Winter Camping and Hiking - Saturday/Sunday

Morning was a bit chilly but the clouds cleared off pretty fast and the sun came out nice and bright. We decided to go for a wander down the lake and to see the other road in.

The lake is nearly completely frozen but the ice is only a couple inches thick in most places so there was NO walking on it. You can see a hole in the ice at the bottom of the picture, that was a clear area that had a bunch of brook trout swimming around over a little sandy area. Some nice sized fish up to about 14 inches or so. Pretty much every thin area of ice along the shore had a number of fish swimming around trying to get the sunlight.

We hiked around the end of the lake and checked out the other side and where the little road went to.

As we hiked on we gained elevation and hiked into the frost line. A few hundred feet up the mountains the hoarfrost had been building up for days. The trees were absolutely coated with it, as well as the bushes.

The frost had built up 2 and 3 inch long crystals all over the bushes and trees. Incredible size to them and longer than I can remember ever seeing.

Atop a knoll sits this old log cabin that had slats of wood for chinking between the logs and at one point seemed to have a flat roof. It is likely from the 30s or 40s judging by the look of the wood and the construction.

We hiked back to the cave and since the valley is north south the sun went behind the hill about 2:00 pm and the cold set in. We kicked the fire back into gear and hung out in the cave and sipped on bourbon until it got late and we knocked out.

The first night my feet were pretty cold but the second night was fine and I was more than warm enough. It helps to have my bouldering crash pad with me so I have a nice thick pad to sleep on. Made the nights MUCH more comfortable.

Yesterday morning woke in the cave and after a bit we ended up hiking around the boulders above the cave.

Inside of a cave we found another cave. This went back about 15 feet but to get in it we had to crawl through a small hole that opened into a small area just big enough to sit up in.

This is the entrance hole which is about 2 feet by 1.5 feet.

The boulder filed holds a large number of varying sized caves and we found the deepest of them so far as we climbed around. The cave starts as a big one above but it narrows down to a cavity around a boulder that is held up by the surrounding. There is a squeeze gap that goes around the boulder and next to the gap is an opening too small to fit through. Through the opening I shined my light in and I could not see the end of the tunnel. It looked to go back about 20 feet or more. Art might be exploring it in the next day or two and I am SUPER curious what is in it and how big the cave is.

He needed a few supplies from his house and town so hiked out with me yesterday. Grande mountain is our next objective.

We are eyeing a line that goes up the main corner on the face but the snow and cold make it a bit hard to climb. If the weather stays mellow this month we may end up getting the chance to do it.

I got home in the afternoon and in the evening enjoyed a nice warm shower.

Today I am going to get a batch of apples going in the freeze dryer, R has school, I need to get the sold squash ready for delivery tomorrow, and I have to fix R's bed to the wall so it is nice and solid.

Play Rabona the new soccer manager game on Hive!

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Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce

All images are original works of Fleming Family Farm unless otherwise notated and credited.

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