Winterfest 2006

“Ok will do! see you there!”

“After talking with the Ranger in Lassen and checking weather forecasts we have decided to hold New Years on Shasta. There is just too good a chance it will rain at Silver Snag. Right now there is only 6" of snow on the ground there, and projected forecasts don't look good. Mt Shasta weather looks really good, we will have snow, but the roads should all be open with no closures like last year.

The trip page has updated info and maps. I am asking that those that can, bring fire wood, both for the outside fire and the Tipi stove. The stove uses wood about 12" x 2".

Looking forward to seeing all of you!

Winterfest camp area

View from camp

Map to camp from Bunny Flat

Map to Bunny Flat


last edited: 12/26/05 1:48:11 PM”

“Mtmsteve, what is the road going up to Bunny Flats like?
Is this a road that they keep clear?

How deep is the snow in those cool photos? Is it deep enough to carve up and make furniture?

I've got everthing laid out and ready to load the sled. I'm off to REI for the last few items.”

“Navi...the road in is paved and they usually plow it every day. I am not expecting any problems like we had last year when the storms were so bad they closed the road so they could keep the city of Mount Shasta plowed.

The snow depth at the Nubbins is around 2'+. Going by weather reports and "Snow phone" info (courtesy of The 5th Season)we should have another foot or two to play in by the weekend.

Daily weather and mountain conditions can be had at, 530-926-5555.”

“Thanks. Two feet should be enough to make a kitchen. 8^)”

“The turn off at Mt Shasta is W. Lake Street. Stay on it and it will make a left turn onto the Everett Memorial Hwy. The total mileage from the I5 turn off to the parking lot at Bunny Flat is about 12 miles.

I 5 through Mt Shasta directions.

As always, when driving in the mountains, bring your chains. I haven't had to use them yet with my Ranger 4x4, but I still carry them.”

“... I guess I should start getting my stuff together. Lots of chocolate!!! Must have chocolate.

BTW Steve, I haven't forgot about that virgin you promised us! I will be very disappointed if we don't have a virgin!

Kilgore Rumi”

“It just occured to me that I have to walk 3/4 mile in the dark by myself. I am not sure I can do that. Is anyone going to be there on the 29th who can meet me at the traihead and walk in with me about 8:OO? If not, I may end up jsut coming up Friday andleaving Saturday.”

“not a problem I can come out to meet you..... what ? no daughter?

*chuckles* musta been scared off by Kilgore Trout”

“Well, I kinda asked her not to come. her friend doesn't have the proper clothing and I don't think I can get it together in the next 3 days. I kinda want her to come...but not her friend. Don't know if I could get her to come alone. Knowing Kilgore (aka Rumi Dude)doesn't scare anyone...hehehe”

“Sandy...I will gladly walk you to camp. I will be setting up camp early in the day, I'll meet you in the parking lot and bring you in.”

“ROFLMAO! He is a sweetie :P

Good luck Rumi, I haven't found any available women down here, and I live here full time!!”

“We're hoping to be there (my girlfriend and I). I'll bring goodies for everyone, a radio set to FRS channel 7, and some snow ;-)

- Steve”

“Well, in the first place I'm not trying to scare anyone. *big grins* I'm just trying to get through life with as little pain as possible and without inflicking pain on others. I try to make sure nobody gets hurt, including me.

Secondly, ... er ... ahh ... I forgot! *smiles*

I promised myself to stay halfway sober this year so that I make all the time-zone celebrations.

Kilgore

PS: I'm bringing Kaluha, rum, Bushmills, and maybe a bottle of spumante.”

“Since this is only a mile hike in...I can carry a 75lb pack right? I am not bringing the sled so I will have to figure out how to carry tent, food, adult beverages, etc. :o) Although I can leave some things, like food in the car, bring my tent and beverages and go back in the moring for the rest. Yea, that's what I'll do.”

