DayTrip
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- May 13, 2013
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Does anyone have a GPS track for this year's Engine Hill Bushwhack? I did Isolation SAT and was surprised not to see any evidence of a track considering it was mentioned in several blogs as being in good shape in the past month or so. I had never done before so I wasn't sure exactly where I should be watching for it so I was keeping an eye out. The regular trail had a fair track and a fresh set of boot prints ahead of me so I continued down until I was pretty sure I had missed it. Wound up doing the normal trail out and saw nothing on the other end either.
On the way back I passed a group of 4 so I asked if they took it and they said they saw nothing either. There were a lot of sections in lower parts of Isolation Trail that were obscured by 6-8 inches of light powder so I'm assuming the whack could have been easily camouflaged too. On the way back I made the stupid decision to try and follow it out. Around 3200' I left the trail and followed the contour drifting slightly up or down to open areas that I saw hoping to find it. Snow was somewhat firm and I was encouraged early on when I hit a tree with pink marking tape but no track. After about 0.2 miles I started post holing more and more often and whenever I hit open areas it was really bad. Dropped in to my armpits many times. After following the 3200' contour about 0.3 miles and seeing how bad all the open areas were I decided to drift downhill and try to stay in more dense tree cover to reduce post holing. So no beautiful birch glades and beautiful vistas. Just back breaking work for a LONG time until I regained the track on Rocky Branch.
I was glad I did it so I would have some idea of what I would be capable of should I be forced to do something like this versus electing to do it for "fun". (I should clarify - I was glad at the precise moment I was leaving McDonalds with a bag full of food and before the snow started on what would be a 4 1/2 hour ride home. Before then...not so much). But I am curious to see where the track was as a reference for how accurate my "guess" was for the start and end. I know it varies every year that is why I wanted to see this Winter's route. If anyone has a track they're willing to share it would be appreciated. Thanks.
On the way back I passed a group of 4 so I asked if they took it and they said they saw nothing either. There were a lot of sections in lower parts of Isolation Trail that were obscured by 6-8 inches of light powder so I'm assuming the whack could have been easily camouflaged too. On the way back I made the stupid decision to try and follow it out. Around 3200' I left the trail and followed the contour drifting slightly up or down to open areas that I saw hoping to find it. Snow was somewhat firm and I was encouraged early on when I hit a tree with pink marking tape but no track. After about 0.2 miles I started post holing more and more often and whenever I hit open areas it was really bad. Dropped in to my armpits many times. After following the 3200' contour about 0.3 miles and seeing how bad all the open areas were I decided to drift downhill and try to stay in more dense tree cover to reduce post holing. So no beautiful birch glades and beautiful vistas. Just back breaking work for a LONG time until I regained the track on Rocky Branch.
I was glad I did it so I would have some idea of what I would be capable of should I be forced to do something like this versus electing to do it for "fun". (I should clarify - I was glad at the precise moment I was leaving McDonalds with a bag full of food and before the snow started on what would be a 4 1/2 hour ride home. Before then...not so much). But I am curious to see where the track was as a reference for how accurate my "guess" was for the start and end. I know it varies every year that is why I wanted to see this Winter's route. If anyone has a track they're willing to share it would be appreciated. Thanks.