Home for 1 night
In the last weekend of March, I got invited to a smart person snowcaving trip. Ben, Amanda, and some other grad students/friends planned a trip to Brainard Lake to perform their yearly snowcaving trip. On the way there we drove through the dilapidated town of Ward, where cars go to die. The morning hike was frosty and gusty.
The hike in was pretty short and we carried a whole passel of shovels. The walk led us across a frozen lake to where the snow piled up to 12 feet high. The area looked pristine and untouched before we started to create our snow condos or snowhotel. We started out by digging into the wedge of the drift and stacked the snow blocks to create a wind break. After that, the others arrived, turning the corner of the lake into a full blown mining town.
Moving that shear amount of snow was exhausting and backbreaking. Using sleds we all became draft horses hauling tubs of snow out. Digging in the cave was cold and wet and constantly worked the muscles. But after many, many hours of digging, our job was complete. We feasted on noodles and sauce. I lit the special candle I brought for our cave, filling the snowhotel with the scent of cinnamon swirl. It also gave a nice homey glow to the accommodations.
Inside the cave was much warmer than outside, even though it was still pretty cold (below freezing). I crawled inside my down sleeping with a extra liner, that was inside a waterproof bivy sack, all of which made it quite comfortable. By morning, the candle had melt a nice big cavern into the snow. We packed up pretty quick and heading back to the warm town of Boulder.
You’re crazy.
this is awesome!!!