Overnight in the Snow at Eight Weeks

Snowshoeing at Scottish Lakes, North Cascades

Temperature: 25-30 degrees

Altitude: 5,000 ft.

Gear: Snowshoes, Patagonia R4, hat, gloves, gaiters

Baby clothes:  long sleeve fleece onesie with feet, wool socks, hand me down GAP baby fleece suit

The test run was complete.  We were ready for the annual pilgrimage to Scottish Lakes.

If you don’t know it, Scottish Lakes High Camp is a grouping of bare bones cabins just past Stevens Pass.  Inside each is plywood with a wood stove, propane lights and no running water (though water is available). We normally go to High Camp in December- this was Peter’s tenth trip actually- but we were a little busy with Sam being born mid December this past year, so we reserved for February.

When we arrived in the parking lot, Don and Chris were there with the old, chained suburbans to take us- and the rest of the group going in on the pick up- half way up the mountain where we would meet the snowmobiles.  I got to ride in front so I could feed Sam.  It turns out that the logging operation has shut down which is kind of nice; Don and Chris lease the land from the mill.

Then we transferred to the snowmobiles.  Peter had Sam in the Bjorn, so rode behind the driver on the seat, while I “mushed” on the back of the sled carrying the gear.  True to form with motion and vibration, Sam slept like a champ!  High Camp lay peaceful under a blanket of snow, dampening any outside concerns and inviting us to retreat.

In the past we have stayed in a larger cabin with a group.  Now we had our own.  We lay out our sleeping bag, and made Sam a bed on Peter’s duffel with two fleece blankets we brought folded on top.

naptime at the cabin, Scottish Lakes, North Cascades

Temperatures stayed warm for the winter, hovering around 30 during the day, though when we got to the top of a ridge the wind cooled things off quite a bit.  We bundled Sam in a fleece onesie with feet, wool socks underneath, and the Gap fleece snowsuit, packed him in the Bjorn inside Peter’s R4, and headed out.  I had put together a diaper bag in a small pack I wore- just a few diapers (we use Seventh Generation), a new onesie, Seventh Generation wipes and the diaper pad.

The first day we went out for three and a half hours.  Though there are trails at Scottish Lakes, they are not maintained other than by fellow travelers, so we spent about half the time following trails a few folks had snowshoed prior and the other half cutting our own trail following the terrain we wanted to see.  Sam slept the whole time, and no diaper changes were required though we were ready!  The second day we headed out for two and a half hours on a different route.

Snowshoeing at Scottish Lakes with Sam, 8 weeks old

The trees curled with the weight of the snow forming exquisite shapes of pillowy fiddle ferns, the curve of a violin.  The forest was silent.  On the edge of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, we snowshoed up ridges logged on one side and standing proud with old growth on the other.  Bright green moss shone phosphorescent from the trees beneath the snow.  We snowshoed through a magical world.  Sam slept, though I like to think he absorbed the sounds of silence, the exhilaration of winter air and muscles straining to push through the deep drifts.

At night we swaddled him around his fleece suit, and he slept six hours straight- the longest he had slept at one time!  Peter got up to restart the fire in the woodstove when Sam and I woke to feed him.  He was not only warm enough- he may have been too warm in the fleece suit sleeping.  The bed made of fleece blankets on the duffle worked perfectly.  Our first family trip in the snow- the first of many.

Cabin at Scottish Lakes, North Cascades

We did think of several things we wished we would have done…

Lessons learned:

1. Bring a baby thermometer just in case.
2. We brought “The Portable Pediatrician” and read several sections.
3. Though Sam is breastfed, next time we will bring several days worth of formula and a bottle in case something happens to me.
4. Scottish Lakes does not require guests sign out as they leave for the backcountry, but we will make sure we leave word where we are headed even in a controlled area next time.
5. Consider a SAT phone (or cell phone if you are somewhere where there is reception) when heading into the backcountry with a baby.

first published at www.aborderlife.com