14 April 2009, - Dawn Patrol - Kendall peak

author=haggis link=topic=13015.msg54256#msg54256 date=1239733829]
... if you don't go you'll never know.

Much to the chagrin of those who have trouble with the alarm clock. Glad you got some!

I did the afternoon patrol with my dog Hank and managed to leave the car at the ripe hour of 2pm.  Unfortunately, I had to be in the office all morning.  In the forest down low it was pretty much raining with all the snow melting off the trees.  But it stayed colder as I got higher up so I didn't end up totally soaked.  The sun even came out once I hit the open bowls which made for a nice decent. Nice snow in the open, a bit heavy but still carvable.  There was lot of snow coming of the the rocks up high and causing some big sluffs, but it was easy to stay away from those.  Your skin track was filled in about 4" with a little breeze in in the open.  A little crunchy in the trees, but it hadn't been tree bombed yet, so the skiing was still fun. 

Back to the car by 4:30, back at home by 5:30.  A great way to spend the afternoon.  I only saw two other people and that was in the parking lot. 

By the way, thanks for the uptrack - it made for a speedy ascent and since it was so well packed down it kept my dog from post holing.

...funny how the dogs start spastic and end up in the tracks (mine does too), nice perspective on Hank

I, too, want to thank you for the great uptrack.  We talked briefly in the trees on your descent.  I followed your track up to ~5500', then the sun made an appearance so I decided to grab some turns while it was still cold.  Ymmmm!  Climbed back up, at the top of the main body of timber the sun made a strong appearance so I decided to run back down through the trees before the bombs began to fall, was out shortly after noon.

thanks for the fun haggis.  threw together a quick video and added a couple of the good shots to the blog - http://coachingendurance.com/blog/2009/04/kendall-peak-west-flank-april-14-2009.shtml