Second quinzhee attempt, Winter: 1, Ed: 1

As I previously wrote here http://faint-traces.blogspot.com/2015/02/first-attempt-at-quinzhee-winter1-ed0.html, I have been looking to sharpen my winter hiking skills.   The first attempt consisted of piling up snow, letting it sinter, then hollowing it out.  The results were positive, although I learned that a) you get soaked and b) to do it right you need a big pile and…

MSR Revo Explore 25 review

Disclaimer: I’ve never snowshoed before, and have no experience, other than selling them when I worked at an outfitter a very long time ago. Before I begin, kudos to LL Bean – for the 10% off online shopping, the free shipping, and the 2-day delivery even though they had said 7 days. I bought the…

Sometimes properly planning for a trip means to skip the trip

You can know and trust your equipment as well as possible, but there are limits to human endurance and capabilities.  Kate activated a GPS tracker beacon when she got into trouble, but it’s not a sure thing.   In this kind of weather, maybe bring a buddy.  When it’s 30 below out, maybe stay indoors. “Unfortunately,…

First attempt at a quinzhee; Winter:1, Ed:0

With all the snow on the ground I thought I’d practice some winter skills, so I decided to build a quinzhee.  Yesterday I shoveled fresh snow into an approx 5′ high pile, maybe 8′ around.   Today I began excavation.   It’s a good idea to let the snow sit, as it sinters together. I began with…

Faint trace of deer – actually pretty clear trace

With 3″ of wet snow on the ground I did a little tracking.   Outside the fence I immediately found deer prints, coming and going randomly as they do.   They’re either smaller than I imagine, or have some kind of 6th sense when it comes to navigating through brush at night; they chose paths through a…