Snow Caves 2008

The snow caves outing is an annual trip taken to the Mount Rainier to learn about snow survival. We drove there on the 1st of March, and arrived in the lower parking lot, but had to wait about a couple hours before the rangers opened the road to Paradise. Once we got to the parking lot at Paradise, we unpacked, got our gear ready and left after learning how to use a snow walking stick.

Right after we got there, we pitched our tents incase we didn't sleep in the snow cave we built. After that, everyone started to build their caves. First we dug into the ground to make a tunnel for ourselves. Next we started to dig upwards to start our cave process. After we had the crude shape dug out, we started to round it off and smooth the ceiling and the walls to a curve so water would not drip on us. A few people slept in their caves, but others did not finish in time. After dinner, most of the people went on a night snowshoe hike to get warm, we returned to eat a snack and get some sleep.

The next morning, we stowed all of our gear and put our tents away after breakfast. We left the campsite at about 10 or 11 in the morning. We returned to the parking-lot and sunny weather after all that snow. We put our gear in the cars and drove home after a cold but fun campout. - AMG

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