(s)No(w) more Snow

I know its been a bit since my last post but its hard to find internet out here in the Colorado backcountry so I can give a few updates. As you may have noticed almost all of my blog posts have had some mention of the snow and I am truly hoping this will be the last.

Starting my trip June 18th after a very snowy winter has left quite a bit of snow up in the peaks. However it really wasn't as bad as I feared. I say wasn't optimistically since I still have half the trail to go. Word on the trail is that the Colorado Trail is free of any major snow until the San Juan mountains and by the time I get there I'm pretty sure most will have melted.

So far I have hit a number of stretches and just wanted to share a number of lessons learned from my first real thru-hike dealing with snow.

Snow within the Forest

As I started getting above 11,000 feet and hadn't reached the tree line yet, I could almost guarantee I would be dealing with some snow on the trail. Since the forests shade the trail it can often remain here for a while. Down here the snow tends to be softer and you don't want to get stuck going through one of these sections in the afternoon after it has had the chance to melt a bit from the midday heat. Here is where I spent most of my time postholing. Again postholing is where you end up taking a step and having it sink through the snow up to your shin or knee and have to fight your way out. It is extremely tiring (especially when going uphill) and slows you down quite a bit. If you head through these sections early in the morning you can avoid sinking in as much since the snow is a bit icier from the cold nights. Then you just have to try your best to distribute your weight and think light thoughts to stay on top of the snow without falling in.

The other issue with snow within the forest is finding your way. Up on the ridges above treeline it is pretty simple to spot the next cairn (pile of rocks marking the trail), see the trail off in the distance where it isn't covered by snow, or just make your way towards the pass or peak you are heading to. In the trees its not that simple. I must say a lot of it comes down to intuition and you have to guess where the trail goes since you cannot see it buried under the snow. Many times the forest is quite thick so you stay towards the biggest gaps between the trees. However when the forest opens up this can become tricky to spot the difference between the gaps from the trail and just the natural gaps between the trees. You can also rely on other hikers footprints. However again there is a tradeoff. Usually there are more footprints where the snow is softer so that means more postholing.When you can stay on top of the snow you often don't leave too much of a mark so you cannot follow others tracks where the snow is nice and firm. Also the people ahead of you often don't know any better than you so you may follow tracks just to find they backtrack to where you just were. Needless to say you can tell why I have been complaining a bit about the snow.

Sometimes you get lucky and see a trail sign otherwise its hard to tell which way to go.

Alpine Snow Fields

Alpine snow fields are what can be riskier to deal with but often are easier to cross. Surprisingly up above tree line there isn't always as much snow because that area is constantly exposed to sunlight. However the areas on the north side of the slopes which receive the least daily sunlight or the areas that are shaded by the ridges can hold onto snow for a while. Here the snow tends to be a bit icier and crisper which can be both good and bad news. The good news is more often it will support your weight because it is quite thick to have resisted melting thusfar and you usually only posthole near the edges. However the bad news is that it can be too icy and you risk not being able to get a good foothold and slipping down the icy slope. Many of the snow fields that I crossed were relatively flat or relatively small but some would have had tragic consequences if I did lose my footing. Luckily all of the snow fields I crossed had already been traversed so there were good foot holes that were frozen in. Below is a picture of some of the steep snow fields I had to cross in the 10 Mile Range. Don't worry mom I made it across just fine.

As you can tell some slopes were a bit steeper than I would have liked.