Leader: Paul Sirtoli

Co-Leader: David Wu

Write-up: Paul Sirtoli

Little did we realize that to snowshoe 2.7 miles to the Bethune Mt. false summit would consume over five hours.  Our trek begins in 15-inches of snow powder at the balmy temperature of 8 degrees.

Granted, there were several water breaks, one of which was at the massive frozen tundra called French Vly.  The tiny meadow stream and the landscape shrubbery were mostly buried in drifted snow.  Competing with the frigid wind was the resplendent sunshine whose warmth encouraged several quick photos.

Ever so slightly, the snow depth increased as the five hardy-hikers Paul, Jeremy, David, Jiao, and newcomer “Dob” slowly climbed to the 2,521 ft. summit. Our slow pace slowed considerably as we clawed our way up the last steep embankment leading to the relatively flat ridge. We were in a winter heaven; conifers were heavily frosted with mounds of snow.  On the ridge, we snaked around the conifers and hardwoods in powder that reached our knees.

At 3 PM, roughly .5 miles shy of the actual summit (one 6-meter contour difference), we stopped. Exhaustion had set in.  Retracing our track, it took 1.75 hours to return to the vehicles near the South Branch of the West Canada Creek. Our overall speed was .75 m/h; not a great work out for the lungs or heart, but certainly for the legs.

Needless to say, we never did visit Gid Lake or Bethune Vly as part of the loop that I had zealously planned before the massive storm had materialized.