Surprise
We both slept pretty soundly through the night. At some point I woke up and heard snow hitting the tent. I didn't know how much until the morning. We got up at about 6:00 AM to see another 3 inches of snow on the ground. Now we had to decide what to do.
Tent in the Snow
Campsite in the Snow
Decision
Once the trail had turned north, it had been a little difficult to follow. We had the GPS, so I wasn't too worried about getting lost. There were some bare patches on the trail that confirmed to us that we were still going in the right direction. After the snowfall, though, the trail was essentially invisible. I also turned on my GPS and discovered that, somehow, the trail waypoints after Superstition Lake had been deleted. We still had maps and compasses, but I wasn't confident enough to be able to continue. Auralee and I decided that the best course of action would be to turn back. We at least knew that we could find the trail that way. I figured it would take us two days to get back because of the snow and how tired we still were.
Heading Back
As we wove our way back around Superstition Lake, I realized that, had I not been so exhausted and depressed, the scenery would be pretty. I took some pictures so I could see the beauty at a later date, but right now I just could not appreciate it.
Superstition Lake in the Snow
Superstition Lake in the Snow
We slogged through mile after mile, over the same terrain as the day before. One thing we both noticed is that no matter how much we ate, we couldn't seem to get enough calories to keep us going. We had to stop every 15-30 minutes to eat something. We realized that the food we had packed didn't have enough calories to sustain us for long. We longed for energy bars instead of the small granola bars we had brought.
The Morning After Trail
During one of our frequent breaks, we took some pictures next to a lake and a beaver dam. The snow was still coming down, so it made a pretty scene.
Beaver Dam in the Snow
When we stopped after crossing Diana Lake, we saw the party we had seen at Isabella the day before. They had camped there the night before. We stopped and talked for a bit. One of the guys said that he had hiked the Pow Wow numerous times, and this was the first time that he had ever been "denied." Hearing that made us feel a little better about not being able to complete it.
Break at Diana Lake
Home Sweet Home
At some point we decided to just try to get all the way back to the car. We would have to stop early if we were setting up camp, but if we got back to the car, it didn't matter if it was already sunset. We reached the wide, clear portion of the trail, which was clear again because the sun had already melted the snow from last night. This made it much easier to walk, which was a good thing because we could barely pick up our feet anymore. We still had to stop every 15 minutes to eat something, the breaks becoming more and more frequent the further we went. The last few miles were agonizing (and agonizingly slow). The car was a wonderful sight to behold. We got back to the car at about 4:00 PM.
The drive home was interesting to say the least. The roads were wet and muddy. A small tree had fallen over part of the road since we had traveled it the day before. The tree was small enough that I was able to bend it back long enough for Auralee to drive the car past. We were relieved when we finally came to the paved road north of Isabella.
For our first hiking trip, I was just glad to get back alive. It will probably be a long time before I "forget" enough to want to do another hiking trip. Auralee may convince me to try again...but we'll see. I'm content to stick with canoeing for now.
