We've got 30", since we are planning on a A Cabin to Cabin trek next winter up in either Vt or up in the Porcupine Mts in Minnesota, or if we get real crazy, maybe a showshoe trip up the Iditarod.
Yes' we have poles, as well.
Our stove? Already very familiar with it, since I use it bike touring.
KNife: I always have a Swiss Army KNife, anyway. Anything bigger, I can't carry on the train, even packed, since we're going superlightweight and only taking backpacks, snowshoes and our computer bags since we will both have homework to keep up with over break, anyway.
The Bivvy Bags are Mylar Space Blanket material, and waterproof, and if we get caught out, we'll just dig in to a snow cave and settle in. We're planning on carrying 3 days high energy food anyway and it's freeze dried, so minimal weight penalty. Also, Clif Bars, etc.
Originally Posted by
heckler
your doing 22.3 miles in a day? that is pretty ambitious. I snowshoe as much as I can on my Atlas 1025s My wife has been out to Glacier twice, but I have never been. It sounds like a really nice trip.
I personally bring a camalback over the bottles because hydration is very important in the dry cold...and people tend to forget esp if they need to stop and unscrew a bottle. I am not sure if you are like me but sometimes my "good" gloves are too hot while actually snowshoeing so a cheapy pair of fleece ones are nice to compliment the hard core goretex super gloves (you may have liners which work well too)
The gaiters make a ton of difference if it is powdery. Do you know how traveled the trail is? It makes a huge difference in exertion. If it is fresh snow trade off on the front to recover with your partner.
Dont forget food
practice with the stove if it is new.
Depending on the weight of your pack and the freshness of the snow opt for the longest shoes you can get my 25s are good, but with a pack i would like bigger.
Poles will be nice with the elevation and to feel out snow drifts and whatnot (older folks seem to like them regardless
)
If you are bringing the bivy "in case" a lightweight bag that you both can squeeze into or at least fleece liner might be worth it.(only because of the distance)
tell us more about it, so far it sounds very exciting!