April 9, 2005, Forestdale Creek Bowl, Carson Pass

We joined another Sierra club ski outing on a sunny powder day.  The TH is located on the south side of Hwy 88 about 1 mile east of Carson Pass near Red Lake.  There were 6 of us on the tour and the first half of the tour was rolling terrain and along snowmobile tracks.  Took about 1.5 hours of kick 'n glide before we began gaining some vertical and the powder was developing a light sun crust. Finally, we gained about 1800 vertical as we reached Forestdale Pass.  To the west we saw the backside of Kirkwood, to the north the backside of Elephants Back and the summit of Roundtop.  Numerous north facing bowls dropped off the pass area and after the top 100' of wind affected surface conditions, we had light powder in the shade of the trees.  All too soon it was over. The couple with rental gear were ready for the barn.  The return trip was an extended terrain exploration.  The leader had a brief senior moment and we missed the correct drainage.  He felt bad about our adventure and bought a round at the nearby Sorensens Lodge.  It was a scenic tour but not enough vertical gain.  Zap