Distance: 22 km (round trip)
Time: 10 hours (4 in, 6 out)
Elevation: 600 m
January 20-21 2018
With the risk of heavy snowfall accompanying my first time snow camping, we brought two shovels and a probe in case the moderate avalanche risk proved dangerous. We were all so excited for this snow-filled adventure.
When the roads became slushy we threw on our new chains and kept pushing on. Our good old RAV had a few areas of trouble where the snow was too slippery and the incline too steep but after a few tries of backing away for a run up and givin' it, we finally made it to the top parking lot. (We could also have parked further below the tough sections and hiked up farther so it wouldn't have meant the end of the trip.)
It was a bit of a struggle in the beginning trying to figure out the right combination of clothing. We had our ski goggles with us which came in handy with the bright snow farther up, a buff which also helped in the harsher winds above by protecting our cheeks, among other things.
The trails were a mixture of snowshoers like us, as well as back country skiers. There are nothing like BC trails, where you greet everyone you meet, if not start a full conversation with them.
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| Figuring out the best clothing choice for a steady climb |
The second half of the journey was a bit tougher. The fog was starting to roll in and the trail wasn't as packed down as the first leg. The first incline brought us past many back country skiers who used the slope for day skiing. At the top, the path paralleled the curve of the mountain (which was a little nerve racking at times because there was the mountain on one side of the ledge and nothing but air on the other.)
Then we got up over the ridge and descended down to Elfin Lakes. There was only one section that proved difficult, which we learned had been coined "Crash Hill" from other backpackers. We all took a tumble, some more heavily than others. A water bottle was almost lost but after checking the deep gouges we had made while sliding down that section, we managed to retrieve it.
Though we were tired when we arrived at the cabin, we knew we had to put up our tents first, before it got dark. We settled on digging out a nice area in front of the cabin. There was another group off to the side closer to the lake who were building a quinzee, a snow shelter.
(There is no picture of the cabin because the weather was foggy and dreary so it wouldn't have turned out very nice. For all our efforts we did not get a good photo of Elfin Lake, which means we will have to go back this summer!)
Elfin Lake Cabin Review - 5/5 stars!!!
The first floor had six tables to sit at, a furnace to warm up/dry clothes off, a propane stove and even a few large pots used only for drinking water. Upstairs were bunk beds. This is a reserved sleeping arrangement, which we didn't book since we were committed to sleeping outside for the night. But I would definitely recommend it to anyone a little weary of sleeping in the snow. It will also decrease the load in your backpack since you can get rid of your tent.
Things got interesting during dinner. We were in the cabin getting warm and dry when the ranger came through to speak to all the groups. We were going to get 30 cm of snow overnight and it pushed the avalanche danger from moderate to high. She tried to convince us all to wait another night here until the weather became more stable to go home, but no one was willing to stay until Monday. So we all finally agreed to leave the following morning as one big group.
Tip #1: It sounds counterproductive, but when using a down sleeping bag, you should actually sleep with the least amount of clothes possible. I didn't think this could be true until that night but it does.
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| 30 cm dump of snow overnight |
I woke up in the middle of the night to my doorway being more than halfway covered. I was a little nervous for my tent because it's a basic MEC Camper 2 tent so it's not spouted as being used for snow camping. So when the sides started coming in because of the weight of the snow pressing in, I had visions of the sides ripping and getting buried in snow.
But it managed to hang in there.
For the journey back, we organized ourselves in a line, with heavier people in the rear and lighter people in the front so that less energy would be spent on breaking. There were certain points the snow would come up to mid thigh! The back country skiers were the first in line because they could float on the snow more than the snowshoers.
At times big gusts of wind would come through and we had to stick our poles in to keep from falling over. Our goggles came in handy because, without them, we would have been left squinting against the harsh breeze.
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| Using our poles to keep from falling over in the gusts of wind |
Once we reached Red Hether, it was pretty easy from there on out. There were already new snowshoers and skiers coming up and they gave us a pretty easy path to follow back down the mountain.
Lesson #1: I will never go on such a demanding snow trip until I have taken an avalanche safety course. It's easy to brush things like that off by saying it will never happen to me, but it's something that everyone should know to keep us safe when we're off on our fun adventures.
Injury count:
- sore knees
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