It was about a week after my birthday and a week before Christmas. Snow was on the ground and it was around the time you might find me hundreds of miles away snowboarding in some distant mountains like I do every year but this year two sets of skis were on their way to my front door. One for myself and another for my brother, to compliment the skis we’d gotten for his kids a few weeks earlier.
Why Skis?
I love everything about snowboarding but snowboards go downhill not up. Skis on the other hand give you some options for that up part.
Here in North Dakota we aren’t blessed with a whole lot of vertical, most of it having been an ancient seabed before being ground flat by enormous sheets of ice for thousands of years. This means the few ski resorts we have are small and hardly worth the drive. Still, the Missouri River and it’s tributaries managed to cut some beautiful breaks in the years since the glacial melt water first started carving them. It’s in these breaks where my great-great-grandfather homesteaded in 1906 and where I live today.
Which skis?
It’s dry here, and the only place you’ll find trees is in and around those carved out draws, where moisture gathers and springs form. Grass and brush fill in the rest.
It’s also cold here in the winter, really cold. Every winter has it’s own attitude but you can usually count of there being snow on the ground from fall to spring. Unfortunately it’s also relatively dry and very windy here. Snowfall can be sporadic, with a lot of drifting on the rolling treeless prairie in between. Essentially this means the snow has a good chance of being in poor condition with patches of grass and brush sticking through. Still, it’s snow and it’s here. I thought with the right skis, I could enjoy that snow even more.
With that in mind I searched for the best skis to meet my needs and settle on Altai Hoks. Which many call a ‘skishoe’, a cross between a ski and a snowshoe. They’re short for easy navigating, but wide for flotation. Best of all they have bindings similar to snowshoes allowing you to strap in just about any boot or shoe. This way you only need to pack the skis without worrying about the boots.
Or more specifically a hammock and tarp, but more on that in my other post on Sleeping under a Tarp. When ground camping, a tarp is just one of the many options for shelter. When it comes to hammocks, a tarp (or “fly”) is basically the only option for shelter. So setting up a tarp is an essential skill.
Hammocks have a niche of their own in the camping community. Most people who grew up camping usually did it in a tent, so hammock camping presents a bit of a learning curve to many.
Why Learn?
Whether you make the switch or not, it’s worth learning the skills involved. These same skills can be applied to more than just hammock camping, especially the knots.
Whether lounging during the day or sleeping at night, hammocks are comfortable and convenient. However it does take a bit of getting used to when it comes to sleeping in one. A proper “hang” is also necessary for the best comfort. The more you practice the techniques involved the more comfortable you’ll be leaving the tent at home.
Honing your skills at home is not only a great past time, but it also gives you more time to enjoy nature when you do make it out. It takes the stress the whole ordeal. It’s also easy to get carried away with novelty gear but if you’re testing out your gear before you hit the trail, you’ll quickly find out what’s worth bringing.
Making some morning coffee under the snowfall, Mmmm
Hammocks are a perfect bed at night, but they’re just as nice to have when the sun comes up. With a hammock setup there’s no need for a camp chair and without a floor underneath, you can have your camp kitchen next to you. You don’t even have to get out of bed to make your morning coffee.
Who wants to sleep on a floor?
Don’t get me wrong I’ve slept on my fair share of floors, but there’s a number of issues that come with it. If you manage to find a nice level, well drained, ideal spot big enough to pitch your tent you’ll then have to deal with critters, dirt, moisture, and debri (especially when it’s sharp).
A good way to avoid ants in your pants is getting off the floor. Ticks and their cousin the spider and scorpion are another great example of why to do this. Hammocks with bugnets are easy to come by and well worth it, while still being a lighter weight option than most tents.
Dirt doesn’t really bother me when it’s on the ground. What does bother me is getting dirt out of my tent before I pack it up.
Moisture goes hand in hand with dirt. It’s hard not to track in water, usually in the form of mud. If you get your tarp up before it rains, you have a nice dry floor that effectively absorbs any mud or moisture on your shoes. But then again, who really cares how wet or clean the floor is when your not sleeping on it or bringing it back home with you.
For two weeks, this Honda CRV was my home, shared with two good friends (one four-legged). It was a bit cramped at times but living out of it was just a means to an end. In fact, I shouldn’t even call it our home. It brought us to our home, a new one each night we were on the road.
