[Day 33] Approach

I got going to a disappointing 8:30am start, but, miraculously, it didn’t hurt progress too bad. I was prepared for today to be slow and low mileage. And, it was — 30 minute miles, 17 miles total.

I initially started without my snowshoes. The remaining freeze on the snow from the night let me walk on it for all of an hour before I was postholing. Some 80% of my miles today were in my snowshoes. It might have been more. The snowshoes saved me. Without them, I’d sink to my waist in snow every step.

Atop a mountain pass at midday, dark southern clouds start rolling my way. The classic afternoon San Juan thunderstorm was en route. It delivered. I hauled my butt to a small scatter of trees. Using my snowshoe, I dug myself an emergency shelter into a snow embankment, and covered the opening with my groundsheet as lightning struck within a mile of me and dime sized hail pelts battered my rain shell.

I waited for about an hour snacking. The hail and snow quit, and the thunder became faint in the distance. I strapped on my snowshoes and kept walking.

Not too much further, I reached my checkpoint spot at Blue Lake. After filtered and downing a couple liters of water, I kept on my way. At this point, I was bound to be camping on snow, so I figured I’d get closer to the steep snow ascents and descents I’d tackle in the morning.

In my last few miles, I hit a steep snowed traverse. The trees and branch debris downhill of me was not exchanging; a slip a fall into them would be injury, but likely not death. A third of the way through the traverse, I dug foot holds into the hillside, swapped my sliding snowshoes for microspikes, and traded my poles for my ice axe. I kicked firm footholds around the traverse — people downstream of me will be thankful.

I eventually made it to camp, and I had some prep work to do. In three rounds of stamping (once with my snow shoes, once in my regular shoes, and again in my snow shoes to level the surface), I made a flat, hard ground I could pitch my tent on. I hurried to a nearby exposed rock bed and stole four large stones to anchor my tent stakes will. It was one of my favorite camps yet.

Despite my late start today, I was setup nicely for the steeps tomorrow. The snow will be easier walking in the morning.

Signing off,

Zeppelin