"It
hasta be Shasta!"
This is how
it started out. When we last skied with our buddy Mr. Randonee, the Lady and he
set a date for a spring ski trip together to Mount Shasta. We all started watching the weather.
As the date neared, the destination changed. "I'm doing a trip to Shasta
Memorial Day Weekend," Mr. Randonee (aka Ted) said. "How 'bout we head to the Sierra
East Side so I don't do the ski and drive north twice?" he asked.
The Lady
agreed. "That's a much easier drive for us and we already know spots to
camp."
Ted had a plan. "Let's ski Dana on Saturday and False White on Sunday."
"It
hasta be Shasta!" morphed into "Dana will be dandy!"
California's
highway 120 crosses the Sierra Nevada crest at Tioga Pass and traverses through
Yosemite National Park's incredible high country. Closed all winter long,
highway 120's annual spring opening is a celebrated event. The east side from
Lee Vining to the Park Boundary at Tioga Pass opened the weekend before. The
west side through Yosemite from Crane Flat to Tioga Pass opened on Wednesday
with media fanfare. For our access needs, the planets were aligned.
Friday
evening's trip south on highway 395 was an easy drive, except for the pounding
wind out of the southwest roaring down the eastern front of the Sierra. The
peaks were capped with a shroud of clouds clinging to the crest against the
force of the storm winds. I checked road conditions prior to departure. Monitor
Pass on highway 89 was open as was Ebbetts Pass on highway 4. Overhead signs on 395 now announced they were both
closed. It was hard to stand against the wind as we popped the camper top and
set up camp in the granite outcroppings just north of Mono Lake. Wind buffeting
the camper rocked us into a deep and sound sleep.
The weather
looked promising Saturday morning.
But if
conditions did not warrant a climb to Dana's summit, we could always find
something fun to do. As planned, we met the rest of our group at Whoa Nellie Deli
at 7 am at highway 120's intersection with 395. It was cold, not our wished for
warm weather with a promise of spring corn snow to harvest. Even colder was
that sign that announced, "Road Closed 4 miles ahead." Tioga Pass had
closed overnight.
Ted
suggested looking at the Virginia Lakes area. We headed north. Ted was waiting
at the intersection with Dunderberg Meadows Road. "Let's look at the east
ridge of Dunderberg Peak." This is all familiar territory to us and today
would be a opportunity to explore it on skis, our favorite mode of travel.
Dunderberg
Meadows Road was immediately blocked with snow drifts. They were hard as a rock
and Mr. Randonee, in his Dodge Durango, led the way up and over each one. Kevin
and Christine followed in Kevin's new Subaru Outback. We followed up with our
truck. The snow drifts across the road continued in the shady areas, one after
the other. How would this be coming back out later in the day, especially if,
by chance, the weather warmed? We all had shovels, if the need arose. All it
would take was work.
We turned the
vehicles onto a steep two track spur road and climbed until we reached snow.
This would do for a trailhead.
Skis were on
then skis were off as we climbed wanting to reach continuous snow coverage. The
terrain steepened. With hard icy snow it was near impossible to get a ski edge
to bite. Six people were now lashing skis to packs and booting up. Ted was able
to kick in the smallest of toe holds with his Alpine Touring gear. The Lady and
I were the only ones on tele gear and our duck billed boots were not up to
these marginal toe holds. Ted took a slide into a tree. Christine pulled her
crampons on. The Lady was not having fun and wondering why should we climb this
miserable crap just to ski hard icy boiler plate. I could see it in her eyes. I
called up to Ted. "Ted, we know this area very well. The Lady and I are
going to traverse to the right and around the ridge and ski into the big basin
just to the north of Dunderberg. If you guys make the ridge, we'll get a visual
on you." Ted was fine with us breaking away from the group.
On an easier
route out in the open, we climbed until we reached continuous snow.
The clouds
indicated strong winds were still roaring over the crest.
It was
obvious storm was coming back in for the afternoon but we'd take advantage of
the break as long as we could. It was pure joy to be up here.
Rounding the
corner we could see the cloud bank coming over the crest.
We also saw
a lot of fun ski terrain with better spring conditions. All in all, even on
this more northern aspect, snow coverage was patchy. We skied down to tiny
Dunderberg Lake.
