Day 186: snowshoeing is tough

Sunday 10/21/12
Miles 2,638-2654 (16 miles)
Elevation 6,254'

DANG.  Showshoeing is hard!  It took us all day just to do 16 miles!  What the heck?!  Its also physically more tiring than hiking.  But oh my gosh, I am SO GRATEFUL we have the snowshoes.  This would absolutely suck so much without them!!

Today was an incredible day, and it started in an amazing way.  I had to go poop in the morning, so I was getting ready to go out of the tent.  Suddenly, I saw what I thought was a bear cub walking behind a tree that was right in front of my tent.  I thought, oh crap, momma bear is nearby, this can't be good.  The animal circled around the tree and came to the front where I could see it clearly, and it was a lynx!  That was soooo cool!  We just stared at each other for a few seconds, then it calmly just meandered away.  I guess it was just checking us out.  Doe Eyes said we were probably camping in his territory because she noticed paw prints in the snow last night where we all made camp.  Needless to say, I waited a bit before I went out to poop.  Lol!

the lynx was standing right where i am taking this photo

Scallywag and City Food (who is using my tent) in their TarpTent Notches

Although this seems obvious, it is COLD in the morning!  It took us a while to get out of our sleeping bags and pack up.  Once we packed up, I got moving as soon as I could.  Standing still was not an option.  I started walking so I would warm up.  Sometimes it took a while before my hands and feet stopped being numb.  We were all in much higher spirits today.  It was a good day. :)  In fact, we all started speaking with ridiculous/horrible Nordic Ski Guide accents.  Lol!  "Das vas gud hikings, ya?"  Hee hee.

Kyle, AKA "Sven", the nordic ski guide

it was really, really pretty

kinda crazy how snow just smoothes out the terrain.  and the snow was soooo powdery.  it reminded me of Shave Ice (its a Hawaiian/asian dessert thing that is like a snow cone but waaaaay better)

grateful for the clear skies and sun

Scallywag in front of me, and Kyle way in front of Scallywag

I was so grateful that the weather was so perfect.  It didn't really snow on us too much today, skies were clear and blue and the sun was out.  Whoo hoo!  Having the sun out makes a *huge* difference.  It is so much warmer (relatively speaking).  Stoked that my layers are keeping me warm yay!

We hiked til well after dark.  It starts to get dark around 6pm now, I think we hiked til around 9 or later.  We were all absolutely exhausted.  The mileage comes a lot slower in snowshoes and it takes a lot more effort.  Plus I've been pretty dehydrated the last few days, because I haven't been drinking a lot of water.  It is ironic, since we are completely surrounded by water all the time (snow).  But I can't use my water bladder because it is frozen, as is the drinking hose, so even if there was water inside i can't get to it.  So all I have is my 20oz gatorade bottle, which freezes sometimes.  I've discovered that if I store the bottle upside down that the opening of the bottle is less likely to freeze.  But yeah, getting water is a pain in the ass and I'm usually too cold to do it, so I just don't.  Which isn't good.  And melting snow is a horrible pain in the ass and takes forever, and I usually don't have the energy or patience for it, so I just melt the minimum amount I need to cook with and thats it.

Well, on the bright side, we will be in Canada tomorrow, and I will be warm.  YAY!!!!! :D