Granite Chief Snowshoe Tour

This tour was my 2nd attempt at Granite Chief, near Squaw Valley at Lake Tahoe. My first try a few weeks ago was thwarted by uber deep and blowing snow, no weather deterrent this time around! Bluebird skies and soft, spring-like temperatures greeted me when I awoke in the car on Saturday morning, a ripe day for a tour!


After borrowing snowshoes for some years, I finally caved in and bought some for myself (wallet was burning a hole in my pocket as well). I went for the most rugged shoes I could find, ones that can handle the absolute toughest terrain. MSR is a US company that has an excellent reputation for quality products, now is a great time to support the homefront economy.


I recently purchased some rechargeable batteries for my camera at the urging of my girlfriend. The camera must not like them because most of the time it tells me the freshly-charged batteries are depleted when they're not. So, as a consequence I was only able to take photos of the first hour of my tour. The ever popular self-portrait:

Break trail was tough, as the sun came out, the fluf surface snow turned into "Sierra cement" and the going was slow, albeit picturesque.


Not to help matters, I took an unbelievably long way to the summit of Granite Chief. I followed directions from the www.summitpost.com website for the summer trail route, this was a big mistake. It took me all day, but eventually I did make it to just below the summit. At the time it seemed reasonable, but i decided to dig a snow cave for the night, just below the peak itself (perhaps 40-50 feet) where the first trees begin in Krummholz formation at the environmentally-induced timberline. I resolved the terrain to be too steep to set up my little tent directly without digging out a platform, I figured it would only be a little more effort just to dig a snowcave, which would be warmer.

I had no problem getting to sleep quickly after dark came. I wish I'd had a functioning camera to take photos of the wonderful alpenglow that spilled everywhere from the sunset. Fortunately for me, I'd brought just enough fuel to melt snow for water and have hot drinks/food. I awoke to a farely fierce wind, blowing and drifting snow. It spooked me for a moment, just long enough to pack my things quickly to head down. Interestingly enough, only a hundred or so feet lower in elevation and the sun was shining- the top of the mountain was immersed in a cloud!

Leaving Granite Chief proper, I followed the Squaw Valley ski area boundary, which was the route I should have taken up. What took an entire day to climb was descended in a mere 2.5 hours, with Breidl Jausens along the way. A quick stop at Panera Bread in Roseville on the way back to Pacifica, I arrived in the late afternoon- to enjoy an extra hour of sunshine and bask in my own self-satisfaction.