There was
much new ice around the circumference of the lake and Dunderberg Peak was just above.
We found a
low spot out of the biting wind and had lunch. We wanted to see if the wind
would allow us to climb up to the crest of Kavanaugh Ridge, but thunder to the
north suggested thunderstorms were also building and our instincts said not to
go higher. We skied back down, a bumpy ride on this boiler plate. After
crossing the bottom of the final bowl coming off the ridge, the unmistakable chatter
of skis on hard snow told us the rest of our group was descending. They wanted
to stay and yoyo in the basin awhile and work on icy snow turns. We'd head out
and meet them Sunday morning again at Whoa Nellie Deli.
Back at the
truck we descended back to Dunderberg Meadow Road and headed north to see if
the way was clear to Green Creek Road since it was all downhill. We drove
around a few downed trees and stopped and moved a couple off the road. On the
steep side hill just before Dunderberg Meadows, the road was blocked with an
large snow bank that was impossible to cross or dig out. We had to turn around
and deal with all those snow drifts we had crossed in the morning. We did not
make the crest of the first challenge. The Lady does not take well to the
notion, "We just need a little bit more speed." We backed off and
lined up for a run at it. The Lady closed her eyes. "I'm glad you're not
driving!" I said.
"I do
trust you. I just don't like this," she sighed before the blinders went
on. We were easily up and over. Back out to pavement we left a message on Ted's
phone - call to let us know they made it out and we'd come back in if they
needed help digging.
Since we
were so close, we drove up to Virginia Lakes. The road was clear to the end. It
was lightly snowing.
We heard a
"woo who" from up in a high bowl and watched two free heel skiers
very carefully skid turns on their descent.
Two
Belding's Ground Squirrels were quite enamored with the Lady.
Back in Lee
Vining, we made a stop, as suggested by Ted, for a hot shower at the Mono Vista RV Park. Stop in the office (before 6 pm) for a $3 shower token that gets you five
minutes of decadent bliss. The facility is well kept, clean, comfortable, with
easy access.
The sign at
the bottom said Tioga Pass was open! It was late afternoon in blowing snow when
we pulled up to the Park Entrance Station at the top.
"I got
a geezer card!" I said to the happy young woman, looking good in her NPS campaign
hat.
"Let me
see it!" she smiled.
She turned
it over in her hand and asked, "And what is your name?"
I passed the
test. "You've been trained well," I said and then asked, "How's
your day going?
"It's
cold in here!" she said but still smiled.
"Well,
it's plenty warm in here." I remarked about inside our truck.
"So can
I climb in there with you two?"
"Sure!"
the Lady and I both answered.
We almost
had a new adopted daughter.
The pass was
encased in storm.
We settled
in at a campsite on the south side of Mono Lake for Saturday night. It was
fairly sheltered from the wind.
The weather
was a mixed bag with clouds still streaming over the Sierra crest.
Thunderstorm
and a veil of rain hemmed us in to the east.
We still
went for a long walk after dinner. Evidence of spring's new life was all around
us.
Rain pattered
on the camper roof overnight but Sunday dawned with clear skies.
It was clear
and cold.
And yes,
someday we'll fix that 12 hour error with the clock.
We couldn't
have asked for a more spectacular place to wake up at.
We met our
group again at Whoa Nellie Deli at 7 am ready to take advantage of this great
weather. But we were confronted with that sign again, "Road Closed 4 Miles
Ahead." Tioga Pass had closed overnight.
We decided
to wait it out, figuring ice was the issue and with a little sun beating down on
it the road would open. And it did, right at a proper bureaucratic time of 9 am,
sharp.
We gathered
gear and suited up at the trailhead at the intersection with Saddlebag Lake
Road.
There was
around an inch or two of new snow. The group was obviously in a buoyant mood
with great weather and good friends. They even took direction when asked to get
into position for a photo.
Our group consisted
of Wayne, the kid, the couple, Christine and Kevin, the Lady and Ted, aka Mr.
Randonee. The lady and I were on our light tele/backcountry gear and all the
others were on alpine touring (Randonee) set ups. When did skis get so big and
wide? The Lady and I were feeling like we had just awoke from a Rip Van Winkle
nap.
