Snow Camping

 

Last weekend we backpacked Hannegan Peak. Previously we'd only done a day hike but the views were a bit socked in. This time it was all clear. We hiked up mid afternoon and found that the only places to camp were on the snow. I packed down a spot for our tent while Joshua looked skeptically on. The snow camping turned out to be no problem at all. We weren't cold and we didn't melt very far into the ground.

 

We also decided to attempt a snow fire that evening. Sharing some whiskey we took turns also running into tree wells to gather sticks and lichen. It took us over an hour of frequent fetching and blowing on it to establish a real flame but then it burned all night. The next morning when I checked out our pit it had melted to about 3' wide and over 3' deep which was pretty cool. That evening the moon was out of sight so the stars were populating every view. James took some cool long exposure star shots.

 

The next morning we hiked up to the top of Hannegan's Peak. It was a lot of tramping up snow which on the way back down turned into shoe skiing down the hills. The view was so clear and the wispy clouds only made it more beautiful. We spent too long admiring it and also acquired a sunburn, Joshua's is pretty bad :) On the way out the extreme heat climb was evident as we crossed back over all the streams that were now flowing very rapidly. It was a beautiful weekend to be outside among the mountains!! When we had made our way back out we stopped to have burgers and then 10 minutes later ice cream and headed home.

The boys are behind me!