Ringing in the New Year

With New Year's Day being a three day weekend for Donette this year, we decided to pack up the van and go looking for some early season backcountry skiing.  It seemed like we would have to travel pretty far North to find good coverage , so we opted for the Mammoth area.

We made it to the Lone Pine area on Friday night, then continued up 395 Saturday morning.  The sky was overcast, obscuring the peaks, and there wasn't much snow visible below the cloud line.  The coverage got better as we climbed up towards Mammoth.  The first couple of places we looked at were way to thin to ski.  The third time was the charm, as we ended up in the large parking area below Punta Bardini off of Sherwin Creek Road.

Skinning up towards Punta Bardini

 After a late breakfast, we had the usual first-trip-of-the-year-gear-debacles.  We finally got our act together and started up the mountain at the crack of noon. Even at this late hour the entire North face remained shaded, so we hoped for some decent snow conditions, even though it hadn't snowed for several days.  There was an existing skin track, so it made the climbing fairly easy, which we coastal dwellers appreciated.

Looking north towards Mammoth

Still some pockets of untracked snow.

We only climbed for an hour or so, topping out at the section called the Tele-Bowls.  We did a short lap down an untracked section, then a couple more laps in the main bowl.  The untracked snow wasn't bad, a bit heavy, but fun.  Crossing the several-day-old, very frozen, previous tracks was not quite so much fun, and it was pretty tracked out.

Back at the van, we decided to check out the June Lake area, since I had never been up there.  Coverage here was much, much less than Mammoth, and we didn't see anything that looked skiable.  We did see some people on the ice at June Lake right at sunset, so drove down to investigate.  The lake was covered in a few inches of the clearest ice I have ever seen.  You could see through the ice and the water to the bottom of the lake, several feet down.  We could even see small fish swimming below the ice.

Playing on the ice at June lake

The parking lot at the beach became deserted at dark, so we decided it was as good a place as any to spend the night.  We cooked up some dinner and spent the evening playing music, cards, and enjoying our last margarita before our traditional six week purge of alcohol and sweets to start a new year,

Playing my new harmonica (thanks Calia!) under our new mood Luci mood light (thanks Lynn and Tom!)

It might be 21* outside, but it is nice and cozy in the van.

The Negatives above June Mountain ski area in the morning sun.

Donette exploring the edges of the ice sheet, in shallow water.

With no skiable snow in this area, we decided to head back to Mammoth.  We had spotted some less tracked snow in another small glade on Punta Bardini and aimed to see if we could add some tracks to it.  This time we drove past the usual parking lot at the end of the plowed section and continued on Sherwin Creek Rd, putting our 4wd and new tires to the test.  We finally came to the summer trailhead for Sherwin Lakes.  This is a popular snowmobiling spot, and there is even a terrain park for snowmobiles a ways up the drainage.

Skinning up the snowmobile track

 We soon left the snowmobile tracks and headed up the ridge.  We followed an existing skintrack for a ways, then headed up what looked to be a summer trail.

Climbing higher

and higher

We finally topped out on the ridge above the bowl we were aiming to ski.  The views were excellent.

Panorama looking south east towards Mt. Morrison area, White Mountains in the far distance

Donette in her element, enjoying the mountains

Peaks behind Sherwin Lakes

 

 

 

 

The snow was still pretty good, although thin enough that dodging rocks and downed trees kept us on our toes.  Again, the frozen tracks from previous skiers, and especially the boot tracks of the snowboarders, were pretty harsh.  But it was good enough for a second lap!  

The snowmobile track made for an easy return to the van.  We thought we'd take a dip in a local hot spring and then begin the drive home to make for a shorter drive Monday.  As we left Benton Crossing Road headed towards our favorite hot spring, we saw several cars racing around the area, darting from hot spring to hot spring, looking for one that wasn't already packed.  We could see at least a dozen cars off in the distance where we were headed, so we turned around to check a different spring.  Cars and trucks raced by us in both directions; it was rather comical.  We pulled up to a hot spring to find it completely full, with a couple of carloads of people waiting their turn.  We didn't need to soak that badly, so found a quiet turnout, made dinner, and headed south.  We decied to check out Keough Hot Springs south of Bishop, and it was deserted.  Also not very hot.  Maybe there is a correlation?  But it was warm enough to soak off a couple days grime.  Then on to the Alabama Hills for the night.

Monday morning dawn overcast and windy.  We explored around the rocks near our campsite, mostly following Luna around.  She loves to climb the rocks and investigate the caves full of animal droppings and nests.

Sierra wave over the van

Exploring the rocks, and retrieving the cat

After breakfast we loaded up and headed home.  Traffic was light for a holiday, and as we dropped down into the Lake Isabella valley on Hwy 178 we were treated to a rare sight - all of the hills were coated in a blanket of white.  It was quite beautiful and made the drive fly by.  So all in all, a great way to wash 2016 out of our system and welcome in a new year.