SNOW!!!

I had planned since January to host at the Hut the weekend of February 28 and 29. Originally there were some other hosts scheduled but something came up so I got my wish. Gil had hooked my up with some AT skis and I was itching to use them for the first time. I had done a lot of downhill skiing and cross county skiing, now it was time to combine both. I couldn't have picked a better weekend. The entire week prior was full of massive storms which dumped more snow then I have ever seen on Baldy, including El Nino in '98/99.

I advertised the trip with friends but only got one taker, Gary, whom I have worked with for years. We stopped by Gil's on the way up to get some skins fitted for my new skis. Then we were off. My pack isn't conducive to holding skis so it was a bit awkward but it got the job done. I brought all my snow toys: Skis, Crampons, Ice Axe, and Shovel. I even got to use them all.

Gary wasn't a big fan of snow until he happened upon it by accident during a hike last year. He has since bought some crampons, an axe, and snow shoes. Hopefully he will keep with it.

The hike to the hut was amazing. There was a ton of fresh snow and sunny skies. It was even warm. Just past the trailhead I stuck my axe in and the tip didn't hit dirt until about 2 1/2 feet later. Once we were further up the trail the head would hit before it would hit dirt, there was a good 3-4 feet of snow most of the way to the hut.

Here is a picture of Gary coming up the trail. It's hard to believe this is so close to L.A..

Once we got to Half Way Rock, I switched to skis and Gary switched to snow shoes. This was the first time I ever used skins. They work incredibly well. It wasn't hard to adjust from cross country skiing to being on skins.

Slowly we worked our way up to the hut. Ahead the sky was blue but behind us the clouds were rolling in. Once we got to the hut visibility dropped to about 50 feet. We were too worn out to be motivated enough to go into the bowl with poor visibility. If the sun had stayed out, I think we would have headed up. We hung out, got some food, and slowly people started showing up. There were a total of 7 in the hut that night. 3 originally planned to sleep in a snow cave but they got freaked out and ended up in the hut a few hours later.

In the morning we all woke up when it first started getting light out. Most of the people wanted to get an early start for where ever they were going. Gary and I took it easy and closed up the hut. I took the picture below when it just started getting light out. I also shoveled out the snow from around the outhouse. It was over 6 feet deep on the uphill side. There was also a lot of ice sliding down and hitting it. The ice was falling of the trees uphill from the outhouse. If you were in the outhouse, it sounded like people were throwing golf balls at you. I got hit by a few when I was shoveling and man did it sting.

Once everyone was out, we packed up and headed down. Gary glisaded and I skied. It was interesting skiing the terrain with a big pack on my back. I got down to Half Way Rock and switched back to hiking boots. Looking back I wish I would have gone in the bowl on Saturday afternoon. There's always next year. At least I was able to ski from Half Way Rock to the hut and back in some awesome snow. I had fun and I hope Gary did too.