Dave- if I've mapped the route out correctly, looks like 26-ish miles or so- that should make for a pretty doable 3 day, 2 night trip on shoes or skis, the other route you mention looks to be ~ 35 miles

both look good :)

Mike

Edited by mtwarden on 12/20/2012 19:35:25 MST.

Could be a fast or slow 26ish miles depending on conditions. If the former, plenty of cool stuff to check out with spare hours.

Looks like March 23 (saturday) through March 25 (monday) is the developing consensus. This works for me.

I am in Europe for another 10 days but if the flights have not jumped too much in price I am still up for it.

I'm in. Sounds like a good time. Whatever date or duration works for me. Most likely will be on snowshoes. The consolation is that I just purchased a new pair of Northernlite Tundra snowshoes. They're nice, like wearing a feather...a feather I tell ya.

looks like my wife might join up as well- definitely snowshoes; I got beat up bad last week in the Absaroka's on skis-I've got a long way to go to becoming proficient on skis!

Glad to get a firmer date. I will pencil it in and try to firm things up rather soon.

Thanks for kicking this off.

I'll most likely be on snowshoes too. My skiing is progressing, but I don't see my skills or equipment being up to snuff by then.

Edited by GlacierRambler on 12/29/2012 23:50:15 MST.

I'm actually interested, but I'm in Denver. I think I would be more comfortable committing if there were some other women planning on going. Also, I see it is about a 14 hour drive from Denver (not accounting for winter conditions). Anyone familiar with road conditions in the area to give advice?

Plane ticket is about $380 from here. Hmm...I've never been to Montana and I would love to see it.

Edited by flutingaround on 12/30/2012 11:16:02 MST.

Raquel,

Stuart D mentioned to me that he may attend and that flying would be a far safer option.

Oh that's cool because I already know him. I'll chat with him about it and make my decision.

And I decided to pass on this one due to budget. I have plenty of snow and mountains right here to play in. Now if I could only find some UL packers who want to winter backpack in this area!

I have been out to your neck of the woods twice this year on trips and I absolutely love it.

Folks,

I have never snow shoes any great distance or with nay weight on my back so would need to get out for a local overnight to see what I can do.

Cheers,

Stephen

Stephen- the nice thing about snowshoes is if you can walk, you can snowshoe :) There is a little getting used to them, but not an involved skill set like skiing

I used trekking poles (w/ snow baskets) when I snowshoe and find the poles very useful to help maneuver

Cheers Mike, I have found it easy enough going with a very light pack but will have to try it out with a winter load.

definitely worth a trip to give it a go :)

Definitely, I have a local trip in a few weeks where I could test them out.

Let's consider those dates firm, and plan accordingly.

For the length, IMO this route is worth a fair bit of travel. It is also suitable for snow-travel novices with a reasonable amount of fitness and summer backpacking experience. Even if you've not snowshoed or winter camped before, ask for advice and then come anyway.

Dave- sounds good :) might be worthwhile editing your first post w/ the firm dates

I know March is a tricky month, but ballpark guesses on temps? highs 40-ish, lows 20-ish??

thanks for getting this going

Mike

Good idea Mike; original post edited.

Conditions are obviously difficult to estimate, but I'd say that lows in the upper teens and highs around 40-45 is a decent guess. It could be warmer, which wouldn't be ideal because the snow would turn to glop.

My assumption is we'll camp up the Dry Fork Valley the first night, and up near or at the pass into Monture the second. Depending on conditions there might be some dry ground in the Dry Fork, while the pass will surely have 8+ feet of snow by then.

Dave- could you expound on the "reasonable amount of fitness " thing. "Reasonable" has a huge range depending on who is making the judgement. A clarification might help some of the fence sitters.

I'm interested in going but need to get a hall pas. I'm scheduled to teach an Igloo building class the weekend before this trip.

If I go, I will be driving from Seattle- so for those who are flying in, it might be cheaper to fly into Seattle and carpool with me (if I go). Maybe something to look into.

It is about a 7 to 8 hour drive and I'd be leaving on the 22nd and spending the night somewhere close to the trail head. Don't know if I would come back on the 25th or 26th.

Edited by bestbuilder on 01/04/2013 15:24:17 MST.