How deep is the snow,

[+Heather23]

Ok, it snowed here, a lot. To get to two caches, I was walking thru snow up to my knees. The third cache had a trail some other cacher made a few days before. I would have snowshoed, but that might draw too much attention IN the city, 20 feet from my truck..

 

So, how deep is the snow before YOU won't go?

[Fluxuated]

Ummm, my armpits?

[+Arndtwe]

Depends. Since I live in Illinois, we don't get much snow but if we got a lot I would go for any cache no matter how deep the snow if it was the dry kind. When you get into the wet stuff, it gets kinda nasty, I would probably only go into wet stuff up to my waist.

[+Team Cotati]

Evidence indicates that it is not possible for the earth's weather systems to produce that much snow.

[+TotemLake]

Evidence indicates that it is not possible for the earth's weather systems to produce that much snow.

Yet

 

Last month was almost 14 feet of snow and 40MPH gusty winds that kept us from going up to a cache. That didn't stop us from stomping around the basin hoping the weather would slack off. The avalanche danger was too high. The month before that we were in 4 feet fresh week old virgin powder on top of 2 feet of aged snow. We were thigh deep in the stuff with snowshoes on. This weekend is a 5 mile roundtrip snowshoe hike to another cache. I have no idea how deep the snow is, nor how deep the cache is now. It was originally setup as a snow cache last month before we got another 4-15 feet in different areas. I can only hope the coordinates are spot on.

Edited February 18, 2008 by TotemLake

[+Team Cotati]

Evidence indicates that it is not possible for the earth's weather systems to produce that much snow.

Yet

 

Last month was almost 14 feet of snow and 40MPH gusty winds that kept us from going up to a cache. That didn't stop us from stomping around the basin hoping the weather would slack off. The avalanche danger was too high. The month before that we were in 4 feet fresh week old virgin powder on top of 2 feet of aged snow. We were thigh deep in the stuff with snowshoes on. This weekend is a 5 mile roundtrip snowshoe hike to another cache. I have no idea how deep the snow is, nor how deep the cache is now. It was originally setup as a snow cache last month before we got another 4-15 feet in different areas. I can only hope the coordinates are spot on.

 

Ever.

[+tomfuller & Quill]

Coming back from an event cache today, I stopped near Hoodoo Ski Area (Santiam Pass) to snowshoe in for a cache. The walls of snow where the rotary plow went through were 7 to 8 feet high. The ammocan had been tied to a branch stub as high as the hider could reach when the snow was about 2 feet deep. I had to remove 2 good sized chunks of snow from the hole to remove it. It'll be at least a month before anyone will get there on foot without snowshoes.

[+scavok]

The deeper the better. I keep my snowshoes and my snowboard (much easier than snowshoeing downhill) hanging right next to my geo/camera-pack.

 

I love the stuff

[+Juicepig]

I put on the snowshoes if I begin to sink past my knees. Snowshoes will pretty much conquer any kind of snowfall.

 

I also look at the hints before i head out - if it says under a log, then i pick something else.

[+team moxiepup]

One thing to consider when asking this question, is how far in deep snow will I go. Going a mile in thigh deep snow gets quite exhausting, at least for me. We've done this on two occaisions. Usually we try to pick ones that are a fairly short hike when the snow is deep. Of course, now that I've hurt my knee, even snow a few inches deep seems too much. We've missing one weekend of caching due to it, and I'm already going stircrazy with major caching withdrawls!

[+KJcachers]

most of the caches in my area are at ground level so if the snow would get over a foot deep then I would wait until it melted a bit. Haven't really had this problem yet this year! Must have something to do with living in the South....or is it the North East...I can't remember

[+Walts Hunting]

One inch. My wife does call me the California woos though.

[+StarBrand]

If the Jeep can drive me close enough - I'll go after it.

[+Clothahump]

How deep is the snow,, before the geocacher won't go?

 

Heh. Anything below 60 degrees F is not fit for human beings to live in, so I guess that pretty much says how much snow I'll tolerate.

[Mr.Yuck]

most of the caches in my area are at ground level so if the snow would get over a foot deep then I would wait until it melted a bit. Haven't really had this problem yet this year! Must have something to do with living in the South....or is it the North East...I can't remember

 

You're just never going to let that Northeast Vs. South thing go, are you? Stop it now, and be a good Northeastener.

 

I'll go after anything, no matter how much snow is on the ground, but I've been known to have tons of snow-related DNF's. I will go out of my way to read the hints ahead of time if there is a lot of snow on the ground (as someone else said).

[+desync0]

Snow doesn't bother me too much, but if there's a wind chill factor in the forecast I'm not leaving the house lol

[+NorthWes]

Awww... snow is fun! If you live in the snow zone you just need the right gear...

