“SubZero” Snow Adventure, Actual Pt 2 by Nutnfancy04:33

Prepare to be hungry. There’s something especially appetizing about taking bacon-wrapped, sizzling chicken breast out of the grill basket and digging in when you’re starving. Especially when night air high in the mountains reaches a frigid -10ºF (-23ºC). Add in Green Giant Mexicorn, baked beans, Minute Rice, and hot spiced cider to complete this high mountain dinner. Delicious. Allie partook too as she rested on her Thermarest Ridgerest pad I hauled up for her. But this feast didn’t just fall into place: it required a lot of dedicated work in the cold and deep snow to make it a reality. Packing it great chow like this is always heavier but on some trips it’s just worth it. Also it was back breaking labor prepping all the wood, making the fire platform, and batons. We make camp on about five feet of deep powder so as usual the heavy survival knife and baton are the best tools for splitting the wood (no stable wood platform for a full-size axe, takes more energy, heavier to pack, less precise). The Esee Junglas and RTAK II large survival knives get a workout in the snow and perform reliably. Other blades are brought but there’s no time or energy to test them as the making of a good fire has to take priority. The sharp edges this wood splitting creates accesses dry interior wood and creates sharp edges that rapidly produces a much-needed fire. Allie the Mountain Dog is unimpressed and though frigid, prefers staying away from the smoke. When she shivers she I zip her into my LL Bean Primaloft jacket and she warms up. I do worry about her feet in the extreme cold and leave her RuffWear boots on to keep in any warmth; that turns out to be a good choice. MSR Pocket Rocket stoves are also cranked up to speed up the cooking process and for their precise cooking capabilities; that stove remains a favorite of mine even in these sub-zero conditions (shown). Luckily we have no wind and the night is glorious. But it’s frigid. We eat the hearty meal without guilt, a well-earned feast after plowing through six feet of steep powder to reach the bivoac. With pressing obligations back in the valley, we load up, break camp, and showshoe back down our plowed out route. Gear lessons are reiterated and discussed with Cr0cket20. After many snow expeditions, my systems are pretty solid and the Kelty “Eagle 7850” tactical backpack performed impressively (see www.amronintl.com). Another hard-work adventure logged into memory, amazing scenery, and we stayed comfortable and safe the cold. A feeling of satisfaction of having conquered harsh conditions again ensues. ////////////////////// Music: Licensed to TNP from www.danosongs.com /////////////// Note on axe use in these deep snow, backpacking conditions: You will need an accurate, high velocity hit with a 2 lb+ axe to effect a split in my experience. It’s high energy, takes technique & you need to be able to stand the log up as you hit it. In deep wilderness snow that’s all difficult (unless you spend much energy digging to dirt with snow shovel which takes even MORE energy). Also sometimes an axe is less versatile in splitting kindling as well when more delicate splits are needed (especially if you’ve brought a specialty splitting axe) and self-injury can happen more readily. It’s easy to not appreciate the shortages of time, body fuel, & fatigue until you do this type of adventure. Big blades serve well here.