Trip Report
Basic Snowshoe - Lodge Lake
Snow conditions make all the difference! A pretty easy trip can become much more challenging with difficult snow and this proved to be the case today. When the snow is like it was today, ice axes and the associated skills in how to use them are a must!
Gay Miller
- Thu, Jan 31, 2019
- Basic Snowshoe - Lodge Lake
- Lodge Lake
- Snowshoeing
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The snow this time was hard and somewhat icy in some spots and quite crusty in others. On the back side of the ridge towards the lake, there was insufficient snow to form decent snow bridges over the drainages so we had to choose our route down carefully to avoid possible injury and/or falls into the voids! On the trip back, we came straight down the old Mountaineer's ski run and this required everyone's full attention due to the hard snow conditions.
We parked between Summit Central and the old Mountaineer's road. We ascended up through the trees between the two properties to the ridge and then down the other side to the lake. This route is quite steep for the last third of it so heel lifts were a real blessing. The snow on the back side of the ridge was not plentiful and made for much weaving and wandering to avoid uncrossable drainages and downed logs. We really need more snow back here! It took us 1.5 hours to get to the lake and a little less on the return. We spent close to a half hour having lunch at the lake in pleasant company. On the return trip, we had one person wander off so that took a bit of time to retrieve them. Then the hard part was coming down the old Mountaineer's ski run as the snow was so hard and the run so steep that several people fell despite using great care! Also, despite requiring ice axes, several of us forgot ours so due to the snow conditions, we had to step that much more carefully, making for some rather slow going on the descent.