Into the Water: Tetons part 01

From my trip to the Tetons in July 2009.

I gasped; not only because the water was freezing, but also because there was water. I had supposed I was safe on the shore. Apparently I was on ice and had just punched one leg through. The lake was larger than it looked, swaddled in snow as it was. I pulled my leg out, stood up, and scrambled further away from the lake.

The sun was high over head, the weather was warm, and I had Amphitheater Lake all to myself. It was beautiful and peaceful, but not the ideal time to fall into ice covered lake. The friendly ranger with his tour group had left only minutes before, but were doubtlessly out of hearing range. I had a three mile hike off the Tetons to get back to my car. I preferred to do it without hypothermia.

Not far from the lake, starting to climb the ice covered talus slope, I came across a well defined path going around the lake. The footprints had melted in the sun forming a shapeless rut in the deep snow. Not far along, the path curved around some larger boulders taking me closer to the lake than I liked.

At the exact time I wondered if this was actually a trail or if it could really be a seam that—I fell through the ice again. In the split second of hesitation as my body started to plummet straight down I instinctively threw myself backwards and spread my arms. Having no footing, I didn’t get much backward motion, but enough to slam my backpack into and catch the edge of the hole I had broken in; and with my arms I effectively stopped my fall. I let out a laugh: I had caught myself. Then I felt the cold gripping both my lower legs. I stopped laughing and immediately pulled myself out of the hole and rolled to the side. Looking in, I was still over the lake which was three feet below the snow. Both my legs to mid calf were soaked. The path I had been following was indeed merely a crack from shifting ice that had a foot or so of snow over it. I had foolishly been walking on the weakest part I could possibly walk on without realizing the danger.

Laying in the sun, shivering, still very alone, I pondered on the many warnings I’ve heard about crevasses in glaciers. Crevasses are giant cracks throughout a glacier. They can be wide as a road, or so narrow that snow easily drifts across obscuring the crack completely. They are the most dangerous threat to mountaineers; one wrong step, a quick plummet, and then a crunch of broken bones and a slow death. I’ve been warned to avoid walking in fresh snow. When on a glacier, stick to the dirty packed stuff.

Well, lesson driven home, I’d say. This was a humorous and relatively nonthreatening way to have that point demonstrated.

Crawling to my feet, I cautiously worked my way around the boulders, and then headed far up onto the scree where the snow ended. I was taking no more chances. I marmot barked out its displeasure as I climbed into its territory...

To be continued...