Blue Creek Trail Snowshoe Hike

After last year's experience breaking through the snow up to my thighs while trying to hike in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, I decided that this year I would buy snowshoes and learn how to use them.  This past Tuesday I took my first "real" hike on snowshoes.

Since I knew next to nothing about snowshoes, I went to two stores in Spokane, WA to ask questions and examine them.  REI is my old standby, and they were very informative.  I also went to Mountain Gear, a locally-owned non-chain store that has a very good equipment selection and knowledgeable employees:   Mountain Gear    I learned what I needed to know, but neither store stocked what was for me the best choice, so I ended up ordering my snowshoes online.  Based on my weight and expected usage pattern (250 lbs., mountain hiking and backpacking), I got MSR Lightning Ascent 27" snowshoes, and also purchased the 5" flotation tails, extensions that add more surface area for better flotation in deep powder.  I already had boots (Lowa Tibet GTX) and trekking poles (Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork).

About a week earlier I had tried them out for the first time, walking a little less than a mile through the relatively flat common area/green belt portion of our development.  The snow that day was deep, and was wet and heavy due to the just-above-freezing temperature.  It was a good first outing that helped me get the bindings adjusted properly and learn a little about how to walk in them effectively.  But I really wanted to get out into the mountainous terrain and walk through the woods.

I recently learned of a trail even closer to our home than the Marie Creek trail that I'd already walked several times.  The Blue Creek Trail is listed as a 2.6 mile loop trail, with a trailhead only 4 miles from our house.  It is on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, and I've seen an alternate listing  calling it the "Beauty Bay Trail".  Since it's right off Blue Creek Bay, I have to think the latter designation is mistaken.

Blue Creek Trail

Tuesday morning dawned crisp and clear, with a beautiful blue sky. We've had a lot of snow lately, and it was cold enough (19 F) that it was powdery and inviting.  After clearing the snow from the driveway in the morning, I decided I just had to get out in it, so I packed a lunch and my day pack (more details on that in a later entry), bundled up, packed the car, and headed out.  I got to the trailhead and actually started walking at about 1230.  This is kind of late in the day to start a hike this time of year - it starts getting dark around 1630, and by 1730 you really need a flashlight to see well.  If I'm going to take any longer hikes, I'm going to have to plan and prepare the day before.  But it's a fairly short trail so I wasn't worried.

The first part of the trail is a steady uphill climb.  The loop portion is at the top of the climb on relatively level or gently-sloping terrain (this is another lollipop trail).  The first 1/4 mile or so was not encouraging, as the trail was not well-marked, and there were a lot of animal tracks criss-crossing in the snow.  It was very difficult to find the actual trail, and I had some false starts where I had to turn around.  One of these turnarounds also involved a full-on face-planting fall that left me pointed downhill in deep snow with my snowshoes firmly dug in on the uphill side. It was interesting to figure out how to get myself disengaged and back into a vertical position. I managed it without removing my snowshoes, so I felt good about that. I also almost immediately ran into a manifestation of a warning I've read in numerous hiking and trail guides:  "Idaho trails are not uniformly well-maintained. Be prepared for detours around deadfalls, etc.":

For a snowshoeing novice, this was challenging to cross. The deer don't seem to have any trouble with it, though!

I probably won't know with certainty whether I was really on the trail or not until I go back in the Spring when the snow is melted.  But eventually I made it up past the first 1/4 mile or so of the climb, and started to see more regular trail markers like this one:

The trail was marked with blue diamonds on flexible plastic stakes.  Many were covered with  blown snow - I knocked it off as I went by so they'd be more visible to others.

As I got nearer to the top of the trail, the woods opened up a bit.  I began to see signs that others had been there before me, although a fair amount of snow had fallen in their tracks since they'd passed by.

A very nice bench, perfect for a rest break.  I just needed to clear away some snow...

