Seymour Snowshoe Sleepover

As a child, one of my winter projects always was to built an igloo. Lacking enough snow, I never succeeded beyond lining up a couple of layers of snow bricks. The closest I got was one year, when an unusual 70cm dump of fresh powdery snow caused the government to proclaim an emergency situation and called in the troops. Schools were closed and I was digging a snowcave. It never got big enough to actually crawl into, but I was able to light a candle in it and delighted in my miniature cave.

Fast forward almost 40 years (gasp). One of my goals for this winter was to be up on a local mountain peak at sunrise. Friday afternoon the weather forecast looked good for the weekend and since I am still nursing an injured hip and didn't feel foolish enough to join the fun at the Pure Foolishness I put the word out to join me for an early morning snowshoe hike to Dog Mountain. Over dinner the plan morphed into taking the family up for a winter camping expedition...Ugh, was I seriously considering packing up the gear and the troops in order to avoid to rise at 5:00am on Sunday?



Saturday morning was spent packing up the gear and food for 2 little and two big winter campers. We set out on the trail around 2:30pm. Doug and Troy joined us for the afternoon. The sun was trying to peak through the clouds and there was a 20cm layer of fresh snow - on top of the 4m plus that have already accumulated this winter. Conditions looked good and we were excited.

The hike to Dog Mtn. is long enough to get you warmed up, but not long enough to get you tired. We found a protected little spot with easterly views and rigged up the tent. While it is not a monster tent, it is still pretty big and I wouldn't classify it as a backpacking tent. Luckily, Ean's knapsack is huge and the old man has practised carrying concrete bricks all summer long...

While I set up the interior decorations, complete with thermo rests and sleeping bags, the kids and Ean started to dig a snowcave into a huge snowbank. By the time dinner was ready, the cave could hold 2 of us easily. Macaroni and cheese never tasted so good. And the chicken noodle soup was very warming.

After dinner the skies started to clear and we could make out the city lights below us. While the boys continued to dig, the girls took some photos and got very cold.
By the time bed time rolled around, the cave was big enough to hold all four and featured a little bench and a cooking platform. Wow, maybe I finally get my childhood snowcave.

The night was cold. Very cold. EJ's matt had deflated due to a puncture hole. Anything slightly moist froze solid. We all snuggled up close. Two Fat Asses and two little tushes on 3 thermo rests. It seemed I was working all night to keep warm. Maybe next time (what am I thinking) we should come early and dig a cave big enough to sleep in. If constructed properly, it stays fairly warm in a snow cave.

The sun rose just after 8:00am and we happily greeted the new day. The sky was lighly overcast, so we didn't get to see an amazing sparkling sunrise, but it was special non the less. I cooked breakfast in the cave and pondered how I would like to sleep under a couple of meters of snow....

By noon we were back at the car (we had left a note in it indicating that we were out for the night - so that CFA member and North Shore Search and Rescue volunteer Allan wouldn't have to come out looking for us). It was a challenging outing, not quite painfree, but it left that good feeling of accomplishment!

Photos are here.