unplanned bivy stories
Posted: February 9th, 2019, 6:53 pm
A recent tale of hardship in the gorge has inspired me to finally launch a topic I've been thinking about for a while: Tell us a story of an unplanned night of misery.
I've never really had to endure that, but my "almost" stories fall into two categories:
Alpine:
West Rib on Mt Jeff. There's that common illusion when climbing a ridge: You look up at a spot where the slope becomes less steep, and perspective makes it look as if there's actually a drop, but when you get up to that point you realize it's still steep up, just less steep than before. If you climb, you probably know what I mean. Time after time, this illusion tricked me, until finally it was late enough that I had no choice but to hunker down at the base of a rock that protruded from the snow. There was a semi-moat, a fringe of rotten snow that I stomped down to form a hopefully-firm platform to sleep on. Rockfall littered my sleeping spot, so I slept with my pack over my head, my best hope to prevent a smashed skull. This was a planned bivy; it was just that the exact location was miserable.
Gorge:
I've come scary close to spending a night out. The main culprit, over and over, is losing my route on a spur ridge. If you've descended ridges, you probably know what I mean. A ridge to the side might be so obviously off-route on the map, but in person it can trick you. Another problem has been my tendency to go on loop hikes, where you can get 80% through the hike and realize you're screwed, and there's not enough time to get back the way you came. Of course, this all pertains to off-trail hikes. Trail hiking has never posed problems.
In spite of close calls, I've never had to endure a night without a sleeping bag. But there have been mornings where I've woken in my bed and thought "damn, that would have been a tough night out there". Especially this time of year, when the nights are so long.
Got any stories to share? Close calls?
I've never really had to endure that, but my "almost" stories fall into two categories:
Alpine:
West Rib on Mt Jeff. There's that common illusion when climbing a ridge: You look up at a spot where the slope becomes less steep, and perspective makes it look as if there's actually a drop, but when you get up to that point you realize it's still steep up, just less steep than before. If you climb, you probably know what I mean. Time after time, this illusion tricked me, until finally it was late enough that I had no choice but to hunker down at the base of a rock that protruded from the snow. There was a semi-moat, a fringe of rotten snow that I stomped down to form a hopefully-firm platform to sleep on. Rockfall littered my sleeping spot, so I slept with my pack over my head, my best hope to prevent a smashed skull. This was a planned bivy; it was just that the exact location was miserable.
Gorge:
I've come scary close to spending a night out. The main culprit, over and over, is losing my route on a spur ridge. If you've descended ridges, you probably know what I mean. A ridge to the side might be so obviously off-route on the map, but in person it can trick you. Another problem has been my tendency to go on loop hikes, where you can get 80% through the hike and realize you're screwed, and there's not enough time to get back the way you came. Of course, this all pertains to off-trail hikes. Trail hiking has never posed problems.
In spite of close calls, I've never had to endure a night without a sleeping bag. But there have been mornings where I've woken in my bed and thought "damn, that would have been a tough night out there". Especially this time of year, when the nights are so long.
Got any stories to share? Close calls?