I knew the next call would come soon and it would be from my good friend Ed because if I got a call from Malley, it was certain he got the same call. I dressed for a day of snowshoeing and was having breakfast when at 6:10 my cell phone rang. It was Ed.
We agreed to meet at the regular place in thirty minutes. I finished breakfast, poured a hot cup of coffee and tossed my snowshoes, poles, and day pack in the truck.
We were heading west before 7 a.m. Ed had a number of possible options to consider. We agreed to try Echo Lake. Roads heading west this morning were dry. When we arrived at the TH - where the Mt. Evans Road Entrance Station is located, it started to snow.
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| Echo Lake Trail junction with Chicago Lakes Trail. |
We started on the Echo Lake Trail but soon opted to go off trail and bushwhack the balance of the morning. If you were to follow our tracks, they meandered through the pines around Echo Lake in no particular pattern or plan.
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| A persistent beggar. |
On a rest break, we had a visit from a grey jay looking for a handout. Ed tried fooling the bird by tossing snow in the air. The bird looked at the spot where the snow landed, then looked back at Ed and said, hey man, you can't trick me into thinking that was anything edible. The bird flew from branch to branch, each time landing closer and closer to us. Then perched directly above us, it looked down waiting for us to throw out some real food. Not today!
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| Echo Lake is frozen and snow covered. |
We found a large bolder that would protect us from wind. Ed surprised me today when he pulled his new MSR Pocket Rocket backpacker stove and fuel canister from his pack. Our fingers were void of any feeling at this point making it difficult to ignite a flame. First Ed tried using his mini match. It would not show a flame. I tried using a small bic lighter to no avail. Finding a larger backup hand held lighter in my pocket, it ignited both stoves.
To start, Ed made tea, I had hot chocolate. The usual 'ready to eat' tuna salad sandwich and a serving of sweet and sour chicken with rice - a meal left from our backpack trip last summer in Never Summer Wilderness.
As we were tearing down the kitchen, we heard voices through the trees. Soon we learned it was a father and daughter out having some fun.
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| Heavy snowfall in early afternoon. |
We began the slow trek back around Echo Lake to the vehicle. Snow on the ground varied from 8" to 24." Many places were drifted to double that depth. The beauty of walking on snowshoes is they maintain a consistent degree of bouyancy in both packed and light powder. During the day, I briefly lost both snow baskets. When I lost the first, the pole immediately felt different when I planted it into snow. So I backtracked my steps looking in each plant hole in the snow I had made until I found the missing basket. It happened again later in the day to the other pole. Again, I was able to retrieve the basket and secure it to my pole.
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| Returning to the vehicle. |
On our return to the vehicle, snow began falling again, this time heavier than this morning.
Total Miles = 2.2
Total elevation gain = 138'
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