It was a dark and cold night. The temperature was in the 20s as we left the lowlands around 7:30pm. Moonlight glittered on the snowy trees and distant peaks as we rode up to Snoqualmie Pass, producing a magical glow. By the time we got to the Pass the temperature on the road signs read 11 degrees, but it had "warmed up" to a mere 13 as we took the Hyak exit to get to the trailhead of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail at Iron Horse State Park. To our surprise, there were a couple other cars in the lot belonging to other skiers. Pleasantly, the heated bathrooms were open (well, one out of 6 was) so we took a moment to bask in the heat before hitting the trail. I could tell already that my normal ski pants -- lightweight water-resistant hiking pants from REI -- were not going to be enough to keep me from feeling the bite of a cold wind. My toes were a little cold as we started and my fingers already felt chilly. By the time we'd skied 1/8 of a mile I had to stop and breathe on my fingers to avoid frostbite. Luckily the wind died down when we went behind some trees. We saw a couple of headlamps coming towards us and said hello to a couple other skiers heading back. My fingers didn't get any warmer, and at the halfway point Vince lent me a spare pair of thinsulate gloves that made all the difference in the world. The deep snow glittered in the light of the full moon, and off the waters of Lake Keechelus. It was so bright I didn't need a headlamp at all. A mile or so across the lake we could see occasional headlights on I-90. After an hour of skiing on the frigid trail we were more than happy to return to the car. There was eerily almost no traffic on the road except for a few truckers until we hit Issaquah.
Sorry, no pictures this time.
1/20/08 -- Lake Easton State Park -- With Me, Angie, Vince and Dellanie
What a great day to start out the ski season! We got an early start (early for us anyway) and met at the Preston Park & Ride by 9:45am. It was already full of cars. We wondered if it's (a) the cost of gas encouraging carpooling, (b) more people going skiing, (c) the extra snow bringing more people out. We finally agreed it was probably a mix of all three.
We had orginally planned to go to Cabin Creek but decided to go to Lake Easton instead. We arrived to find only a few other cars in the parking lot and got out on our skis quickly. I saw a snow groomer go by, but he only groomed a small part of the entrance path. The groomed track turned to the left and headed into the campground, though we saved that loop for later. (I've never seen that short loop groomed before.) Coming downhill I got to practice my skate skiing technique -- none too easy on regular skis! -- but gave up by the time we headed across the bridge next to the lake. Then it was on up a short hill to head for Frozen Toe Point. Vince and I took a short detour to do an intermediate loop and had fun coming down. We bailed on the end of it, though, in favor of catching up with our group. We were then overtaken by the groomer, which made the snow 'not as good' in Vince's book. "Iron Legs" Angie then led us at Olympic speed to the point, where we snarfed down Clif bars, apples, etc. A couple came skiing up to the end and, not content to stop there, the guy started crossing the closed bridge. There was 4 feet of snow on top of it, and he soon gave up and returned. We headed back at a pretty good clip to the parking lot, stopping to do the campground loop first. We were driving back over the Pass at 1:30, so decided to delay our return with a stop at the Scandinavian bakery in North Bend. We all had a light lunch and lots of goodies (we're entitled after our workout!) before leaving. The conversation in the car was so enjoyable that Vince missed the exit to the parking lot so we looped back and ended the day, exhausted but stimulated.
