Since we were going to make the drive back on Sunday afternoon, we had agreed on an early start the next morning. I started flipping channels on the cable box at about 5:15. Jon got up and took a peek out the window . . . "Hey Jim". I swung over and witnessed the 4 inches of new stuff that had fallen overnight. "There's going to be a lot more than this up high!" Matt agreed . . . "this was NOT in the brochure!"
We trudged around Joseph for a few minutes before concluding that nothing was open on a Sunday morning at 6:30. We finally found a little convenience store that was open & salvaged some Folgers and gut-bombs, & we were on our way.
As we approached the trailhead turnoff, the snow on the road was becoming a bit more impressive. At the turnoff we were the first up the road on the day. Freeway Freshies! By the time we reached the sno-park there was about 8 or 9 of new on the ground. We were giddy.
| Jon and Matt cresting the knob |
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The old skin track up the initial knob was impossible to follow in places with all of the new stuff. The snow almost looked as if it had a layer of hoar-frost on top, but in fact what was discernible on the surface was the individual stellar crystals laying on top of each other. Amazing. Asked Matt how this compared with Utah stuff . . . he bent down, scooped up a pile in his hand, and blew it away like goose-down.
"Same."
We had intended to get back up into that high cirque again and tag another aspect of the ridge, but since the visibility up high was pretty poor, and it continued to snow heavily, we agreed on just a few laps on the knob above the sno-park, and then pack it in.
The snow was deep and light in the burn, and the original 2-3 laps we had comtemplated turned into 5 laps and over 4000 vertical feet on the morning.
| perma-grin (noun): that involuntary facial feature that occurs when your plumage is at or above ear level |
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| The up-track superhighway |
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| Jon near the top of the knob |
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With the fast skin-track highway, incredible conditions, and improving weather & peeks of sun, we just couldn't get ourselves to stop!
| Jon takes a turn down the frozen vegetables aisle |
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| Skiing thru the toothpicks |
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After picking up new snow each day with consistent cold conditions, the skiing that morning was the best of the weekend.
| Just a sampling of the day's choice turns |
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| Matt schralping near the top of the burn |
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| work it . . . WORK IT!!!! |
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| Feeling the float |
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| More severe perma-grin cases will even be symptomatic while skinning! |
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| !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Another incredible weekend in the Wallowas. Random inappropriate euphoric outbursts continued for several hours as we cruised back to the west on the interstate that afternoon.