Sat, Oct 31 2009 - Halfway Hut | Boulder Pass | Ptarmigan Lake (View Original Event Details)

Event Coordinator(s): Barbara B.
Participants:Barbara B., Deborah H, Dee W, Jeff Surtees, Andrea B, Ryan C, Garnet A, Derek Y, Andra


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Write Up:
This day was phenomenal. Though the carpool meeting time was early, this is where we had our first reward - seeing the stars in a perfectly clear sky, and also what we believed to be Jupiter (or was it Pluto?). The darkness allowed some to put headlamps to use. We were at the trailhead on time, but the fully-costumed devil and pumpkin had group photos in store, which took us a while... a long, funny while. Dee (Miss Full-of-Surprises) whipped out a garbage bag full of tiaras, though only one male was secure enough in their manhood to wear one. The walk up the access road allowed us to gain some time, which we quickly lost again as we continued past Temple Lodge. Everyone brought snowshoes, but only two were wise enough to not leave them in the car. We made it to the Halfway Hut in time for lunch, where we found a mini table, decked it with a tablecloth and a vast variety of food, and had our feast. What some of us thought would be a secret birthday celebration for two, was actually one for three. I bet the third was happy that Dee didn't bring a blue-feathered tiara (crown!) for him :-). With another 1.5km to go to Boulder Pass and Ptarmigan Lake, we decided to leave our packs at the hut and leave our leftovers for a second afternoon potluck. What could be better than hiking light and coming 'home' to a feast? The pass offered nice big boulders for some light scrambling for some, and after our second meal we were on our way back. What on our way up was a pretty dull access road turned into perfect conditions for crazy carpeting. 3.9km of nice shiny tire tracks allowed the race to begin. Top speed for the day was 31.1km/hr. A couple of the guys seemed crazy carpet shy at first, but no-one made it down this long stretch of our track without having had their turn. Jeff even seemed to be into the bumper car technique, while Andrea was full of 360º spins. This brought out the kid in all of us, and thank you all for sharing in the fun! Some of us got an encore when we returned to the city when a woman approached the car with a pan full of candy, which she insisted we take as no kids came trick-or-treating to her place. Sweet ending to a very sweet day.