8/31-9/1: Timberline, OR

Without August turns in the bag, I and a non-TAY member headed south to the land-of-no-sales tax on Sunday, 8/31 to earn some evening turns and log September turns the next day. When we arrived in Govy ~3pm the upper mtn was socked-in and the temp in town was an even 50F - not exactly summer conditions. After setting-up camp, we arrived at Timberline Lodge a hair after 4 and were on the way up by 4:30. An easy 15 min carry later we were on the tail end of the snow in Mile Canyon and as we donned our skins the sun broke through the clouds and the summit came into view. Up we went, making it to the Mile / Palmer changover less than an hour after leaving the car. From there we followed a pristine groomed track immediately lookers' right of the lift and 90 mins later we were at the top of the snowfield. We scurried into the top terminal to get out of the biting wind and cold air and not long after transitioning, the light began to fade. We descended in the evening alpenglow, making it back to the car just in time to avoid using our headlamps. On our way back to camp we made a pit stop at Charlie's for some deep-fried grease and ran into a bunch of TAY folks and regular padded seat occupants alike.

Monday, 9/1, dawned clear and we wasted little time getting up to the lodge. My friend decided to take a long hike on dirt up the resort side of the White River Canyon while I dropped the money on a lift ticket for the day (I earned those turns from sitting behind a desk all summer ). I was easily making 5 laps an hour when suddenly the lift went down for a half hour of "unplanned maintenance" > Oh well, it made for a nice break on the loading ramp, even though the cold ones were sitting at the top in my pack. Things got going again just as the park came into form and hamster laps ensued with a crew who I hadn't crossed paths with since April. Around 1pm, the snow turned to mush and I reverted to banging out laps on the snowfield. This reached a feverish pitch as last chair drew near, only ceasing when my friend arrived at the top terminal at closing bell for the last lap of the season. The good times continued down in the parking lot, but unfortunately we had to go tear-down camp and hit the dusty trail northward. Despite horrendous traffic heading WB on 26, we managed to make it back to Seattle in a little under 4.5 hours, just in time for sunset.

Earning turns afterhours:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10387209_10103350081062598_5962935286484964118_n.jpg?oh=db0d132fe238e9811eb7a8bc82e8a72b&oe=546943C1&__gda__=1417354916_c76d5fb7105f3f8043f9568ae9766550

Morning weather report:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10606291_10103354735544978_2285256864564661910_n.jpg?oh=befa3cd5ccfbf84622acf804c7491a3e&oe=545DD2C4&__gda__=1417372561_7b668fe93ef2edb0dfc96c2024988926

Some Burners passed us in Olympia
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10408882_10103354411718928_8426906921355326665_n.jpg?oh=70fbbfaaf072827b5c334c755c9853a3&oe=547484B6&__gda__=1417620827_8d7408f1d24b9835de0b383fc64f15d0