- go when it is warmer
- allow more days for rest (or snowstorms)
- do a more in depth cost analysis of helicopter access versus two days of your life and being able to say you did it under your own steam
The drive to Lillooet was spectacular, if a little long. Also not sure it would be something I would want to do with snow on the roads, but our conditions were fine.
Our sleds. These worked out pretty well. Overall travel speed with the sleds was slower than I expected, but our total weight was not carryable, so we didn't have much choice. When hauling a sled I felt like I was working hard, but wasn't uncomfortable like an 80 pound pack would have been. Changes for next time will be a better harness system, and probably the use of some sort of duffel bag - this would be lighter than using packs, and would also allow easier access to contents during the day. Depending on the trip, being able to ditch the backpack and haul just a sled would be way more comfortable.
First sunset of the trip, still with a few hours left to haul. We had a a few stretches of skinning in the dark on this trip.
Day 2 of the trip, still hauling our sleds in. At this point we had already decided to change the trip plan, from an extended loop to an out and back. The idea was to have more time to explore in the alpine without sleds, but even with the reroute we were still looking at another day past this one. Almost the entire access was along a logging road.
Finally. 35 kilometers and 17 hours of sled dragging later.
Hazards of the trail.
Basecamp, drying in the sun.
We were going to take a laid back day on day four to recover from all the sled dragging. But after a few hours relaxing in the sun we couldn't stand not taking advantage of the nice weather anymore, and headed out. This meant a pretty late day.
And this is why we should have allowed more time (and maybe taken a helicopter). One week of dragging a sled along a logging road, with a few days in the alpine? Pretty good. Two weeks of pulling a sled through terrain like this, with days off to bag peaks and go skiing? Unbeatable.
We were able to get to a skiiable point just five minutes before the light left. (which meant once again finishing the day with a few hours skinning under starlight)
The next day we really needed a rest day. It was also mostly cloudy and snowing, so we spent the day almost completing an igloo. Those are hard.
The day out we decided to go for it. The packs were finally carryable (for the most part). Kick wax and desperation got us through all 35 kilometers and back to the car by 7pm.
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