Solo Winter Backpacking Trip - The Road to Saratoga

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• published: 07 Apr 2014
• views: 12185

Solo Winter Backpacking trips are slowly becoming one of my favorite ways to escape. A snow covered landscape allows me to go almost anywhere I desire. The snow dampens all sounds, provides an ever present (well almost) water source, and gives the surroundings a new-found beauty. Why did I embark on this journey? I hiked the 211 mile John Muir trail last summer and it was an amazing experience. I still can't quite wrap my head around the idea of hiking that far without crossing a road or seeing any signs of civilization. I started to wonder what other areas in the United States could offer the same experience. Since I grew up in Wyoming, the least populated state, I figured it would be a good place to start. The longest stretch I could think of realistically doing without ignoring private property was from Centennial to Saratoga. There is a road between the two towns and they close it during the winter. It's 45 miles long. It's an area I've frequented for the past several years and I wanted to explore it some more. It is home to my first-ever backpacking trip, first winter camping trip, and much more. I never really explored the whole area. I stuck to the places I became familiar with. I was intrigued by what was beyond the peaks that you see early in this video. Do snowmobilers travel the whole distance? Or do they stop at the peaks too? Will I see lots of man-made things, or will they be covered in snow? Will it be like the John Muir trail where I felt completely immersed in nature? Will there be lots of non-natural noise? I really believed that after the first 15 miles or so, it would be just me out there. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The whole time I was on snow, I saw snowmobilers. The first day, I saw TONS. The second day, I saw 5-10. Late in the second day I learned that the road that I thought was closed most of the way into Saratoga, actually wasn't. In fact, about 25 miles of the 45 mile stretch was open. Once I hit the road I didn't see a soul......okay, I actually saw about 5 cars over the course of a day and a half, but it felt like I didn't see anybody. It was really funny to me that I saw fewer people on an open road than in the middle of National forest land with poor winter access. Overall, I found that this wasn't at all like the John Muir trail. However, the feelings I experienced on both thru hikes were similar. The middle of the trip is always hard, and so is the last day. Hiking on the road wasn't my ideal way to spend days away from work, but you know what? It wasn't that bad. In the video there are quite a few clips where I have a negative attitude. I filmed those moments intentionally because I think every trip has its ups and downs. I really enjoyed the whole trip and tried to give a fairly honest view of where I really was emotionally. The first day was perfect. The second day was perfect, but I got down on myself once I hit the open road. I camped at the first spot off of the road that made sense to camp at, and I didn't really like the spot. It turned out to be one of the best spots I've ever camped in. It totally blew away my expectations. A beautiful sunset, calm night, and a welcoming morning caught me off guard. I loved it! The third day was all road time. I actually wanted to put in a fourth day, but I realized that I wasn't going to be able to camp anywhere remotely good. I'd have to camp right off of the shoulder of the road with no protection whatsoever and no easy water source. I put in over 20 miles to get into Saratoga. The last clip you see is the last thing I filmed. It wasn't the last hill. There were about 2 more hills with a long 8 mile downhill into the town. I would have filmed more, but it wouldn't have been fun to watch. The landscape was flat, windy and barren. I was physically exhausted, and was down on the fact that I really didn't have a good camping option. I knew that would be the case from my planning, but was ignorant and thought, "I'll just improvise. I'm sure there will be something." There wasn't. I went out with the intent to make a great video. I got out there and it went to the bottom of my priority list. I was either having too much fun and wanted to enjoy the moment, or was sick of hiking on the road and didn't want to film. When I came back and looked at the footage I wondered if I even should make a video. I think there's some good stuff, so I hope you do too. That's why I'm sharing. I really hope this makes you smile, frown, wonder why, or feel something. Let's face it, we've all been here (without actually being HERE). I hope I captured enough from the spectrum of emotions we all feel to make it relatable. After all, without the challenges and successes, it wouldn't be worth doing at all. If you hate this video, let me know. If you enjoy it, share it, like it and let me know. I really don't know what I think of this video yet. I'm really counting on your feedback here. Anything you have to say will be very much appreciated :-)