Day 57 - Saturday July 7 - Christmas in July

Well, it's July, and I am not going to have a ton of time to get out this month so I figured now was as good a time as any. I headed back up to Wolverine with CJ this morning. We started a little later and we were not in any huge hurry to get back down, so I was able to really take the time to enjoy it out there. I don't know if it was the later start (and therefore, softer snow) or what, but the skiing was way better today than last week. I really had a great time skiing today. Last week I said that summer skiing wasn't all that great, but today I take that comment back. I had some good solid turns today and things just went well. There wasn't as much snow today as last week. I suppose that is what 100 degree heat will do to your snowpack. We started in Granny's chute but due to snow meltage we could not ski all the way down that one. We went as far as we could, then climbed back up the chute to skier's left and skied all the way down that one. The skiing was quite enjoyable. I did have some pole problems - I am trying out this new pair of poles I got for free at work (not Voile poles), and I love them on the up because they are so light, but they are not terribly strong nor do they have a great locking mechanism for the down - but I got over it. The first part of the hike out - when we exited wolverine to get back up to Patsy Marley - was interesting. You climb all over these rocks and boulders that you think are solid, but every now and again you step on one that totally slides and it is a little scary. I am happy to say that I did make it out, though, and the hike down was quite enjoyable. We received several admiring looks from hikers as they saw how cool we are with our skis in July. Yes, you should all be proud to know me.