After my chat with Page, I went to find Phil, the activity leader going up Lake Mountain, in order to finalise all of the necessary equipment for the trek. Upon meeting Phil, I also met Kate, the teacher going with the ‘Summit to Sea’ group and the group themselves.
After meeting and getting organised, it was soon time to load the bus with our equipment and ourselves and start our 1hour journey to the snow at Lake Mountain. During the bus journey I took the opportunity to introduce myself to the group and talk a bit about my research and why I had chosen to follow one of their training expeditions for the night. At this, they all appeared to be a very enthusiastic group and started talking about the day and night in the snow ahead of them.
The first half hour of the journey took us to Marysville; one of the small towns which were badly affected by the bush fires of 2009 –now known as Black Saturday. When I say badly affected, make no mistake, I am not over exaggerating, as close to the whole town was burnt to the ground with some men, out at work, loosing their wives and children who had been trapped at home. I found this a very sad and moving experience, being so close to something I had only previously seen on our news back in the UK. Suddenly the effect, and power, of nature was all too real.
The next part of the journey involved the bus making the incline of Lake Mountain. This was a very beautiful journey, which instantly had me thinking of Christmas back home as the ground level of snow and covering of indigenous trees, increased with our ascent.
Upon reaching the Ski Offices, where we would need to buy passes for the trip, we had also reached as far as we could drive and it was now time for the group to put on their snow shoes and load their rucksacks onto their backs, but not before a quick lunch in a shelter. The walk to the camp felt unusual to begin with, this being my first time walking on snow with a pack and my first time using snow shoes. Once the technique was sussed, however, and I was using my poles to their best advantage, it became an enjoyable experience and I was able to take in my beautiful surroundings and the group’s behaviour and response. The group were interesting to watch; the girls remained quiet and walked briskly on the main tracks, whilst the boys were more conversational and frequently went off track to walk small, steep inclines with close to 1m of snow coverage.
The walk was brief (just a couple of hours) and soon we arrived at our base camp for the night. It was beautiful! The snow covering here was just less than 1m deep and so the first step was to work as a group, compressing the snow so that the tents could be erected without submerging. This was a fun group activity which ensured everyone was working together with the same aim, having a good night sleep. Once compressed the snow needed to be smoothed using skis as all lumps in the snow would soon freeze and feel like rocks until the thin layer of tent on which we would all be lying. Erecting the tents in snow, once the ground was suitable, was much the same as you would in any wet weather, with speed to ensure the minimal amount of belongings got wet. As some members of the group built their tents, other members began building the table and chairs for dinner. This process involved these members compressing the snow to create a path to another part of the camp and digging into the snow to create a large eating table with seating around it. This part was very impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed the concept of building your campsite. Similarly, walls needed to be built around the tents in order to prevent the wind from coming in during the cold night.
Building in snow is slow and cold work, and by the time the tents were up, the table and chairs were built and sheltered with a tarp and all members of the group were settled with a hot drink to warm them, it was already nearing dinner time and everyone soon busied themselves chopping and cooking, using melted snow to boil their food. Dinner was noodles with vegetables and was delicious and filling. It never ceases to amaze me what can be cooked in the outdoors, even in the most adverse of conditions.
After dinner the group soon departed for an early bed to warm themselves with water bottles filled with boiled snow, acting as hot water bottles. Tonight sleep came easily and was surprisingly comfortable and warm. Snow camping is definitely something I will try again and would encourage others to do so too.
