Aspendell

Drove up to Aspendell to have a look at conditions. Table Mountain is almost there. Habeggar's is a bit lean. The snow on both the South Fork Road and the Road up to Sabrina was pretty thin, so I elected to trudge around in the Aspendell Meadow area.

High winds and plenty of snow transport occurring when I arrived. Fortunately the winds eased during my short tour.

 Believe it or not, this is the zone I skied.

The gullies were filled in pretty well,

Winter trees.

Skinned up to a little knob with views of Lamarck Col (center back) and Fool's Ridge (right).

Couple of fog shots.

Not bad!

Full disclosure - I only hit a couple of rocks but one knock was enough to put a deep gouge in my freshly tuned skies. Dang.

Big dump forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Hoping the Bishop Creek zone will be in full swing in a couple of days!

Foggy Mountain Biking

Yesterday we woke up to foggy conditions here in Wilkerson after a night of light rain. Perfect mountain bike conditions!

Familiar landscape looked altogether unfamiliar.

Rode the lower moto trails just north of Wilkerson.

Super fun although my skills were a bit rusty.

From brilliant blue skies and snow in the mountains to intimate fog in the desert - Eastside living!

McCloud Lake

Almost sat out today as I was a bit tired from yesterday, but the crystal clear morning beckoned. Glad I rallied as it was one of the best days of the year.

The area above McCloud lake, in the Mammoth Lakes Basin, is easy to access and is nicely sheltered from wind and sun.

Frozen McCloud Lake with the back of Mammoth Mountain behind.

The views from my high point, Horseshoe Lake center with the town of Mammoth and Long Valley in the distance.

The skiing below the crest was sublime!

and equally good down below in the glades.

The day was crisp, cold, and brilliant. There was no one else in the neighborhood and no previous ski tracks. Three laps of pure magic!

June Lake Backountry 2

Mary wanted to ski lifts at June today so I figured I would drive up with her and do my own thing in the nearby backcountry. 

Elected to ski a couple of areas I had not been to before. First I headed up this drainage in the northern part of the Negatives. Nice skiing here.

Looking back to the ski area.

Moody day with mid level clouds hovering about.

Next I skinned up into the trees just north of my previous run.

Fine old trees.

Looking at my first run. Up high under the rocks the snow was decent, but the chutes to the top and the first couple hundred feet down in the bowl held breakable wind crust. The lower half of the run was nice though.

 Down to June Lake.

Second run was good too. Especially in here.

Temps were staying cold, so the snow quality was hanging in there in areas not subject to wind or sun. Great to explore!

June Lake Backcountry

Ben and I skied some fine backcountry outside June Mountain ski resort yesterday. The storm the day before left 5" to 8" of fairly cold light snow. We skied from the top of J7 down to Yost Lake then up and into the north facing trees at the north end of the Negatives.

Fun skiing in these glades.

We reached a cool high point above "The Hemlocks"

Looking back towards the ski area.

Unfrozen June Lake with frozen Gull Lake just in front. Mono Lake in the distance.

Silver Lake with Mt Wood looming above.

Ritter and Banner peaking out over the crest.

Lots of nice winter trees skinnng back to the ski area.

The lower slopes around Four Seasons were still a bit thin for heading all the way down which is why we skinned back to June.  Getting a little warm in the sun by afternoon but the snow in the shady slopes was staying cold and light. Nice little outing!

Storms!

We received two much needed storms over the weekend. The first was fairly cold and a bit windy while the second was warmer and extremely windy.

On Sunday Mary and I drove up to Mammoth to ski at the ski area. Gorgeous morning!

Took a few runs with my friends Ben & Ann on Lincoln Mountain which were good fun although my legs quickly wore out. Then I joined Mary for some sweet windblown snow skiing.

This zone skied great.

Winds ramped up and they closed most of the lifts shortly after this pic was taken. Just as well. My legs were done!

Lots of wind. Lots of snow transport observed on drive home.

Today I was eager to check conditions up Bishop Creek although I had low expectations for skiing up there.

Table Mountain is just not ready yet.

Bishop Bowl has a ways to go too.

South Fork Road is fairly bare above the closure.

The road above the Aspendell closure isn't much better.

Approach to Bishop Bowl. Not bare anymore but not good.

Enough in the meadow to tromp around.

Dug a pit up here.

Observed this small avalanche near the mouth of Jawbone Canyon.

Careful out there!

High Buttermilk Country

Despite widespread reports of severely wind damaged snow in the high country I elected to head up to the Mt Humphreys area above Bishop in hopes of finding a little decent skiing and confident I would enjoy the fine alpine scenery.

The first good news of the day was that the Buttermilk Road is passable to within a quarter mile of the usual parking for this zone. Need high clearance.

Early morning windshield photo.

The view from just above where I parked.

Looking down to the Buttermilks with Grouse Mountain center.

Winter trees

Thinking this slope on Peaklet would have provided decent skiing before it got too warm. Maybe.

The upper part of Wahoo Gully is filled in but the apron is another story.

Looking back to Bishop. Mostly supportable wind board here made for tolerable skiing.

Ah yes! Alpine scenery.

The imposing southeast face of Mt Humphreys on right.

Classic Couloirs! Kindergarten (left) and Checkered Demon (right).

Skinned up to the rocks in this broad bowl. A bit crusty but ok skiing.

Recent wet slide activity. Strong north winds have loaded high south facing ridgetops. Subsequent warming then triggered this fairly large avalanche.

Overall the skiing was fair to poor. Found some nice soft snow in the few sheltered trees I traveled through but endured plenty of breakable crust and sastrugi too.

The grand scenery did not disappoint however. Incredible!