It was a little difficult to tell with all the snow, but it looked like you made it part of the way up the gorge above Odessa Lake, right? The next time you take the Odessa Lake trail from Bear Lake, there's a spectacular view down Odessa Gorge from a large flat rock about 70 feet above the trail just before you get to the turnoff to Lake Helene that most people don't know about.
I'll keep it in mind next time, thanks! Yes I came up that gorge, then snowshoed up the slope coming to Lake Helene from the north, then turned around at the ponds which I'm now seeing is called Ptarmigan Tarn. Definitely longer than coming from Bear Lake but I liked the gradually improving scenery coming up from the Fern Lake direction.
Yes, Lightning Ascents. The pack I use is an Osprey Stratos 24, which has buckle straps near the top on either side. I clip the snowshoes on here by running the straps under their televators/heel lifts. It's not the best system because they can still flop around, but I don't mind it really. A less floppy approach would be to use something like Voile straps to secure the snowshoes tightly against the pack, but then I've found access to the pack's main compartment becomes pretty difficult when they're attached.
Spectacular!
It was a little difficult to tell with all the snow, but it looked like you made it part of the way up the gorge above Odessa Lake, right? The next time you take the Odessa Lake trail from Bear Lake, there's a spectacular view down Odessa Gorge from a large flat rock about 70 feet above the trail just before you get to the turnoff to Lake Helene that most people don't know about.
I'll keep it in mind next time, thanks! Yes I came up that gorge, then snowshoed up the slope coming to Lake Helene from the north, then turned around at the ponds which I'm now seeing is called Ptarmigan Tarn. Definitely longer than coming from Bear Lake but I liked the gradually improving scenery coming up from the Fern Lake direction.
Absolutely beautiful. Hey, how are you attaching your snowshoes to your pack. Those are MSR lightenings, right?
Yes, Lightning Ascents. The pack I use is an Osprey Stratos 24, which has buckle straps near the top on either side. I clip the snowshoes on here by running the straps under their televators/heel lifts. It's not the best system because they can still flop around, but I don't mind it really. A less floppy approach would be to use something like Voile straps to secure the snowshoes tightly against the pack, but then I've found access to the pack's main compartment becomes pretty difficult when they're attached.