winter, round two

winter is back!! with avengence.

i must admit i am ready for all things spring, but the weather is not cooperating, so what can you do? go skiing silly! sure,you may be over it, but biking, boating, fishing, etc really are not happening yet.

the easiest right now, is of course, hiking up the big. convenient, fast and amazing coverage. i am headed up shortly, as i need some exercise before a series of meetings (boo) and my other options are bleak. but should get some powder turns in.

then, most places of backcountry relevance are in great shape. a word of wisdom though, if you are planning on a snowmobile ride, think it thru. i can assure you, that spider bowl/basin, the machine is not justified. too much dirt, but not until we were sufficiently faked out and rode a solid half mile. after a mile of walking on dirt, we came by a suby parked just before the real snow had started. so some areas might seem good for a ride before a hike, but you may be wasting time and energy to get there. (all this after a frustrating morning getting my sled affixed to my truck, in a system not yet perfected. this in turn made me late, so driving a bit fast into c-falls to meet our friends at coffee traders, i got pulled over just as i was slowing down. today i seek out the judge to determine my punishment. so my hard luck concerning snowmobile days continues) after that the hiking went fine for another while, but as we got higher and steeper, the hiking became unruly and slick. very frustrating at all positions on the climb. so when we got to the first good place for descent, with nnw aspect, looking nearly perfect, we ripped hide and prepared for some turns. following the two gals, i was certain the turns would be bliss, as that is how they made it out to be. but it was not the case. there was a difficult and at times treacherous crust layer buried about 8-12 inches down. up high it was negociable, but got worse on the descent. finally, as new snow gave way to old, and lower elevation created more spring conditions, the skiing became a bit more consistent. this was not a day that anyone put in the record books, but we got out with smile and laughs and agreed to look forward to other more promising days ahead. at least, we all agreed, it was better than staying home and watching nascar.