I’ve planned for this trip for over a year now. At least based on the fact that in the summer of 2016 I bucked, split, and stacked a stash of hard wood maple in anticipation I’d be returning to burn it one day. (I know it’s still there I stopped by to check on it the last day of hunting season.)
I was to stay for 3 nights over this New Years. I’d go in on Friday and return on Monday New Years Day. Everything was coming together and based on prior experience I had everything packed and I was off. After my arrival and having loaded and tied down my gear on the sled I put on my Permafrost Parka and hood but couldn’t locate my Buff (despite having it on my check list of equipment) but I did locate my backup balaclava.
The familiar ¾ mile sled haul across the lake was next and I knew I’d soon be setting up camp near my stash of dry hard wood for the weekend. The three night dinner menu consisted of venison back straps, homemade lasagna, or venison/bacon burgers. Breakfasts would consist of Oscars smoked pork tenderloin, hash browns with green peppers and onions, duck eggs, coffee, and OJ or instead of eggs buckwheat pancakes and maple syrup. I had some chili if I elected to eat lunch but I usually wouldn’t. Extra sharp cheese and crackers for hors d'oeuvres and to drink I had a new, for me, mead called Odin’s Tears by Heritage Meadery or I’d sip on Buckshot a peppered and maple bourbon whiskey gifted to me by my wife.
Over the weekend I had plans to extend my ski trail through the hardwood glade with my new skis, buck up some more wood for the wood stash, and drill some ice holes and try some fishing. Mostly however I would be savoring the moments being outdoors in the cold, sitting next to the wood stove gazing out my vinyl window listening to the cracking of trees and lake ice as they freeze up, the wind howling and rattling the tent at night, and listening to an audible book recommend to me by my brother: Astoria by Peter Stark.
Alas it’s not going to occur at the lake this New Year…
About 1/3 of the way across the lake I had a fleeting thought that there were no snowmobile trails that usually ran up the middle of the lake. A little further along I suddenly ran into a small patch of slush but quickly scurried through and around it. Mind you when you’re hauling a sled and backpack and do the “quickly scurried maneuver” you expend a fair amount of energy and well… I needed to pause for a rest. That pause resulted in my first sled freeze up. I quickly overturned my sled and scarped the slushy mess off and hauled further away from the area finding a slush free area to rest.
Having recouped I hauled on and nearing my ½ way mark it was now very apparent to me no snowmobiles have been on the lake at all. Simultaneously my tracks began to quickly fill in with slush so I attempted a 180 degree turn but by the time I passed my sled in the turn the slush locked onto its bottom and my skis. I was stuck... solid. Safe but stuck. I had to remove my skis and walk with them to find a slush free area and remove the now freezing slush on the skis bottoms. I reapplied “Glop Stopper” to the skins and rested. I eventually returned to the sled, turned it on its side, and began scraping the freezing slush off the bottom. It was at the beginning of this second, and move severe, slush event that I had decided I wasn’t going any further and that I would return home. I wouldn’t risk getting bogged down in any more slushy areas, perhaps several, to get to my camping area and stash of wood. These two events were exhausting… and had I gone on and encountered more slush I still would have to set up camp.
Overall it was a good day to be out and about in winter. I’ll still enjoy everything I was bringing with me camping I’ll just be enjoying it at home next to my wood stove in the den.
Cheers and Happy New Years Everyone!
I was to stay for 3 nights over this New Years. I’d go in on Friday and return on Monday New Years Day. Everything was coming together and based on prior experience I had everything packed and I was off. After my arrival and having loaded and tied down my gear on the sled I put on my Permafrost Parka and hood but couldn’t locate my Buff (despite having it on my check list of equipment) but I did locate my backup balaclava.
The familiar ¾ mile sled haul across the lake was next and I knew I’d soon be setting up camp near my stash of dry hard wood for the weekend. The three night dinner menu consisted of venison back straps, homemade lasagna, or venison/bacon burgers. Breakfasts would consist of Oscars smoked pork tenderloin, hash browns with green peppers and onions, duck eggs, coffee, and OJ or instead of eggs buckwheat pancakes and maple syrup. I had some chili if I elected to eat lunch but I usually wouldn’t. Extra sharp cheese and crackers for hors d'oeuvres and to drink I had a new, for me, mead called Odin’s Tears by Heritage Meadery or I’d sip on Buckshot a peppered and maple bourbon whiskey gifted to me by my wife.
Over the weekend I had plans to extend my ski trail through the hardwood glade with my new skis, buck up some more wood for the wood stash, and drill some ice holes and try some fishing. Mostly however I would be savoring the moments being outdoors in the cold, sitting next to the wood stove gazing out my vinyl window listening to the cracking of trees and lake ice as they freeze up, the wind howling and rattling the tent at night, and listening to an audible book recommend to me by my brother: Astoria by Peter Stark.
Alas it’s not going to occur at the lake this New Year…
About 1/3 of the way across the lake I had a fleeting thought that there were no snowmobile trails that usually ran up the middle of the lake. A little further along I suddenly ran into a small patch of slush but quickly scurried through and around it. Mind you when you’re hauling a sled and backpack and do the “quickly scurried maneuver” you expend a fair amount of energy and well… I needed to pause for a rest. That pause resulted in my first sled freeze up. I quickly overturned my sled and scarped the slushy mess off and hauled further away from the area finding a slush free area to rest.
Having recouped I hauled on and nearing my ½ way mark it was now very apparent to me no snowmobiles have been on the lake at all. Simultaneously my tracks began to quickly fill in with slush so I attempted a 180 degree turn but by the time I passed my sled in the turn the slush locked onto its bottom and my skis. I was stuck... solid. Safe but stuck. I had to remove my skis and walk with them to find a slush free area and remove the now freezing slush on the skis bottoms. I reapplied “Glop Stopper” to the skins and rested. I eventually returned to the sled, turned it on its side, and began scraping the freezing slush off the bottom. It was at the beginning of this second, and move severe, slush event that I had decided I wasn’t going any further and that I would return home. I wouldn’t risk getting bogged down in any more slushy areas, perhaps several, to get to my camping area and stash of wood. These two events were exhausting… and had I gone on and encountered more slush I still would have to set up camp.
Overall it was a good day to be out and about in winter. I’ll still enjoy everything I was bringing with me camping I’ll just be enjoying it at home next to my wood stove in the den.
Cheers and Happy New Years Everyone!
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire