June 22, 2011, Mt. McLoughlin

Tried to drive to the trailhead from the Summit Sno-Park, but snow barred progress a half mile or so away (I only learned later that you can get there from the road to Four Mile Lake snow-free). Started pretty late and had soft snow pretty much the whole way. Couldn't follow the trail, so I just wandered in the direction of the mountain. Loads of mosquitos until treeline. Reached the summit after four hours or so - warm, clear, lots of descent options... I opted to ski down the up-route, making as many turns as possible in whatever bowls were convenient. Despite the relatively late hour the snow was remarkably solid, although every turn sent off massive pinwheels. Somehow convinced myself that I was descending the wrong ridgeline, and kept pushing left which dropped me out at Four Mile Lake with an extra three miles of road hiking/sliding to the car. Pays to be a little more careful with navigation on volcanoes I guess...