The Trip Report!
Departure: Saturday March 18th 4:30 PM…2.5 hours late..not bad. My sister Amy and I headed north to Speculator and arrived at Ward’s camp around 11 pm. We were greeted by Slam and Ward who helped us stow our gear, handed us a beer, and told us stories and shared pictures of their past adventures until the wee hours. Tell us another Uncle Wardy! The Slam N Ward B & B provided us with a comfy bunk and a hearty breakfast in the morning to get us on our way. Not to mention the ‘what do I pack/what do I leave’ advice AND lending us a MAP (eek!) since we remembered EVERYTHING else in the world but that.
We arrived at the Garden around 10:30; just in time to see an ambulance backing into the trailhead. I understand that the injured climber was able to hike out after quite a fall off the north face of Gothics. We met the famed Tom Rankin who was headed in with several others in the Peggy O’ group. We intended to meet and hike in with them, but our delayed arrival prevented that. I’d say 50% of those headed in were wearing snowshoes, others bare boot. We could have bare booted, but we opted to wear our shoes, just to try them out….being brand new and all. On the way in we met yet another legend, Pete Hickey, who ended up making two trips into Peggy to bring everything he wanted to have.
We dropped our gear at Peggy O and had some lunch. Around 2:30 we decided to try Big Slide and we got going just before 3. Not 10 minutes in, we met Matt Corsar and Terry on their way down. Terry had fallen and injured her elbow and was in obvious pain. Matt was heroically pushing her to keep moving and get her back to the safety of camp. We also met Alistair and Cantdog further up the trail. The trail was very packed down, but we were glad to get some experience with our snowshoes; and the teeth on the snowshoes helped with some of the steeper pitches. About an hour into the ascent, Amy really started minding her toes. Specifically, they were going numb. We pushed on another 40 minutes and around 4:40 pm hit the 3500 ft. mark. At the beginning of the climb we saw patches of blue sky, but by this time the wind had kicked in and there was a solid cloud cover above. Amy was in pain. A decision was made, whether we go up or down, we need to work on her feet. We opened some heat packs while she put her socked feet under my sweaters and on a warm water bottle; we stuffed the heat packs in her boots and got her shoes back on. It was now around 5:10 pm. Amy’s feet were not coming back, and despite being ever so close to the summit, we decided her toes were more important and we turned back, hitting Peggy O around 6:15. So much for our first winter summit!
We spent that evening dining on a chicken pasta dish and making plans for the next day. We also had the chance to get to know some of our cabin mates.
Monday morning was an early rise. We took our time with breakfast and headed out the door around 8:45; destination Saddleback. It was a cold morning, at least to us Pennsylvania girls. The trail up Orebed was pretty well packed, but there were a few inches of new snow that were already broken in that morning by Pete and Cantdog who did Saddleback, Gothics, Armstrong UWJ. We stopped at the lean-to around 9:45 for a quick refuel and I donned my balaclava as I was minding the cold on my face. Amy started the morning with heat packs in her boots, so her feet were doing just fine. The next mile of trail was just like the first 1.5 miles, pretty packed. As the steep ascent started, the loose snow was a little deeper, I was glad for the snowshoes, both for floatation and for traction. At 3500 feet we stopped for another snack, it was 11:30. I couldn’t believe how quickly my hands would numb, even with liner gloves on. I began to dread anytime I had to take them out of my mitts. I need better winter fuel food. I may try SkiDoc’s Goo and Power Bar approach to eating. We tried to eat quickly, but we were clumsy with all our winter gear and with the cold temps. The 3500’ sign was a real moral booster for us, and we knew that we could make this summit. By the time we reached the 4000’ sign the loose snow was maybe a foot deep, but the trail was well defined. At the Gothics/Saddleback Col we began to see pieces of Gothics popping out and we made our way up Saddleback. The longer we went, the bigger openings in the clouds gave us better and better views. The winds were there, of course, but not as strong as I’ve felt them in the past. In the saddle the snow was blown into a hard pack, but near the top of Saddleback the snow was deep. We reached the summit at 1:15 with awesome views of Basin and the valleys to the left and right. I found out, kind of, what a spruce trap was at the summit when my leg stuffed into one and I promptly bent one of my trekking poles. The first of many I’ll destroy I suppose. We took the obligatory summit photos and began the descent.
Amy, being more conservative, carefully descended all the steep sections to the Col. I, on the other hand, slipped and discovered, by accident, the joy of butt sliding. I promptly adorned my shell pants and began to slide wherever a steep section would allow. All was well until we got to one of the longer steep sections, right near the 3500’ marker. I was sliding, I was yelling “wheeeeee”, and then I saw a tree branch, or root, or something sticking out of the ground that my bum was going to connect with. The last thing I remember was lifting a cheek to avoid the connection. The next thing I hear is Amy saying “Oh Stacey! Are you OK?” and I’m thinking, “What is she talking about?”…when this wave of pain rolls over my head and my vision comes back to me. I’m upside down, with my head against a tree trunk. Amy asks “Can you get up? GET UP! GET UP!”.
We made our way back down the Orebed, all the while Amy quizzing me on the day of the week, what trail we were on….we stopped at our friendly lean-to for another snack and more hand warmers.
Back at camp, we were the first ones to return…around 4:30…not long after everyone else began to filter in. Dinner on night #2 was our famed shrimp, crab, and pasta casserole which SkiDoc enjoyed as well (oh! Except for that chicken bouillon cube…Yuck!) That evening we shared conversation mostly with SkiDoc and Alistair. It was so great getting to know them!
The next morning my head was still killing me and I was somewhat sick to my stomach. We packed up and hiked out with Alistair, TeeJay, and SkiDoc. Typical for my trips…the morning was dawning with a perfect bluebird sky…and I had to go home. Ack! We stopped north of Albany for lunch with SkiDoc, Mrs. SkiDoc (who met us there), and Alistair. It was the best burger I had…..well….ever. Back home around 7pm, a hot shower and hugs from the kids and husband rounded out my trip. A doctor appointment this morning revealed that I have a mild concussion.
Lessons learned: Be careful butt sliding; bring easy to eat winter lunch food; keeping your hands and feet warm is not always easy; sisters are worth their weight in gold; there are some really fantastic, kind, and funny people on this site!
Final Result: 1 winter summit!!
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