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That Time I...

Broke Two Snowshoes on an Eight Mile, 80°F Spring Waterfall Adventure

Spring snowmelt comes on hard and fast. In mid-April 2023, it arrived with a bang: 80°F temperatures and sunshine!  I wasn't going to miss the sudden extirpation of our snowpack, so I made plans to check out two remote waterfalls at their absolute fullest: Whisky Hollow and Gleason Falls.  Both are great targets in summer, but in winter are several miles from the nearest plowed route, Norwich Road.


I was on a tight deadline for work and couldn't afford any delays, so I jetted out along Victoria Road before the snow got too soft.  About three miles in and before I'd seen anything interesting, I broke a snowshoe.  Not a great start!  I was able to repair my snowshoe with Voile straps and webbing I cannablized from trail markers.  A close scrape but I was still in this thing.


As I approached Whisky Hollow from a spur of the North Country Trail, a major problem arose: I'd have to cross the creek, which was now swollen high with melt water.  It was impossible.  The creek was easily 3' deep and rising fast as the heat picked up, so I bushwhacked through the scrub until I caught the falls.  They were roaring!  Higher than I'd ever seen in person, with only a mega flash flood I saw signs of the summer prior rivaling how high the creek got.  Impressive.


I pushed on overland to Gleason Falls, which I picked up a little ways below the main drop to catch some bonus views along the way.  This was ill advised, because now I had to cross the creek much further downstream than I should have.  It, too, was super high.  With one busted snowshoe and a lot of bravado, I toppled a dead tree and hiked across the chunks before they were washed downstream.  Dangerous games out here!


Now on the east side of the creek, I hiked the edge of the raging torrent up to the falls.  I narrowly avoided falling in at several points.  It was nuts.  Normally this creek has like 4" of water in it, but this day it was feet deep.  The falls were crazy to say the least and well worth the sketchiness so far.


For my return, I slogged up to Victoria Road and made 'quick' time on the open road back towards my truck.  Unfortunately, Whisky Hollow still had it out for me.  At the upper crossing on the road itself, the small culvert had become overloaded and the now-river had soaked through the 2'-3' of compressed snowpack.  While crossing this precarious mess I sunk up to my thighs in slush and nearly became a victim of a U.P. tarpit.  The suction of pulling my legs out broke my second snowshoe clean in half... with a couple miles of hiking to go still.  Ack!


I hobbled down the road with boots full of water and two broken snowshoes, then busted a move and drove home just in time for an evening work meeting.  Turns out several other team members had decided to show up late for lame excuses, like getting ice cream at the beach.  That's when I realized I should quit my job!  It only took another 20 months to follow through.  I guess you can say I'm stubborn.

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