“Anyone comimg from the BA besides me?

frank”

“I'm drawing a blank at what to bring for dinners in the snow... Last year my Pocket Rocket wouldn't work in the cold, so I have a new stove for this year. I was thinking of bringing fresh oysters for the fire on new years... but.... that won't work because I'll be driving down on Thursday and they possibly won't keep until Saturday. I'm open for suggestions.. What are good suggestions for meals for snow camping??? Now.. booze.. That is NO problem! I'll be bringing Grand Marnier and Peppermint Schnapps for hot chocolate, Crown Royal, Hot Damn! and maybe some wine (oh yeah.. I'm such a wino...)... So, you can see what ranks right up there with me!

Kilgore - Halfway sober? Is that only after Midnight? :-)

Kilgore and I should be arriving somewhere around 12:00 noon on Thursday. Maybe we can ALL meet Sandyann at 8:00pm! Would be a good time for another trip to the truck. Steve, we will be there to help you haul in, drink, set up, drink, organize, drink, etc...”

“I guess you told the rangers at Lassen that all those people with permits for this weekend will not be there.

Halfway sober? Well by midnight I should have sobered up a little. *grins*

Kilgore”

“LadyHiker...I will probably meet you folks in the parking lot, I will be getting there about the same time.

Kilgore (you'll always be Rumi to me ;-)..
Yea, Kelli knows. I was going to talk to her again tomorrow about a class next month, I'll see whats it's been doing up there.”

“Ooops, there goes Kelli's snow. Snow level tonight in Lassen is 8000'.
7000' on Shasta.
last edited: 12/27/05 8:38:08 PM”

“Frank, we're in Sonoma County and have a Honda Pilot with only 2 passengers. Would it make sense to meet up somewhere?”

“Kris, I keep thinking of making turkey soup out of the Christmas leftovers, but the logistics overwhelm me. Make it, freeze it, defrost it en route......... But if it's not defrosted, we would surely starve. Two years ago, Jene brought a large block of frozen soup. We worked hard and used many pots to make it edible. Hot soup sounds so good for in the snow.”

“I sure hope for fresh snow for you all on this adventure. It is pouring down rain right now & has been all day here in Meyers..Tahoe at the 6300 feet elevation...the rain falling on the 5 inches of snow we got the other day has made it into cement..it is a big sloppy mess outside.

I will be thinking snow for you all up there! Have a fun time everyone!”

“Great service. Lots of new snow, 30-40"above 7-8000'. snow level dropping to 3500' Wednesday nite. Suppost to stay low, but who knows with the strange weather were having. Phone number again thanks to Mtnsteve. 530 9265555.”

“Hey, Madeintahoe, Come and join us. I still have'nt hiked or partied with you. what you waiting for?”

“Makin a list...checking it twice...gonna find out if I'm naughty or nice...Sandyann is coming to Camp...Sandyann is coming to Camp....Sandyann is coming to caamp!”

“sorry, I've had a couple glasses of wine whilst packing my pack :o)”

“I'm all packed and looking at the weather. It's raining pretty heavy here and the weather channel says it's not going to let up all weekend. Should I be concerned?”

“From 5th Season recording:
Snow for later this afternoon and tonight! 30" above 7000ft...

Snow level down to 3500 feet - Friday snow to 5500ft.”

“Do we have anyone that is bringing up fire wood? I got a couple bundles for the stove, but we can use more for the stove and the outside fire.

The good news with this weather is, the roads should all be open :-)”

“Steve, we can bring firewood unless it's somehow gotten wet in all the rain we're having.”

“We'll take what ya got, thanks!”

“I hope to have time to load up a couple of boxes of small stuff.”

“Thanks Navi, we're gonna need it.”

“Hey guys...

Sorry about the delay in following the thread. Life has been rather busy lately.

It looks like I've gotten out of the Vegas trip and my girlfriend (Takara) and I will be joining you all. Since this is her first overnight winter trip and she really doesn't have any gear, we have considered setting the car up for sleeping overnight. We're headed to REI tonight to get her some boots. I may decide to get a new Winter bag and let her use mine. If so, then we'll plan on setting up the tent. Either way, we'll probably only be staying one night. We'll see...

