[pct-l] Adventures in Igloo building...a trip report

[pmags at yahoo.com (Paul Magnanti)]

Ok..so it is in the Rockies, but I figure some people
on this list may be interested in some winter
backpacking that is a little of the beaten path. :-)

As mentioned Monday, I spent my weekend winter
backpacking. Winter backpacking is a bit different
than the three season backpacking most of us do.

The gear is bulkier, heavier and there is more of it.
Daylight is shorter. It is colder.

But, the views are beautiful. Crisp white snow, jagged
peaks piercing the sky. The cold is invigorating,
making everything seem so much vivid.

To quote the late, great comic strip Calvin and
Hobbes:

"The world looks brand-new," said Hobbes.
"A New Year ... a fresh clean start," said Calvin.
"It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw
on," said Hobbes.
"A day full of possibilities," said Calvin. 
"It's a magical world, Hobbes old buddy ... let's go
exploring."

An exploring the winter landscape I did.

Loaded up my large winter pack, strapped on two
sleeping pads, packed in my -20F bag, placed on the
outside a snow shovel and a carpenter's saw, packed in
fleece pants, a down jacket and exp. wt. polypro and
made sure my Whisperlite was working the night before.
Loaded up some fattening  food and made sure I had an
empty Gatorade bottle for night time use.

The alarm went off at 6AM on a Saturday.  Crawled out
of bed, slipped into my long underwear and did the
last minute prep work that always seems to happen with
winter trips. Made it to the RSVP point where I loaded
up with my caffeine fix and met the three other people
who wished to build an igloo in winter.

The cast of experienced characters included Rom (who
has spent many, many trips in the back country for
winter), Mark (haven't seem him since his wedding
reception on New Year's Eve...he is a Colorado
Mountain Club instructor for mountaineering!), Debbie
(Buttercup of AT '03!...new to Boulder and quite happy
to meet some like minded people when it comes to the
outdoors) and myself. All in all, felt quite
comfortable with the ability of everyone on this trip.

Drove up to Braniard Lake trail head, elev 10k feet.
This trail head is the playground for many people in
Boulder...esp during winter! Even at this early in the
morning, the winter trail head was filling up. No
matter..as with many popular back country areas, the
further you go in, the less populated the trail.

We all threw on our heavy winter packs and made our
way up the "trail" (a road that is closed during the
winter) on snowshoes or tele skis. The weather was
partly cloudy, but oh so nice.  Three miles later, we
reached a turn off and walked a short way into the
woods and went to the Braniard Lake cabin. This CMC
run cabin is mainly for day use. Had a wood stove, hot
drinks and tables to sit in for winter travelers. Even
has propane stoves.  Small, cozy, no frills. The
princely sum of $1 for day use that includes hot
drinks. If you are lucky enough to get an invite for
staying over night, it is $15/ night for non-CMC
members ($8 for CMC members). The *AMC* could learn
something here....

Anyway, it was nice and cozy as mentioned. Had a large
lunch, sat by the wood stove with some mocha, and the
four of us did not want to move!

But we did. Strapped on our packs and made our way up
to Mitchell Lake where the trail was unbroken. We
swapped off breaking trail (hard work, esp. with
winter packs) and made our way to Mitchell Lake.

This lake is at about 11,000 feet. During the summer,
it is an easy, gentle, one-mile stroll with beautiful
scenery. Consequently, it is VERY busy from all the
people who want to see an easy, gentle, one mile
stroll with beautiful scenery. During the winter? Just
four of us breaking trail with heavy packs. 

The view from the frozen lake was beautiful. The
Divide was seen with clouds hanging over them. Fresh
snow every where. Fresh powder called out to Mark and
Rom on their tele skis.... But we had a shelter to
make!  

On this trip, we were going to make an igloo. A good
snow cave is fairly easy to make. Find a drift, dig an
entrance way, dig up a little bit for a sleeping
platform. Hollow out. 1-2 hrs later you have a shelter
that is warm and cozy.

An igloo is considerably more work as we found out.

First, we had to find a snow drift to dig our
"sub-basement". Then we had to find another drift of
hard snow for our "quarry".

Rom and Mark started to dig into one drift, Debbie and
I made our snow blocks. 

The "sub-basement" was about 2-3 feet deep. We then
placed our blocks up about 3-4 feet in a spiral. Five
hours later (!) the basic structure of the igloo was
intact. Must say it looked quite nice. One hour later,
we did our finish work: chinked the gaps with snow,
widened our entrance way a bit, finished the cold trap
(sunken entrance way below the sleeping platform). As
an igloo that sleeps 2-3 people takes approx 4-5 hrs,
seems the time frame was correct for an igloo that
slept four people.

We placed our packs inside. Poked our saws into the
igloo  for candle platforms and started up my
Whisperlite and melted snow for water. We were HUNGRY
and wanted some hot drinks. Poked a hole in the igloo
near the stove for ventilation.  After eating much
food and making some hot drinks, we rolled out our
pads and sleeping bags. Changed into dry long
underwear. Plugged the entrance way with our packs.
Lit some more candles and felt snug and warm. It was
amazing how warm the igloo became with four people
inside. Unzipped my bag quite a bit, and slept into
the night.

Woke up, lounged around quite a bit (did I mention it
was cozy and warm in the igloo?), and finally made our
way for some back country exploring.  Made our way
back to the car and home. Put out my ground tarp and
sleeping bag to dry a bit (it is also very humid in an
igloo or snow cave!) and took a hot shower and
promptly feel into a deep sleep. :-)

Igloo making was an adventure to say the least. Hard
work (all that digging and moving of heavy snow
blocks!), time consuming..but something glad to have
done. Winter is beautiful...but next time I will build
a snow cave. Easier to make. :D

Actually, NEXT weekend, I am lucky enough to spend it
in the Braniard Lake hut. Convinced Beth that a hut
stay will be quite nice. Wood stove, yummy food, comfy
couches and a full moon on a Winter's night. For some
reason a woman raised in South Carolina and Florida,
who has never backpacked, did not find the idea of
hauling heavy winter equipment and spending the night
in negative temperatures while being surrounded by
snow too appealing. :-)

Pics avail at:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/cowint04?&page=8



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The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau