CDMC

Snowshoe Hike To Ash Pond And On Towards Drabble Lakes; Thu May 27, 2010; snowshoeing; leader: Linda Hamilton

William and I began our ascent of the Wood Mountain ski slopes at 8:50 in a light drizzle with the promise of some clearing skies and sun. We decided we would make Ash Pond our destination before heading towards Drabble Lakes on a route Karl had previously shown William. As we crested the ridge where one would normally see Mt. Albert Edward, we were rewarded with some vistas and spots of sun. We arrived at Ash Pond right at noon and had a nice lunch spot with views of Indian Head and Mt. Drabble. William was "dead on" when negotiating the route toward Drabble Lakes as we came out right at the sign post just barely sticking out of the snow. There is 10+ feet of snow in many places so it will be a month or more before the trails in this area are free of snow. We had a discussion as to return the way we came with a slight variation or trying to negotiate our way along the summer trail to the meadows and rejoin our trail coming in. I entered a way point in my GPS of the approximate location of the meadows and asked William if he trusted my GPS to get us out and he smiled and said "no" but was willing to give it a try. So we hugged the base of the cliff until we came to a slot and climbed up it to the top and took a moment to orient ourselves to where we were. We dropped into a ravine and hugged the base of the next ridge until we found a spot to get up to the top and came out just before the meadow. We were both pleased that we combined our skills and navigated an area we had not been in during the snow season. After getting to the car at 4:05, we decided to debrief over Chinese food at the new Quality Foods to end a very enjoyable day.