Well, this was intended to be Nancy's first backpacking trip, and a short one to Crater Lakes in Roosevelt National Forest, but it turned into a nightmare for everyone in the woods that night.
We started up the trail around 16:00 and figured that we would reach the lakes around 18:30 at the latest. It is only 3 miles in and the book we obtained the information from stated that the trail junction was marked. This was our first mistake.
The junction IS NOT marked and very easy to miss. We found the junction the next morning on our way out.
We continued up the trail in what we thought was the correct direction and hiked up a steep hill. Our guidebook mentioned a steep hill, so we thought we were on track. Mistake number 2. We continued and by this time is was 18:30 and we still weren't at the lakes, but there was a clearing ahead and a fast moving stream, so we figured we were close. We came to the top of the clearing and a nicely placed sign stated "Rogers Pass Lake". I had heard of this lake once before in passing, never actually knowing where it was or how to get there, but here we were. It was sort of cool, but never thought the weather would change in an instant. We hiked the quarter of a mile down to the lake and set up camp to get warmer and started fixing some freeze dried dinner, Yummy!
We turned in shortly there after and Nancy mentioned to me that the rain sounded great against the rainfly on the tent, little did she realize it was snow. The wind speeds that night reached about 40 miles per hour and we awoke to a fresh blanket of 6 inches of snow, and no obvious signs of the unmarked trail that we climbed. After deciding it better to get the hell outta there, we packed our bags, pulled down the tent and ground mat and proceeded to find our way out. We remembered the sign showing the way to the lake, and made this our first goal to find. After about 20 minutes, we crested the ridge and found our sign. From here the going was much tougher. We had to traverse down to the valley floor that we came up. This was steep, and with fresh snow covering the slick rocks made for a very unenjoyable adventure. We found remnants of the trail in a few spots, only to lose it shortly there after. We finally made our way down to the valley floor, and the creek that we had followed in. From here the going was much easier, but still rough with the snow.
I guess the moral to the story is be prepared for this sort of stuff. We had all the necessary clothes and items, just not the knowledge of following the land to get out. We both made it down safely, but I am sure that many others had some problems. We both learned a lot from the trip, but realize what the consequences could have been.
Sitting here writing about it makes me feel a little better, but still I know what to do in this situation if it ever arises again. Always be sure of the inherent risks and dangers of climbing as well as hiking. We all overlook the little things. After this trip, I know now that the little things count!