Stevens Pass, Knee Deep in Pow November 8th, 2009

What a weekend... So I procrastinated some studying for the weekend and got some R&R/Masochistic hiking at Stevens Pass in to calm the soul. I'm all for difficult hikes just to get to anything my soul needs, and the pain in my legs from helping cut the boot pack up Big Chief in 30 inches or so of fresh snow is fairly evident.

The day started out in Lynnwood, and my cousin Zach and I dilly dallied our way out the door at 5:30am and slowly made our way to Stevens Pass. After a lot of stops on the way we finally were working our way up the pass. The roads were bare and wet most of the way, and since I was driving my "new to me" Subaru Forester I drove in the uncleared lane to see how the tires handled while cornering accelerating and braking, since the pass was a ghost town on the way up the mountain I could really test the braking. When we arrived at the parking lot the initial plan was to go to the PCT Trail head and hike the PCT across the resort to Tye mill, but the PCT parking lot had still not been plowed so we played in the snow! More vehicle handling tests, cause you can never be too prepared with the knowledge of knowing how your vehicle will handle in a slide or deeper snow. After having to dig out once... we finally went over to the main parking lot and just hiked the Big Chief run to the PCT... What a workout, even with snowshoes we were sinking past our knees up the nice grade. At about the jct to the PCT, which it was deep enough that if you didn't know where it was, good luck finding it. I decided there was no sense traversing to make a new boot back up Tye when there was already one being started on Big chief. So I continued up the hill in the boot pack and Zach stuck around to take a video of me coming down the mountain.













After taking the video, Zach started down the hill and I hiked back up for another run or 2. After the snowboarding I broke out the old trusty MSR Simmerlite and started melting snow to make the Burrito concoction that I've been working on. I promised awhile ago that I'd write a blog on it eventually, and now I will have to. I herby name them the "Stevens Pass Burritos". After adding the water to the bag with the mix in it, I wrapped the freezer bag in my fleece and stuffed it in my backpack to let it reconstitute. We melted a little more snow, and made some Hot Apple Cider to warm the soul. After making lunch we headed to the car and headed home. What an epic day for being so early in November! Bring on winter, cause my mind and soul needs an immersion into the deep powder of a winter wonderland!