A long 48 hours

It started at 8:30 pm on Thursday night, as we were watching TV and talking about how we had to be on the road into town by 7am Friday morning to deliver the new to us Search and Rescue truck back to Faricy Ford by 8am for a couple of items that need fixing.

And then the phone rings...and the Direct TV caller ID says "Alert", its a call out. We haven't had a search and rescue mission since August, things have been pretty quiet since the end of the summer tourist season. How though we are deep into hunting season and they come from all over the US to get a deer, elk, big horn sheep and/or antelope.

In this case, the day after a 10 inch snow fall, we have a couple of Texas hunters lost in the foothills along the Arkansas River.

By the time we get to the trail-head its 10pm, cold and damp from the melting of snow during the day. The hunters are about 10 miles up a ATV trail, somewhere. They tracked a deer away from where they parked their ATV and can't find their way back. As luck would have it they could get a cell call out, which for those of you who are familiar with this area as know it as one of the biggest cell site black holes in the state, know was pure luck.

About midnight they are found, and by 1am they are cold, but back at the trail-head. We pack-up and get home about 2:30am. Setting the alarm clock to ring at 6am for Friday's errands.

Friday goes pretty uneventfully.

Saturday morning we are up at 4am to make the 3:30 hour drive to St. Mary's Glacier for Alpine Team Training. The forecast is for 30 degree temps, -7 wind chill, winds at 36-45 mph, gusting to 70 mph. A blustery day.

We meet the rest of the Alpine Team on the road at 5:15, arriving at the trail-head to the glacier by 8:30pm.

The approach

It takes a while to get on the layers of clothes, avalanche beacons, crampons, snowshoes, shovels, probes, ropes, climbing harness' and everything else be taken in for the training. A few of the back country skiers coming out after getting in an early morning run mention the wind...as incredible.

Of course after you get geared up is when you realize you need a health break. Good practice for taking things off and putting stuff back on and how ill design most gear is for this basic human function. BTW did I mention that we stopped at a bakery in Silverthorne and got coffees on the trip in? They also had some raspberry brownies that will be the reward for a day in the back country, and the drive home, another 3:30 hours.

St, Mary's Lake with the glacier in the background

We get to a frozen St. Mary's Lake, below the glacier, and the wind is howling. Because it is coming in over the ridge to the west it is swirling and hitting us from multiple directions. The downdrafts are hitting the lake ice, which is only about 2 inches thick, pushing it down and causing blowouts at a few spots along the shore, at least that's my theory.

The morning is spent getting back into walking using ice axes, something that has to be second nature. Coordinating foot placements, hand and leash switch-overs, balanced vs. unbalanced steps, all need to be practiced, because the basic rule of mountaineering is pretty simple "don't fall".

By noon we find a place a little out of the wind (but not completely), and grab some food, visit nature and get ready to get on the glacier in the afternoon.

Marlys on the hike to the glacier

We hike around the lake to the glacier foot directly into the wind, stash our packs, grab ice axes and head up to do self-arrests, basically stopping yourself when sliding down the mountain. Probably one of the most important skills needed in this environment. St. Mary's is what i believe is called a hanging glacier in that it is located in a valley above the outflow lake.

The gusts in this area are so strong that you need to stop and brace yourself when one starts or risk a blow down, something that in this terrain would not be good. We walk up the slope a few hundred feet and start falling and sliding in different positions to simulate a real fall, and then stopping using the ice axes pick. Even though it is early in the season and the avalanche condition reports don't start until November you still need to be careful.

Marlys sitting and waiting to slide.

And wouldn't you know it, while we are all sitting on the glacier we hear and feel a "whoump", which is generally cause by the snow settling (we had a storm move through Colorado on Wednesday, see above) and an indicator of avalanche danger. We all head directly to the side of the glacier make our way back to where we had cached the packs and have a meeting on what to do next...at least as much as you can in the howling wind.

Its about 2:30 and will take us about an hour to hike out. Some folks have commitments that evening, including us as the "Da Gurls" are arriving on their seasonally trip south to Arizona for the winter. We decide to pack it in and head out.

We get home about 6:30, after stopping for the raspberry brownie...I do have my priorities, and fuel in Breck. The folks at the bakery said we were the first and last customers of the day.

"Da Gurls" had dinner ready.

By 9pm I am in bed.