Looking at the footprints headed to the glorious pizza-and-beer-filled wonderland, I felt a surge of jealous... panic, almost. We were standing eight miles from rest. Eight miles from warmth. Eight miles from endless food. Eight miles from Melanie. We could be sitting down in a heated truck in five hours...
Were we really going to continue?
Read MoreSteve slowly stepped up through the sliding dirt and mud, bits of snow still adhered to his face, his left hand gripping a bloodied trekking pole from a finger he'd ripped open in the fall. Exhausted, he eventually found enough uphill progress to get back up to the trail next to me.
Clearly a bit pissed, he curtly stated, "We need to find a place to camp sooner rather than later."
Read MoreSteve slowly stepped up through the sliding dirt and mud, bits of snow still adhered to his face, his left hand gripping a bloodied trekking pole from a finger he'd ripped open in the fall. Exhausted, he eventually found enough uphill progress to get back up to the trail next to me.
Clearly a bit pissed, he curtly stated, "We need to find a place to camp sooner rather than later."
Read More"I hope this is smart..." I muttered through my chattering teeth.
I fought my shivering with everything I could to keep still and balanced. The log shifted and twitched from side to side, threatening to shake me off. The healthy current under the log was pulling both of my legs to the side, making it difficult to maintain my balance. A full-on, freezing, early morning swim to the other side of the creek wasn't exactly high on my wish list.
Read MoreAfter a half-hour, Steve stood there, having made no progress, staring across the slope in my direction.
He had frozen.
We didn't have time to be frozen.
Read MoreSteve came to a wide-eyed halt where the snow took the sharp, downward dive towards the valley a thousand feet below.
'That's not it, is it?' he called down in his nervous British accent.
It was. I already knew it was. But I gave another look around to make sure I didn't miss a milder slope, or a dry patch of rock to downclimb, or maybe a misplaced mall escalator...
Read MoreSteve came to a wide-eyed halt where the snow took the sharp, downward dive towards the valley a thousand feet below.
'That's not it, is it?' he called down in his nervous British accent.
It was. I already knew it was. But I gave another look around to make sure I didn't miss a milder slope, or a dry patch of rock to downclimb, or maybe a misplaced mall escalator...
Read More'TURN AROUND.'
My mind refused to calm down, 'You're making a mistake! What are you doing out here alone?!'
The seething torrent of water was unlike anything I'd seen in person. The magnificent amount of water cascading through the immensely swollen Tuolumne River was deafening. The powerful mass sent reverberations through the ground I could actually feel through my boots.
...and I had to get to the other side.
Read MoreI arrived at some small stumps of wood protruding near the end of the log, blocking my ability to continue sliding along without risking my pants or reproductive capabilities. Grabbing one of the small stumps, I gave it a shockingly-small twist and it crumbled in my hand...
'Well, shit... I sure hope the log itself is sturdier than that...' I thought to myself as I let the crumbles of rotted wood slide out of my fingers into the swift water below, the suppressed adrenaline-monster inside of me panicking against the mental straight-jacket I'd put it in.
Read More'Just sit down and put your damn crampons on!' my subconscious commanded me.
My hiking shoulder-demon reappeared, 'Nah. You've got this.'
Read MoreMy partners stayed close behind, patiently waiting for me to take every careful step. I'd weight each snowshoe delicately, allowing it to slide until enough snow compacted under the platform for the slide to stop, then repeating with the next step. It was sketchy, draining, frightening, slow work.
At one point, Nick hesitantly asked, "Hey man, do you want your crampon back?"
But there was no point in even trying to switch out snow gear on the steep terrain. As it stood, one of us, whether it was Nick or me, had to traverse this slope without crampons... and it was me. That's just how the dice rolled.
Read MoreIn a horrific moment, in a scene forever etched into my mind, I stepped my right foot forward and felt a crisp, sharp *crack* reverberate under my boot, followed by a splintering cascade hidden under the soft, innocent blanket of fresh powder.
Read MoreIn incredible slow-motion, I felt my right foot sink deeper and deeper beneath the thin surface of powder-coated ice. Without my foot making purchase on the lakebed, I fell forward with my arms reflexively outstretched, instinctually attempting to catch myself, but my stiff arms punctured straight through the ice as well.
I turned my head to the side and closed my eyes as I felt the insane cold of the subterranean water slowly slide up my arms until my world seemingly fast-forwarded out of the slow motion world and into reality. My torso slammed into the ice, followed shortly by my right cheek, rupturing the surface of the lake beneath me into blocky, dirty chaos.
Read More"Bro..." he started, his jaw hanging slightly open, "Where are you going? You know there's not any dirt to hike on yet, right? It's not a great time to go backpacking yet. There was a really big snow year this last winter."
... ... ...
...was there?
Read More"Bro..." he started, his jaw hanging slightly open, "Where are you going? You know there's not any dirt to hike on yet, right? It's not a great time to go backpacking yet. There was a really big snow year this last winter."
... ... ...
...was there?
Read More
