Carrying on in the illustrious, if somewhat flawed in logic,
ski-steps of Jeff and Faerthen, Heidi Pesterfield and I decided to get in at
least one more stupid ski tour before this 70 degree weather robs us of the
little snow we did receive this winter.
After much research, Heidi discovered through local beta
that the snow above Virginia Lakes was indeed freezing, albeit barely, and that
the road completely open. (Guess it’s
been open all winter thanks to unseasonably dry conditions). Thus, a 24-hour east side adventure was
proposed. Saturday to Sunday: 5pm to
5pm.
Of course no east side trip is complete without a stop by
the Travertine hot springs. We reached
Bridgeport with the last of the Alpen glow and were treated to an amazing show
of pink and purple thunderheads. Heidi
was voting for a thunderstorm. I was
hoping it might stay a little drier.
 |
| Disheartened by the serious lack of snow. |
After deciding the upper tub was too hot and the middle tub
was too crowded (we are a bit like Goldilocks), we discovered a lovely new
third tub lower down the hillside. This
provided a delightful soaking experience until the aforementioned thunderheads regaled
us with a lightning storm. We decided
this would be an opportune moment to exit the water.
After a much-appreciated stay with Heidi’s friends in Mono
City, we awoke with the sun and drove back to Virginia Lakes. We had serious second thoughts as first, the
temperature seemed to be steadily climbing from a low of 45 and second, as the
lack of snow from this winter became more and more apparent. However, the temperature finally dropped back
to 35 as we reached the base of the lakes and we decided it would be a bit
silly to skip the ski tour after driving for 3 hours.
 |
| Stupid Ski Tour Rule #1: Take off skis to hike across dirt. Check! |
As defined by stupid ski tour guidelines, we first made the
obligatory creek crossing and then proceeded to remove our skis in order to
“boot pack” the dirt. We didn’t get to
traverse over small trees until the exit.
 |
| Final resting place of Heid's ski. Ok, not really, we staged this photo. However, we were impressed that it ricocheted through two stands of pine trees and still emerged unscathed. |
Midway up our skin, we decided to do a run on the bottom
half of Black Mountain as it was already corning up and it was only
8:30am. My traditional turns revealed
this to be an excellent decision. Heidi
chose an alternative method of descent, as her ski decided it really didn’t
need to wait for her before making its way down the mountain. Thus, the legend of the bum track was born.
 |
| The shore of Red Lake is an amazing glacial blue. Unfortunately I just couldn't capture it on camera. |
 |
| Turns down the north bowl. |
After returning the ski to the appropriate foot, we headed
back up the north bowl above Red Lakes, finishing the day on surprisingly good corn. For anyone thinking this sounds like a good
idea, go early and go soon, the snow will not last long.
 |
| Heidi and Kim finish the day at the late hour of 11am. |
Posts