 

In town, rubber ankle-fit kneeboots are good (teamed with fleece pants, they're unbeatable) when 'car-caching' in the wintertime. On the fringes of town and in the parklands & backcountry, add snowshoes or skis (or, as a friend of mine does, add skis with a dog or three to pull you - skijoring!). Local cachers have quite a string of 'snowshoe'-style caches in the wild parks here in Anchorage.

 

Finally, go mechanized if you have a lot of ground to cover. In the picture below the average snow depth was around ten feet (wind had scoured the ridgetop - saved me digging for the benchmarks!). My snowmobile was 12 route-miles from the trailhead, with snowshoes, shovel & overnite emergency gear aboard. Key to this trip was windblock gear with base layers of fleece that would 'breathe' the moisture (ok - evap the sweat) out; too much gear and you'll become a wintertime heat casualty - not enough gear and you simply freeze from the start.

 

I must admit to avoiding caches which don't appear to be winter-accessible in their descriptions or attributes... a micro hidden on the ground in the woods with ten feet of snow over it's no fun to look for... And in all fairness, yes, I do 'snowbird' south to places like Las Vegas occasionally in the wintertime for 'respite' caching in the desert!

 

24 miles west of Talkeetna Alaska, 52 miles south of Mt Foraker & Denali (L-R on horizon).

At the BLM cadastral survey marker, one mile north of UW6278 LITTLE (1954) benchmark site

on top of the Little Peters Hills. Still air temp of zero with 30+mph winds... a blustery day!

[+Knight2000]

If it is not fun, we wont do it.

 

Walking through snow does not seem like fun to me. When we started caching we never intended to cache in the winter months. In my area, it is just not that enjoyable to be outside this time of year. We're in it for the fun.

[+infiniteMPG]

We cached in every flake of snow that Mother Nature has thrown at us regardless of depth, temperature, wind chill or anything.....

 

...every bit....

 

.... every single flake....

 

...here in west central Florida.

 

Errrr... what's snow?

[+briansnat]

I tried for a cache in snow that was almost up to my neck. After 10 minutes I only moved 10 feet and was still 170 feet from the cache so I gave up. I considered renting snowshoes (mine were back home in NJ), but didn't want to shell out the bucks just for one cache.

 

I've been out in a foot or two of snow a bunch of times. The most snow I actually found a cache under was about 3 feet. A lot of luck with that one.

[+Logscaler and Red]

Easy enough to tell the people who don't have to work out in the stuff.

 

Pulled a stupid move and went after the Crack of the Gods cache last week.

 

Everything was fine to the point of the cache.

 

Seems like the cache is now under a avalanche debris field and who knows how much snow.

 

We will go back in the Summer.

[+ironman114]

Evidence indicates that it is not possible for the earth's weather systems to produce that much snow.

Yet

 

Last month was almost 14 feet of snow and 40MPH gusty winds that kept us from going up to a cache. That didn't stop us from stomping around the basin hoping the weather would slack off. The avalanche danger was too high. The month before that we were in 4 feet fresh week old virgin powder on top of 2 feet of aged snow. We were thigh deep in the stuff with snowshoes on. This weekend is a 5 mile roundtrip snowshoe hike to another cache. I have no idea how deep the snow is, nor how deep the cache is now. It was originally setup as a snow cache last month before we got another 4-15 feet in different areas. I can only hope the coordinates are spot on.

 

 

Is this cold enough for you guys? 117" of snow and 17°.

 

 

Is this armpit deep? 48" of fresh powder and deep snow drifts.

Edited February 19, 2008 by ironman114

[+Team Cotati]

Evidence indicates that it is not possible for the earth's weather systems to produce that much snow.

Yet

 

Last month was almost 14 feet of snow and 40MPH gusty winds that kept us from going up to a cache. That didn't stop us from stomping around the basin hoping the weather would slack off. The avalanche danger was too high. The month before that we were in 4 feet fresh week old virgin powder on top of 2 feet of aged snow. We were thigh deep in the stuff with snowshoes on. This weekend is a 5 mile roundtrip snowshoe hike to another cache. I have no idea how deep the snow is, nor how deep the cache is now. It was originally setup as a snow cache last month before we got another 4-15 feet in different areas. I can only hope the coordinates are spot on.

 

 

Is this cold enough for you guys? 117" of snow and 17°.

 

 

Is this armpit deep? 48" of fresh powder and deep snow drifts.

 

No and no. Not even close. Get back to me when that amount triples. That still won't be enough but we can at least begin a dialog to help determine when an adequate level of snow prodction might be reached.

Edited February 19, 2008 by Team Cotati

[+TheCollector]

if im able to breath ill go out in any amount of snow i live in minnesota so im use to SNOW

[+Night Stalker]

The deepest snow I have cached in was up to my waist. It took me and hour to go the 100 feet. Unfortunately I did not find the cache. The next fall when we tried again we found the cache was about 50 feet from ground zero. It was this cache that convinced me to buy snow shoes.

