Uinta National Forest - Summit Loop - February 6, 2010 - Member Trip Report
| Hike Name: | Uinta National Forest - Summit Loop |
|---|---|
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Utah |
| Trip Rating: |  |
| Trip Date: | February 6, 2010 |
| Duration: | 4 hours, 15 minutes |
| Trail Conditions: | Fair to Good |
| Trail Traffic: | None |
| Trip Weather: | Cloudy |
| Trip Winds: | Heavy |
| Trip Precipitation: | Snow |
| Trip Temperature: | High: 11-20, Low: 0-10 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Trip Report: | It was not quite 10 degrees F. under cloudy skies when I arrived at the Pine Hollow Trailhead this morning. As is often the case, since Pine Hollow is one of the few access points for backcountry skiers and snowshoers, a couple of other parties had gotten there earlier. That means, of course, that at least the first 2 miles will be broken in already, and as that is the most relentless uphill portion, this is not unwelcome. Sure enough, the trail to the upper meadow could have been followed by a blind person and was packed well enough to possibly not even require snow shoes to get up there. At the first meadow, about half of the parties had branched off toward Salamander Flat, so the trail was less packed for the half mile into the second meadow. In spite of the obvious signs of traffic, I met nobody at all on this trek, probably because of my late start (it was 9AM). In the second meadow above Pine Hollow, I found the snow was almost 4’ deep, and all but one of the parties ahead of me had trekked across the meadow to go up to Summit. I followed the tracks of the lone person going toward the ridge above Mud Springs. That person was not following the blazes on the trees, but was bushwhacking up the ridge. I followed his tracks up to the top of the ridge, where looking back on the meadow well below me, I watched it disappear under a snowstorm moving in. As I climbed to the top of the ridge beyond that first ridge, the snowstorm caught me. In a moment I was in blizzard conditions – with strong winds and blowing snow. Fortunately, I always pack along a winter survival kit when I snowshoe, and I was prepared to dig in and wait it out, if necessary. It wasn’t. The blast only lasted about 10 minutes -- long enough to nearly fill in the lone snowshoer’s tracks. He must not have been far ahead of me as I saw his tracks turn straight down from the ridge to go back to Pine Hollow. I pushed on toward Mud Springs, now breaking trail in deep fresh snow. The difficulty of snowshoeing alone is that in fresh snowfalls, the trail must be broken. As breaking trail is exhausting work, it slows you down badly. Groups snowshoeing together can take turns on the point breaking trail. The lone trekker must do it all himself. I broke trail for almost 3 miles before stopping at the ridge top overlooking Cascade Springs. Here I found on the steep open face of the ridge that the wind had created snow cornices – not a good combination for avalanche danger. Also, the prospect of possibly having to break trail for another 3.5 miles seemed grim. This could be an all day job. So at that point, I turned around and retraced my steps to Pine Hollow Trailhead. The nice thing about snowshoeing is that you can always, at least, follow your own tracks out. |
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