Todd lake trip report

Friday the 30th of December 2011

Rip Waverly, Weird1 and I headed up to Mt Bachelor for an overnight hang.
We started at the Dutchman Flats Snow Park and planned to snowshoe out to Todd Lake for the night.
This was Rips first snowshoe trip! Also the first trip for much new gear including my new DIY Pulk.

When we arrived it was snowing a bit with a slight breeze, it was quite pleasant and peacfull outside.
We snowshoed down the groomed ski trail about 1/4-1/2 mile to the snowshoe trail and started to head in.
The snow gradually started to come down a bit harder and it took some time to find the trail markers
but for the most part we managed without much trouble.(Only one real detour)
After a few miles we came across a large opening with what we figured was the creek
that fed off of Todd Lake and we knew we were close to our goal.
The trail wasn't very clear at this point and after a bit of exploring and spotting a sign
on the other side we tried to get around to it. Weird1 was leading the way when his foot broke through
the snow and he found water! Now one of his boots was soaked and that was the beginning of our problems.
With some help, Rip helped him up and we started to backtrack, and found out there was water under most of this section.
Luckily we managed to keep everything else dry.

Not quite willing to concede at this point we start searching for options..
By this point its been snowing steadily for hours and even some of our trails have been covered back up.
The wind has picked up some and we are tired, its starting to get a bit stressfull so we sit down inside
some trees that provide some shelter for a well needed hot lunch.

After lunch we decide that the wind is pretty bad where we were and the snow is coming down at a decent rate.
We decide we are going to backtrack down the snowshoe trail and see what we find.
Weird1 gets a head start while me and Rip are packing up and I guess he ate his wheaties because it took us forever
to catch him and we were pounding the trail trying. (so much so we were sure he was lost on some other trail)
But eventually we caught up to him. The weather wasnt getting better, Weirds foot was soaked, and it wasnt even 5pm yet...
We decided to be smart and concede this trip and head back to the truck.

We did manage to have a great time and test out some new gear, so not all was bad.
Rip discoverd the fun of snowshoeing around the woods, and we are all looking foward to the next trip
to the Oregon Winter Hang (IN 12 DAYS!!!!!!!)
Oh and my Pulk worked AWESOME!!!!!



http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...7/P1020826.jpg

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http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...7/P1020836.jpg

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WOW thats full on! Glad you made it home safe... BTW, I'm loving pulk cam!

Winter wonderland. Its always good to know when to turn around or change plans. Live to have fun another day.

I love scenery like that. Awesome! Gotta love the pulk!!!

yeah but you were there grabbing it by the horns!
beautiful pulk-low flat wide=cg where its supposed to be.
Absolutely beautiful hike. Thanks for the taste of winter Oregon!

nice write up gary. it was fun for sure.

lessons:
-when they forecast a winter storm up in the mountains, count on it
-heavy snow covers snowshoe blazes quickly
-if submerged in water at 32*F, it's time to get off the trail
-snowshoeing is work, dress light (base layer / shell)
-digging out hammock sites in 6+ foot drifts requires time and daylight

can't wait for the group hang- this was just a teaser!

I agree with the others...discretion is the better part of valor.
That really looks like a great place. How far do you guys have to drive to get there?

Man, that wind was kicking out there! Smart move heading home early too.

Your pulk looks great and that's awesome it worked out so well. Looking forward to the trip report to the Oregon winter hang.

Fronkey

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rip waverly

nice write up gary. it was fun for sure.

lessons:
-when they forecast a winter storm up in the mountains, count on it
-heavy snow covers snowshoe blazes quickly
-if submerged in water at 32*F, it's time to get off the trail
-snowshoeing is work, dress light (base layer / shell)
-digging out hammock sites in 6+ foot drifts requires time and daylight

can't wait for the group hang- this was just a teaser!

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Yeah i'm getting excited.. Its looking like the Winter Hang is going to have quite the showing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jcavenagh

I agree with the others...discretion is the better part of valor.
That really looks like a great place. How far do you guys have to drive to get there?

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Well I drove just over an hour to get Rip, then about 2.5-3 hours to Weird1's house for the first night. Than maybe an hour to the trailhead.
About 1-2 hours longer to get back home due to the storm hitting the pass.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fronkey

Man, that wind was kicking out there! Smart move heading home early too.

Your pulk looks great and that's awesome it worked out so well. Looking forward to the trip report to the Oregon winter hang.

Fronkey

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Yeah im very pleased with how it worked. Still thinking up more ideas.
Plan to make that video you recommended:)

[QUOTE=Gary_R;623072 Yeah im very pleased with how it worked. Still thinking up more ideas.
Plan to make that video you recommended:)[/QUOTE]

If you need help editing or something. Let me know. It's the least I can do for your help.

Fronkey

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fronkey

If you need help editing or something. Let me know. It's the least I can do for your help.

Fronkey

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Might.. The video on here was literally my first time editing multiple vids together.. Kinda fun..

Yep....it is some work and even more-so in those temps around freezing.
Mighty fine briefing.
What a great snow field.
Shug

cool video, like the pulk cam. I'm concerned that a wet foot aborted the trip. All it should take to stay out of trouble is a couple of pairs of dry socks and some kind of towel.

I had a good work-out. I got out of shape again, but the snowshoes should fix that. I had a good time all things considered. My boot is dry and legs are not sore anymore. Also the next day was beautiful here, but at least we got some bad weather experience.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nothermark

cool video, like the pulk cam. I'm concerned that a wet foot aborted the trip. All it should take to stay out of trouble is a couple of pairs of dry socks and some kind of towel.

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Wet foot, strong winds, and non stop snow.
The wind/snow was causing it to be hard to see..
I don't see why you concerned?

He filled his boot with water, Could we have manage to get it dry and just change socks, Yes. But to do that properly we would have wanted a fire.
It was getting colder and with the wind the way it was making a fire would have been some work. We had a good time and opted to play it safe and call it a trip. Especially since we have another one planned in two weeks.

SO yes we could have done it and survived. But basically we didn't really feel it was going to be very enjoyable to stay. So why not go have a beer in a warm place!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nothermark

cool video, like the pulk cam. I'm concerned that a wet foot aborted the trip. All it should take to stay out of trouble is a couple of pairs of dry socks and some kind of towel.

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It was a combination of the weather, and the wet foot was a boot full of water not just a damp sock when we got home it was still soaked. I think we would have had no trouble in a survival situation, but all things considered there was no need for it.

Excellent trip report, guys!!!
Love the pull cam and the pulk looks like it performed really well.
:thumbup:

I'm totally Jones'in for the OR Winter hang.
Can't wait to see everybuggy!!!