Given this year's exceptional snow pack, I'd for some weeks been hoping to spend a night in a snow cave high on Baldy. And with the spring temps now upon us, it was clear that time was running out...
Flickr Slide Show
Having found a few other so inclined (Steve, Aly, Steve, and Celine), we were off. Past experience had taught me that digging a snow cave is a tremendous amount of work -- sweaty, wet work -- and that bedding down in a damp cave with anything but completely dry clothing was a recipe for discomfort. Wanting to be certain we'd have time to get the job done, a relatively early start had us approaching the saddle (~8850) on the south ridge of Baldy at around 9:45am.
Heading up the forested slope to attain the south ridge, I stopped to put on gaiters on account of the now softening snow pack on the east facing slopes. The rest of the group stretched onward above me. Digging in my pack, in the periphery of my vision I saw a purple stuff sack skitter by atop the snow. "What the hell was that?". "The TENT!". An attempt to recover the tent quickly proved fruitless as it had traveled FAR down the drainage below Baldy Bowl. It's said that Cortes burned his ships upon arrival in the New World. I supposed that with no backup shelter, we would now be motivated diggers!
Upon arriving at the ridge we found a suitable drift, and a bit of exploration with an avalanche probe revealed deep snow both inward and downward. We frequently rotated duty at the head of the boring operation, especially during the initial awkward phase of construction when we were boring the narrow entryway upwards just past the sump. Eventually we opened up the body of the cave, and the difficulty eased. Two or three hard layers of snow provided brief scares, but progress continued and before long we were working four at a time -- two boring at the head of the cave, one moving snow into the sump, and one lifting snow out of the sump. Five hours later, we were finished, with ample time to dry and enjoy the glorious evening light.
This was a vast improvement on my last experience digging a cave. We finished a bigger cave (plenty of room for five across!) in less time, with sufficient daylight remaining to dry out completely. The geometry of the cave was beautiful, with a deep sump and a level sleeping platform that easily permitted sitting up against the back wall of the cave.
Still, none slept too well owing to snoring, gaseous emanations, and other difficulties one might expect when five people sleep side-by-side. All but one of the group fought mighty battles against the bladder. Is it really worth putting one my GoreTex and worming out that dark and snowy hole? Will I it be so icy that have to put my crampons on? Could I just tough it out for two more hours until daybreak?
As day broke we readied for our trip to the summit. The summit was spectacular as always; a steady wind tossed spindrift everywhere, adding to the alpine feel. Back down at the cave, we packed up and headed down, passed the hut, and sloshed down the trail through the rapidly melting snow. Indeed the opportunity to cave this year is closing rapidly...
Baldy Snow Cave (2010-03-13)
Actually, that wasn't our cave.He219 wrote:Hehey, saw it yesterday and was wondering if you guys did that after reading our Mill Creek report?
Our cave was just a few feet to the right, with the (much smaller) entryway tucked in alongside a tree.A few others had joined us for the day on Saturday, and they dug the cave in your picture alongside ours. As you can see, they bottomed out, resulting in quite a blight atop the snowpack.
I'd been thinking of this for some time, but yes, your trip report provided motivation.
He219 wrote:5 Hours, makes me wonder how somebody is supposed to do that in an emergency ...
Indeed. There's a big difference between a snow trench (for an emergency) and a snow cave (for fun).
Yes, the probe was ours. We'd inserted it during the digging process to ensure that we didn't get too close to the surface (and compromise the structure of the cave). It entered the cave about where the entry tunnel transitioned to the sleeping area.Kevin wrote:I saw a cave on my way up yesterday - did you have a probe inserted near the head of the cave?
We put (some of) our packs on the tarps in the mouth of the neighboring cave while we went to the summit. We picked them up on our way down.Kevin wrote:There were a couple of packs laying on a tarp on my way up, but everything was gone on my way back.
turtle, a dedicated pee-bottle comes in handy. It's a hard adjustment to make until you spend consecutive nights on the mountain hunkering out storms. Tentmates will appreciate not being bumped as somebody tries to dress and open a tent to the cold. Just make sure to clearly mark the bottle! 
