Superbowl Sunday Snowshoe

[azhiker96]

Okay, I'll admit I've never really had much of an interest in professional sports. So on Superbowl Sunday, when most real men were clustered around televisions chowing on chips and quaffing fermented beverages, I decided to trip down to Safford to see my brother and get in touch with my feminine side.
My adventure started with a 5am wake up on Saturday, traveled with Deanda to Mexico to work in a mobile clinic doing free checkups and treatments for the poor. We got home at 8pm, I ate a sandwich, stuffed some gear into my car and drove 3 hours to Safford. Had a midnight beer with my brother, evicted his cat from the spare bed and got about 7 hours or rest. The next morning we were up early, fueled with breakfast and coffee and headed up the mountain.
It looked ominous and inviting. We felt sure we'd have most of the mountain to ourselves, we were correct. Rounding a curve early on the mountain we had to slow to avoid hitting a small flock of tom turkeys. They were smart enough to stay low on the mountain where they could find some food.
As we continued to drive up the mountain it started to snow and we had to lock in the front tires on my brother's Toyota truck. The piles of cleared snow at the side of the road grew like a Dr. Suess book, 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet need heat. In some places the snow walls approached 6 feet tall.
We started our hike at the Shannon Campground. Fortunately for us, the fee station was obscured by snow so we got in free! This is when my brother asked a silly question. Should we take the two track to the summit and then coast down the mountainside? Or would I prefer to try to follow the trail up to the summit, and then return by the two track. What a question. We're brothers. I can't wimp out so I insist we take the most difficult path possible.
The trail is obvious for the first 100 yards, as we head through the campground. Then it gets a little bit more sketchy. But heck, that makes it fun. We were saved from the wind for the lower part of the snowshoe. The snow allowed us to pick paths that would usually not be possible. One fun part was hiking on a ridge that is usually impassable to hiking due to large rocks and brush. The ridge had 6-8 feet of snow on it which smoothed it out quite a bit.
The last hundred yards was a bit intense. We were traversing up a slope in a burn area. The wind was whipping and dead trunks were groaning as they rested on other trees. We had to keep a sharp eye out for widowmakers and sometimes you just had to pass quickly underneath lumber that was better left alone. I was very glad to see the communication towers at the summit which meant the two track was near and the tough climb was almost over.
We ended our adventure by sharing a thermos of coffee on the trip down the mountain. Photos in the gallery.
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It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. -- Carl Sagan

[wanderingsoul]

Sounds like you had a Grand Time there George. Now I'll have to take a gander at the pics, bet they look swell
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Wanderingsoul (Michelle)

Positive Thinking Is the Spark that Makes Dreams Happen~~~Unknown