Snow Caves

"Now there's a bad idea."



How 'bout we shovel a huge heapin' pile of snow into one place and then move all that snow into another pile? Just for fun. If that sentence was confusing, and you've never experienced making a snow cave, let me be more clear. I don't remember the last time I spent so much time doing manual labor...I started to wonder what I was being punished for. I have a few ideas, and you probably could think of some too, but back to the cave. Second counter-intuitive move: (after the initial decision to build a snow cave of course) burying our packs to save time in the dig-out. How 'bout we pile loads of snow on top of all of the stuff that's going to keep us alive just for added suspense and motivation? So long headlamp, stove, food, and warm clothes. Each shovel was a death wish.


So after we made our pile of snow, we began the dig-out which is pictured above. This part was slightly more fun and slightly more claustrophobic. Not going to lie--there were many moments when the whole process felt totally futile and I thought, "I'm gonna die out here! Even though I'm only minutes from the car, I'm gonna die out here!" I am a worst-case scenario type of gal though, so this isn't surprising behavior really. But we finished our cave, which is pictured below. I think it looks a little bit like Luke Skywalker's home on Tatooene, except made of snow and none of those little robber guys hiding in the dunes. Otherwise, pretty much the same. I'm pretty proud of our creation; not that you couldn't already tell by the fact that I'm posting about it.


Despite my moanings, this was a pretty cool experience. I enjoyed it much more than I'm letting on. I now know that I can camp in the winter (I had been skeptical before.) I'd like to thank--after the manner of Ben--dear mr. 0 degree marmot sleeping bag, mr. down jacket, mr. polypro gloves, mr. columbia boots, mr. nalgene hot water bottle, mrs. capilene long undies, and ms. everything else I had for making the trip so pleasant.

I did have a moment of panic when I woke up inside the cave after probably an hour of sleep convinced that my cave mates were dead. I couldn't hear any breathing or moving, I couldn't find my headlamp, and I thought I could feel the weight of several feet of snow above me. I asked a couple people, "If it collapses me, will I wake up?" and one girl answered, "If it does collapse, you'd better hope you don't wake up." I went to sleep on that thought. Below is a picture of the entrance and the site of the crime. Needless to say, despite the good times, don't come to me if you're putting together a snow cave outing. Unless you want to hire me on as supervisor instead of grunt. (One snowcave...is never enough. That is a false statement...but if you can name the movie reference, I take back my previous comment. I'll join your snow team any day.)