Tom Rankin
Well-known member
This was the 2nd time I came up a mountain in one year, and down in the next. Last year, it was Mt. Jo. This year it was Balsam Lake. Lake is almost correct, but more on that later!
The ascent started on Friday afternoon. We saw 2 cars in the parking lot, so we expected to meet someone. At the register, we noticed that it was Wooly Bear and Mike. We eventually ran into them, and WB told us he had lost one of his micro-spikes. We felt pretty sure we would find it, given what he said, but we did not.
We did find an apple on the picnic table!
We arrived well after dark at the cabin, having used our headlamps to trudge up the trail. We were post-holing some, but we covered them over the next day with our snowshoes.
The snow is now VERY mushy and soft. There is water running down the trails like a small stream in places! It was 50 degrees today on the trail! After the rain and eventual freezing, it will be a very slick situation!
Anyway, we had a fairly pleasant night at the cabin. I got a fire going and we warmed the cabin up to the mid-60's, up from 35 when we arrived. There was a bottle of bubbly and some snacks, and we were asleep before 11.
I got up at 1, 4, and 7 AM to feed the fire. The 7 o'clock wake up call turned out to be pretty special. I could see light coming in the cabin, so I went outside and it was almost totally clear! I climbed up the tower, and watched for a while as the Sun rose directly over Table Mountain. What a great place to watch 2011's first light! Laurie came up just as the sun rose, so we got to share this special moment. Did I ever mention, I love you baby!
Pics:
Venus and the Moon
Getting light out...
Almost there...
Ta da!
Close up
The walk down was extremely slushy! Balsam LAKE it almost was!
We made it back, meeting 7 people and 3 friendly dogs. Sorry we could not open the cabin for you folks, but we were out of food!
The ascent started on Friday afternoon. We saw 2 cars in the parking lot, so we expected to meet someone. At the register, we noticed that it was Wooly Bear and Mike. We eventually ran into them, and WB told us he had lost one of his micro-spikes. We felt pretty sure we would find it, given what he said, but we did not.
We did find an apple on the picnic table! We arrived well after dark at the cabin, having used our headlamps to trudge up the trail. We were post-holing some, but we covered them over the next day with our snowshoes.
The snow is now VERY mushy and soft. There is water running down the trails like a small stream in places! It was 50 degrees today on the trail!
After the rain and eventual freezing, it will be a very slick situation!Anyway, we had a fairly pleasant night at the cabin. I got a fire going and we warmed the cabin up to the mid-60's, up from 35 when we arrived. There was a bottle of bubbly and some snacks, and we were asleep before 11.
I got up at 1, 4, and 7 AM to feed the fire. The 7 o'clock wake up call turned out to be pretty special. I could see light coming in the cabin, so I went outside and it was almost totally clear! I climbed up the tower, and watched for a while as the Sun rose directly over Table Mountain. What a great place to watch 2011's first light! Laurie came up just as the sun rose, so we got to share this special moment. Did I ever mention, I love you baby!
Pics:
Venus and the Moon
Getting light out...
Almost there...
Ta da!
Close up
The walk down was extremely slushy! Balsam LAKE it almost was!
We made it back, meeting 7 people and 3 friendly dogs. Sorry we could not open the cabin for you folks, but we were out of food!
