Weekly adventures of the intrepid cross country skiers!
In reverse time order...
NEXT YEAR (Winter 2002 - 2003)
May ??, 2002 -- "Baker Scouting Trip" -- Me and Martin headed up to Mt. Baker to check out the race course for the Ski to Sea trip that I was thinking of doing the following weekend. Details to come...
May 5, 2002 -- "Celebrate Cinco de Mayo
with snow?!!" -- Martin, Kelly and I headed up to Steven's Pass, hopeful
there would be some fresh snow, and there was! It was snowing moderately
as we arrived at the Pass and we decided to attempt the Ridge across from the
ski resort. So we got our skis on, and they headed up the hill. It
was then that I noticed that a piece of the bottom of my ski was coming
off! So I skied to the top of the hill and told them, and we headed back
to the car for some duct tape. With the duct tape on, it appeared the ski would
be useable. However, the wind was blowing more than 20 miles an hour and
we decided reluctantly to drive down the hill to Smith Brook Road to seek a less
windy experience.
Just as we pulled in, another car pulled in behind us with
Anja and a male friend, who had decided to ski Smith Brook Road instead of Mt.
St. Helens. We got going before them, and skied along the road to reach
the trail. The snow was coming down nicely with nary a trace of wind --
we'd make the right call. After about 45 minutes we stopped for a lunch
break and the other 2 caught up with us and joined us. The trees we were
sitting under would occasionally drop snow bombs, but luckily I was under a safe
spot and did not get dumped on. Martin, however, was not so fortunate --
he had a couple of small snowballs fall on his arm and leg.
The five of us continued up the road, and before long we'd
reached the big hill leading up. However, the snow was so deep that it had
completely filled in the road so that the trail leading up the slope was on the
slope itself. It was an obvious avalanche slope, so we stopped before
getting to the dangerous bit. Kelly decided to go down a more sheltered
part of the slope to practice her telemark turns. Then Anja's friend did,
too, making a couple of snow angels on the way down. Even I -- coward that
I am -- tried it out and found a little whiteknuckle action before making my own
sitzplatz.
The return to the cars was a race which took only 45 minutes,
despite the 2.25 hour ascent. (A new record!) As we reached the
highway I noticed it was no longer snowing -- it was drizzling at the base of
the trail and had been for some time, for the fresh snow we'd ascended in was
somewhat washed away. We had definitely had a good sense of timing!
Apr. 29, 2002 -- "Another Day in
Paradise" - My friend Jodi had a bad downhill ski experience years ago and
has resisted strapping on skis. So much so that it took 1.5 years of
coaxing, but she finally came along on a trip and boy did she enjoy the
experience! We originally planned to go up to Snoqualmie Pass though I knew
there had been no fresh snow in over a week and the grooming was over, but I
mentioned how nice conditions had been at Paradise 2 days ago
and Jodi talked me into going again. The drive does take about 2.5 hours to get up there,
but we had a fun trip up just chatting and enjoying the scenery.
The day was warm and very sunny with nary a cloud in the sky
as we pulled into the parking lot. The ranger at the visitor's center
recommended we try the Barn Flats, and told us conditions were still good.
So we strapped on our skis and headed out from the Barn Flats parking
area. The air was clear and the top of snow-covered Mt. Rainier appeared
within a few hours' climb from there. (This is deceptive, however.
Paradise is at 5400 feet compared with the summit at 14,410 feet!) The
meadow had a few tracks across it, but there was still plenty of virgin powder
ready for us to try out. Jodi quickly got the hang of the kick and glide
technique and was amazed how easy it was. We stopped for a picnic in the
warm spring sun -- it was about 52 degrees even at this altitude -- and pulled
out our food. Within a few moments a camprobber bird came down and perched
on the ski poles I'd left stuck in the snow. Jodi began offering him food,
and before long his buddies came along, indignantly asking for their share of
the pie. She got some of them to take food out of her hand and even perch on her
hand. (Pictures to come.) Then a stellar jay arrived for a piece of the action.
Before long, we were out of food. Then we headed back to the car, still
amazed by the beauty of the day and began the long drive home.
Apr. 27, 2002 -- "Snow
Paradise" - Mark, who on average is too busy to ski more than once a year
(with my group at any rate) chose this as his day, which worked well since he
was the only one besides me. There had been 6 inches of fresh snow
overnight, which I knew would make for great conditions. But from the
lowlands we could not see the mountain at all, just a long gray cloud.
Before long we were driving through that cloud on our way to Paradise
at Mt. Rainier. The ranger told us that only one trail still had trail
markings - the Nisqually Vista Loop Trail. So we decided to do that, then head
up the mountain toward Glacier Vista and do some kind of loop back to the
Visitor's Center.
It was still snowing when we left the parking lot around
1:30, and we could not see the top of the mountain. In fact, we could
barely see 1/4 mile away. The ranger had told us Nisqually Vista Loop was an
intermediate trail, but some of the hills -- though short -- were awfully steep
downhill surges of adrenaline. One even had a narrow passage across a
bridge to contend with after the hill. We managed to come down without
falling and did the full loop. It was fun, though short (1 mile) and we
were ready to head uphill. But first -- a short lunch where we talked
philosophically in between bites of food.
The visibility seemed even worse as we headed up the trail.
It was pretty steep in some areas and I started getting a bit worried about the
descent. There were a few ski tracks to follow, but no markings on the trail so
we had to trust our forebears on the route. Soon we found a few snowshoe and
snowboard tracks as well -- always a good sign when you're not exactly sure
where you are. We pushed on until we had a nice view of the Edith Creek
Basin. At this point I was just about out of energy and so we turned back.
The way downhill was mostly fun, with a few nailbiter moments on the steepest
bits of the trail. It was probably easier than it would have been due to the
fresh snow that had fallen as we climbed. We ended up coming down roughly the
same way and got back to the car by 4:30.
Apr. 19, 2002 -- "Anybody Home?"
- Anja and I headed up to the Nordic
Center at Hyak on a Friday to find the parking lot completely empty.
"This is spooky," I said as I put on my boots. "I hope the
trails are OK." They were. In fact, the first 3 miles was
freshly groomed to our surprise. There had been fresh snow about 3 days ago, and
so the snow was a bit soft on the top, but rock hard underneath a 4 or 5-inch
layer of new snow. We were skiing on the Cold
Creek trail (#17) when we ran into another skier, who told us why the
grooming had been done that day. The tractor had been taken up to the top along
this trail to disassemble and drag parts of the warming hut down. So, he warned
us, the trail condition would be bad after the dragging occurred. Based on this
piece of news, we decided to head up through Hidden Valley (trail #16) instead
of doing the whole Mt. Katherine Loop.
