Kratka Ridge: 16-17 Feb 2008

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:54 pm

A few of our scouts and adults took an overnight trip to the Angeles Crest. Excellent weather was the order of the day. We hiked from the closure at Snowcrest about 0.8 miles eastward along the Angeles Crest Highway to this spot:

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=34. ... &layer=DRG

We had beautiful views of the Tehachapis and southern Sierra.

The next morning we hiked up to Kratka Ridge...

... and had incredible views of Islip Saddle and Hwy 39.

We also snowshoed a half mile down to Eagle's Roost.

The overnight temps were in the high 20s while the daytime topped out in the 50s. Our immediate camp had between 4-6 feet of snow. We tried to make a 4-man igloo but made the structure too big (tall) so we put a tarp over the opening, Beverly Hillbillies style.

Others slept in snow caves or tents. We did some sledding and had a great time. I hope we get a good storm this weekend that adds more snow and keeps the ACH closed a little bit longer.

Post by **Taco** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:02 pm

BADASS igloo!

hvydrt · Post by **hvydrt** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 6:05 am

That igloo is awesome. I really like the front porch bench seating!!! Where did you guys get the sleds?

Travis · Post by **Travis** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:20 am

hvydrt wrote:That igloo is awesome. I really like the front porch bench seating!!! Where did you guys get the sleds?

I think those are just blue foam sleeping pads, not sleds. However I am looking for a sled as well to take my daughter sledding.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:34 am

The sleds were purchased from Sports Chalet. As you can see in the picture, we used a heater to bend PVC pipe for the poles that attach to our packs or belts. Rope was threaded through the PVC and attached to us using carabiners. The bottoms of the sleds were modified using two aluminun T-bars as runners which was important for stability. All of our packs, snow shovels, and other equipment were then strapped on with bungie cords. These hiking sleds were NOT used for sledding down slopes. We brought along lightweight plastic sleds for slope play. We made these sleds three years ago and continue to use them for our annual snow camping. The scouts love this outing. We were originally planning on going to Long Valley utilizing the Tram but the weather conditions there deteriorated plus there was much more snow in the San Gabriels.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:32 pm

Highly Cool!

He219 · Post by **He219** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:25 pm

Very nice Mike P!

Some friends of mine used towed sled similar to yours to carry two weeks of provisions each in Danali for their ascent of Mount McKinley.

Really like the Igloo too!

Post by **HikeUp** » Mon May 22, 2017 8:58 am

Necro post of the moment!