Jan 1-3, Scottish Lakes/High Camp east of Stevens

What a temperature gradient Friday, From about 50 in Seattle to 23 at Stevens Pass and 24 at the pick up site for this great backcountry lodge operation. I know many are familiar with it.  There was 4-6 inches of fresh powder on a hard raincrust on Fri, less in the trees.  It was windy Fri night and there was windslab in exposed places by Saturday.  Lots of whumping too. Still, the very well marked trails on a variety of aspects were delightful, and as the lodge is at 5000' it was not hard to find gentle glades with good snow.  Coverage was definitely low for the turn of the year.  I feel that finally I am getting an intuitive feel for the topography of the place.  Our family all messed around on a variety of ski implements. The highlight was a Saturday evening moonlight ski down Shortcut followed by a road-ski back up; as usual, some of the best skiing was on north faces below the lodge.  It was worth getting up early for a 10 AM trip in, and staying late Sunday. There is a new sauna/hot tub/shower complex that makes things very civilized, and great hosts and fellow guests.