When I got back from my first weekend out on Snow O, I had a lot to learn from the trip. I realized that winter camping is a whole different ball game than summer camping. I realized that winter camping requires perfection in every way possible. Everything you do in winter camping, contributes to the outcome of your well being. If you leave your gloves off for 5 minutes, your hands will be ice cold for the rest of the night. If you get your socks wet trying to change clothes, your feet will be wet and cold for the rest of the day. The biggest thing that made my first weekend hard was the actual food I brought. Me and my partner tried to save money on food and that was a disaster. We were weak and hungry because of our poor food choices. For the 2nd trip, I would end up spending almost 40 dollars on food and it paid off. In the end, I would be more than prepared for weekend 2.
The following Friday after weekend 1, we all met back in the lower Monson parking lot. Everyone had a totally different mind set this time around because we all knew what was we were going to be in for. Everyone also looked a lot more better packed. When we left CMC, I was happy to see that the sun was out this time! I was so sick of the constant snowing from the previous weekend, I was relieved to know that the next few days were going to be mild according to the meteorologists. As we were driving back to the same mountain region, we made it extra clear to Pete not to drive in another ditch! Luckily, he listened and we didn't get stuck 3 hours behind schedule like we did last week. When we arrived, we were not so much in a hurry as we were last time.
The hike into our campsite was quite pleasant. The sun was out and it was warm. It was nice to know that we could actually
see into the mountains we were hiking to. The view was fantastic. We were making such great time, we decided to actually sit down and eat lunch. Eating tons of carbs and drinking tons of water really helps with your energy and performance in a winter environment. So the sit down lunch did wonders for the entire group. When we continued on, we passed or original campsite and wanted to go further into the steep hills so we could get closer to some better backcountry terrain. About an hour after we passed campsite 1, we decided to make refuge.
The first thing we did was do a briefing on quinzhees. A quinzhee is a shelter made out of snow that looks very similar to an igloo. The only difference between a quinzhee and an igloo is an igloo is made out of snow blocks, while a quinzhee is carved out a pile of snow. With that being said, we mapped out our
camp and began constructing our quinzhee shelters. We started shoveling snow into a giant pile like there was no tomorrow. After about an hour of shoveling, we were done. In the process of all that, we managed to have 3 giant snow piles adjacent to each other. There was also a sweet mote path that connected the 3 snow structures. In order for a quinzhee to not collapse, you must let the snow sit for an hour to harden. So that was what we did. In the meantime, we got the stoves fired up and began making some hot chocolate and ate snacks to keep our core temperature up.
Using melted snow to make hot tea!
When an hour passed, it was time to carve. I volunteered to be the main mole for the project because I had the most waterproof clothing in my group. Slowly but surely, our quinzhee took shape. Calling myself a mole was perfect because I looked just like a mole doing it. Surprisingly, I got really hot in there and I began to sweat. That didn't bother me at the time though because I just wanted to get the structure finished. After about an hour of straight mole action, the entire structure was finished. It was a really awesome set up. Like I said before, we had a sweet mote connecting the 3 quinzhee. We decided to turn the mote into a fantastic kitchen area.
At this time I began to start freezing. Exactly what our instructors had warned us about. If you get wet from something or sweat, you will freeze. My body temperature began to drop very quickly because of the sun going down. I ran over to the kitchen area to make a hot cup of tea and that made me temporarily warm. While I had some warmth, I decided to change clothes. Now I must say, changing clothes in the middle of dead snowy winter is one hell of a task. After 25 minutes of struggling to get clothes on, I finally did it and I felt a million times better. Having dry clothes on is a gift!
At this time it was dark and everyone was tired. I whipped up some dinner and went right to the snow cave for a great night sleep. I loved how much warmer the quinzhee was compared to the tarp. Inside the quinzhee, it was a whopping 42 degreese. SO warm compared to the -6 degree tarp! With that being said, I was excited to get a great night sleep. With all the hiking we did that day I was ready to pass out.
This concludes part 2. Stick around for part 3 coming soon!
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