Well Laid Plans... Blown Away

The car, partly loaded with gear

December...  A month of excitement and anticipation.  There is the Holiday Season, of course.  With its own busy-ness, gift-giving, and celebrations.  And then here in Colorado, it brings the awe of the outdoors.  Just travel west from the front range and you arrive to a world-class amusement park.  The mountains transform into endless slides that turn adults into kids the minute we step into our bindings.  One of our favorite winter escapes is a backcountry hut trip.  And I had been eagerly anticipating a trip this weekend...  until we looked at the weather.

As a parent, I love sharing the outdoors with my boys, now six and eight years old.  They have become avid hikers, backpackers, skiers, snowshoers, and now snowboarders.  A Tenth Mountain Division Hut is a great way to continue those backcountry adventures in the winter.  We get the best of the backcountry combined with a warm place to sleep at the end of the day.  As good as these huts can be at providing shelter, we still are careful to check the weather.  And here in Colorado, a weather forecast can change dramatically over the course of a couple days.  After spending the night on call at the hospital, I drove home excited to load up the car and head to the mountains.  When I arrived, my wonderful husband said, "I think we should cancel because of the weather."  I heard him, but doubted  him at the same time.  Not willing to give up easily, I sat down to look at the weather forecast myself.  And that is when I saw this:

"Hmmm.... Maybe it won't be so bad" I thought.  "Let me check the avalanche forecast."  And that is when I saw this:

Ughhhh....  As an overachiever, it is not often that I cancel my well-laid plans.  Disappointment came over me.  Thoughts like "Maybe we can do this if we really bundle up," raced through my head.  But then I pictured my six year old son getting pelted with snow at 60 miles per hour on the side of a mountain, with zero visibility, getting every bit of heat sucked out of his body, resulting in a boy who learns to hate the outdoors... or worse.

Safety is always important in the outdoors.  Add wintry weather and go above treeline?  Well, then safety needs to be highest priority.  While we are well-equipped with winter gear, emergency shelters, first aid kit, avalanche probes and beacons, the weather report and avalanche forecast were not to be taken lightly.

As a parent I have to remind myself that one canceled weekend could mean many more weekends enjoyed.  I love seeing my kids, practically floating on the snow, racing up and down the mountain.  And taking a weekend off due to dangerous weather, can ensure the snow remains our playground for our lifetimes.

We will see you on the trail!
-Mama Bear

What's in Our Food Bag?

Backpacking Segment 1 of the Colorado Trail

Ready to start!

The Colorado Trail is a 486 mile long trail that reaches from the southwest side of the Denver area all the way down to Durango.  We have made it a family goal to section hike the entire trail.  Until our most recent trip, we had completed Segments 2-4.  But with the warm weather and the confidence of a snow-free trail, we were able to do a great overnight of Segment 1.

Cooling off...

Segment 1 starts out very flat, traveling down the Waterton Canyon.  The first 6 miles are busy with dayhikers and cyclists.  Ninety degree temperatures beat down on us as we traveled through the canyon along the South Platte River.  Fortunately we were able to cool off in the icy water once along the way.  As the trail is very wide (Denver Water vehicles travel the same path), the large number of people along the route were not a detriment to our hike.  In fact everyone was very friendly and were eager to encourage our boys (ages 6 and 7) as we hiked.

The Waterton Canyon is a great place for wildlife viewing.  We did get to see about six bighorn sheep as we neared the dam.  Bears also have been seen in the area.  In fact, the Waterton Canyon Trail was closed for part of the summer of 2015 due to bear activity.  Understanding this, I carried bear spray for the trip -- something I have never done before.

Soon after we passed the dam, the trail begins a single track route and the number of people on the trail diminishes.  There is a steady uphill into the forest at this point.  We intended to camp at about mile 8, near bear Creek.  Importantly, there is no camping on the trail until about mile seven.  An easy uphill led us to several campsites near Bear Creek.  We arrived early afternoon, set up the shelter and napped (parents) or played ball (kids).

After an easy dinner and dessert of marshmallows roasted over our backpacking stove (fire danger was high, so we did not have a campfire), we cleaned up and got ready for a roaring game of Uno.  And then we heard a neighbor camper yelling to us...  "Hey guys, there's a bear across the creek!"

Now, there was a time, before I had kids, when I would have been thrilled to see a bear.  But having kids changes everything.  So it was with some dread that I looked up the creek, and then I saw it...  And it was looking at me.  It looked huge!

Okay so that is not really the bear we saw. It looked more like this.

The real bear....  about 50 yards away

 And when it turned to the side, the bear that seemed so huge at first, looked smaller.  I grabbed the bear spray, since I had not shared with my husband the secrets of operating my weapon.  And Matt grabbed the camera.  We watched the bear lumber along the opposite side of the creek, willing it to stay on the far side of the creek from us.  It walked along, stopped and sniffed the air for about ten seconds.  I think it was trying to figure out what we had eaten in our Backpacker's Pantry dinners.  It must not have liked the smell of our (too spicy) Chana Masala because it moved on, and soon was out of sight.

