Went up Christmas day. There was a well established snowshoe/boot track going up the winter route (Sid Davis, Tamarack, Miller Saddle, ridge summit). Met Theresa from LA and stayed together to about 10 K. Wore microspikes to Tamarack then switched to snowshoes when I started post holing at about 9.5 K. Watched and listened for ice falling out of the trees. It was comfortably windy on the ridge -- saw one ice-sculpture (over a baby pine) that looked like a poodle with fangs. The summit was gorgeous and still had rhime ice on the trees. Headed over to the hut for lunch, then back down. Met Don (a local regular) on his way up. Headed home for a wonderful dinner with family -- I supplied the Honey Baked Ham
Drove out again on Sunday morning to snowshoe with Tina and Fern. Met Ramboze (Robin) in the boarding area, which was rapidly filling up with Kathy Wing's group and a Peak Bagger group (Ed from Kathryn's group was going up again). I was happy to see we had a dusting of new snow in Long Valley
We all basically started at the same time after the ranger announced the potential danger of falling ice and streams flowing under the snow. The snow shoe path up Sid Davis was still visible, so we followed that up to Tamarack and continued up the track to the Miller Saddle.
The new snow made climbing up the saddle more difficult -- even with my ascenders up on my MSR Lightning Ascents I periodically lost purchase and slid back. Lots of folks were in Atlas snowshoes (not my favorite brand since my 2008 hiking misadventure) and really struggling to get up the steep pitch conntecting the saddle with the ridge. An artic wind was blowing on the ridge as we made our way past the gorgeous trees covered with rhime ice. Probably 6 inches of new snow compared to Sat.
The wind was gusting on the summit (40+ mph winds with an ambient temp of 30 degrees), so we didn't dally. I suggested lunch in the hut, which was met with hearty approval. Tried to do a little glissading on the descent. The conditions were mixed -- icy near the saddle and then too soft further down. Robin treated me to a wonderful Sam Adams Winterfest at the bar -- thanks again for a great day Robin
I heeded Craig's warning regarding the wait for the tram increasing later and took the 3 PM tram down. Had wonderful chili verde at Las Casuelas -- I wanted to be fortified before heading home. Fortunately, the traffic wasn't as bad as I expected.
Get ready folks -- more snow is on the way Tuesday night and Wednesday
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
