Overnighter in freezing cold Temps
It was time again for an overnight hike. And this fully autonomous, so we carried everything we needed for the two days in the mountains. We did explore a region we have not yet been to in Summertime. I personally knew the region from Winter as it is a great area for ski mountaineering / backcountry skiing.
We met shortly after 3pm near Zurich and did drive together to our starting place near Vermol. You can find an online map with some details here.
Ready to get started?
Everything packed and route clear? Not 100% sure yet, especially with the thick clouds at the horizon.
Our initial hike did lead us to Vorsäss and Hintersäss on a dirt road. From Hintersäss on we decided to go cross country and directly towards Madfurggl. There was still quite a bit of snow and most terrain was soaked by the melting snow.
On the road
Moving towards Hintersäss on the gravel road. Clouds everythere and quite a bit of wind. What is the night gona be like?
After quite a bit of time at home and confined to the immediate surrounding due to Corona it was great being outdoors again. All three of us were eager to enjoy two interesting days in the backcountry and to experience a bit of adventure - “City slickers” style as we often joke about.
After a bit more than two hours we got close to our designated night camp. One we made it to the high plateau it was time to find a good spot to set camp. What sounds pretty easy in theory and on the map is often more difficult than expected. Even with some excellent map material it is not easy to predict the environment we are going to encounter on site. Finding the perfect flat ground is especially important for a good night sleep. It should also be protected from high winds and ideally dry.
Finding a dry flat space
… is often more difficult than expected. We were planning with snow but were surprised by the massive amount. And what looked almost completely flat on the map was surprisingly hilly.
It took us a good hour to scout for the best (or at least suitable) spot to pitch our two tents. In the end we managed to identify something useful that seemed rather flat, big enough and mostly wind protected. There was no water immediately close by but within a 5 minute walk. Setting up camp was straight forward and done within minutes. Especially the Zpacks Triplex once again was up within less than 2 minutes. Later on unfortunately we realized that the spot was not entirely flat, but close enough. Moving the tent once it is up is not that easy. Would be a different story with a free-standing shelter.
Dinner is getting ready
There is nothing more pleasing than pasta in the outdoors after a strenuous hike
Chilly but wonderful evening
A few hours in camp exchanging stories, cooking dinner and having a beer. Simply great.
The night is coming
The last few minutes of daylight. It was surprisingly cold and got even colder during the night.
The night was spent in either the Zpacks Triplex or a two person (more a one person) shelter from MSR. I was using my Nemo Tensor mattress and the Sierra Design Cloud 800. During the night temperature was down to 0°C (or 32°F). This was quite cold but the sleeping bag was warm enough - just. The mattress was probably also at the limit as I could feel the cold ground on some more weighted areas.
As always, getting up in the morning was hard. But I was not going to wait until the first sunrays were going to hit the tent. I wanted to experience the sunrise on the top of a nearby mountain peak.
Good morning
The first rays of sunlight are about to hit the plateau
A peak close by
Soon at the top, right in time for sunrise
Rise and shine
It is getting warmer and a wonderful day is starting.
Shortly before packing up
After a cozy night in freezing temps
A warm cup of tea did bring all three of us back to operating temperature. The tents and equipment was damp or frozen from the night. Especially the water filtration was frozen solid. We did forget to drain the pipe the evening before.
Packing up took more time than anticipated. We are not yet fully organized as a group and required some re-packing. It was interesting to note the difference with the DCF tent and the silnylon material: The DCF version was almost dry when packing up, the silnylon was still dripping wet and substantially heavier than dry. But we could not wait another few hours to get everything dry. A bit of trail was waiting for us.
After a very small breakfast we started towards Walachamm and up to the first peak of the day called “Guli”. We met the first few people - three of the four on skis. Impressive on how fast they could travel compared to us on foot only.
Summary
What a great two days. It was not the most spectacular hike for sure and not the most challenging peaks, but it was a great little adventure. It always is. A few years ago the expression or concept of “Micro-Adventures” was born and I guess ours would qualify perfectly. We used the opportunity not just to share a great time but also test our equipment after the long winter break. We are going to further refine our gear - backpacks are far from perfect and some sleep systems were simply too cold. We are already looking forward to the next outing and will post back some insights.