December 26, 2008, Golden Gardens

Although the weather was unsettled and my usual ski partners unavailable, I decided to boldly solo the adventure that has long eluded me: skiing on the beach. Naturally, beacon, probe, and shovel would be useless--I left them behind. Kelly, my faithful and intrepid ski dog, eagerly begged to go along. The approach was trivial. I opened the garage door and slapped on the skis between the cars and headed out. It was snowing lightly. Conditions were tire-pack in the center and "Seattle Slurry" on the sidewalks. Skins weren't necessary on the up hill. The trip was uneventful, despite a brief foray "off-piste" at the dog park. The beach was windy and I sailed north at waters edge by spreading my arms wide. (okay, a little poling here and there). An earlier explorer had left a large Snowman Cairn to mark the way. I soon met another skiier who helped with camera pix. (alas, i had forgotten my camera) we traveled a while and then split up as he skiied my descent route and I boot-packed the stairs. A brief respite at the Cafe Fiore Warming hut--fortuitously, i had brought the nyt xword! A two-bagger! Tired, but happy, Kelly and I skiied alongside the bus back home.

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