Welcome to my annual refresher about Backcountry Avalanche Awareness 2023/2024. I am no subject matter expert, but Stella and I are always eager to explore new terrain in search of an off-the-beaten-path adventure. Thus, when you leave the cozy confines of the groomed trails at the ski resorts/nordic centers, you must understand your environment and … Continue reading Backcountry Avalanche Awareness 2023/2024
2023 has been an emotionally charged year for us, for a multitude of reasons. And the culmination of those situations significantly impacted our winter travels. With that said, we only embarked on two winter trips in 2023, both of which were to Grand Lake. Even though that is all we did, those trips possessed elements … Continue reading 2023 Winter Wrap-Up and What’s Next?
Snowshoeing along the Ranger Meadows Trail inside Rocky Mountain National Park. Our plans for the day had been to summit Shadow Mountain, however, we decided that a traverse across the East Shore Trail and returning via the Ranger Meadows Trail would be a more subtle adventure. Not exactly, stay tuned for more details as the … Continue reading POTW ~ Ranger Meadows
Winter in the Kawuneeche Valley, Rocky Mountain National Park. Looking west from the Bowen/Baker Trailhead into the Never Summer Range and wilderness.
Some of you may be wondering why BaseCamp@GrandLake has not posted anything for winter adventures, especially considering the abundance of snow. Normally, we travel extensively in the winter but this season has been quite different. We have only taken one winter trip thus far, to Jackson Hole the week prior to Christmas, and it ended … Continue reading 2023 Winter Adventures: What’s Going On?
Last winter (2022) when Larry and I (Stella) were in Crested Butte, we discussed purchasing a different type of cross-country ski. We wanted skis that were much wider and possessed more float to provide a better experience while backcountry skiing in really deep snow and on hills. We had researched three different companies that manufacture … Continue reading Madshus Panorama M78
Heading into Winter 2022, I decided to replace my Atlas 1030 snowshoes. Stella had hoped that I would select either the Louis Garneau Premiere or Blizzard III snowshoes (since she has the Blizzard II snowshoes and absolutely loves them), but they were not the ones that I wanted. After researching every mountain/backcountry snowshoe available, my … Continue reading Tubbs Flex VRT Snowshoes