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The trip had an
inauspicious beginning when it was determined on our
second lap around the pitch dark campground that we
were definitely lost. At first we didn't
want to believe that the ski tracks we were
painstakingly following had indeed been placed there
by our own clueless group a scant three minutes prior.
But our Cub Scout instincts eventually revealed our
error and soon we were on our way up the switchbacks
above Twin Lakes. I'll spare you the details of
the skin into base camp other than to say that the
worst part of any spring skiing trip is always the
approach, and this trip was definitely no exception.
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Rich's Random Rules of Spring Ski Touring:
-
The approach, while beautiful, generally sucks
ass.
-
No matter how much sunscreen you apply, you
will get sunburned beyond recognition.
Ditto for lipbalm and chapped lips.
-
Corn snow is
always better to ski on than powder snow -- or
at least that's what you have to tell yourself
because there is rarely any powder in the
Spring.
-
As soon as you
set up your campsite, you'll notice a much
better site a little farther along that isn't
in a huge avalanche path.
-
You always bring
too much gear in your pack. Except for
those times when you don't bring enough and
you freeze your ass off.
- The guys
on telemark skis are nearly always last on the
downhill
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We made our Friday
night camp in the last stand of trees in Horse Creek
Canyon. Fortunately, we were right near the
creek and didn't even have to dig for running water.
As always, I slept like shit but loved every minute of
it.
Early on Saturday we
packed up quickly and skied further up the canyon
under a blue sky unmarred by clouds or any of those
annoying jet contrails. We didn't know it at the
time, but the incredible weather we were experiencing
would mark the beginning of an unseasonal warming
trend that would last the entire months of March and
April and essentially decimate the snowpack.
Well, you can't win 'em all.
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