Canyon Creek, part 2

"Do you hear that?", Matt asked. I groggily fumbled around to pull the ear plugs from my ears, "What?". "It's snowing outside. Really hard," he repeated. Matt grabbed the tent wall and shook. Snow cascaded down the sides of the rain fly, blocking our entry with small snowbanks. He shook it again. Sub-freezing snow blew away from door and he undid the zipper. Matt pulled on his boots and gaiters and crawled out. Snow was still frozen to my boots, despite being just outside my sleeping bag. If it's that cold in here, I didn't want to outside. "You've gotta see this!" Matt called from outside. The trampled snow around our camp was completely gone. All evidence of us being outside the previous night had been erased and covered in four new inches of snow. I poked my head out, still reluctant to see what it felt like out there. Giant fluffy snowflakes descended from the heavens. The falling snow was so thick that it appeared as a fog rather than snow.

Our three-season tent is surprisingly warm under all that snow.

Matt and I have a system of how to break camp that we've developed after years of packing and unpacking our tent. He handles food and the stove, I pack up everything in the tent. By the time I had packed up our sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and extra layers, I had warmed up enough to venture outside. Our tent was buried into the snow. The only thing protecting our backpacks (under the rain fly and nestled in our pack covers) from the snow was the thin, waterproof rain fly. It would have been a very soggy day of backpacking with melted snow on it. Finally dressed in every layer I had brought along, I fumbled with my boots. Since my feet got cold so easily last night, I decided to take chances of having sweaty feet rather than frozen ones again. I wedged a new set of chemical warmers into my boots along with my feet. Coziness..mmmm. :)

The snow was at about an inch an hour. Matt sifted through the snow looking for his CamelBak. It was already buried in fresh powder and impossible to see the clear plastic through the snow. I returned to the tent to load our packs under the shelter of the tent. I stuffed our clothing bags and sleeping bags into my bivy sack. After an especially soggy backpacking trip where I spent the night in a damp sleeping bag, I have learned that just a pack cover isn't enough sometimes, so I use the bivy as a liner for the inside of my pack. Nothing was wet this time, so HORRAY!!! :) Matt delivered my breakfast right to the tent. I know it is a big bear-country "no no" to eat in the tent, but I figured the bears were sleeping, so I took my chances. I've never eaten Mountain House meals before, but I decided to give the scrambled eggs a try. Not bad for freeze dried food, but I don't think I'll eat it again. EWW! I can find much tastier foods to eat on the trip. The Hubby had oatmeal. I don't like oatmeal (something about it looking like chewed up food), but I would have preferred that to my eggs.

Loading up in the blizzard. Notice two things in this photo :
1. whiteout behind Matt.
2. completely melted patch under our tent. proof the
sleeping pads weren't warm enough.

Winter Wonderland.

As Matt and I huddled in the tent, inhaling our breakfasts, we pondered what to do next. Since the forecast he had created was spot on so far, he informed me of his forecast of 8-20 inches of new snow over the next 24 hours at our current elevation. The current white out conditions convinced us that the rest of his forecast be correct as well. My thoughts instantly focused on our car. The ten miles back to the highway on a rural road. Our Focus. Although we still have our Alaska snow tires on, the ground clearance on our car would allow us to drive through six inches of snow, at best. Our trip was planned to include two nights and about 15 miles of hiking, but we decided to lessen our chance of being stranded and headed for the car. Packing up the tent while heavy snow fell was a challenge. We were glad to have pack covers to shield our open backpacks from the deluge of snow.

I love my pack cover...and Matt does too.

Lotsa snow!!

Finally packed up and dressed head to toe in rain gear, we trudged through the deep snow. Not ten minutes later, we were sweating and stopped to removed layers. It was also time for a Snickers break. When I got dressed, I was sure to put the candy bar in an inside pocket. I bit into it and chocolate caramel goodness flooded my taste buds, no frozen disappointment at all! :)






I had a few close calls at stream crossings when I had to boulder jump from one snowy rock to the next. It was so slippery that I debated whether it would be best to trudge right through the ankle deep water instead of trying to jump rocks. After a couple close calls, that is exactly what I did. My Goretex boots held well through the rushing water. I didn't feel a drop (yes, I had tested my boots before). As we lost elevation, we lost the snow-pack. Eventually, we were hiking in a dusting of snow.

Moss covered in snow.

View from above Canyon Creek.

The waterfall looked especially beautiful in the low light.

When we returned to the car, four new inches of snow coated her. It appeared to be melting. Must be above freezing now, I thought. For a moment, I reconsidered abandoning our trip. After a few miles in the toasty car, I knew I had made the right decision. When we returned home, we checked the weather radar and forecast (top priority for my weather nerd) and a Winter Weather Advisory stared back at us. The forecast of 8-20 inches at 2,500ft had increased to 10-24 inches and snow levels lowering to 1,500 ft. We breathed a sigh of relief, we had made the right choice. Spending Thursday night in the tent on a mountaintop and Friday night at the 2,600 ft trail head, next to our stranded car would have been no fun. Instead, we spent Thursday night at our home on the coast, soaking in the hot tub. Friday, today, we are redoing the kitchen countertops.

I reveled in the idea of getting a snow fix, then returning to the warm (by comparison) temperatures at home. Maybe Californians are onto something here....