skunked on moosilauke

the day: apr 9th. warm, headed toward 50°, brilliant sun in a clear blue sky with no wind. we saw plenty of snow, in spring condition, soft and easy to turn on, but none where we could actually ski it.

the adventure: moosilauke, the western face, dropping down toward tunnel brook. we were trying to get to the slide under the ridge leading up to the summit. 

the memories: according to the dictionary, "slog" can be a noun, "a spell of difficult, tiring work or travelling" or a verb, "to work hard over a period of time... exert oneself, keep at it, grind" i can attest to both. after taking our skis off for the 'hundredth time', shouldering them, and starting another march down the snowless trail, adam casually mentioned, "this is getting to be a real slog." or, after finally strapping the skis onto our packs and setting off once again, adam suggested, "let's slog on a bit more and try and get eyes on the slide."

add to that, "bushwhacking" a verb, meaning to travel by foot through uncleared terrain. once we left the trail angling up the ravine toward the slide, there was more than enough bush to whack our way through. not only were we on foot, going through uncleared terrain, the skis sticking up off our packs were whacking away as well.

the clearest path up the ravine toward the slide, followed the stream and included multiple crossings.  ski boots are fairly waterproof, but can be slippery, especially on "black ice" a noun, "a nearly transparent film of ice on a dark surface that is difficult to see" i only semi-slipped once and ended up stepping in above my boot tongue. it didn't soak my foot, but i could feel the wet.

at some point it all got to be too much, even dangerous, as we were starting to "posthole" a verb "to sink deeply into the snow with each step" often around "tree wells" a noun, "deep pockets of loose snow around evergreen or downed trees" so we turned back. having not even put on our skis, we were bummed--"skunked" slang verb, "being shut out or to be overwhelmingly defeated"

notwithstanding all of the above, "overwhelmingly defeated" is probably an overstatement. true we didn't get to ski, and rigid plastic boots are not made for walking--even less so with wet socks--but, it was a beautiful day to be out adventuring. 





notes:

• it was indeed a slog...
• bushwhacking got worse as we got higher...
• trying to avoid black ice takes attention...
• postholing into tree wells can be exhausting... 
• getting skunked is a bummer...
• even a poopy day outside playing is a good day!

go outside and play! 

backcountry with sawyer

the day: mar 31st. warm~ish, somewhere around 40°F, no sun or wind, but still plenty of snow in spring condition, soft and easy to turn on but fast.

the adventure: 'secret sherbie' over on moose mtn with my most favorite son, sawyer. 

the memories: i have been talking moose mtn up to soy for a while and despite his lack of skiing, he was game. the last time we skied backcountry--and his first and maybe only--was at least a half dozen years ago. but i was thinking, it's not too tight, snow is good, and a 'hockey stop' is always an option. after a practice run in the field at the bottom, we headed up. 

sawyer was impressed with the terrain, and the coverage. with the helmet he borrowed from pam, he was willing to go downhill. at some point i went past him and got to the flats where i slowed and stopped to wait. when he finally came down he showed me his thumb...

him: i hit a tree...

me: ouch! you really whacked it...

him: if i can move it like this, i probably didn't break it, did i...?

me: probably not. it's wicked hard to break your thumb...

notes:

• fathers can be wrong, you can move a broken thumb "like that", and still smile. thank you diane for the diagnosis!
• continued good coverage on the last day of march is something to smile about!
• skiing backcountry with sawyer, in team jackets no less, makes us both smile!

go outside and play!