Yesterday I headed out bright and early from Deadman Pass to Glass Creek Meadow and on up to the summit of White Wing. The temps were unexpectedly cold, 8F at the trailhead!
Soon I came across this beautiful dried snow plant lit by the soft morning sunlight.
After an hour or so of touring I arrived at the east end of the meadow. Still quite cold!
Once I emerged from the shadows I found amazing hoar frost twinkling in the sun.
Soon I navigated my way to the bottom of a large bowl directly below the summit and found these peculiar tracks that seemed to dead end, or perhaps turn around? Pretty sure they are snowshoe hare tracks.
The bowl, my skin track and The Negatives.
The views from the summit were splendid. It was calm and comfortable so I lingered for a good bit.
The skiing started very near the summit and proved to be terrific. Despite the appearance of wind texture, there was no crust. Just a few inches of soft light snow over a reliable base. Ego snow!
The lower slopes were even better with 6" to 8" of light dry snow. So much fun!
The day warmed nicely as I left the meadow.
An incredibly rewarding day. There was no one else in the meadow. No tracks even, and with nearby June Mountain closed for now, it was quiet and serene.
It was the first day out new skis, Voile Objective BCs, which have a pattern base. This tour is at least ten miles round trip with a lot of flat and rolling terrain which was perfect for the speedy kick and glide these skis offer. I've toured back here with skins which was slower and way less efficient and the skis performed well on the descent too. I'm looking forward to more adventure on them sticks!
1 comment:
Lovely . . .
Post a Comment