Annual Snow Camping Trip

On a beautiful April day, six Scouts and two parents took off for an epic snow camping adventure at Iron Mountain off Highway 88 near Kirkwood Ski Resort. Using snow shoes, poles, pulks to carry their gear and loads of sunscreen, the gang walked half a mile in from the road, built two snow caves (one for the boys and one for the girls), dug a kitchen and watched a rescue helicopter airlift an injured snowmobiler from a different group. That was an exciting lesson in high-country rescue techniques. All but one of the campers slept in their snow caves – the last one opted for a tent instead. After an early morning wakeup and hearty breakfast, the group walked out again and made a beeline for … hamburgers! Fortunately the snow was soft for digging – but even still, the girls beat the boys in the race to complete their caves.

Here’s the trip report:

We had an awesome time last weekend in the snow! After 4.5-ish hours, we successfully finished our snow caves and slept in them.
Here are some things we learned:
-Bring AT LEAST three pairs of socks because snow is wet (who knew?!)
-An extra sleeping bag is definitely good for not freezing
-Snowmobiles are dangerous (someone at another campsite had to get helicoptered out…)
-If you plan on stockpiling Oreos, don’t leave them in plain sight for other Scouts to “borrow”
Some good ideas we had were:
-Even if you boil the water, run it through a filter (the girls patrol found a dead worm in the Jetboil)
-Don’t put gear in the snow cave during the day or it will get soaked
-Don’t let the boys make Oreo and Nutella sandwiches for lunch (which they did anyway)