Boys Weekend |
|
Winter 2014 |
March 7-9
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Summary
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By Bob
Gifford
|
click
here for the photos
We all met at the trail
head parking Friday morning around 9am. Shane was a little
late because he left some gear in Burlington. It was a perfect morning
for a drive or a ski. Tom, Joe and Dave showed up and we set about
arranging our gear piles into sleds for the 3 mile tow in. Stan showed
up just after we started so we were all underway by 9:30am. The trail
was in perhaps the best shape we have seen. No open water and all the
crossings were pretty smooth. The trail was a sidewalk till we got to
the pond area. We found the trail up to Burling untracked for probably
the last week. The cabin was in pretty good shape with enough wood to
get a fire moving. We had 2 trees cut split and stacked in about an
hour thanks to Stan's Shindowa Chain saw. We didn't need any more for
the whole weekend. Once we were settled 5 of us headed out for a climb.
We went up straight behind the cabin and climbed until we got spruced
out. Not the best line but there were some turns in there. The Sun was
out so it was still excellent touring. Tom went for a snow shoe while
we skied. We built an outside fire and had a few fireworks that
evening. We were eventually visited by two folks who came in in the
dark.They were headed for the Beaver Meadow cabin but were drawn in by
the fireworks. They were both tired and they ended up just crashing.
We drank some beers, played some music and ate lots of food.
Saturday dawned cloudy
and colder then we expected. We had some breakfast and then headed out
to find some snow to ski. We went over to the glades past the Beaver
Meadow cabin and found them untracked so all 6 of us did two trips up
and tracked it out pretty well. We headed back to camp for lunch..
After Shane, Stan and Bob went out again and did the still untracked
right glade in the same area. This one is a little longer and steeper
up high. I think it was the best snow because its a bit sheltered. Dave
had to leave after lunch so we were down a camper. Tom and Joe went
snow shoeing while we skied. We went back to camp and found Jon hanging
out with Sampson. We also met the crew in the Beaver Meadow cabin.
These folks have also been coming up to this valley for a long time.
They were lead by a Billy Romp who is a pretty interesting guy. He just
rode his bike from London to Hong Kong. He is 62 and dragged his three
grand children up in a sled for the weekend. A wooden sled too. They
were boys 3,5 and 7 which brought back some memories for me. Good to
see Billy keeping the grand kids in the outdoors. Billy also once rode
from Addison County to Alaska on a bike built for four towing a trailer
with a kid in it. This was perhaps 10 or 15 years ago. We have his book
about the trip somewhere.
Saturday night was pretty
interesting because the Romp clan all came over to our
cabin. We had perhaps 20 people in there and it turns out Billy is a
really good Mandolin player. His son Henry is a good guitar player and
they had been playing together for a long time. They entertained us
with several hours of music. They also ate all the food that was laying
around and drank some Heady toppers. When they finally left
after the last of the fireworks the cabin was quiet. The Fireworks by
the way were awesome. The Grand Finale was something I will not
forget. Joe has brought one of these before but I guess I was never
right next to it.
Sunday dawned clear and
sunny. We cooked up some eggs and packed up. Jon Left
first like he always does. We left the cabin with Fire wood and all
cleaned up. We did find one Heady topper that some how missed
detection. That we drank on the pond on the way out. The Sled out was
quick and I don't think we had one roll over the whole trip. I was home
by 1pm. Lots of exercise which is of course why we go. I also hardly
has any food left which is a first. Last year I think I brought most of
what I took back home. My sled worked pretty well this year with a
brake. I was able to go down the steep parts without my sled over
taking me and dragging me.
High points:
Good snow pack and generally good snow conditions
Not too cold although it was probably in the teens both nights
The cabin was in good shape
Easy fire wood thanks the Stan and his saw.
Interesting company
Low Points:
None really except for me waking up at 4am both mornings.
Everything worked all the food was good, we drank all the beer and
nobody got hurt.
click
here for the photos
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