Hey! We came back from Mammoth!

We actually came back early from our trip, which turned out to be quite an adventure.

The first sign that our trip was an adventure came when we arrived at the cabin. We toiled the two miles in two hours or so, slowed by heavy packs and sleds to a snail's pace at times. We turned on the power switch and went over to the upper window on the lee side of the cabin that we use to enter during the window. Unfortunately, the key that we had didn't turn the lock. We jiggled and warmed it, and still, nothing happened. The only option was to take the shutter off its hinges. This was an involved and difficult process in the cold and high snow. Finally, we got it off and Dad climbed into the cold and dark cabin.

"The lights aren't working. Someone check the breaker to make sure it's turned on."

Ok... Bill had flipped it on, which takes digging a couple of feet down into the snow. I went over to double check. But, as I looked, someone noticed that some of the power lines from the cabin were laying in the snow nearby.

That's when we realized that, after working so hard just to get into the cabin, it was now going to be a little less welcoming. We all bundled into the cave-like darkness, and went downstairs to where Dad was starting a fire. We looked around for candles. The thing about the cabin is that, during the winter, it's completely under snow. So there're no windows. The only lights were the candles, the fire, an electric lantern that I found in an upstairs attic cupboard, and the headlamps and flashlights that we brought with us.

Anyway, the snow was still really nice, and skiing was a joy. We also made a couple sled runs onto the lake, which is a great place to do it, since the run-out from the run can go forever onto the flat expanse.

Unfortunately, I had to come down early because I was having some sort of severe heartburn-like symptoms that wouldn't go away. I had them for about 16 hours, without any sign of abating, despite taking a lot of heartburn medication. But once we skiied out Saturday evening in the gathering twilight, I got better. By the time we were on highway 395 outside of Mammoth, the symptoms were all gone.

Bill and Becca wonderfully drove me home, and I finally arrived back Sunday morning at 1:30 or so. Libby drove the last leg and got home a little after me. She was a real trooper and learned a lot about how to ski, since this was her first time. She did great!