It was February 19th, the first day of our adventure. We took off late after getting packed, trying to escape the bitter cold of North Dakota as soon as we could. We woke up Wednesday morning in Glendive, MT ready to hit the road again so we made our coffee, cooked some food, and took off west across Montana. The day went by quick and the weather was chasing us.
We got into the gallatin range as night fell and searched around for a place to camp but ended up pulling into Big Sky. As we looked through some maps we came across a short hike leading to a waterfall. Since the night was still young, we thought it would be the perfect time to stretch our legs. By the time we hit the trail, the clouds began to part just as the moon was coming out over the peaks. Luckily, the trail was well worn so snow wouldn’t be an issue but still we left our four legged friend behind in the comfort of a warm vehicle. It was nice to let our eyes adjust and walk by moonlight. The hike started out nice, quiet, but as the moon reached further and further into the sky, the world lit up around us.
I don’t usually like driving at night when there’s a sight to see, but the full moon was out and the scenery was lit up so I kept on. Road conditions weren’t ideal but there were things to see, so I didn’t mind driving slow and taking in the moonlit view. As we made our way down south from Big Sky, we skirted the western edge of Yellowstone National Park. As we entered the park, as if on queue, a small group of bull elk surrounded the road, casting massive silhouettes of their antlers. This is the thing I most regret not photographing but they were awfully close and didn’t seem to appreciate our company.
As we approached the Idaho border, so too did we approach the end of the public land, and as great as the driving was going, the long hours on the road were setting in. So, we were keeping our eye out for a place to call home for what remained of the night. With no better alternatives among the deep snow covered roads, we ended up in a snowmobile parking lot. It wasn’t ideal but all I needed was a bit of shut eye before we hit the road again. Four hours later the sun was up and soon after our coffee was made; we were ready to see Idaho.
It was a gorgeous sunrise. The roads quickly cleared as we made our way out of the mountains and into the snake river valley, and we were back to highway speeds. Once we had cell service again we plotted our course across Idaho. We decided US Route 20 would take us through more scenery so we stuck to it and made some miles. As we made our way through the state, I grew quite fond of it. It seemed like the perfect hub between my home state and the west, rural flatland in the valley with adventurous mountains looming all around it.
How many deer do you count?
When we found our way to the snake river we stopped off to take in the view while we cooked up some breakfast and made some more coffee (it was a big part of this trip). From there our next stop was Craters of the Moon National Monument, which had been on my “to see” list for awhile. The snow-pack covering it all left a lot to the imagination, but it was still a sight to see. Not far past we spotted a herd of Elk and a sun bathed hillside filled with deer. It was all just enough to make the long drive go by a bit quicker.
We had just a few more scenic mountains to go through as we followed the Oregon Trail into it’s name sake; Oregon. It was getting late as we started into Oregon, but the moon was out again soon enough. Our mission for the night was to make it to some BLM land with a hot spring that I had found out was along our route. Our hopes weren’t terribly high so we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived.
It was magnificent; exactly what we needed. It was freezing out but that didn’t matter. The hot springs ranged from hot to too hot, and they melted away all the cold North Dakota had instilled in us.
Unfortunately, we still had miles to make so we had to leave this heavenly spot behind before we were ready. We were nearly to our midpoint. The seed that sprouted into our two week road trip, snowboarding at Mt. Bachelor. As we approached Bend, we were amazed by the lack of snow and the open forest we were driving through. Little did we know how drastic of change the landscape was about to undertake.
The hot springs had replenished us and we were ready to hit the slopes hard and hard it was. With three days of non-stop snow and wind, we spent three days on a mountain we never saw. By the final day we saw more than four feet of snow fall in the three days we snowboarded.
I think this being my only photo from an entire snowboarding trip is evidence of just how “bad” the conditions were.
It was perfect for snowboarding and our party had a great time but the traffic-ridden white-out drive through constant fresh snow wasn’t so fun. Still, it’s hard to complain when a lot of snow is exactly what we all wanted.
After leaving Bend behind, the white out conditions hardly let up as we drove south to more appropriate weather. South because our original route farther west was blocked by an avalanche. Slowly the snow turned to rain and it was nice to see the road again, although it would still be a few days until we saw the sun.
To be continued in another post, one filled with pictures of Coastal Redwoods…
Until then you can check out more photos from this trip in my gallery
