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Post by intrepidcamper on Dec 31, 2004 11:02:53 GMT -5
Did you actually attempt the camping? It poured rain here and froze as it fell on the 30th, very hazardous for road travel. Now blowing a gale and starting to snow this mid-morning. Tell us about the adventure.....?? IC
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Post by nibi mocs on Jan 5, 2005 14:44:59 GMT -5
Did you actually attempt the camping? It poured rain here and froze as it fell on the 30th, very hazardous for road travel. Now blowing a gale and starting to snow this mid-morning. Tell us about the adventure.....?? IC Yep, I went, I saw, I conquered I headed in on E. Bearskin on the morning of the 30th, expecting to have to go to Alder, Canoe or even Crystal to find Beaglefur (Dave) and his friend, Matt. Skiing the road was relatively easy although I did have some fun moments racing my sled down some of the hills. I walked down at least one of the hills so I'd have a bit more control. Then, I started crossing the lake. It became very clear that Dave & Matt had encountered a lot of slush the previous day when they headed in. I had a bit easier time of it since, where they'd hit the slush, it had frozen over night so I had an icy trail to follow -- still not the easiest to ski on but much, much better than slush. My poles told me that I'd get bogged down pretty quickly if I strayed off their path. I was getting close to the east end of the lake, in the southern bay, when I noticed a camp set up at the designated campsite there. But, ski/toboggan tracks continued past so, I figured someone else was camped there. I followed the tracks about 50 yards when they suddenly looped back on themselves. It turned out that Dave and Matt had started later than intended the day before and with the slush, had decided to camp on E. Bearskin instead of pushing on. I circled back to the campsite and arrived about 10:00, about 2 hours after leaving the car, and discovered Dave and Matt just getting up! We talked while they had breakfast and we decided that they should break camp and that we should head on over to Alder Lake and set up camp there. While they were breaking camp, I started heading over, breaking the trail so it would be easier for them. Up to this time, it was completely overcast but, the rain and ice that had been predicted had not yet materialized. I actually had pretty smooth going as I headed over the portage to Alder. The portage itself was very good for skiing although I was still breaking the trail. It first enters Alder in a little side pond, then there's a narrows (with current) before the main part of the lake. I'd been assured by the people at the Bearskin Lodge that we'd have no problem getting past the narrows. So, I skied across the pond. I did find open water at the narrows but started trying to skirt it on the north side (where the Lodge people told me was best). I got partway past but then, there was a small section of water I couldn't get past thanks to blowdown on the shore. It was a very small section of water but, right after it a small clump of cedars prevented me from seeing what might be beyond. After a few pictures and some exploration (getting my boots a bit wet in the process), I decided that it wouldn't be possible to get through to Alder this way. I hastened back to tell Dave and Matt. While I was exploring the narrows, it started raining and icing. It was coming down pretty intensely by the time I got back to camp to find Dave and Matt all packed up and just about to hit the trail. After a quick huddle, we decided to set camp up again. So, we set up the tents in the rain and ice. It rained most of the evening with an occasional snow shower mixed in. We spent most of the time in Dave's heated tent talking, relaxing and eating supper (Mac & Cheese). Since my day had started at about 3:00 that morning, I was almost falling asleep. Eventually, I figured it was time to head to my tent (there was only room for 2 to sleep in Dave's tent). I don't know what the overnight temps were but I never had to cinch up the hood or the chest baffle on my 0 o sleeping bag and slept quite comfortably with alternating sleet and snow falling on my tent. (to be continued.... )
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Post by nibi mocs on Jan 6, 2005 12:40:41 GMT -5
I slept in a bit on day 2 -- started stirring about 7:30 or so. The snow and rain had finally stopped but, it was still overcast as I got up and joined the others in their tent just in time for a breakfast of bacon & eggs. We took our time and rolled out for a day trip at about 10:00.
Since we knew the southern route to Alder was impassable, we decided to explore the tougher, northern route to see how far we could get.
There was still plenty of slush to watch out for but, skiing was a bit better in the new snow as we rounded the point and made our way down the northern bay.
We had a bit of trouble to start with finding the portage but, eventually found it tucked behind some trees. It was immediately obvious that we'd have to remove the skis for this one. While not a bad trail, it did climb steeply away from E. Bearskin Lake. We were all glad we that we hadn't decided to try to pull our loaded toboggans across this portage the previous afternoon!
Despite exposure to the wind, we decided to stop for a lunch of bagels, ham, & cheese at the top of the hill. Then we made our way across the rest of the portage -- still walking -- to Alder Lake.
By this time, it was snowing again. Dave suggested that we go back to the "pinch point" at the west end of Alder since I'd reported some photo ops there (with the open water and all). It was only a short ski to get there. We did some exploring and found that the small puddle of open water blocking my path the previous day was the only obstacle. We determined that the water wasn't deep there and that we could, very carefully, make it past! So, we took some pictures in the area and then took the easy way back to camp.
Arriving back at camp, we went foraging for firewood and then sawed and split it -- making sure we had enough to see us at least through breakfast. Then, we spent most of the New Years Eve in the tent. Chowing on T-bone steaks with baked potatoes along with a nice Cabernet wine!
We didn't quite make it to midnight, turning in at about 10PM. The temperatures were dropping -- it was going to be colder as 2004 slipped away from us.
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