When I had climbed to (what I thought was) the summit, I came out into a wide parklike area with a convenient bench to rest on. Since it was about 1325 when I arrived at the bench, I decided this was the perfect place to have a late lunch.  I cleared away the snow from about half of the bench, and sat down to a lunch of cheddar cheese and pepperoni, washed down with a pint of hot jasmine tea brewed over an Esbit fuel tab in my canteen cup.

One of my favorite hiking and backpacking traditions: jasmine-flavored green tea.  Very refreshing, especially in the winter!

After getting settled and starting the tea brewing, I consulted my GPS to take some notes about the first part of the hike.  I was a bit dismayed to learn that I was nowhere near the summit, and nowhere near halfway finished.  I had walked .65 miles out of a projected total of 2.6, and apparently had more climbing to do before getting to the loop at the top.  After a relaxing rest, I packed up again and set off at about 1410.  Although I did still have some steady climbing to do, the terrain was much more open, and the climb more gradual and less steep.  It was a very beautiful, peaceful walk.  There's nothing like the silence of a winter forest deeply covered in snow.  I stopped often to breathe deeply,  look around, and absorb the beauty and the silence.

By this time I was no longer stopping to take photos, as I was really enjoying the rhythm of walking through the snow and the beauty of the woods.  It took me awhile to get to this point, as snowshoeing exercises different muscles and you have to walk differently.  I adopted a sort of plodding straddle-legged shuffle, lifting the front of the shoe just enough to clear the snow, and then sliding it directly forward as I simultaneously reached forward with the opposite arm to plant the trekking pole for stability.  I learned to keep my feet parallel, as even a slight splaying of the toes would result in the back of one snowshoe stepping on the front of the other one, which several times made me lurch forward and almost fall until I got the hang of it. But once I got the technique down, it settled into a rhythm like any other type of walking, and I was able to enjoy my surroundings.

The post-bench portion of the walk included climbing the rest of the way to the top of the ridge, the entire loop portion of the trail, and the descent back to the bench.  This took about 1 1/2 hours, which is longer than I usually walk between rest stops.  But it was beautiful, I didn't feel tired, and I wanted to be off the mountain by dark.  When I came back to the bench at about 1545, I took another short rest.  The GPS reported that I had walked 2.75 miles at this point.  I ate some blueberries, and started off again after about 15 minutes. The downhill trip was easier than the uphill climb, and I reached my Jeep at about 1630.   The total distance, according to the GPS, was 3.17 miles, with 712 ft of ascent and 636 ft of descent (did my Jeep levitate?), in 3 hrs 59 minutes.  Garmin Connect, the Garmin app on my phone, also recorded it as 3.17 miles, 575 ft. elevation gain, and 3 hrs 59 min.  Surprisingly, the hike as uploaded from Garmin Connect to Strava (a fitness website you can use to track your activities) recorded the hike as 2.91 miles, with a 590 ft elevation change, in 3 hrs 59 min.

Blue Creek Trail Hike on Strava

I find these discrepancies interesting, although partially explainable. The elevation discrepancies are easy - the trail rose and fell, so the cumulative totals of ascent and descent are more than the actual net elevation difference, which I take to be the maximum elevation gained.  The total distance discrepancy is harder to understand - the GPS event as saved on the device clearly reads 3.17 miles, and that event was only reported to Strava after it was saved on the device and uploaded from there to Garmin Connect.  I need to learn some more about how that works if I expect to have a reliable record of how far I've traveled.  Also, the Garmin device (a GPSmap 66i) was supposed to have uploaded my entire history to Strava through Garmin Connect, but has so far failed to do so.  I was hoping to have all my walks and rides since my hip replacement on Strava, but I may not get there.

In any case, it was a very exhilarating and rewarding day, and I am anxious to get out into the mountains on snowshoes again.  It's beautiful and snowing again outside now (Saturday afternoon), but it's already almost 1300 so not today.  Very soon, though!

Mood:  Happy
Music: Heimatland Quintet, "Im Herzen a Bergler" (from "Die Beliebetesten Berg- und Wanderlieder")