February 11th - 13th: The Backyard

It was a long drive to Tahoe, but I finally made it. If San Fran is where I used to live (and it is), Tahoe was my backyard (it was). It felt great to arrive back in the Tahoe area for a few days in familiar territory.

February 11th: Sierra-at-Tahoe
"Ample Lira's breakfast burrito is perfect fuel for glorious blue bird day at Sierra-at-Tahoe."

Apparently it's old news that Lira's in Meyers no longer serves potato pancakes. Well, it was news to me and I was rather disappointed. Luckily they have some great breakfast burritos and I scooped one up en route to Sierra-at-Tahoe for a resort day in the sun with Chad and Carly.

 The snow wasn't soft yet and bumps was probably a bad way to start the day. Chad nursed his way down while Carly took the quicker approach of a morning jog.

It's all so familiar! Pyramid Peak rises high above the rest of Desolation Wilderness.

"The house doesn't always win. Then again, they probably won't miss the 15 dollars. Stateline, NV."

February 12th: Echo Lake

"Fire burning and candles glowing on a windy night at Echo Lake. Good to be back at the cabin." 

 Echo Lake is plenty frozen but could use some fresh snow to cover the spreading highway of various tracks.

Someone recently asked what I do or think about when I'm out in the mountains solo. Besides food and what's around me, my brain tends to wander towards what I will be doing with myself down the line in all aspects of life. But when I'm not outside, I usually find myself reading. In this case, I forgot my headlamp but brought a healthy supply of candles to the cabin and lit them all to study up on my telemark skiing via Allen & Mike's Really Cool Telemark Tips. They have a number "really cool" books with fun illustrations and very knowledgeable tips.

February 13th: Kirkwood!

"No freshies in Tahoe so a sunny Sunday was spent crushing groomers at Kirkwood. We killed it.... Feet up in San Fran for a few days."

Killed it indeed. I met up with an awesome crew from the city: Sara, JonnyB, Nut, Kate, and Paul. It truly felt like a Tahoe spring day with a mellow parking lot scene, no lift lines, and a endless laps on the groomers, which are great for practicing those Telemark Tips (hold a beach ball, squeeze an orange in your downhill hip...).

 No season pass this year, but at least I got friends! Yea, Yea Eric!

I rolled back to San Francisco with the crew for a few days of relaxation and catching up with all sorts of fun folks. Big storms are looming and we're all hoping for some big powder fun in Yosemite later this week and into Ostrander next weekend...