After a
little aborted route finding - due to lack of good snow cover - we dropped into the Lee Vining Creek drainage
and climbed. What splendid country this is!
The pyramid
of Mount Dana loomed behind us.
We climbed
the steep ridge separating the Lee Vining Creek drainage from Mine Creek and its
chain of small lakes. We topped out on a knob.
Two young women
we had met near the parking lot were keeping pace with us. The Lady and I
called them Split Board Girl and AT Girl. Early in the trip, after crossing a
wet area, we had stopped and helped Split Board Girl when her climbing skins clumped
up with frozen snow and ice. Without a scraper and skin wax, she was in a world of hurt and unable to
clean up the mess.
This knob
gave us our first view of False White, a gorgeous ski summit.
We dropped
into the basin and crossed the snow covered Fantail Lake. And then we climbed.
The Lady was
ecstatic to be back up in her favorite terrain.
The summit
of False White was above us.
I was having
trouble. I was breathing hard. This was not me; I just go up mountains without
a problem. What was going on? I felt anxious, a bit light headed, and that I was
hyperventilating. Weird, damn weird. When I stopped, my recovery was as I
expect, my pulse rate dropped almost immediately. The Lady said it was allergies.
At home we are living in a dust storm of pine pollen. Whatever it was I quickly
made the decision I would go no higher. I would not become a liability to the
group.
The Lady would hear
nothing about going to the top without me. Ted suggested at least she climb
into the bowl above and enjoy the steep descent down to my perch. And a fine
perch it was. The views from here were incredible.
Ted, Wayne,
and the Lady climbed the steep pitch.
Christine
and Kevin followed.
Split Board
Girl also continued up.
I heard the
Lady bid farewell to our friends and then Christine and Kevin watched her
cut her first turns down.
She was
looking good and in her groove!
I don't
think it could have been done better.
"AT
Girl and Split Board Girl were funny," the Lady said as she joined me.
"They asked why you had stopped and I told them you weren't feeling well
and that I was not leaving you alone. They wanted to give me Oreo cookies to
take to you."
"That
was very nice of them to offer," I replied.
"That's
not the funny thing," the Lady went on. "They both said they sure
wished they'd still be able to do this stuff when they were forty!"
I laughed. I
knew what was coming next.
The Lady
continued. "I told them they needed to look a little closer. I'm sixty and
one of the fellows ahead of you is seventy-three."
It was
wonderful carving turns down to Fantail Lake. We took a long break, ate, drank,
and evaluated how I was doing. If I breathed hard, my anxiety rose. My lungs
just felt weird. I could blame it on the breathtaking views before us.
We looked up
at the summit that eluded us today. We had no regrets about making a cautious
and prudent decision.
Back on top
of the knob above Fantail Lake we turned and took a last look at False White.
Two skiers had just cut first tracks down from the summit. Ted, Wayne, and Split
Board Girl are climbing mid slope. Kevin and Christine are on the flat, getting
ready to ascend.
This was a
day in the high Sierra to live for and we thank Ted for the introduction to
this peak.
The steep
skiing through the timber on the slopes back down to Lee Vining Creek was
thrilling. It's the kind of skiing we love. You have to make your turns.
Back down in
the wide valley along Lee Vining Creek, it was a glide back down to the truck
and camper. We just had to point the skis toward Mount Dana.
A remarkable
sight greeted us on our arrival back at the trailhead. It was a perfect end to
a challenging, refreshing, and exhilarating weekend of skiing the Sierra Nevada
high country. The ice crystals in the wisp of a cloud produced a rainbow across
the sky above us.
Since we had
a late start with the highway closure over Tioga Pass, we arrived at home a
little before dark. The next morning as I walked from the bedroom to the
kitchen the Lady asked how I felt. My eyes were watering, almost shut, my sinuses were
completely stuffed up, and I was coughing.
"See?"
she said, "Allergies. Pine pollen is everywhere."
I admitted
she was right. "Once I get moving and get to work I forget all about
it."
But we will be hard pressed to forget about the fun we had this weekend, it was such a great time. We hope you all get some enjoyment from this tale of our adventure. Thanks for reading.