The Hikers
New member
Looking for the "Mountain for the Week", it was my suggestion that we head out for Stairs. Wednesday looked good, so we rearranged our schedules and packed up. A stop at "Beas" for breakfast and we were at the trailhead by 9:00.
We tied the MSR's on the back of our packs and started off on the hard-packed snow bare-booting it. After about 3/4 of a mile we were losing traction on the slippery parts, so we stopped to put on our Yak-Traks. At this point a young couple came up behind us making good time on their microspikes. I noticed MSR's on thier packs, also. At this time also, I made a surprising discovery.....I had only ONE Yak-Trak in my pack. Figuring one foot with traction was better than none I proceeded this way.
As we went higher, and the snow became deeper , I kept expecting to see the tracks we were following change to Snowshoes, but they didn't, and there was the occasional post-hole. We managed to avoid post holing, and made it to the base of Mt Crawford without the snowshoes. As we arrived, the young couple was coming down from the summit. It was our plan to go to Stairs, and summit Crawford on the way back, if we felt like it.
We found that the young couple, (Jedidiah and Suzan) were also headed for Stairs. We discussed the need for snowshoes, and found that Suzan had forgotten hers, so they were working with one pair.We decided to go on, breaking the trail, and let them work out their footgear.
As has been reported in many TR's lately, the heavy snow has obscured and blocked the trails with bent down spruce. Of course there are no trail markings, anyway on the Davis, so we made slow progress, losing the trail and circling a few times.Jed and Suzan caught up with us at a wide open ledge where I was getting a GPS reading to see just where we were. Jed was barebooting and Suzan on the MSR's. A discussion followed as to direction, and we headed upward while they believed the path was to the left. Shortly we found a cairn, and whistled for them that the trail was found. From there we decended in a gully choked with spruce, which was to be the flavor of the day.
Further on we stopped on a knoll, and I took another reading. Here we discussed directions again, and this time Jed was right.. We continued to lead, breaking trail until about 2 tenths before the Resolution junction. Jed and Suzan went ahead at this point. We decided that if I filled in any postholes he might make, by packing them down with my snowshoes, God would restore a kitten.
At the Resolution Junction, we parted company with the young couple as they headed up the resolution trail. We continued on over difficult and sometimes scary terrain, as the snow deepened, and the trail narrowed, leaving little room for error. Mini-avalanches had crossed the trail at many places, and we wondered if we might become part of a larger one.
At last we reached the Junction at the Stairs Col Trail where we rested for a bit, and then started up the Stairs side path. The snow was VERY deep, and at length we reached the point where the trail takes a sharp right to head up the mountain. Here a very large blow-down had blocked the turn. There was no way around on the left, (except maybe straight down) and we tried vainly to climb on the right through deep drifts. At this point we decided we had had enough. We were quite worn out, and only 20 minutes from our agreed-upon turn back time. We went back down to the Col Junction and had lunch before heading back.
We expected to see our new fiends coming our way, or heading back ahead of us, but we never saw them again.We kept the snowshoes on for the entire trip down, as the snow was softening significantly. Despite the hard work and bruising that this trip inflicted on us, we recover quickly, and soon forget the pain.
The visibility and weather was wonderful and we hiked in shirtleeves not missing all that heavy Winter clothing.
Some Pics:
We tied the MSR's on the back of our packs and started off on the hard-packed snow bare-booting it. After about 3/4 of a mile we were losing traction on the slippery parts, so we stopped to put on our Yak-Traks. At this point a young couple came up behind us making good time on their microspikes. I noticed MSR's on thier packs, also. At this time also, I made a surprising discovery.....I had only ONE Yak-Trak in my pack. Figuring one foot with traction was better than none I proceeded this way.
As we went higher, and the snow became deeper , I kept expecting to see the tracks we were following change to Snowshoes, but they didn't, and there was the occasional post-hole. We managed to avoid post holing, and made it to the base of Mt Crawford without the snowshoes. As we arrived, the young couple was coming down from the summit. It was our plan to go to Stairs, and summit Crawford on the way back, if we felt like it.
We found that the young couple, (Jedidiah and Suzan) were also headed for Stairs. We discussed the need for snowshoes, and found that Suzan had forgotten hers, so they were working with one pair.We decided to go on, breaking the trail, and let them work out their footgear.
As has been reported in many TR's lately, the heavy snow has obscured and blocked the trails with bent down spruce. Of course there are no trail markings, anyway on the Davis, so we made slow progress, losing the trail and circling a few times.Jed and Suzan caught up with us at a wide open ledge where I was getting a GPS reading to see just where we were. Jed was barebooting and Suzan on the MSR's. A discussion followed as to direction, and we headed upward while they believed the path was to the left. Shortly we found a cairn, and whistled for them that the trail was found. From there we decended in a gully choked with spruce, which was to be the flavor of the day.
Further on we stopped on a knoll, and I took another reading. Here we discussed directions again, and this time Jed was right.. We continued to lead, breaking trail until about 2 tenths before the Resolution junction. Jed and Suzan went ahead at this point. We decided that if I filled in any postholes he might make, by packing them down with my snowshoes, God would restore a kitten.
At the Resolution Junction, we parted company with the young couple as they headed up the resolution trail. We continued on over difficult and sometimes scary terrain, as the snow deepened, and the trail narrowed, leaving little room for error. Mini-avalanches had crossed the trail at many places, and we wondered if we might become part of a larger one.
At last we reached the Junction at the Stairs Col Trail where we rested for a bit, and then started up the Stairs side path. The snow was VERY deep, and at length we reached the point where the trail takes a sharp right to head up the mountain. Here a very large blow-down had blocked the turn. There was no way around on the left, (except maybe straight down) and we tried vainly to climb on the right through deep drifts. At this point we decided we had had enough. We were quite worn out, and only 20 minutes from our agreed-upon turn back time. We went back down to the Col Junction and had lunch before heading back.
We expected to see our new fiends coming our way, or heading back ahead of us, but we never saw them again.We kept the snowshoes on for the entire trip down, as the snow was softening significantly. Despite the hard work and bruising that this trip inflicted on us, we recover quickly, and soon forget the pain.
The visibility and weather was wonderful and we hiked in shirtleeves not missing all that heavy Winter clothing.
Some Pics:
