Wilkerson Skiing

The forecast for a major storm panned out. Feet upon feet of new snow in the mountains. Highway 395 closed. Here at home in Wilkerson we got close to a foot of snow and about 36 hours of constant winds in the 30 mph to 40 mph range.

It's the perfect time to get out the old waxless skis and go sagebrush skiing!

And by old, I mean over 35 years old. My first skis. I bought them in 1984 at Adventure's Edge in Arcata. Still kickin' (and gliding too).

Yesterday we had light to moderate snow all day with a low grey ceiling.

 

 I put in a track above our house and did loops. The skiing got better and better with each pass.

 

 This morning I skied from the house down to the hot ditches below Keough's Hot Springs.

The clouds lifted, the snow stopped, but the wind kept blowing.

Took a good long soak in the warm water. It felt terrific!

Boy it's fun to ski right from the front door! Wonder what it's like in the mountains.

Above Emerald Lake

Yesterday was a cold one in the high country! Beautiful too, with light snow flurries and low, scudding clouds.

Magic in the forest.

 Attained a ridge with views of the crest.

Scooched into this big bowl.

 

Rocks were a serious hazard, but not a problem once I got into the middle of the run.

 Time to sit back and just hope this next storm comes in as forecast!

Skelton Lake

With an inch or two of new snow falling overnight I just had to go up and check out conditions in the Mammoth Lakes basin. I brought my Voile skis with waxless bases and enjoyed the kick and glide up to Skelton Lake and beyond.

 First stop was at Emerald Lake. Cold, crisp air and the freshly fallen snow. Magic

Soon I was at Skelton Lake (named for prospectors) with Pyramid Peak above.

Fine winter scenes as clouds rolled in and light snow began to fall.

Heading home

 I enjoyed a few fun turns in the forest on the way out, but the weather and the scenery were the highlights today.  Winter is back!

More Mammoth Lakes Basin Skiing

Despite a dearth of snow, I am still at it! Figure if I can have fun skiing now I will really have a blast when/if it actually snows.

 A few days ago I toured up to Heart Lake. I had never been there before summer or winter. 

Views on the way up.

Did three runs on this puny but fun slope above the lake.

Serene meadow on the way out.

Today was the first day this season I've toured with partners. McKenzie and Ann joined me for a tour along the western Mammoth Crest.

First we cruised up to Red Cone. Pretty bleak.

We found a little patch of corn and could not resist taking a run. Good fun.

Heading back to the top.

Entrance to Red Cone chute is gritty.

We picked our way westward along the crest enjoying fine views and great weather eventually descending a little bowl into a series of tight glades southwest of McCleod Lake. The facets skied reasonably well in there.

A quick stroll across the lake brought us back.

A couple of rewarding "hike with skis on" tours.
 

Crowley Columns

 I've been wanting to visit the Crowley Columns since I first saw pictures of them, so yesterday Mary, Bristle and I made the trek.

 The first glimpse.

Down at the beach, amongst the pillars. Amazing!

The ice was really cool too.

 

Spectacular day!

Trail/direction info here

An explanation of the column formation here

 

Chicken Wing & Mount Downs

Just because it's low tide doesn't mean you can't swim!

I was hoping the meager snowpack near Deadman Pass was holding up well enough to warrant a visit, so I toured up Mount Downs (near the south June Lake junction).  I was pleasantly surprised to find good snow, just enough coverage, and a cool series of connected glades almost all the way to the top.

Nice views of June Lake (bottom) and Mt Wood on the lower slopes.

The slopes above June Lake are bombed to control avalanches down onto the highway.

These new skis made the long stretches of Forest Service road a pleasure.

Weather sculpted pine on an exposed ridge.

Summit sentinels

Summit views. June Mountain ski area (left), The Negatives (center), Ritter & Banner (far right).

Bald Mountain, open flats and the White Mountains (skyline).

Chicken Wing is the horn just left of center.

With my skin track set on Mt Downs I cooked up a bigger tour for the next day, trekking south to summit Chicken Wing and returning north to summit Mount Downs.

Things did not go smoothly to start. The "road" I chose to head south has been converted to a moto trail with steep ups and downs - not so good with the scale skis. There were no tracks so I was breaking trail and there were several melted out spots.

Once I reached Hartley Springs Campground traveling conditions improved. I broke trail for a short distance then connected with a well trodden skin track to the summit of Chicken Wing. Love the views up there.

There were an amazing number of tracks off the summit. The upper glades looked just like a ski area! I found fewer tracks, tight trees, but good skiing by adhering to the north ridge, soon landing on the Forest Service road heading north. 

Fine XC style skiing in the forest here.

I was super grateful this snowmobile track otherwise I would have had to break trail for nearly two miles. It saved me a lot of time and effort.

Eventually I left the snowmo track and traversed over to the previous day's skin track up to Mount Downs.  

Another summit shot south to Chicken Wing.

No tracks on the descent besides my own! Skiing in the shady north facing forest is staying good. Coverage could be better but most hazards are visible and avoidable. Starting to get slightly grabby here and there by mid day.

Great two day project! The Voile patterned skis made it all possible. No way would I want to skin those many miles of Forest Service road.