The way was a bit steep, but not too long and we managed to
get to the top of the valley where the trail had a junction with other trails.
Which is where we faced our next challenge - all the trail signs (except the
billboard-sized ones) had been taken down! We had to more or less guess
which trails corresponded to the map I had thankfully brought with me. This was
more difficult than I imagined -- we weren't really lost because we knew roughly
where we were -- but we didn't know exactly which trail we were on half the
time. We headed up a trail to the left and found a nice lunch spot. The
strong spring sun beat down and we almost felt like sunbathing as we ate our
food. About the time we finished, we could hear snowmobiles approaching and
decided to head back.
Not knowing which trail we were on, we headed back to the
junction and beyond, then turned left on what we thought was the right trail --
but it wasn't! We finally gave up on the trails and just followed the power
lines for a ways, then got a loop trail that headed back down the mountain. We
had to ski along a road that was heavily rutted by a snowcat, but thankfully not
for long as we found the trail down the slope. The snow conditions made the
descent much easier than the previous
time I'd come down Serpentine Way, and before long we were back. The parking
lot was still deserted -- except for a devil snowmobiler who came speeding
across the parking lot and just missed my car on his way up the slope.
Sigh - another reason to hate
snowmobiles!
Apr. 13/14, 2002 -- "Skiing the Volcano" -
Part I -- "Paranoia" - After running a dance
for the Mountaineers Friday night, I was not in condition to get up early
Saturday. So I called Martin and Michiko and told them to go on without me
and I'd catch up. So they headed down to Mt. Hood to get in some skiing
while I caught up on much needed rest and got packed. By noon I was ready
to head out the door, and after a few errands in Seattle I got on the road by
1pm. Deciding I'd scout out trail conditions at St. Helens, I drove to the
north side of the mountain. I passed one of the trail junctions with a jeep
parked in a little dead end area. I turned around, thinking I'd missed my
trail and found them driving up the trail in their jeep! I decided against
skiing there and drove on. Soon the plowing on the road narrowed to one lane
with high side walls of snow. As I rounded the bend onto Highway 99 the
road suddenly became a couple of ruts in the snow that forced my poor tires into
them and scraped the bottom of my car! Heaving a sigh of relief, I pulled into
the Wakepish Snow Park.
The snow park was deserted. I pulled on my skis (it was
4:30 already) and skied up road 25. It was obviously used by snowmobiles,
but the snow was quite soft and not bad to ski on. I started getting a bit
paranoid, wondering what would happen if I woke a bear up from hibernation just
in time to use me as a snack! Occasionally I heard some small crash off in
the trees that was probably just loose snow but sounded to my mind like a hungry
cougar about to pounce. I reviewed strategies in my head on how to
counterattack should I get pounced on. Before long I had gone half an hour
skiing, and in order to make it to Portland in time for a dance that night I had
to turn around. The descent was even faster, and as I got back into the
car another car came in with two people just looking around. I drove down to
Portland to link up with my 2 early friends, who'd skied on Mt. Hood that day.
Part II -- "South Side" - Martin and Michiko were heading back to
Seattle in late afternoon, so decided they'd prefer to go to Mt. St. Helens that
day since it was on the way. So we agreed to drive up to the south
side of the mountain and attempt a road that Martin and I couldn't drive up
the previous time on the mountain because of deep
snow. We drove up to Marble Mountain Snow Park and headed up a trail that
took us to the main road. We could hear a few snowmobiles in the distance,
so we cut across the road and tried a trail on the north side of the road.
It was good for a little while, but soon a creek chopped it in two and we had to
backtrack to get back to the road. There was a lot of snow on the ground,
but there was also a lot of water in the creekbeds which made for an interesting
tussle of snow vs. water. The sky above was gray and it was now and then
spitting out snow showers.
We found the June Lake trailhead and headed straight up it.
There were a couple of steep spots, but we managed to get up them although they
were a bit bare in patches. We didn't make it quite all the way to the lake, but
since time was running out and we were concerned about the descent we turned
around early. The way down was not too bad -- made easier by the sporadic
snow showers that helped cover the icy spots.
Mar. 30/31, 2002 -- "Ski Canada!" - Sadly, I got sick this weekend and couldn't make it. Martin went on his own to 2 cross country resorts (Grouse Mountain and Cypress Mountain) near Vancouver and had a decent time from what I heard...
Mar. 28, 2002 -- "Moonlight Ski - In the Rain?" - Karen and I got as far as North Bend, but the rain was falling faster and faster and I'd heard there was more rain at the Pass. So we cancelled and got ice cream instead.
Mar. 23, 2002 -- "Return to Trollhaugen" --
Me, Giovanni, Carl and Karen headed back to Trollhaugen for a second bobcat
search. To start with, we headed up the advanced slope loop and had a
blast. The snow conditions were great -- grooming had been done very recently.
We headed up the steep ramp, then down the first hill. Passing the
lefthand bypass, we skied the full loop which was much shorter than I thought.
Then we skied back to the junction and paused there for a picnic lunch. The
weather was warm and we lingered over the food a bit, then Giovanni decided to
climb an unplowed slope for a look around. I gave him one of the walkie
talkies while we finished up. His descriptions sounded good, so we followed him
up the slope. After a look around we headed back down a slightly different way
to rejoin the trail.
We did most of the other major loops as well, though Giovanni
had to leave early the rest of us stayed. We looked for the bobcat to no avail,
though I did see his tracks in the same general area I'd seen him before. We
followed his prints through the woods looking for a shortcut but only found
ourselves in the back yard of a little cabin. I started downslope from the cabin
trying to find a shortcut, but eventually gave up and went back the same
way. An enjoyable day, overall.
Mar. 16/17, 2002 -- "Mt. St. Helens & Mt. Hood"
St. Helens - Martin, Darren and I got a late start (my fault) and
didn't get on the road till about 10 Saturday morning. The weather forecast
was for snow on the mountain, and it was even snowing in Seattle when we left,
though it turned to rain by the time we hit Olympia. After leaving the
Interstate it started snowing, but the road surface was not
too bad. We turned onto highway 81 but it quickly became
clear that the snow was getting too deep to drive in, so we turned around and
headed back. Plan B was to head to Cougar Snow Park, which was lower in
elevation. So we drove up that direction. We had just turned off from a
junction in the road when we saw the local sheriff in a large SUV. He
waved us down and said, "You're not going to make it in THAT" (this
directed at my little station wagon.) He told us several large vehicles
with 4-wheel drive were stuck in the ditch ahead and he'd been having troubles
himself. We had a hurried conference and decided to take his advice, drive back to the junction and head left, driving along the reservoir as he
suggested. Strangely enough, that road looked even worse at first and it
wasn't long before we were stuck in the snow. We reluctantly got out and
put on the chains. It was a snap to get up the hill then, but we noticed
the snow was getting a bit deep. We were starting to consider bagging the
idea of skiing that day when we noticed a trail off to the left. So we pulled over,
strapped on our skis and decided to give it a try. (Finally! It was
almost 3:30!)
We initially thought we might be in somebody's driveway, but
soon figured out it was some kind of narrow logging road or trail. At
first the snow was a little thin in places and we found the ground occasionally
glaring out through the ski tracks at us. But it was still snowing and
before long it was plenty deep enough. After a short climb we noticed a nice view
of a small snow-covered valley on the left. On the right, a short rise
paralleled the trail for a ways, and it was rather odd -- at one point
there was no snow at all on a short slope, right next to the trail. We
speculated about possible geothermal vents keeping the ground warmer, but
weren't sure if that was the right explanation. Soon we came to a junction and
decided to go right. Continuing upward, it wasn't long before Martin and Darren
both felt their skis getting too sticky, so they stopped and waxed them
well. Which made a huge difference. We skied down a little rise,
across a snow-covered bridge and up a hill. Now we started finding fallen
trees across the trail. Most of them we could go around or under, but it
slowed us down a bit. It was about 5pm, time to head back. So we turned
and headed down, ducking trees and avoiding sitzmarks where we could. This
time my skis were getting sticky, so I stopped to fix them. There was
about 3 or 4 inches of snow stuck to the bottom, so I scraped it all off with my
gloves and started down. Most of the way down was a great glide, with a
few sprints thrown in. We were nearing the bottom with Martin in the lead
when I came around a corner and saw him stopped, staring off trail at
something. "I think I've seen a dog," he said. Sure
enough, there were some deep pawprints in the snow. After comparing notes,
we deduced he'd actually seen a coyote running through the snow! The rest
of the way was uneventful and we quickly got to the cars. The last section
had gotten enough fresh snow that it was now thick enough for skiing. We
drove down the road and to our hotel in Vancouver. (Which was a bit hard to
find, but that's another story.)
Mt. Hood -- Sunday dawned and we got up at a reasonable hour, took
advantage of our continental breakfast and hit the road. Driving up to the
mountain, we had an easy time getting to the pass, though we were required to
put on chains for the last bit. It seemed like overkill since they had
heavily plowed and sanded the road, but we pulled into the Trillium Snow Park
about 11am. There had been quite a lot of recent snow, as we could tell
just by looking at the cars in the parking lot. There was at least a foot
of snow on the top of a van, and I asked the occupants how long they'd been
parked there. They were there for the weekend, so had been around for a couple
days and were staying at a lodge nearby so the snow had piled up on their
roof. We grabbed our skis and started down the somewhat steep initial hill
that leads into the Trillium Lake drainage. It was a bit tricky in spots, but
not too many people had come down that day yet and the powder was still
fresh. The sun was pearing out wishy-washyedly from behind clouds as we
headed to the left on the loop trail. Contrary to what we'd heard from a tourist
info center on the road, the trail was NOT groomed and we had the option of
following previous ski tracks or making new ones. To mix it up even more,
there were quite a few snowshoers passing by so the trail was a bit bumpy.
The crowds made it seem like a walk around Green Lake more than a mountain ski
trip, but soon we hit the Mud Creek Ridge Road and the crowds suddenly
disappeared. We headed uphill in the tracks of other skiers. In the
next half hour we ran into one other small group of skiers, then made a brief
stop for a snack.
Darren was getting a bit cold, so took the walkie talkie
ahead with him. He hit the junction with the Quarry Trail and told us he
was heading down. From his description, it sounded rather steep and we
were a bit concerned in might not be a good route. So we hurried on down
the path. Just before reaching the junction I called Darren on the talkie
and he sent me a quick "Going down a big hill, call you later"
message. Which made me think there was a sheer face or something.
But when we followed down the quarry trail we could see a wide open meadow with
a moderate slope and Darren off in the distance, so we cruised through the
heavenly powder and soon were reconnected with Darren. A little further
down there was a really nice bowl to ski through and we stopped at a small knoll
to try repeated attempts at cruising down it. At first it was easy but the
more traffic went through, the easier it got to fall down. The sun was
shining brightly out of an amazingly blue sky (made the more amazing because of
forgotten sunglasses.) Finally tiring of this sport, we headed down
through some trees, and eventually rejoined the Mud Creek trail. It was
starting to snow lightly, though the sky overhead was still clear blue. By
the time we rejoined the loop trail around Trillium Lake it was starting to snow
more heavily. We headed left to complete the loop, and after another 1/2
mile could actually see the lake. It was mostly snow-covered, with cracks
and water visible only around one edge.
We headed up the trail and away from the lake just as the sun
disappeared behind the clouds. Before long the trail began slowly
climbing and went through some meadows. Eventually we found the trail we'd
come down from the parking lot. Unfortunately, a snowmobile had thrashed it and
it was rather difficult going up. All in all, a very nice day.
Mar. 10, 2002 -- "Pea Soup on Mt.
Katherine" -- I was just about to the Park & Ride to meet Corinne,
Sybille and Martin when I got a last-minute call from Allan. He, Steve and
Janet were going to meet us up at the Pass. So we headed up, after making
the traditional stop at the Traveler's Rest. The snow was coming down
pretty thickly as we drove into the Hyak parking lot, and by the time we'd
gotten our trail passes (Sybille and Martin had downhill season passes, which
worked as well) it was turning to sleet. The snow conditions were nice,
though. The groomer had been there not too long ago and the trail was
pretty smooth, with fresh snow on top. We skied around the first bend and ran
into Allan and friends. They joined us while we debated the wisdom of
going up trail 16, a wickedly steep trail. (See trail
map.) Just before arriving at the yurt the groomer came by, eliciting cheers
from his adoring fans (us!) We got a quick bite at the yurt, and decided
to head up the loop trail instead. We parted company with Allan et al. and
skied up.