[+Dragonfire870]

If there's even a chance for snow or ice I won't go out... Must have something to do with living in Texas.

[+bflentje]

if im able to breath ill go out in any amount of snow i live in minnesota so im use to SNOW

 

Yep.. snow, no problem. Temperature is my deciding factor. And I've cached when it has been as cold as 18 degrees below zero, BEFORE windchill. Not sure what my cut off would be. Probably anything below zero that also has a 20+ MPH wind.

[+Heather23]

Ok, some of you are pretty extreme. I was talking about an urban cache, not taking a hike into the mountains! I recently tried to locate another urban cache AFTER a snow storm and I couldn't beleive what I saw. An area was dug up (must have been with a shovel) and the underbrush was cut in places. The owner was very upset when they saw the damage and disabled the cache. All I did was kick around the snow around the base of the large trees and under a fallen log. But some one found it. I went again after a couple of days, (and another wind storm) to see the new favorite dig zone.

 

I think "winter accessable" should mean that it IS findable after a snow storm ie: off the ground or protected from snow fall. I think others think it means something else.

 

So for those of you that snowshoe in the mountains to find a cache, how much gear do you take?

[+lock-n-load]

Like the other minnesotans said snow isnt the problem its when it drops well below 0 with a double digit below windchill i will hesitate to go out.But i did try a few caches when it was 12 below with a 30 below windchill,didnt find many but at least i tried..

[+JennM]

 

I live in GA but I was back home in Canada in December. That's how deep it was at the beginning of winter. I had no snowshoes.

 

I found 15 caches while home, only a couple of urban micros.

 

I had to dig through about 3 feet of snow for one of them, but many "winter friendly" caches are up off the ground, where snow accumulation won't be much hindrance.

 

The cachers I met up with in Ottawa are hard-core. Snowshoes, headlamps - they night cache on snowshoe trails. Gotta love it!

 

Jenn

[+ironman114]

Ok, some of you are pretty extreme.

 

So for those of you that snowshoe in the mountains to find a cache, how much gear do you take?

 

The Ten Essentials:

 

Map

Compass

Sunglasses/sunscreen

Extra food and water

Extra clothes

Headlamp/flashlight

First aid kit

Fire starter

Matches

Knife

 

I also carry a whistle, Frs/gmrs radio, flagging tape and rain gear. Tea light candles and large contractor grade garbage bags also provide emergency shelter and some heat. I also carry a small light weight stove and a cup to heat water and the hot chocolate, spiced cider or cup of soup packets I carry too.

 

These Items in my truck helped to make this ordeal much better:

 

DNF for Turn Here cache

 

[+TotemLake]

Ok, some of you are pretty extreme. I was talking about an urban cache, not taking a hike into the mountains! I recently tried to locate another urban cache AFTER a snow storm and I couldn't beleive what I saw. An area was dug up (must have been with a shovel) and the underbrush was cut in places. The owner was very upset when they saw the damage and disabled the cache. All I did was kick around the snow around the base of the large trees and under a fallen log. But some one found it. I went again after a couple of days, (and another wind storm) to see the new favorite dig zone.

 

I think "winter accessable" should mean that it IS findable after a snow storm ie: off the ground or protected from snow fall. I think others think it means something else.

 

So for those of you that snowshoe in the mountains to find a cache, how much gear do you take?

Ironman pretty well sums it up. You take what you need to be able to survive the night. You just don't know what kind of trouble you're going to end up in the deep snow.

 

My backpack is 30 lbs heavy with emergency gear and part of that is several ways to make a fire. That's two windproof lighters, a couple of dozen REI matches that will guarantee a burn of 15 seconds once lit and my piezo-light stove. I have three things to sustain the fire for at least a few minutes to help light whatever wood I can find and cut with my hand chain saw (not the cable). I carry an oversized poncho to drape over me to help break the wind and create a small tent with. My trekking poles will act as supports. Three candles to provide 6-8 hours each of light and heat. A HAM handheld radio for long distance emergency communication along with my FRS/GMRS. Food to last overnight. Eating food allows you to burn calories to help sustain warmth but you must have enough water on hand to digest it. I carry 5 liters of water to start and I usually carry my water filter along. I have a mylar bag to slip into and to keep my buns dry and warm while sitting in the snow, a thermarest seat pad. This is just a part of my 10 essentials.

[+Zolgar]

Snow? What is this thing you speak of??

 

If we got a freak snowstorm in Tucson, I'd probably go through just a few inches, right now. But that's because, being a desert rat, I have no cold weather gear.

 

If I had proper gear, if I can still see, I'm good.

 

Granted, more than about a foot of snow would make it really hard to find many of the caches in Tucson, because we don't get snow so it's not a concern.