All was well, no bear attacks during the night.  And no one swiped our food bags either.  I woke in the morning with the realization that we had a rather unremarkable night of sleep.

After breakfast and breaking camp, we had a rigorous eight-mile hike ahead.  We would gain and lose about 1600 feet in elevation over the course of the day.  While the temperatures will still hot,the shade of this forested section of trail made hiking more tolerable.  The path had a few minor stream crossings before the big ascent up to a an easy ridge and some incredible views of the surrounding area (including Segment 2 we hiked earlier this year).

After breaking for lunch and taking in the views, we descended rather quickly.  We traversed a meadow with a couple campsites and headed toward the trailhead.  In all this was a fulfilling, beautiful hike.

We will see you on the trail!

- Mama Bear

Dayhiking Colorado Trail Segment 2

Springtime is here, and that brings wonderful dayhiking opportunities.  While the ground is not free of snow, and we are not quite ready to venture into the "sleeping on the snow" scene of backpacking, we found a great day to head to the mountains.  As we studied the Colorado Trail guidebook, we realized that Segment 2's lack of water would make it a challenge for spending the night.  And thus, we were off to dayhike the entire length of Colorado Trail Segment 2.

Segment 2 is 11.5 miles long.  The listed elevation gain is 2,482 feet, ant the elevation loss is listed as 753 feet.  Hmmm.... how to manage with five-year-old and seven-year-old kids?  Well, we would start at the end and head to the beginning.  It would be downhill most of the way.  Good thing, because between the two adults we carried seven liters of water.

We started at the Scraggy Mountain Trailhead at the junction of segments two and three.  The lightly forested, rolling terrain was a familiar site.  We had hoped the warm spring temperatures would make snow on the trail in infrequent occurrence; however, we soon found ourselves stomping along a snow-covered trail.  Following the footprints of a couple trail volunteers ahead of us proved helpful.  I guess, overall, we were not surprised to see that much snow the first weekend of April.  

The cooler temperatures, however, were welcome as we quickly excited the shade of the forest into a previously burned ares.  The 1996 Buffalo Creek Fire destroyed over 12,000 acres.  We were impressed by the impact still present today.  While I am sure wildflowers are abundant in the summer, this area is quite barren  in the early spring.  But not all is lost...  The lack of trees allowed us expansive views of the surrounding mountains.

Remnants of the Quartz Mine

We returned to the forest for a few snow-covered miles, then emerged once again to the burned area.  Near the end of the burned area is an abandoned quartz mine...  A great place for the boys to explore.  Then back into the forest for a rapid descent to the car.

Taking advantage of the DOWNHILL

Still smiling at the end!

Overall this was a terrific dayhike for us.  We started on the trail around 8:00 a.m. and finished about 2:00 p.m.  The boys remained energetic throughout the hike.  And we got some needed time on the trail.

We will see you on the trail.

-Mama Bear

Homemade Backpacking Gear... For Kids

It has been a warm winter here in Colorado.   Which means not a lot of skiing...  Which means more time to think about backpacking.  As we anticipate the upcoming backpacking season, I assessed the boys' gear.  Specialty backpacking gear for kids is less than abundant.  And this has had me thinking about making it myself.

Really, I had been pondering making  our own gear for quite a while.  I have seen other people's YouTube videos showing backpacking gear they had made.  I read books about through-hikers describing their very specialized homemade gear.  But I kept putting it off.  Fears related to ill-fated sewing projects from my youth crept up as I considered purchasing, of all things, a SEWING MACHINE!!!  And then, I did it!  I took the plunge and bought a basic $80 sewing machine online.

My first project -- gaiters.  The purpose of the gaiters is to keep pebbles and thorns out of the boys' shoes.  They were to be made of spandex, lightweight and simple.  As well, they were a good starter project given their small size and relatively inexpensive material.  They basically are copies of my husband's gaiters.

The Finished Product

Well, I conquered a big hurdle when I bought the sewing machine.  But then I had to go to Jo-Ann Fabric.  Fortunately I went on a weekday when it wasn't so crowded. That place is huge!  I emerged about an hour later with lightweight polyester thread for most of the project and heavier weight Guttermann Sew-All thread for the reinforcements (as well as extra needles, fabric pencils, etc).  I must have exhibited confidence (I don't know how) as I wandered the store because women asked me questions about their own projects!

Back at the house I measured the boys and made several prototypes (after watching several YouTube videos on how to thread my machine).  And about a week after my sewing machine purchase,

I emerged from my craft table with not one, not two, but three pairs of gaiters!  Not bad for a first backpacking sewing project...  I might be hooked!

We will see you on the trail!

-Mama Bear

Hut Trip to Walter's Cabin, December, 2015