Sybille had gone for a reconnaissance of trail 16 and I
passed my walkie talkie to Allan to give to her. Though the grader had
been by, the snow/ sleet had piled up on the trail so it did not seem as fresh,
but it was still rather nice. Somewhere past the 7K mark Sybille (Olympian that
she is) caught up with us. We arrived at the top of Windy Pass, and
noticed a bit more wind. (Duh!) So we headed down towards the
warming hut. The trail, which was a "most difficult" was
actually a lot of fun with all the fresh snow and did not seem too
challenging. Before long we were all assembled inside for a quick lunch.
The wood stove was putting out warmth and we dried out a bit. Inside the hut
were a few fellow skiers and a ski patrol volunteer. After about 10 minutes ski
patrol got a message that there'd been an avalanche near Granite Mountain and
she got on her gear to go help. Meanwhile, a ski staff member told us they would
soon close the trail we'd come up due to avalanche danger. So we discussed which
way to go down. We finally decided that Martin and I would continue around the
loop and come down trail 16, and the women would head back the way we came,
making sure to get past the narrow zone of avalanche danger. My assumption was
that the 2 routes looked about the same length on the map, so it should take us
about the same amount of time.
So Martin and I cruised downhill for awhile. The way was fun,
and not too steep. But before long we ran out of downhill and began to
climb once again. The snow seemed to get sticky, and it felt like we were skiing
in peanut butter for a little while. Then we came upon a caution sign warning of
avalanche slopes ahead. The ribbon was not blocking the trail, so it was still
open and we continued. We soon came across a rather large avalanche slopes, and
we could see some snow donuts that had started their way downhill, so it was
obvious conditions were ripe. We quickly crossed the slope and continued on our
uphill slog. Soon we reached another avalanche caution sign -- and a ribbon
across the trail! Apparently they had closed the trail after we had entered it,
so we skied around the ribbon and continued on.
The way was once again downhill and we skied on, skirting the
tracks of a ski patrol snowmobile that had gone by. We arrived at Grand Junction
and reached for the map. Deciphering the trail options available, we planned to
go along trail 14 to take us to the downhill section of trail 16: Hidden Valley.
But we took a wrong turn and wound up going down Froglegs, a most difficult
trail. But it was fun and turned out to be a good way to go. Soon we found
ourselves going down Hidden Valley. We had resigned ourselves to a somewhat
marked-up trail when from out of nowhere a snow groomer appeared ahead of us and
smoothed the way for us, just before we hit the downhill black diamond route. We
took a look at the valley, or at least what we could see of it through the
falling snow and headed down.
It was rather steep in places, and I resorted to the
technique shown me at Cabin Creek by an off-duty ski instructor. (See Feb
2.) I came down none the worse for wear, but Martin had a fall at one
steep spot. He shook it off and we continued. I was trying to reach
the girls on the walkie talkie, but to no avail. The descent was quick and soon
we were back on trail 17, only 4K from the lodge. The first K went by
fast, and the 2nd. But the 3rd took its sweet time, and the last K was glacially
slow to unfold. I must've run out of energy, for I was moving slower and it took
forever to get back to the lodge. We arrived just in time, as they were closing.
Sybille and Corinne had been there about an hour, and after looking at the map
again I could see why. It really was quite a bit further the way Martin and I
had come. I'll have to look at the map a little more closely next time...
Mar. 8, 2002 -- "The Midnight Skier - in Bellevue?" -- We finally had enough snow here in the lowlands for my dream
- to cross country ski around my neighborhood. I found myself in downtown
Bellevue around 8:30pm Thursday night and the road conditions were rather
treacherous getting home. I found things got a bit better right after I
went under 520, but by the time I'd driven up my hill I could see signs that
there would be problems -- there were multiple cars parked up at the top of the
hill with red lights on. There were several cars that could not make it up
the hill, and after putting chains on to get myself
to the top of our parking lot, I
came out to help some of these poor unfortunates
with a neighbor. One driver was a taxi-driving
Sikh, who had probably never had to drive in snow in his life. It took
awhile, but we pushed and finagled his taxi to the top of the hill and he
thanked us. A couple more minor assists and I was ready to go inside.
Later on, after some dinner and TV I took another look out
the window. With the lights of the city behind them, huge snowflakes
appeared black as they fell. Looking outside I realized there was about 6
inches on the ground. Thinking back to last week when I'd walked down an
unopened bike trail that runs along 520 and exits near my complex, I thought,
"Hey, I'll just ski down that and freak out the late night drivers on 520
when they see a cross country skier!"
So at 1am I got my gear on and skied down through the parking
lot. There wasn't quite enough snow, so I had to go slow because in a few
spots I briefly scraped pavement and my ski poles click-clacked on the
underlying asphalt. When I tried the bike trail it was apparent that I
wouldn't get very far. I decided to seek out a neighborhood park for some
snow-on-grass skiing and headed up the hill. The occasional car roared its
way past on the freeway below, but there were virtually no cars on the street
itself. I made it to the park in the eery late night quiet and skied
around the small park for a bit. Then I returned to my complex by 2am,
still hoping someday for a large enough snowfall that I could cross country ski to
work...
Mar. 2, 2002 -- "Marvelous Amabilis"
-- Me and Martin headed up to the Pass on an absolutely gorgeous sunny
day. There had not been any snow since Wednesday night (see Feb.
27), so we expected conditions to be a bit icy. The first parking lot
at Cabin Creek was full, but the second lot only half-full so we parked
there. As we were putting on our boots, I realized that though I had waxed
my boots to prevent leaks the previous day, I had neglected to put the insoles
back in! So I was stuck with the hard inner surface of the
boots. I put on an extra pair of socks to compensate, and hoped for the
best.
Leaving the car about 11:30, we skied up the trail from the lot and
walked across the bridge to Cabin Creek. Skiers coming back were warning
us that it was icy in spots. So we gritted our teeth and headed up the
trail to Mt. Amabalis. The snow was kind of icy here and there, but for
the most part it was not hard to ascent it. The trail climbed up and up
and we could soon see the trails below in a different perspective. I kept
noticing animal tracks in the snow, and I was hopeful for a big cat sighting....
(See Feb. 23 and Feb.
