2014 DEC 15-17 * Wedgemount Lake and above

PanShiBo

Spent three fantastic days (2014 DEC 15,16,17) at the Wedgemount Lake and above. 8)

PHOTO: West Ridge of Mt. Wedge

vera

1.Thanks a lot for organizing this trip which gave me precious experience on alpine snowshoeing. Thanks god let me see the real condition on the steep part after I climbed up, otherwise I would be very scared. It was just on the edge of cornice and it looks very thin. After this part, we had to walk on the snow just above the crevasse. Although I was in the middle, I was still very nervous by watching the lead stepping above the big "cave".
2. Nice hut. It is unexpected that the hut was just waiting for us to open the door. Dr had to use ice saw and ice axe to accept the greetings, but it became so warm and comfortable. I had excellent sleeping during nights and left my feelings on the book, too.




I will be there some day again, I believe.

vera

How do you feel when you look at the person with confident smile under such situation? For me, it's with respect and admiration. That was after we climbed up the steep part, then we had to pass through this big cornice. Dr was the third this time and was on belay, but I couldn't stop thinking what to do if it collapsed on him when I was watching him walking to us (he had to bend, of course). I took a very deep breath after we reached safe spot. What an adventure to me!

vera

1. Everybody in the team enjoys outdoors and concentrates on how to make the maximum fun of it. For me, exercise is never be my purpose. I am not motivated this way. It is the beauty of mountains that attracts me the most, plus people I go with.
2. Everybody follows the 8 rules "How to be a good hiker".
3. As long as decision has been made, no arguements, no complaints.
4. Respect each other. Help each other (in different ways, as everybody has different strength), but don't "spoil" others in a wrong way.
5. Leader makes the final decision. ( Lucky I am not the leader as I don't like it at all. Too much pressure for me even to think about this.  :)  )
6. As a follower, it is in my blood that it is me who needs the organizer to make any trip happen, not the opposite way.Maybe this is why I can be a good team member, so far.
7. Positive attitude for sure! Be together, be happy.

PanShiBo

The crew.

PanShiBo

Wedgemount Lake trail as it is: 1,200 meters up with overnight pack and winter climbing gear, first half is icy, next half is snow. After having such a hike, up and down, some people would swear they will never come back again. Yet for some other people it is only an approach for great alpine routes still higher up. 8)

vera

"some people would swear they will never come back again. Yet for some other people it is only an approach for great alpine routes still higher up"

--- Exactly !

vera

As I said before, my extremities are easy to get cold due to poor circulation and it has been my main concern during outdoor activities, especially in the mountains in winter. I tried very hard and finally I succeeded this time. I would like to share it with ppl who has similar problem.

Wedgemount trip was my first time I only used one pair of gloves and my hands/feet were warm all the way through. You may be curious about what kind of "super" gloves I had --- they belong to kid's section in MEC --- mitten shape and water proof --- also much cheaper than adult's, around $20/pair. As our hands are usually small ( not for men), kid's L or XL size are very good for me, even I can put Zippo inside the gloves (I didn't need to use Zippo this time). My four fingers are not separate, so it is much easier to keep my hands warm. As Dr always reminds us at workshop " Try to do everything with your gloves on. You have to get used to it. You have to practice", now I can do quite a lot even with my mitten gloves. Personally I think it is a good idea for women to make the same choice. Believe me, it works so well. I am very satisfied and excited about this discovery (at least for myself).

PanShiBo

vera
..Wedgemount trip was my first time I only used one pair of gloves and my hands/feet were warm all the way through...

Hopefully, we don't have to deal with frostbite problem anymore. 8)

PHOTO: Recovering frostbitten fingers. Vantage Peak, Dec-2 2014

PanShiBo

Good dry snow begins half way up.

PanShiBo

Good light snow.

PHOTO: Crossing avalanche slope, transceivers turned on, of course.

lulululu

Enjoyed as always, thanks for sharing! learned a lots from your posts.

PanShiBo

Shortly below the hut the snow was too deep to walk without snowshoes, so we put them on. At the parking there were two vehicles parked and on the way we saw someones fresh foot tracks leading to the hut, so we were almost sure the hut will be busy, and so mentally prepared to spend the night in the snow trench, emergency style, we didn't bring the tent.

PHOTO: Mt Rethel and its Couloir that we climbed on Jul 16 2014. Sweet memories. 8)

lulululu

nice! my ld saw your guys last Thursday morning @ Grouse Mountain Parking and you two headed to "wolf area" and he didn't have chance to say hi to you. Just curious, how many GG/BCMC you do per week?

PanShiBo

lulululu
..you two headed to "wolf area"..

We actually tried to check out the Crown Buttress / Beck trails, see map here http://osm.org/go/WJQvY7Rn?layers=C . Would be nice if not that GreatWall-style fence.

lulululu
..Just curious, how many GG/BCMC you do per week?..

My records show 33 BCMC hikes so far in 2014 ( ~0.7 times per week ) 8)

PanShiBo

To our delight the hut was empty! Only the door was solid frozen.

vera

记得曾经有很多年每年都像完成任务似的写下新年目标，当然99%都一吹而过了，后来再看电影《BJ日记》，更加觉得无志之人常立志，在笑剧中人的同时也在自嘲。再后来励志书籍大流行，其中说，如果你向大家宣告你的目标，这样实现的可能性会高，因为你不能当众食言，否则岂不是颜面扫地？但是在现实中这样的人也是大把，像BJ那样宣告戒烟戒酒减重健身的不计其数，有几人能够做到呢？
但是我今天，倒是真要再老调一回，定一个2015的目标，关键不在于它是什么，只要实现了，就可以增加自我信任感，觉得自己还不是那么hopeless，不用归结于人性的弱点来原谅自己。
这个目标说来话长。重温Lulu的链接，才发现自己也曾经去过Wendy Thompson的小木屋，当时我们在弄Lulu的炉子，可是我们不懂操作，点着后就手足无措了，害得Lulu烫了手。反正我觉得那是很难的事情，从心里就拒绝学习，加上可爱的Lulu每次总是那么体贴，不带炉子的人只需带气，这样就更加不烦了，还操那心干嘛？就这样一天天过去，直到跟博士爬山，要求很明确：每人必须自带炉子，不能share（当然不只是炉子，包括其他gear，像雪铲之类都是这样要求的）。这下便没有大锅饭了，就无奈之下用最简单的“傻瓜相机”一样的炉子，而且大大地松了一口气。谁知好景不长，在零下时，按博士的话说，我的炉子一个小时也烧不开一壶水。从此，这就成了我的一块心病，可是不知怎么了，我还是从心里排斥去学如何操作他那样的“never fail”的炉子。后来看到Rick对那种连体炉子的介绍特别心动，但是网上提问后，答案还是在低温下不行。心里很失望，觉得再也躲不过去了，不能再赖了，那索性就“新年目标”一下吧---- 我要在2015年成为使用这种炉子的ＭＡＳＴＥＲ．这个MSR的炉子，据主人介绍，已经跟了他至少十年吧，特别reliable，我已经见识过在零下二十多度它的威力，所以自是深信不疑。它虽然没有华丽的外表和时髦的名字，但是它会是你忠实的伙伴，这不正是我们真正需要的么？

PanShiBo

Next morning the crew is ready for the exciting day ahead.

PanShiBo

vera
..我要在2015年成为使用这种炉子的ＭＡＳＴＥＲ..

吃惊极了！ 这个视频说明怎么使用它：

vera

多谢。视频讲得很清楚，就看我自己是否认真。２０１５camping就知道结果了。 :lol: