After a trip to AZ sandwiched by work days it had been awhile since I had been out in AK. I put skiing out of my mind while down south with the expectation that it would be different when I got back from how I left it: a one-and-done lap up Gordon Lyon in light rain on sticky/heavy/wet stuff. I couldn't have asked for much more than my first two days back on the sticks.
Day one wifey and I had what I would call our most successful ski day yet. We did a pleasant tour up to Friendship Pass out at Hatcher. Perfect weather, good enough snow, the solitude of a weekday, and the ever dramatic ruggedness of the Talkeetnas during a low-snow year. Primo. I noticed something I had not previously seen: how sparkly the snow was. From the pass I could see single sparkles reflecting the sun all the way down at the prospect cabin below. They were like bright stars in broad daylight. I thought it was incredible.
Day two was back at Hatchers for more perfect weather, better snow, and vistas. This time with the dude-crew and mutts. We flipped a coin to decide our course. I saw Marmot the previous day and it looked worse than Arctic Valley on an open-weekend Sunday afternoon. It was safe to assume everything within 1 mile of a road or TH would be tracked and that is not why I backcountry ski. The coin told us to go farther, so we did, and it paid off. We found several runs of the most respectable snow around and even managed a ski to the car. Can't beat good ski days.
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