18) Then we noticed some movement under one of the trees. It was
a couple of squirrels out foraging. One sat on the trail in front of us
and nonchalantly chewed on a pinecone. I guess he was trying to get to the
seeds inside, for he kept spitting out chunks of the cone. Unfortunately,
there was no squirrel spittoon and it appeared he had done this before, for
there were nut shell fragments and bits of pinecone scattered in a 12 foot
square area. We skied through this and continued on.
Before much
longer we reached a juncture. Martin elected to take a left, which was the
way I had come when I last came up this high on Amabalis 2 years ago.
Shortly after that we stopped for a lunch break. The day was still sunny,
and we could see the whole valley from here. Off in the distance we could
even see Mt. Rainier. The sun felt great, and I took off my coat and ate
lunch in shirtsleeves. Then we continued climbing. We had just come
around a corner when we could hear the sound of motors coming towards us.
Sure enough, two snowmobiles came around the next bend and passed us. I
hate the beastly things, but at least these 2 were behaving themselves.
After they passed us it appears they went downhill off the trail and started
buzzing around in a meadow below. We continued on, relieved to be rid of
them so easily. It was not much longer before we reached a point pretty
near the top. This was about where my last trip up had ended, and we could
see large Lake Kachess below, a beautiful sight. We pressed on. A
couple more snowmobiles appeared, but they stayed off the trail and finally left
to do their own thing. We continued up, and Martin remarked that the snow
on the ground was starting to look like sugar. Indeed it did,
glistening in the bright sunlight. Before long we had reached the summit,
and an even grander view of Lake Kachess. We stayed there for a moment,
admiring the sight before heading down the loop trail. It was about 4pm
We started down, and immediately wondered about the wisdom of
taking the route through the trees. The way was pretty icy in places and
it was wearing to slow down to a safe speed. To complicate matters the
snowmobiles had preceded us and made rather messy tracks. We cheered when
they finally left the trail and we were back to a more natural, albeit still
somewhat icy trail. Eventually we made it back to the trail junction and
continued down. The condition of the trail was a bit nicer here, but I was
starting to get fatigued by the constant downward skiing. Finally we
arrived back to the car about 5pm. Boy, did I sleep good that night!
I was still kinda wiped the next day, but what a fun experience!
Feb. 27, 2002 -- "Snowhenge
by Night" -- Michiko and I met to go up to the Iron Horse Trail after
work. We made a stop at the Triple XXX Drive-In in Issaquah to grab a
quick dinner. The 1950's decor was a distinct improvement over what I
remember the generic drive-in I remembered from years before. Grabbing a banana shake, I drove
up to the Pass in the moonlight with Michiko riding shotgun. It was a full
moon that evening, and the bright moonlight lit up the surrounding landscape in
a magical way. But as we approached the Pass a large cloud was coming ever
nearer until it covered the moon just as we left the parking lot to ski.
The surface of the trail had not been groomed in awhile, probably not since
Saturday, so the tracks were somewhat skewed and it was not easy to stay in
them. Between the tracks the snow was icy and uneven, so that was not a
great option either. Just as we started out, I noticed large tracks of an
animal in the snow which made me think "a big cat, maybe a
cougar!" (See Feb. 23 and Feb.
18) But it was soon evident that the animal was walking along the
trail, so we assumed it was probably a dog. Before long we reached a view
of Lake Keechelus, but saw some odd shapes off in the distance. Coming
closer, we noticed some snow sculptures someone had left. There were a
couple of arches 6 feet high, as well as a few more elaborate structures.
We looked at it in wonder and dubbed it Snowhenge.
The snow conditions did not get any better, so after another
30 minutes we turned around. Just before we got back to the car we noticed
the moon leering at us from between the clouds again. It was also just
starting to snow as we got in the car. As we drove back over the Pass the
snow got thicker and thicker until it was very hard to see. It looked like
the viewscreen of the Starship Enterprise with all the snowflakes coming at us
like stars at warp speed! A couple of times I hit a couple of icy spots
and we slid a bit. Before long we and the other cars were driving about 20
miles an hour in the snowy evening. The snow made it all the way down to
Preston and then succumbed to temperatures and turned to rain. Whew!
That was a close one!
Feb. 23, 2002 -- "The
Winter Olympics" -- Jeffrey had planned a weekend jaunt, but I could not go with
them on Sunday due to prior engagements. So I elected to go just on
Saturday to the Blewitt Pass area. There was Team France: Jeffrey,
Magali, Marielle, and Vincent; Anja and Jan (Germany); Michiko (Japan);
Christophe (Belgium); and Team USA: Me, Corinne and Aileen. We met at the Eastgate Park & Ride
amid gloomy rainclouds that dropped their payload on us. The weather
website had showed it was raining at Blewitt Pass, as well as at Snoqualmie
Summit. We huddled grimly, and decided to head for Blewitt anyway and hope
for the best. All along the drive over Snoqualmie Pass it poured rain, and
my spirits sank. Then, as we drove down into the valley near Cle Elum
(Sidenote: What kind of a town has a motto of "Easy Thru
Access"?) it got downright sunny. Then, as we turned north
towards Blewitt we could see more clouds on the way. Yoiks! We arrived at the
trailhead under cloudy but non-rainy skies, and took off up the trail. We
climbed the mountain, and forded every small (2 foot wide) stream.
We followed every rainbow... (but that's another story!)
The trail led ever up and for the most part had plenty of
snow on it though it was not easy going, for it was ungroomed and the existing
tracks were a couple days old. The snowy trail was a weird contrast to the
snowless slopes. The west and south-facing slopes were a sun magnet and
the bare slopes stared down at us, as if to question whether it really was still
winter. After about 1.5 hours, we came to the end of the trail -- the road
ahead was bare. We sent a scout up to see if the snow continued later, but
that was to no avail. So we settled down to a nice lunch/ sunbathing
session. On the way back we came to a spot 1/8 of a mile from our lunch
spot and found large fresh tracks -- apparently a cougar! With my senses
on high alert, I hoped for another cat encounter (see Feb.
18) but we were not so fortunate.
We came down the steepest part of the trail -- it was rather
like a roller coaster with steep downhill sections, followed closely after with
a brief uphill. So our progress down went like this: fast, slow,
fast, slow, fast, etc. A few of us hung out at the bottom of the hill
after the descent and listened to the increasingly comic sounds of the hapless
skiers following us. Eventually we all stood at the bottom, and continued
on. Marielle took it upon herself to entertain us -- not so much with the
frequency of her falls, but more with the associated sound effects and varied
landing positions. (She must have a chart of those positions
somewhere...)
