Bear Gulch Ski Trip

A great evening for a cross-country ski trip! We arrived at around 6 PM, set up camp and had a snack before orienting our maps and clipping the skis on for a trip to the Lower Mesa Falls Overlook. You'll see a map our our actual travel route above.

Daylight savings time worked in our favor, as we had plenty of light to see us up to the first trail marker at the Bear Gulch overlook. From there we followed the Henry's Fork canyon overlook trail to Trail Marker 2. Along the way dusk turned to dark - but we found our way by headlamp and a cloud-shrouded full moon. The dips and turns of the trail claimed their fair share of skiing scouts. One deep hole even swallowed one of Br. Kelly's poles, spitting it out in two pieces! We opted for a straight shot to the overlook from there and in no time were at the Grandview Overlook squinting to make out which patch of white at the bottom of the canyon was snow and which was Lower Mesa Falls. Then it was back to camp along the rutted snowmobile trail. Though it was all downhill, the lack of a groomed trail made it slower going than we would have wished. Our Senior Patrol Leader led us down the hill on the home stretch.

All arrived back safely, and tired enough that everyone was ready to hit the sack after a quick meal of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Br. Smith's cobbler had to wait until morning to be consumed - it made a great breakfast! Several early risers had to make it back home for other activities so the rest slept in and packed up as the daylight brightened our surroundings. The verdict from our SPL was this was a successful trip, and to paraphrase "Almost thou persuadest me to be a [winter camper]" :)