[Paddlewise] Thanks to a fellow paddlewiser!

I recently spent the week of Feb. 17-23 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  While
there, I was fortunate enough to meet Paddlewiser Walt Chudleigh, who
introduced me to snowshoe hiking.  What a great experience!!!!  (so it's not
Kayaking.... at least it's two Kayakers getting together)  

My ability to get around town was hampered by sharing a single car with 7
people (who wanted to ski), and a mass transit system that didn't go where I
needed it to go (as far as I could figure it out, anyway) - but Walt was
gracious enough to come get me, take me to a mountain to hike, loaned me all
the gear, returned me to the place I was staying, and so forth.

As such, I wanted to publicly thank Walt for his hospitality and for going
above and beyond "convenience" to make this experience happen for me. I also
want to thank his wife, who was equally as gracious and willing to "loan me"
her husband for an evening.

A quick summary of the hike.....

I've done some hiking on the Blue Ridge  and Appalachian Trail on the east
coast, but that did not prepare me for the altitude around Salt Lake City!
I had to stop and rest about 1/2 dozen times, and I don't think Walt was
even breathing hard!  I felt wimpish, but I'm blaming it on the altitude
anyway  :-)

We (Walt, his two dogs and I)  went on the hike after dark, which was
wonderful.  We had adequate visibility due to the light reflecting off of
the snow, but it was also dark enough to add a degree of solitude and
serenity to the experience.  We had a light snow on the way up the mountain,
and it was clear on the way down.  We weren't on a "trail" to speak of,
other than it was a route that Walt had taken before, and sometime recently
someone else had snowshoed the area, and had created a pathway to follow.
As such, the hiking was fairly easy since the snow had been "broken" which
kept us on top of the snow, but when we got off of the previous hikers trail
and got into "first snow", it became more difficult.  At times, I'd sink up
to my knees which made it tougher, but thank goodness for the snowshoes or
I'd have sunk even further! - I'd "test" the snow depth with my ski poles,
and was able to drill it in all the way up to the handle, AND STILL DIDN'T
HIT BOTTOM!!!!  

There were no sights or sounds of civilization on the way up, which was VERY
enjoyable.  But once at the crest of the mountain, you were greeted on the
other side by the lights of  the Park City area, and a few ridges over were
the night skiing lights of a lodge, and the Bob Sled track for the upcoming
Winter Olympics.

We didn't see much in the way of wildlife, but Walt had seen plenty fo Elk
in the area before, and was on the lookout for Moutain Lions, which he had
seen tracks from previously.  I'm still debating if not seeing any Mountain
Lions was a good thing or a disappointing thing ..... probably would have
depended on the outcome of the encounter  :-)

After admiring the lights, and catching my breath, we headed back down which
was easier, but which had challenges of it's own.  Some "teeth" on the
bottom of the snowshoes had helped in getting up the incline, but on the
decline, you could lean back a bit and semi ski down for several yards at a
time.  We also used some relatively open areas to "run" down (as much as you
could with snowshoes on and sinking up to your knees!).  After 8-12 strides,
I'd end up face down in the snow, but that was fun as well!  It was a bit
tough to get back up on my feet (recall the depth of the snow off the path
and without showshoes on) but alas, we made it down the mountain.

Oh.... for those who may be annoyed that this has nothing to do with
Kayaking..... much of the conversation we had was about Kayaking experiences
we've had, boat comparisons, the Paddlewise forum, etc.  Hey - like most
thinks in life, it all finds it's way back to Kayaking!  :-)

Again, I just want to thank Walt for all of his hospitality, and hope that
one day, he can visit Southeast Virginia and will have time for me to
introduce him to paddling the Cheseapeake Bay.

Rick - Poquoson, Virginia


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