When we neared the bottom, we found those pesky streams
again. Not wanting to take off my skis, I decided to attempt more creative
ways across. I got up a little speed and hopped across the first
one. When the others came to it, I was ready with the camera.
Several elected to take off their skis, but I got a few action shots of the
braver ones. (Pictures coming soon!)
On the final stream I rigged a snow ramp to make the jump easier and several
attempted the jump. Vincent made it but almost fell backwards.
Magali made it but then did a graceful headfirst dive. (Judges? 9.8)
But Jan took a long cruise downhill and hit the ramp just right. So
Germany gets the Gold, and France the Silver. My own faceplant (a second
attempt, to show "how easy it is" to jump) probably earned Team USA
the "agony of defeat" prize.
Feb. 18, 2002 -- "Ghost Cat of Trollhaugen"
-- Saturday and Sunday I had planned to go up to Leavenworth for the weekend but
my car had other ideas. Took it into the shop and got it partially fixed
Saturday, but not enough to drive on Monday. (The balmy heater core has a leak
so it gets rather steamy inside - so much so that I have to squeegee the inside
of the window every couple minutes just to see out!) So Amy was kind
enough to pick me up. Somehow I slept through the alarm, so answered the
door in my robe and hurriedly pulled myself together in time for us to pick up
Corinne at the Eastgate Park & Ride. We stopped at the Traveler's Rest
at Snoqualmie Pass and, miracle of miracles, there was hot water to wash your
hands in the restroom! Usually the water is almost as cold as the air,
probably due to a constant flow of people. President's Day wasn't nearly
so busy, so we were in luck. Or were we? Unfortunately the power was
out in the building so the hand driers were not working. And in the store
they were actually using a kerosene lantern for light and figuring out purchases
with pencil and paper...
Anyway, we headed from there to Trollhaugen, a groomed trail system that
just opened to the public this year. To get there you have to park in the
far side of the Crystal Springs Snow Park and walk 1/8 mile down the road on the
left to the trailhead. We arrived and contrary to the forecast it was
partially sunny and warm. Enduring the stench and noise of the
snowmobiles, (argh) we strapped on our boots and headed down the road. The
trailhead is marked just by a blue arrow sign on a signboard, but there were
paper maps available in the mailbox on that signboard. We decided to head
on a loop on trail #1 and do a circuit of the course first. The trail
surface had been groomed on Saturday, so it was in good shape though a bit icy
or slushy in places. But the day was sunny and beautiful as we skied past
a creek bed with no water in it surrounded by masses of snow on each side
(picture to come soon). We noticed the advanced trail led steeply up the
hill to the left and skipped it for the moment. As we rounded the corner
to a 4-way junction, we decided to take loop 2 - or was it 2A? The signs
seemed at odds with the map. Taking the left turn, we followed the trail
to the power lines and followed those for awhile to the right in hopes of
finding the loop trail back. Eventually we gave up and went back on the
same trail.
As we headed back down the trail we'd come on, I took a bit of a
lead. Saw some motion off to the left so I stopped for a better
look. It was a bobcat! He was
crouched behind a little hillock of snow about 30 feet off the trail and was
watching me intently. He was about the size of a small dog and his ears
had little tufts of hair on them. I could just see a bit more than his
head and we continued staring at each other for about 30 seconds. I slowly
removed my pack, hoping to get to the camera inside. At the same time I
raised my hand to warn the others to take it slow. Amy saw me and stopped,
but Corinne was coming around the corner, did not see my warning and ran into
Amy. The noise unfortunately disturbed the bobcat and he turned and
fled. We looked for him off the trail with cameras at the ready for a few
minutes to no avail. Wow! Makes you wonder how many critters you don't
see...
Continuing back on the trail we arrived at the junction again and
confirmed that the map was not on the up-and-up. The snow grooming machine
had broken, we'd heard, so the trail was only partially groomed. That
meant the 2A loop was only a one-way trip. We discussed where to go
next. I thought we should go back to the advanced hill we'd seen and try
that, but Corinne said we should "fall down that hill
when we come to it." So we headed off to the left under the
power lines to see where that would go. There was a short trail that lead
into the woods up to a small building. In front of the building there was
a fence and inside the fence, a wooden platform that had had the snow cleared
from it, which kind of made it look like a skating rink. "Is
this where the trolls live?" asked Amy. We went back to the
junction and headed left again, soon arriving at another 4-way that was NOT on
the map. The left leg and the straight leg looked like a semi-plowed road
that snowmobiles had been on, and the right was a groomed ski trail. We
elected to go left up the trail that bent to the right as it climbed a snowy
knoll. The slope was not difficult and the trail was slushy despite the
machine tracks in the snow. Before long we saw a large cabin on the right,
labeled "Trollhaugen, Sons of Norway." Now it all made sense --
this organization owned the cabin and some of the land around, and probably had
started the ski trails. I asked a couple of girls who were playing in the
snow about the snowmobiles and she said they "weren't allowed up
here." We followed the road around the cabin and saw a snow cat
(transport machine, not an animal) and a state snow plow. Just beyond
there the trail dead-ended above an Olympic-level downhill slope. Like the
cowards we are, we turned around and skied back down the road. It was a
nice glide -- just enough speed to make it interesting but not scary. We
took a left at the junction and headed down the other road, just in time to see
the girls (and a couple friends) slide down the big hill on their butts.
The road continued, and soon we were passed by the snow cat. This road
ended at Stampede Pass Road, and once again we could hear (and smell) the noisy
beasties. (Argh!) So we retraced our steps and skied around a couple of other
loops back to the start.
At this point we still wanted a bit more, but Corinne was not really
interested in doing the advanced trail. So we split up -- Amy and Corinne
took the trail to the right and I went up the steep trail we'd seen
earlier. These 2 trails allegedly met up with a short trail across a
saddle and we resolved to meet there. I headed up the steep trail, pausing
for a nice view of the valley below from the top. Then headed around a
corner and suddenly found myself going down a steep, somewhat narrow trail that
had snowmobile (ARGH!) tracks obliterating it. So I took it slow and
headed around a bend, at which point the nasty machine had apparently lost
interest and made its own trail. Soon enough I arrived at the saddle and
headed to the left. The trail was ungroomed and somewhat
treacherous. A couple of large holes gaped from the side of the narrow
trail and I carefully avoided them, eventually rejoining the loop trail on the
other side. Uh oh! There was no sign of the girls anywhere. By
this time they had gone less distance than I had, so I assumed they had missed
the saddle trail and gone on. (What a day to have forgotten my walkie
talkies!) But to make sure, I skied downhill to the left for a few minutes
before reversing and heading uptrail. When I arrived back to the saddle
trail Corinne was waiting and Amy was coming back down the hill. We had a
nice slow cruise downhill to the car, quite an adventure behind us...
Feb. 10, 2002 -- "Blizzard in Paradise" -- There was a sizeable international contingent this day. Jeffrey and Magali from France, Michiko from Japan, Jan from Germany and Martin from the UK. And of course myself and Corinne for the USA. (A regular winter Olympics.) We started out for the mountain in 2 cars around 10:15am. The walkie talkies I got for Christmas were coming in handy on the road -- we used them to coordinate stops. Sadly, at one point off highway 161 there was a herd of buffalo that I announced to the car behind us - only to realize shortly thereafter that I'd changed channels so they didn't hear me and missed the herd. (I'm not sure they believed me when I told them later.) Anyway, we drove across the fields and forests on the approach to Mt. Rainier. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were itching to get on our skis. By the time we got to the Paradise Visitor Center, however, the sun was disappearing behind some ominous-looking clouds that began coming our way. The wind was blowing at a good clip, too - probably about 20 mph w/ gusts to 35. So we thought about what to do and ended up going on the loop road from the lodge parking lot. We followed it around the valley. At first it was real bumpy due to snowshoe tracks but those dispersed soon and it become smoother. As we continued we glanced worriedly up at some of the avalanche-prone slopes above. (The Avalanche Danger that day was rated "Considerable".) The slopes were pretty slight, however, and did not look too dangerous. We cut quickly across just in case. Soon it began to snow and the wind picked up even more, until there were practically blizzard conditions. We were 3/4 of the way around the loop and decided to cut across the valley to get back to the cars. We started off down the road and soon realized our trail was petering out. Backtracking, we came upon the road down into the valley which we'd seen before (Jeffrey had started down that way before I told him he was going the "wrong way.") and took it down to the bottom. Then we began climbing - about 500 feet of fairly steep terrain. Before long, all but me and Martin had removed their skis and were walking up. (I think the only reason we were getting traction was that snow clumps had frozen on the bottom of our skis.) Visibility was somewhat poor, but we could basically see where we were going. Finally we reached the top of the slope, near the lodge. By this time my face was a bit numb though no one was in real discomfort. We had just turned our skis towards the visitor center a half mile away when Michiko turned to me and said "This is the adventure of my life. It's just like a movie!" Made me wonder if I am starting to take adverse conditions for granted... for just a moment I saw the trip through the eyes of a beginner again. We all made it back to the lot safe and sound, and Jeffrey put on his snow chains for the snow-covered trek down. It was snowing clear outside the Park, where we stopped to eat at the first open restaurant we came to. (The lodge restaurant near the main gate had a 15-minute wait, so we skipped it.)
Feb. 2, 2002 -- "Foot of Amabalis" -- Sybille, Michiko and I began our day by doing the parking lot shuffle at the Cabin Creek Snow Park. We arrived about 11am and found NO spots available! So we manufactured a spot in the middle of the lot that allowed people to get around us and headed to the trailhead of Mt. Amabalis. To my surprise, the trail was groomed as we started up. The weather was partly sunny with occasional low-hanging clouds, so we had a decent view of the valley below. We could even see the Iron Horse and Mt. Catherine Loop trails in the distance. After plowing uphill for awhile we realized that we weren't going to reach the top before our turnaround point (we had to be back early that day) so we decided to turn around and head back down to the other trails at Cabin Creek, which neither of the women had seen before. We ended up doing the entire Viking Loop, which was a nice challenge. Michiko, in only her fifth outing or so, was doing remarkably well and keeping up with "Iron Woman" Sybille and myself, even when coming down some steeper hills. Because of this progress, we decided to attempt the Ozbaldy Course loop. The way up was steep, and even with the thick scales on the bottom of my skis I was having to herringbone a bit. We reached the first little steep hill and came down. While waiting for Michiko to come down, I talked to a man who was waiting for his wife to come down. When his wife came down, she stuck her ski poles between her legs, braced them on one knee and came down the steep hill none the worse for wear! When asked, the couple shared the secret of how to do this. Not a moment too soon -- we were soon at the steep downhill section of Ozbaldy and I put the newly found knowledge to the test. It works great! Michiko didn't use the tip on the way down but still managed to come down pretty quickly. We grooved on to the end of the course, a little later than expected. So we cruised downhill quickly to get back in time for the evening activities...
Jan 27, 2002 -- "Deer Creek....NO, Bandera Overlook" -- Our original plan to go up the Mountain Loop Highway was dashed by 2 or 3 inches of snow in our neighborhoods. We finally salvaged an alternative -- we met at 1pm and went up to Bandera Overlook at Exit 45 off I-90. In attendance were Michiko, Jeffrey & Magali, and their friend. The Bandera Overlook route is listed as good in Jan/ Feb and it certainly delivered! There had been about 3 or 4 inches of snow during the last 24 hours and the conditions were great. The day was kinda cloudy, but occasional peekaboo views presented themselves on the slow and gradual ascent. We elected to take the flat trail up road 9031 instead of the steep uphill of road 9030. Most of the snowshoers had gone the other way so we found the trail a bit smoother. We were playing with the new walkie talkies I got for Christmas when I heard some yelling nearby. A snowshoer and his wife had lost their dog -- a deer had appeared and the dog chased after it down a steep slope. They'd been looking for the dog for 1/2 hour when we arrived to no avail and the poor woman was close to tears. We assured them we'd keep an eye out for the dog, and continued up trail whistling occasionally. Sadly, we did not find the dog. (Not sure if they did either -- we did not see those people again.) At this point there was only the track of a couple skiers ahead of us, and we relished the climb. Magali and Jeffrey got into occasional snowball fights, and we reluctanctly turned around at 4pm. We had a nice slow cruise downhill, got down to the car by 4:30ish and made a stop to get some lukewarm chocolate (temperature not by choice!) and pastries in North Bend.
Jan 21, 2002 -- "Unofficial Lake Wenatchee" -- Well, I was occupied by a dance weekend so didn't get around to skiing until Monday. Luckily my friend Jeff was off that day so we headed up Sunday afternoon to stay at a friend's mountain cabin. We had just survived a tortuous trip over Steven's Pass in the evening, only to get stuck in the driveway. So we reluctantly got the chains back on the car and dug our way out. Next day we did a couple quick trips to Lake Wenatchee State Park. Tamara came with us to explore the north loop. None of us had ever been there, and we enjoyed a nice hour on the trail. Luckily we went clockwise - which was wise considering the HUGE HILL we came across. We climbed up carefully and gazed back behind us... what a monster! Next it was Tamara's turn to watch the kids, so Bjarne joined us in the south part of the park. We did another hour loop, crossing the road 3 times (but not removing our skis!) All in all, a gorgeous day with blue skies, fresh snow and nicely groomed trails!
Jan 5, 2002 -- "The Other Side of Cabin Creek" -- Me, Corinne, Linda, Marla and newcomer Amy decided to explore a trail next to the parking lot of the Cabin Creek Snow Park. It was a gray day as we started, with occasional snow flurries. I had a new pair of walkie talkies I got for Christmas to try out, and I handed one to Linda. A light dusting of snow was on the trail as we started, which gave us some traction. On the way there was a little side trail that said "Stampede Pass Snow Park -- 2 miles." It looked more like a snowshoe trail, so we passed it by. There was a nice hill cruise on the way down, and about 1 mile later we ended up in another Snow Park parking lot. (Just down the road from the main lot.) So we reversed direction and went back to the start, then took off the skis and walked across the bridge to the main section of the park. At the entrance there was a woman from the Konigsberger Ski Club, which originally started grooming Cabin Creek back in the 1950s. She pointed out that they even had a lodge nearby, and offered us hot chocolate -- we said we'd wait till later. We skied up the side trail to the junction with the road. At that point we realized we'd dropped one of the walkie talkies. So I skied back and did a little bushwhacking to get back to the trail, and entered the trail just as another skier picked up the lost unit. I got it from him and went to join Corinne at the junction. By this time Linda and crew had made it to a junction and they took the Viking trail to the right. At this point we lost contact with them -- beyond the range apparently. So we started skiing the same trail to catch up, taking shortcuts wherever possible. A familiar-looking stranger at the first shortcut said they'd just been by 15 minutes ago, so we redoubled our efforts. A couple of shortcuts later we managed to reconnect. The stranger was also there, and he turned out to be the former owner of Wilderness Sports, which just went out of business around Dec. 1. He said there has been a downward trend in sales that unfortunately worsened in September. He kindly answered a few ski questions for us before we continued along the Berg trail. Corinne and I were behind the main group, so we decided to take another shortcut and head 'em off at the pass. Unfortunately, they took a shortcut of their own and headed back down the road while we finished the Berg course. We waited on the top of a hill for a little while before Linda filled us in. We cruised back and managed to arrive at the hot chocolate station about 15 minutes too late! Mebbe next time...
Dec 16, 2001 -- "Two with a 'Brolly'" - Me and Michiko were the only two who showed up this week. The weather was quite rainy at the Park and Ride, and was expected to be so in the mountains as well. However, we wanted to make sure Michiko got use out of her ski rental, so we headed up anyway into the clouds. We arrived at Cabin Creek and as we put our boots on the rain stopped. For the first half hour there was occasional drizzle, but for the most part it was somewhat dry. However, when we had gotten up the road all the way it briefly poured on us. We decided to come back at that point, and headed back along the nicely slick trail. A short trip, but not too bad, considering...
Dec 9, 2001 -- "Demo Day" - Me, Corinne, Sybille and Michiko met at the Park & Ride and decided to take one car up to the Pass. Since it was Demo Day and we could get free rentals, we decided to leave our skis behind in the other car. We drove up to the Snoqualmie Nordic Center and looked for skis. Unfortunately by our arrival time things had been picked over. We could not find skate ski boots that fit, so reluctantly went for regular cross country skis. Poor Corinne has a popular boot size so had to wait about 15 minutes until someone returned her size boot. The snow was coming down wet and light. In the meantime, the rest of us went up to the Lodge to get Michiko started getting the feel of the skis. (It was her first cross country ski trip.) Sybille and Michiko made the climb up the hill to get to trail #17 while I waited for Corinne. We converged at the top and started down the trail. We hadn't gone far when Corinne decided to turn around to get back for the skate ski lesson at 1pm. The other 3 continued up the trail until we got to the juncture of trail #16. (See map) Michiko was making amazing progress for a beginner and we were making excellent time. After a short snack stop, during which we watched a few folks come sailing down the hill from #16, we started back. I took the lead, trying to get back in time to meet Corinne after the lesson but try as I might I couldn't go fast enough. I was 20 minutes late with aching muscles, so decided to head into the Lodge to wait for everyone. It wasn't long before Corinne arrived, followed close behind by Sybille and Michiko. Corinne had to get back early, but the other 2 joined me at Far Far's Ice Cream shop in Issaquah for some exotic flavors. (Make mine sesame and ginger!)
Dec 1, 2001 -- "The Iron Horse Rides Again!" - Cyndy, Chad, Linda, Naomi and Marielle joined me for the first ski of the season on the Iron Horse Trail. I had heard there had been some recent heavy snow, but I wasn't quite prepared for the depth of snow on the trail! There was about 2 feet of snow, and to make matters worse the snow groomers did not take care of the trail. (Grooming, at least on Snoqualmie, starts Dec. 15.) Luckily a few skiers had gone ahead of us and broken a rut through the snow on that incredibly flat trail, so we followed and refined it. Half the way along we even started a second trail which other skiers expanded after us so that our way back gave us a choice of good trails. We had a nice glide out past the lake, with occasional snow showers and drops of water. Me and Chad tested out his new walkie talkies -- I'm sure Ski Patrol thought we were blooming idiots if they overheard our chatter. One of us (no names, please!) had about 5 falls and we made a point of celebrating the later ones. We stopped a few miles down the trail for a stand-up lunch, just as the rain started falling more seriously. Luckily it was still a light rain and we managed to get back to the cars without getting too soaked. We decided to find the new Krispy Kreme donut shop in Issaquah. After fighting the legendary Issaquah traffic, we found the impossibly busy store but elected to patronize a nearly empty Starbucks 1 block away... ah, that caramel apple cider!
LAST YEAR (Winter 2000 - 2001) -- We went to lots of places almost every weekend. For chronicles of our 2000-2001 adventures, check this page.