It was our first sandwich with my homemade peanut butter, and they were good. We decided to strap our snowshoes on our packs and follow the groomed trail down as far as we could in our microspikes. The groomer had actually groomed the trail most of the way down so we only had 1 1/2 miles of deeper snow to walk through. We were down in 2 hours even.

 

The grand total was 11.3 miles with 1810 feet of elevation gain in 4:40 minutes. Here are the rest of the pics from the Pamcam.

 







Have a great holiday whatever you choose to celebrate! Be very well and more soon...

Suntop 12-16-12

Sunday we went snowshoeing at Suntop near Crystal Mountain. The last time we were planning this we needed to change plans because there wasn't any snow at the Son Park parking lot. We had no such issue yesterday.

We were only getting to borrow Sam and Annelise since they had a family party to attend in the early evening. They turned around at the 2 mile post so they ended up with a good 4.5 miles of snowshoeing. By about our 3 mile mark we were thinking they were a lot smarter than the rest of us.

As we climbed higher the snow - which was fine powder - got deeper and deeper. It was lighter snow, but it didn't pack well so even though there were 5 of us in the same track the snow was never easy to show through even if you were in the back. Normally the 2 at the front have it the worst and everyone else gets a decent track to walk, but not yesterday.

Nobody should ever rely on my guesstimates when we are on this trip. I always figure it for a mile less than it actually is. Maybe I'll actually remember that for the next time. By the time we were past 4.5 miles in we were all tired of breaking trail and only sheer madness propelled us further until we reached the top where the signs are.

 

It took us over 4 hours to get up and just over 1.5 miles to get down. The final statistics are 10.08 miles with 2521 feet of elevation gain.

 

It is vitally important to add that it was super pretty up there. The trees were all flocked with snow and as sore as we all were when we finished a good time was had by all.

 

Be very well and more soon...