Interesting snowshoe trek up the McRoberts Creek Trail with the Valley Wanderers to the tripod that marks the halfway point to Matanuska Peak. The snow was fairly hard packed until the point where the trail starts steeply up the mountainside. At this point we switched from our ice grippers to snowshoes. At first, my dog, Baby wasn't interested in walking through the deeper snow. I took a few minutes packing her into my backpack. The extra weight and the time consuming effort to get her in the pack, made me fall behind the rest of the group. This group is always faster then I am, so now I was really behind. After a few minutes, my back started to really hurt from the extra weight. I decided to just stop and take her out of the pack. I figured if she was then willing to proceed up the trail, I would continue. If not, I would simply turn back. To my delight, she started to bound right up the trail. I wasn't able to catch the others but figured I could just follow their tracks. Holly called me on the phone and told me about a spot where they had diverted from the original route, and had marked it with a couple of sticks. Very soon, I was at that spot, so knew I wasn't terribly far behind them. They had turned up a ravine to avoid unstable snow, a ravine they call the chute. It was steep but very straightforward. At the top of the chute, I saw them far up the hill working at the tripod. The goal was to replace a weather beaten flag on top of it. I was so happy that they stayed up there long enough for me to reach the tripod. Soon we started back down after a brief rest and a few photos. I have always loved the view at this spot between Lazy Mountain and Matanuska Peak. I made it all the way to the bottom, still with Baby running along, and I didn't even stop to take off the snowshoes. I'm hoping in time I can improve my speed so I can keep up with the rest of the group. They are quite a hardy bunch. But they're keeping me in shape plus introducing me to some magical places.
No comments:
Post a Comment