Looking forward to seeing you all again. It will be fun to talk about our Winnemucca trip also. I think there will be a few of us there.

Rob”

“Robert, Make sure you get like 4 of the rechargable hand warmers, and 2 nalgenes to make hot water bottles. Another thing I've found to be good is the back warmer, for sore backs, in the 1st aid section. Open one of those and throw it in the sleeping bag and she'll be toasty all night”

“Rob,

I can bring my extra wommens snowshoes for her to borrow if you would like.

So far no takers.

frank”

“Hi Rob,

I think Takara will have a great time. It's also my son Francis' first time to snow camp, so there's 2 of them :-) Enjoy shopping at REI and I look forward to this trip.

maria”

“I've got a 55 pound box of scrap wood for the pit. Any empty sleds available? My sled is full. Or I can make two trips.

Rob, Looking forward to meeting Takara. Oh, Did you remember to pack my gloves? Thanks! Yeah, I think Winnemucca will be a HOT (or cold) topic. Just hope we don't have a repeat this weekend.
See ya all soon.”

“Song, I'm planning on two trips to get the wood. My only question is getting it in the car.”

“Yeah, I thought about that too. We'll take what we can and leave the rest. See ya tommorrow.”

“Thanks for the wood everyone. I have a sled we can use too. I figure I'm good for a couple trips at least.

Looking forward to seeing y'all. I'll be heading up about 10:00am tomorrow. I have to stop and get fresh bagels, so with the dilly dallying, I should get to Bunny Flat about noon.”

“I will be leaving work around noonish to start the drive. I expect to be at the trailhead around five. I am hoping it is not dark by then so I can begin the walk.

So if you all haven't heard from me or seen me can you come look for me at about 6:00?

Steve - how easy will it be for me to follow the trail? I know that it may or may not snow and obscure the trail - but is the trail obvious?”

“If you follow the map, it should be pretty easy. Do you have a frs radio? If so, turn it to 7/0 and give us a call. I will come down for you about 5:00 or a little after.”

“Have fun everyone!!! Sounds great!!”

“I don't have a radio but my husband gave me a GPS. if I can figure out how to enter the coordinates and do a 'go to' then i should be able to use that and the map.”

“Hey, Steve, about what time will the fire be going? We're wondering if we could toss already baked, foil-wrapped potatoes, etc. at the edge of the fire for dinner?

What's everyone else planning to eat? Here we sit, wondering, wondering, wondering about our menu.”

“Kilgore - Rumi - Nihilst - whatever.,... is in Oregon! I expect him here in about an hour. I'll finish packing (ok.. fine.. I admit it Navi.. I'll get started) and we should be hitting the road tomorrow morning about 8ish. Should be there about noon or one. Sounds like we'll be there to walk in with ya Steve! I'll stop and pick up some wood somewhere. Mt. Shasta should have some right? I've got the Hot Damn, Godiva Chocolate liquier & Kahlua for the smoothies, Crown Royal, wine all packed! Now.. am I missing anything? :-)

Wannabp - I liked your suggestion of soups. I found some great meals that only need to be heated up so you don't have to melt a ton of snow. Soups and some rice dishes. Add some chicken and you've got a pretty decent meal, I think. They come in foil pouches like the meat does. I picked up some Pita bread and thought it would be good in that.. Navi - I have plenty to share) I also found some wine in this cute little box thingy! WooHoo! Also, Wannabp.. don't forget the espresso beans. I forgot to pick some up..

Steve - Does Jiffypop work on your stove? And is Brett (or was it Susan?) bringing the pickle to talk to?

OK.. I'll quit wasting time and get packing!

I think I still have Steve & Wannabp's cell phone numbers here somewhere.. IF you get a chance email your phone numbers and I'll email mine too...
last edited: 12/28/05 9:57:31 PM”

“The smoothie maker.”

“LOL Lady!
Maybe you could use the laundry basket as a sled. That would make packing a lot easier. 8^)”