Haven't got to do a big TR in long time, so here's LONG one. Get your tall boys ready and read on.
Last summer I decided not to get a season pass nor join a Tahoe cabin for the winter. Instead, I figured I'd get a bunch of vouchers from going to ski movies & find deals like snowbomb... and trek out to as many huts as possible.
So this year, I was fortunate enough to join Johnny & Co for their annual Ostrander Hut trip. Conditions were looking quite bleak leading up to the trip, and as a result out of the 15 folks that had paid, only 7 of us (including me) ended up hiking in. There was quite a debate between Kevin and I about weather we should go or not... we could stay in town watch
Kai & Riley wrestle, go to a super bowl party, go sample a
Pliny the Younger, mountain bike... etc. But off we went... and it was awesome!
Went on a nice morning ride with Khalid... this is what I call the 504->505 ride. Starting at Cafe 504, and ending (for me) at Casa 505.
After work, we went to a
Polsa dinner at Lar's and Lauren's... former residence of
Patty Hearst (seriously... there's still a few bullet holes in the door way)... Kevin and I hit the road a little after 8 pm. I took over driving after a last minute grocery stop and after I-580, 205, 99, 120, Old Priest, 120... we got to Tunnel View around midnight. Playing with my Sony NEX-5n is pretty fun for long exposure night shots. All shot under a waxing moon... the second shot is pretty surreal right? Too bad it's kinda grainy...
We were planning to ski in under the moonlight, but it was almost 1 am... which meant we probably wouldn't get to the hut until 5 am or so... and we'd only get a few hours of sleep (it's a hut after all... not much privacy for naps). And we thought better of our plan and crashed in the back of Kevin's suby. The groomer at Badger Pass hard at work...
Check out Orion & the moon...
Kevin woke up in a nightmare at around 5:20 am... so we just started getting ready and took off down the trail and figured we'd enjoy the sunrise while cruising down the perfectly groomed Glacier Point Rd.
Here's the route... as marked by my forerunner 305. The first 4 miles on Glacier Point Rd are relatively quick, and takes about an hour. Do not put skins on. Just skate. Well... we thought that was fast, but the skate skiers go out to Glacier Point and BACK in under 1.5 hours. 21 miles = 14 mph. Now that's fast...
Anyway, once we got off Glacier Point Rd, there were a few dry patches, but we never had to take our skis off...
We followed a decent skin track the rest of the way. No post holes!
At the top of Horizon Ridge, taking in the views... Half Dome, Mt. Hoffman, the Sawtooths, Mt. Starr King, the Clark range... on a beautiful, beautiful day.
And Kevin eating a cold sausage for brekky... hard core.
Kevin had a minor "field repair" issue...
but resolved her pretty quickly...
And soon enough we were at the hut, where Johnny, Sara, Evan, Kate, & Bernard had cooked up a fat brekky.
After destroying the yummy brekky of beef bacon and pancakes,
Howard let us use some of his ice skates that he as collected over the years, and soon we gliding on the creaking ice, recalling our skating skills from decades ago.
Howard has been skating everyday that he has been up at the hut this year... vs a whole 1 hours of skating last year due to the differing weather conditions...
An aerial view of the ice skating area on Ostrander...
After lunch, I decided to go check out the snow across the pond... and was delighted to find that the snow was actually good! Really good! Good enough to huck a few 360s, and I was tempted to go inverted... but decided against it in the end.
I did 2 laps, went and grabbed Kevin & Johnny and did 3 more laps with them, while the rest of the crew caught up the latest New Yorker articles, snacked away on yummy hummus, and took in the view... not a bad alternative.
Sundog! Our optical phenomena for the the trip... oh I caught a moondog too...
Went back out on the ice for a sunset session...
Sara and Johnny trying to shoot the duck...
We skated for a while under the moonlight, and went in for dinner and whiskey.
The next morning, I got up when nature called... but was too stoked to go back to sleep. So I decided to tour out to the ridge for a sunrise view.
Watching the sun slowly creep up on Ostrander was a special sight. The lake is
constantly making noise due to temperature fluctuations and causing the ice to expand and contract. Initially very freaky... and actually I never got used to it. Skating across the lake in the morning there were many cracks that would propagate under my skis and shoot out in all directions. No need for coffee when the ice is constantly fracturing.
The hut...
Getting up to this view required a "technical" skin up for sure.
And finally... the view!
Back side of Half Dome, Mt. Hoffman, and off in the distance....
The Sawtooths
Went in for breakfast and quickly recruited Kevin, Nard dog, Johnny for a few more laps before we took off.
Tracks from yesterday...
HOAR!
Johnny
Kevin glowing in the morning light.
Did a pretty good job on the slopes out yonder.
One last chill session before Kevin & I got back to our little tykes.
On the way out, I didn't want to put on skins. So I ended up bushwacking through insanity until I finally reached the frozen Bridalveil Creek. The route below? Straight through the middle.
Bridalveil Creek was pretty fun as I got to ski on the frozen creek for a few miles down to Glacier Pt Rd where Kevin was waiting... but still not worth it.
We made pretty good time on our way out, and got to the suby by 3 pm. Left the parking lot at 3:30, and we were home by 7 pm, about a minute after the final whistle of the Super Bowl.
The essential view of the Captain on our drive out...
UPDATE:
