sapblatt
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- Oct 22, 2004
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LarryD and I wanted to get out and we also wanted to avoid a killer trail break session. We read on Saturday that the Davis Path had been broken out on Saturday so we opted to attempt Crawford and maybe a bit more via the Davis Path.
We hit the trail at 7:25 under partly cloudy skies and occasional flurries. We were amazed at how mild it was outside - 25 degrees and no wind at all. We both wore MSR snowshoes with extension tails. These were a good choice for the first part of the day - more on that later.
We crossed the Bemis Bridge and went my the two houses and were quickly on our way through about two feet of sno most of the day. The people who broke the trail did a lot of good work. Ironically, according to a VFTT trail condition report the two guys that broke the trail out were "Larry and Mike" - big coincidence, as it was not us.
I have heard that this trail is harder than you would think - that is true. It is never excessively steep, but it gains 2100 feet in 2.5 miles to Crawford. Taking into account a number of flat and moderate sections it makes it pretty uphill most of the way. At times we were getting in 50-75 steps at a time and then taking a quick break. One nice diversion was the spotting of a snowshoe hare in the trail about 50 feet ahead of us. It bolted very quickly down the side hill. Very cool - a first for both of us.
Near where the Davis Path breaks out of the trees we met with two hikers who overnighted and were on the way down. We also passed by a tent that was set up in the open alpine area. Nice spot - don't think it was legal, but maybe it was on two feet of snow...
The snow was crusty in this section, as much of it had been blown away by winds since last weeks storm. The visibility came and went with the clouds. It would have been very tought ot follow the trail in this area if there were not snowshoe prints to follow.
We finally met up to the Crawford Spur we headed up the snow covered hill and were very happy to take a break at the summit. The conditions were ideal - we go to spend about 40 minutes dining and I took a bunch of nice pictures (see below), especially of the Giant Stairs, some windswept snow formations and one of the Frankenstein Trestle.
As usual, these adventures get interesting. When Larry and I hit the last section of the exposed area I had an interesting spill. My left leg went out and forward, my right leg went under me and I heard a rather unnerving "POP." I told Larry I needed a minute to assess the situation - I was really not sure how serious this might have been. It was more shocking than painful. After a few minutes I put a little weight on it and realized I could continue. The one smart decision I made (in my opinion) was to keep my boot on. The high boot with laces gave me some support and made me able to walk fairly normally.
We decided to take the tails off - I think this was key to the accident. The tails were causing the snowshoes to act as skis and on fluffy snow patches that had enough downward angle we went flying - most of the time in a contrlled fashion, but not when I fell. After further analysis I began to think today that the snowshoes should have been replaced with crampons as they would have provided surer footing on the descent. I would love to hear opinions from more experienced winter hikers on what the best traction decision would have been on descent, particularly on the steeper section. Snowshoes were fine futher down.
The ankle -
Well, I got home a couple of hours later, took off the boot and realized I had an issue. I could clearly see some localized swelling around the right side and top of my right ankle. I could bear weight without oo much trouble, but side to side motin was and is a problem. It seemed to get worse overnight. This morning I went to the ER and got an X-ray. The good news is it is a bad sprain with some ligament strains, but not tears. Hopefully the RICE process will yield improvements in the next few days. I do not expect to be out of commission for long.
PICTURES http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CauGbVozaNoQ¬ag=1
We hit the trail at 7:25 under partly cloudy skies and occasional flurries. We were amazed at how mild it was outside - 25 degrees and no wind at all. We both wore MSR snowshoes with extension tails. These were a good choice for the first part of the day - more on that later.
We crossed the Bemis Bridge and went my the two houses and were quickly on our way through about two feet of sno most of the day. The people who broke the trail did a lot of good work. Ironically, according to a VFTT trail condition report the two guys that broke the trail out were "Larry and Mike" - big coincidence, as it was not us.
I have heard that this trail is harder than you would think - that is true. It is never excessively steep, but it gains 2100 feet in 2.5 miles to Crawford. Taking into account a number of flat and moderate sections it makes it pretty uphill most of the way. At times we were getting in 50-75 steps at a time and then taking a quick break. One nice diversion was the spotting of a snowshoe hare in the trail about 50 feet ahead of us. It bolted very quickly down the side hill. Very cool - a first for both of us.
Near where the Davis Path breaks out of the trees we met with two hikers who overnighted and were on the way down. We also passed by a tent that was set up in the open alpine area. Nice spot - don't think it was legal, but maybe it was on two feet of snow...
The snow was crusty in this section, as much of it had been blown away by winds since last weeks storm. The visibility came and went with the clouds. It would have been very tought ot follow the trail in this area if there were not snowshoe prints to follow.
We finally met up to the Crawford Spur we headed up the snow covered hill and were very happy to take a break at the summit. The conditions were ideal - we go to spend about 40 minutes dining and I took a bunch of nice pictures (see below), especially of the Giant Stairs, some windswept snow formations and one of the Frankenstein Trestle.
As usual, these adventures get interesting. When Larry and I hit the last section of the exposed area I had an interesting spill. My left leg went out and forward, my right leg went under me and I heard a rather unnerving "POP." I told Larry I needed a minute to assess the situation - I was really not sure how serious this might have been. It was more shocking than painful. After a few minutes I put a little weight on it and realized I could continue. The one smart decision I made (in my opinion) was to keep my boot on. The high boot with laces gave me some support and made me able to walk fairly normally.
We decided to take the tails off - I think this was key to the accident. The tails were causing the snowshoes to act as skis and on fluffy snow patches that had enough downward angle we went flying - most of the time in a contrlled fashion, but not when I fell. After further analysis I began to think today that the snowshoes should have been replaced with crampons as they would have provided surer footing on the descent. I would love to hear opinions from more experienced winter hikers on what the best traction decision would have been on descent, particularly on the steeper section. Snowshoes were fine futher down.
The ankle -
Well, I got home a couple of hours later, took off the boot and realized I had an issue. I could clearly see some localized swelling around the right side and top of my right ankle. I could bear weight without oo much trouble, but side to side motin was and is a problem. It seemed to get worse overnight. This morning I went to the ER and got an X-ray. The good news is it is a bad sprain with some ligament strains, but not tears. Hopefully the RICE process will yield improvements in the next few days. I do not expect to be out of commission for long.
PICTURES http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CauGbVozaNoQ¬ag=1
