Mammoth Skiing

While most people go to Mammoth to catch a ride on a ski lift to some fun on the slopes, we Rowleys have a different philosophy. We toil our way into the virgin white forests away from the madding crowds, where twittering chickadees and the swish-crunch of cross-country skis on new snow are the only sounds to violate the mysterious silence of a winter's day.

Libby and her Dad soak in the serenity of a snowy forest.

This year, Libby's Dad joined us to recapture the joyful pursuit of cross-country touring he enjoyed many years ago. We all had a great time in about 5' of dry powder, toiling happily along in slow agony as we laid our familiar tracks up the mine road. It took us three days of retracing our tracks and laying more to finally reach the meadow below Emerald Lake, but it was undoubtedly worth it.

Coldwater Creek just below Emerald Lake.

We also took a break from the hard work in the forests to enjoy the groomed tracks around Lake Mary, visiting Horseshoe Lake and taking in beautiful views of the crest and Crystal Crag. Along the way we stopped to feed the bold little Mountain Chickadees. They snatched peanuts from our hands, pecked at our plastic food bags, and even landed hopefully on us when we weren't feeding them.

A Mountain Chickadee perches on a ski pole.

The weather proved entertaining. It was snowing when we began skiing to the cabin early on Friday afternoon, and it never stopped completely until late on Saturday. That meant about two or three feet of new powder on top of two or three feet of powder dropped between Tuesday and Friday. While that made it incredibly difficult to move, the storms also brought the sleepy beauty of a heavy snow, and ensuing cold. This was the coldest trip to Mammoth I've been on, and I got to experience my first sub-zero temperatures.

A couple of degrees below zero

Water didn't freeze instantly, but drops did freeze within a minute. We also experienced a novel problem for us -- keeping our water bottles ice free. On a chilly trip up the mountain I found the top had almost frozen closed and that there was a centimeter of ice coating the interior of my Nalgene bottle. This was despite carrying it in an insulated cover!

Inside the cabin we enjoyed our normal winter pursuits. We read, played Uno and Bananagrams, and chatted while drinking copious amounts of hot chocolate and teas. It was, all in all, a great time.

Picture wrap-up on Flickr: February Cabin trip, 2011.