The last attempt to conquer the snow

I interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you a post that I’ve just recently decided to share.  I know you were expecting something about Tokyo (because the last post promised that would be next).  Maybe next time.  If I want to.
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I think now I’ve finally gotten over the fact that I didn’t make it to the Hakkoda mountain cabin this year.  A group of us guys headed up on snowshoes one snowy Friday morning in February, only to turn around halfway up because the snow was so incredibly, unbelievably deep.  In the beginning, we were stoked.  Sure, there was a good fresh 2 feet of snow.  So what if the cars in the parking lot looked like gigantic, slightly squished marshmallows.

Undeterred, we ventured forward.  As soon as we got on the trail, however, we realized we were in for a long hike. Because there was so much fresh powder, the trail was nonexistent, which means that there was no snowpack to walk which means WE WERE BLAZING OUR OWN TRAIL!!  And if you’ve ever snowshoed before, you understand that snowshoes do not make you float on powder—you still sink a few feet.  At first we did pretty well.  We immediately got into a system of where we would rotate line leaders, exchanging every 5 to 10 minutes.  As we got further up the mountain, however, we had to switch leaders more frequently, eventually trading places every 5 to 10 STEPS, when we were shoveling (yes, we brought little shovels) through chest deep snow.  That’s when we turned around.  It was getting darker and we were only halfway up the mountain.  It had taken longer to get halfway up the mountain this year than it did to get all the way up last year. 

Here, this will give you a better idea of how much more snow we had this year.  Last year I took this picture at the trailhead.  Beautiful clear day.  that mountain peak in the background is just up from where the cabin was.

This year I took this picture.  Same vantage point.  Notice something missing?  1) the mountain is missing.  Not the same clear day, is it?  And 2) the Torii gate is gone.  No, they didn’t move it—it was completely buried in snow this year.  And if there was that much more snow just at the base of the mountain.  Imagine how much more there was further up. 

So, as I mentioned, we made the collective decision to turn around (and not just because we were a little bit off track).  Because of that, you can imagine my disappointment.  After all, I had arranged the trip and convinced the other guys to go up there with me.  We were supposed to get to the cabin before dark.  Roll out the sleeping bags.  Eat lots of junk food.  Play games.  Do guy stuff.  Try to sleep on wooden planks and hope the residual heat from the kerosene heaters keeps us alive  warm till morning.  Then hike back down with stories to tell (or not to tell). 

So I came up with a few reasons why I shouldn’t be so hard on myself that we didn’t make it to the top.
1) Even professional trekkers, who have spent thousands of dollars, don’t make it to the top of Mt. Everest
2) We went to Coco’s Curry restaurant before going home that night and nothing tastes better than spicy Japanese curry and rice after spending the day trailblazing on snowshoes, carrying 40 to 60 pound backpacks.  True comfort food in every meaning of the word.
Okay, just two reasons, really.  As my kids would say, “’Few’ means three!”, so I should correct myself.

So perhaps someday I may have the chance to try again.  Until then, I have great memories of the times I succeeded and the one time I didn’t.  Sometimes life’s just like that.
And now I have to go clean up the stuff by the stairs.
Rob