well, since nowhere else has snow......

     So a sunshiney day in November means I better be skiing.  Hatcher again.  This time I was on the road before sun-up, a miracle on a day off for me but I better get use to it given the shortening days.  I was to the parking lot in 1 hour, shorter than I thought.  It was evident last night was cool because the ice was starting its inevitable takeover of the river, and a quick/choppy river at that. 
     No one was there except the nordies, all scrambling around, too intense for me.  Initially I thought I might skin up that way and look around at some new terrain but that busy vibe and all the people would have killed it for me.  All their patches on their parkas reminds me of high school athletic jackets, the more patches the better? I'm pretty sure they were APU. 
     Anyway, I headed up the road again, not enjoying the repetition but decided to get a sunny lap in on the South face of skyscraper.  I love skiing sun and untracked snow.  The snow was alright: about 3-4 inches of super-light sitting on a mildly icy and really firm crust.  The wider boards weren't a fan and neither was I. 
     Then I headed out to April bowl thinking it might be reliable but noticed a line called Lake Run that looked promising for more vertical and had not been thrashed by anyone yet.  I could see from Skyscraper it would spit me out with negligible climbing back to the pass and offered about 1/3 more vert than April. 
     I had lunch at the top of Hatch peak, some delicious soup in a can, but in my haste I forgot how annoying empty cans are to deal with.  I had no bags and no place to lash it to the outside of my pack.  I thought the contents were frozen enough to stay in place but apparently I have a heater in my backpack so it leaked all over.  Lake Run was good for the day, slightly variable but still carve-able and on the softer side. 
     We need some snow here.  I'm not complaining because a sunny day two-planking in the hills is fabulous, but for the bears, they need a place to dig their dens and hibernate because I'm pretty sure salmon and berries are done. Then we can ski too.

Hatchers' half-hand-size hoar