Slip Slidin’ Away!
by Wanderer - May 25th, 2008.Filed under: Hike Recaps.
ON May 24, 2008, 4 adventuresome hikers made the mad-dash hike up Fuller Lake to a camp site at the first Lake (Lower Fuller Lake). It’s a good 2 hour climb in ideal conditions. But these were not ideal conditions.
The weather was great and the first half of the trail between the trailhead and Lower Fuller Lake was in very good shape. But at some point, all the melting snow seemed to decide that the best way down was to take the same path we were using to go up. In a few of these places, a good rock base made for easy travel. But for the most part it was leep frogging back and forth across the trail trying to find a dry spot. You know what I mean. That sucking sound you hear when you realize the top of your boot is now below mud-level?
Then. as if the trail was trying to deny our access, we came across unmelted snow and no way to go around. We didn’t really have the gear, but we were not to be denied. We post-holed our way to the beaver dam through the thigh-to-waist-deep snow. Raphy, the only 4 legged hiker in the group, just scurried along on top of the snow. The rest of us, just tried to think light thoughts.
We had a nice fire going at the camp site that evening and enjoyed a cool night’s sleep. it started raining immediately after breakfast the next morning. Our plans were to dink around for a while between Lower and Upper Fuller, but there was just no way we could get much further without snowshoes. So we decided we had had enough adventure and headed back down the trail. Gravity was working for us, and in a few cases against – - as we slid back down to the warmth and dryness of a vehicle.
We will put up a few pictures. I realized when I started to review the pictures that we had no pictures of the snow forging we had to do (Although I did get a really nice picture of Lower Fuller Lake still covered in many places with snow and ice). I’m not good at taking pictures at the same time am sucking wind and pulling my twisted leg out of a hole in the snow, sometimes by crawling on my belly. But it was all there . . . and we had a great time despite natures attempt to provide otherwise.
