First snow of the season, my skiing/climbing partner and I ventured into the mountains to see if it was happening....
Our destination , Loon Lake...a wilderness area below Lake Tahoe...and about an hour and 45 mins from the flat lands of Sacramento. This is the Loon Lake Chalet, built by a local power utility. Since there is a power generating dam on the lake, the road is kept plowed through the winter. The Chalet is available to rent, and also serves as a warming hut on the weekends. The lower level houses a Ranger station.
My first pair of skis, found in a trash pile when I was a young lad living in Massachusetts looked a lot like these Nordic examples nailed to the wall on the Chalet.
Rick and I were expecting it to be cold and windy, so dressed in our 'commando black' gear...figuring it would absorb the solar energy and keep us cozy. As it turned out we should have warn white as it was such a nice sunny day.
Here's Rick, working uphill to our destination....
....which is known as 'Chipmonk Ridge'. Here I am looking sweaty and squinting into the sun....wishing I had white clothing ...
The Chipmonk Ridge...someday we are gonna climb that thing...
Yep, pretty nice day...all in all...
