Adirondack State Park
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This was my first real "hard-core" Winter camping trip, and of course I learned quite a bit from the experience. The biggest lessons were the role (bane) of moisture, the greater difficulty of movement, and conduction of cold.
We arrived at the Adirondak Loj in the early afternoon. After registering at the kiosk, we circumnavigated Heart Lake from the north, pursuing the Red trail toward Henderson Lake. Learning of the high snowfall in the Adirondacks, the use of snowshoes or cross country skiis were essential. In Winter especially in the northern lattitudes, sunset occurs at 5pm, and we arrived at shelter near Rockly Falls beforehand. Here is where the mistakes began. We erroneously believed sleeping in a raised wood shelter with one side exposed would be more cold, we stomped down a pad in the snow for our tent. Unfortunately, we would learn that a raised platform made of wood is far better than cold conduction from the snow. Next, we felt that a fire would be a positive. However, after gathering a good amount of deadfall, the snow highly prohibited any attempt to build a persistent fire. Finally, the moisture built up in our two-person tent, which was something we would need to deal with during the trip. Interestingly, a couple from Montreal skied to the shelter after dark. They quickly setup dinner in the shelter, and put a tarp over the open side. I would later learn from my own experience they were quite comfortable.
The next day we continued on the Red trail toward Henderson Lake. However, we wanted to gain some elevation, so we veered onto the Yellow trail toward Lake Colden. Although the trail wasn't broken, we continued on. This would become another learning lesson. It's OK to break a trail, but understand the sizable, additional energy it will take, and consider that when doing so uphill. In order to ascend this ridge, we would need to gain over one thousand feet in less than four miles, with the last two miles becoming the steepest. Because we didn't have these lessons yet, we moved onward getting a lot of snow on my fleece and gloves. The exertion became quite excessive. Finally, we had enough and the light was dwindling. As a result, we camped in a cramped section along the trail, cold, wet, and exhausted.
Day Three we continued up the Yellow trail toward Lake Colden. Now, we reached the crux of this trail, a narrow steep gully between Mount Marshall and Iroquois Peak. The deep snow was made more difficult by the air pockets created by snow covered bushes. When you stepped into these your snowshoe descended all the way to the ground, made more difficult by the struggle to extract yourself from this trap. After an hour trying to ascend this obstacle, we decided to retreat. As a result, the rest of the day involved retracing our steps back to the Red trail. Early afternoon, we returned to the Red trail, and then reverted north toward our trip's start. We setup camp in a shelter near Indian Pass Brook and the junction with the Blue trail. This time, we setup the tent inside the shelter. It was a warm, warm, pleasant night.
On Day Four, my friend wasn't feeling well. A cold he was dealing with, got worse. We continued north toward the Adirondak Loj, retracing our steps. Midday we returned.