this dudes fall

     So yeah it's been awhile since I've done much on the blog.  This fall has been great though.  I have mostly been staying local, running and biking here and there with a little bit of hiking.  I took a long hiatus from real activity due to an unusual 1-2 punch of illness that just wouldn't go away.  That is mostly gone, but not totally.  Of recent, I took advantage of the early September snowfall and got a few days of skiing in.  I also did an over-nighter or two in the process.
     Fall snow is a good chance to ski some glaciers with plenty of daylight, brush out the cobwebs, rev up the stoke-meeter for winter and test gear before the real snow(hopefully) comes.  The bout of snow we got allowed for some good skiing and I managed to tag all the local early-season spots including a first-time on the quickly diminishing Lane Glacier.  The impetus for skiing the Lane was just that: I wanted to ski it while it's still there.

Smiling and skiing, It doesn't get much better.

Do you see the skier?

Somebody had to.....

     Other outings included a night out near the four-mile creek of the Peter's Creek drainage.  The weather was cool and wet, but the solitude and chance to be out in the mountains far outweighed the conditions we were in.  We hiked a short way up the four-mile creek trail which seemed like it might be possible to mountain bike in late fall now that the vegetation is dead?  Worth investigating when it's not raining.

     I also managed to snag an over-nighter at the Crow Pass cabin, skiing the Jewel glacier on a fresh few inches of settled powder at sunset and under bluebird skies the next day.  I lugged a gallon of fuel up there but with me being the only warm body in the cabin, I found the work-to-warmth ratio of the fuel not worth it.  I feel it may have added 10 degrees to the ambient temps?  The real benefit of the cabin is the shelter from wind and weather.  It's great that the cabin is free to anyone during the fall and makes for a nice base when skiing the Jewel; something to take advantage of in the early season.

    Last but not least, it is Lucy-dogs' fifth birthday today(or so we estimate), and we have had her for roughly 4.5 years.  We couldn't have asked for a better dog and are blessed to have her.  She has been on so many of our backcountry outings and probably has logged more miles than I have.  She goes packrafting with us, camping, hiking, skiing, mountain biking, trail running, mountain climbing, hunting, road-tripping, fishing, you name it.  Although she has cost us a bit at times for vet bills the joy we get from hanging out with her makes it worth it.  To celebrate we went skiing with her today, were generous with treats and we boiled a big old moose femur-head that she is currently mowwing(?) on in the dark in the back yard.  Happy Birthday to Lucy.  

These are some of the earliest photos we have of her.

These are more recent....

That's Lucy and I skiing.