San Gregonio in late March and Tuolumne Meadows in early April
San Gregonio is an inviting backcountry place for the Southern California backcountry skier. It’s only three hours from San Diego and seldom sees more than a few parties at its upper reaches. For an early start, one can car camp at the Flats on the east side of Jenks Lake Road, near the outlet closest to Big Bear or in the East Fork parking lot.
Mike Fry, Afra Roet and I got a leisurely start at about 9 am. I elected to pack my plastic boots and hike in trail runners for the two miles to get to snow. We avoided the normal Dry Lake trail and headed straight up the drainage from Dry Lake. Near Dry Lake, Afra found a named spring on her GPS and we had running water. This is huge when snow camping because melting snow takes time and fuel. After claming an igloo built by four energetic young snowshoers, we pitched our tents and toasted the sun as it slipped behind the west ridge. The nighttime temps were in the mid teens, but I was toasty in my USA made Feathered Friends bag.
We all carried FRS radios, which allows members of the party to “do their own thing”, in relative safety. After going to the bowls the next day, they went on to do Mineshaft ridge and I did repeat runs down the lower angle slopes below the Jepson bowl, where the snow had corned up with the high daytime temperatures.
Afra had been trying out her Alpine Touring setup, to be used on her high route trans Sierra in early May. In a few weeks she is skiing steeper and faster (after struggling with telemark for many years). The new AT gear is now at a comparable weight with telemark, though for me it still lacks the surfing like grace of tele.
I had been using the San Gregonio trip to prepare for an outing to the Sierras on May 10th. Afra had placed my five gallon paint bucket full of food at Tuolumne Meadows in the fall. My brother had agreed to the ski from Lee Vining to Tuolumne Meadows, where there is a ski hut. Marty is ten years younger than me, bigger and stronger and works as an ICU nursing supervisor. He has an easy way about him and is liked by just about anyone who has their head on straight. I am a first born with some abrasive sides. We don’t get to see too much of each other due to the responsibilities of family and work, but have a close bond. He had done the PCT and skied the Continental Divide from Canada to Southern Colorado. I always learn something from him on a ski outing or in social situations.
We stayed the night before at the Chalet, where everything was in great shape and populated by a friendly and courteous mix of families and ski fanatics. Trying not to wake anyone, we sneaked out early and parked near the locked gate on highway 120, near Lee Vining. Marty had been coming down with a cold, but in his usual fashion did not let this interfere with our plans. It is over 16 miles and one 10,000 foot pass to the hut, and the long ribbon of dry highway was a bit overwhelming. We chose to carry our boots and walk in sneakers. Four and a half miles later we arrived at the snowline, just as two skiers pulled up on a giant snow plow. Our timing was bad.
We were using Fischer Outabounds lightweight pattern skis that have a small amount of side cut and 3 pin bindings. The snow on the road was wet due to the blue bird sky, no wind and warm temperatures, but there was some glide. On the way down the road we met Alvin and Ellen, coming back from Lyell Canyon and peak. What a small world. Ellen endorsed the ski up the canyon, where the views were great and there was running water.
By the time we got to the hut it was 6 PM and we were happy to have made it. Even better, there was room in the ten bunk room. Our friend Mark from the snow cat had a roaring fire going in nothing flat and life was good. As the evening progressed, various members of CHAOS, a Cal Berkley outing club arrived. Dan (astrophysicist), Val (geologist with sensors in park), Cheryl (musicologist going to Antarctica to record natural sounds and then recompose their constituent elements into composition) and Anne (taught electronics to scientists) all were either long term climbers or ice climbers. We had some good conversations on black holes and good things to eat from their giant food cache. A few of the group either came solo over arcane routes or left solo. It was quite a motivational experience just to be around these fine people.
After various day tours up Lyell Canyon and around Johnson Peak, Marty and I got up early to ski back to the car on the fourth day. It was a good thing we left early because the snow was breakable crust after the sun began to warm up. The year round rangers said that there had been no appreciable snowfall since February and cold temperatures. In March , it only got into the 40’s a few times. Whatever the reason, the snow was bad until we got past the entrance to the park, near Tioga Pass. The downhill ski was fast and fun, until we began the five mile slog down the road. By the time we got to the car, I was trading the skis in one hand and my boots in the other about every 50 feet. When I asked Marty if he wanted to do it again next year, he said “maybe”.
