Snowshoeing on Guardsman's Pass

A cold, clear night with sparkling snow

Trekking poles assist in measuring depth of snow

It has been a couple of weeks since I have been able to get into the mountains, so last night about 6:30 I headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon to get out of the smog and inversion of the valley.  I happened to be listening to the radio on the way up, but it was a talk show about UFO's and alien abductions, and it kind of creeped me out, so I turned off the radio. I don't mind going into the mountains alone at night when I can't find someone to go with me, but I do not recommend thinking about aliens and UFO's when alone! Near the top of the canyon, I made a sharp left at the sign that says' Guardsman's Pass closed for winter'. I drove a couple of miles on dry road to the locked gate, Be sure to pay attention to the 'No Parking' signs, because you will be ticked/towed even in the middle of winter!  I strapped on  my snowshoes, grabbed my pack and headed up the road.  I marveled at what a difference a 30 minute drive up the canyon can make: No smog, not a cloud in the sky, and incredible number of sparkling stars in the night sky.   As usual, I left my thermometer home, but it was probably a good ten degrees warmer than in the valley, maybe  a temperature of 25 degrees. Since it was so warm, I left my down jacket in the car and wore a light breathable jacket. It does not take long to generate a lot of body heat while snowshoeing, and you want to avoid sweating a lot, because it will be really cold when you stop moving.   I hiked up the road to a place we have snow camped before, to check out the conditions. I stepped off the road into about 3 feet of light powder, and swept some of it away to do a test dig. A great way to dig a snow cave is with a regular wood saw. I cut out blocks of snow easily and scooped them out.  The snow was over 5 feet deep, and normally that would be plenty for a snow cave, but with 3 feet of powder, I want to find a spot that has been more exposed to the sun than the North-facing slope I was on.  I plan to camp up here next weekend with Jake and his friends. I will continue this blog after that.
Lesson learned: If you see black plastic filings in the snow when you are sawing, you may be cutting into your snowshoe! Oops! No harm done, just a little notch for me to laugh about on future hikes!

      Update for 1/26/2013:  I did not end up going snow cave camping Friday due to an unusual ice storm the day before, causing very slick roads. However, I did go back up to Guardsman's pass to do some more snowshoeing Saturday.  I hiked up to Scott's Pass. See a good description of this hike on the Salt Lake Tribune Outdoors section hike of the week: http://www.sltrib.com/csp/cms/sites/sltrib/Outdoors/hikes.csp?hike=338.  On my way up I saw a 2 foot-tall snowman in the middle of the road. I took a picture of it and wondered how long a white snowman would last in the middle of a white road frequented by snowmobilers. Alas, on my way back, I noticed that the snowman was no more.  I did rescue the 1988 quarter that had been used for its nose.

2 foot tall snowman. ( I did not get an after shot)

Even an outhouse looks cozy in the snow!

Part of Great Western Trail

Sadly, my trekking poles had nothing to say about this outing,
as I left them hanging in the garage!