Spring seems to have arrived, but I am not ready to put my skis away just yet. The problem I am facing is that those with whom I ski with are. Today is my 25th birthday. I really wanted to ski today so I called on my two friends I know will always want to go skiing with me, Bowie and Samwise. We got started a little later today, because we were in no hurry. We went up to Porter Fork and began our tour. I did not make the mistake again today of taking my Karhu Guides. Instead, I was on my Insanes and Switchbacks for the optimal skinning:skiing ratio. We skinned
up the road and then beyond. I was determined today to actually see what is beyond the dense trees. I wanted to find something to actually ski. We pressed forward. The trees are so dense that every time you think you may see some sort of clearing coming up, you soon find out that it was nothing but a small meadow that would not be very conducive to making turns. Just as it seemed this skin track was going nowhere and we were destined to spend our day wandering in the woods, there appeared before us a beautiful view. We could finally see the blue sky surrounding what seemed to be endless possible ski lines. It was a beautiful sight to see. This was a good hour after
we had left the cabin run and we still had a good amount of climbing to go before we could ski, but this was all we needed to keep us going. We continued to follow the skin track and by this time the dogs were even doing so as they had figured out that it was easier to walk in it rather than create a new one. I was tempted at times to cut it short and just turn around, but I fig
ured we were in no big hurry so why not summit and see if I can figure out where I might be in comparison to other areas I ski. I had to take the occasional scraping break since the snow was sticking to my skins and then building up to where I was carrying an extra several pounds and the climbing wasn't exactly easy. The skin track did get to some tight switchbacks as we neared the top and the dogs never did quite figure out that they needed to get out of my way as I turned around at each one. I tried not to smack them around too much with my skis during these situations. We reached the summit after hours of straight climbing and it was totally worth it. It was go
rgeous up there. We took a break and I took a few photos (hence the large amount of shots on this post - I even have a lot more that could have made it, but didn't). I then made my transition and it was time to ski. I thought the dogs looked a little tired at this point so I was planning on making a number of stops to le
t them catch their breath as we had a good distance to go to the car. I was wrong. They were on my heels the whole time. The top actually produced great powder skiing! Yeah, all of you who refused my offer to ski this morning made a bad choice. The skiing was great. It then opened up into a large bowl where the snow turned a bit more creamy, but still a lot of fun to ski. We skied all the way to the car with only a couple of stops so I could regain strength - the dogs were fine. During our descent was the first time we saw any else today. There were a few groups of backcountry skiers all with a dog or two in tow. Bow
ie and Sam were too focused on the down at this point to care, though, as they ran right past them all. We reached the car and the dogs didn't even give me a hard time about putting them in it. They were happy to be returning and they just wanted to lie down. I had to have a little help from a couple AT women getting my car out of the parking lot. Thank you, whoever you are. I had a fantastic birthday morning. I arrived back home around 2:30pm.
I am confident the dogs had a great time. The ski season is not over, folks. On Ski.
Spring seems to have arrived, but I am not ready to put my skis away just yet. The problem I am facing is that those with whom I ski with are. Today is my 25th birthday. I really wanted to ski today so I called on my two friends I know will always want to go skiing with me, Bowie and Samwise. We got started a little later today, because we were in no hurry. We went up to Porter Fork and began our tour. I did not make the mistake again today of taking my Karhu Guides. Instead, I was on my Insanes and Switchbacks for the optimal skinning:skiing ratio. We skinned 
up the road and then beyond. I was determined today to actually see what is beyond the dense trees. I wanted to find something to actually ski. We pressed forward. The trees are so dense that every time you think you may see some sort of clearing coming up, you soon find out that it was nothing but a small meadow that would not be very conducive to making turns. Just as it seemed this skin track was going nowhere and we were destined to spend our day wandering in the woods, there appeared before us a beautiful view. We could finally see the blue sky surrounding what seemed to be endless possible ski lines. It was a beautiful sight to see. This was a good hour after 
we had left the cabin run and we still had a good amount of climbing to go before we could ski, but this was all we needed to keep us going. We continued to follow the skin track and by this time the dogs were even doing so as they had figured out that it was easier to walk in it rather than create a new one. I was tempted at times to cut it short and just turn around, but I fig
ured we were in no big hurry so why not summit and see if I can figure out where I might be in comparison to other areas I ski. I had to take the occasional scraping break since the snow was sticking to my skins and then building up to where I was carrying an extra several pounds and the climbing wasn't exactly easy. The skin track did get to some tight switchbacks as we neared the top and the dogs never did quite figure out that they needed to get out of my way as I turned around at each one. I tried not to smack them around too much with my skis during these situations. We reached the summit after hours of straight climbing and it was totally worth it. It was go
rgeous up there. We took a break and I took a few photos (hence the large amount of shots on this post - I even have a lot more that could have made it, but didn't). I then made my transition and it was time to ski. I thought the dogs looked a little tired at this point so I was planning on making a number of stops to le
t them catch their breath as we had a good distance to go to the car. I was wrong. They were on my heels the whole time. The top actually produced great powder skiing! Yeah, all of you who refused my offer to ski this morning made a bad choice. The skiing was great. It then opened up into a large bowl where the snow turned a bit more creamy, but still a lot of fun to ski. We skied all the way to the car with only a couple of stops so I could regain strength - the dogs were fine. During our descent was the first time we saw any else today. There were a few groups of backcountry skiers all with a dog or two in tow. Bow
ie and Sam were too focused on the down at this point to care, though, as they ran right past them all. We reached the car and the dogs didn't even give me a hard time about putting them in it. They were happy to be returning and they just wanted to lie down. I had to have a little help from a couple AT women getting my car out of the parking lot. Thank you, whoever you are. I had a fantastic birthday morning. I arrived back home around 2:30pm. 
I am confident the dogs had a great time. The ski season is not over, folks. On Ski.
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