Table Mountain - almost

Tried to go up Table today but was twarted by a couple of factors: Late start, friend's frozen pipes at home (cause of the late start), ungroomed ski from the winter trailhead to the base of the climb that took longer than expected, and LOTS of deep, untracked snow to climb through. I am exhausted. But in a good way. And I doubt there is a more complete workout than what we did today. After the past few weeks, I needed it.

Skiing off into the sunset

Bliss

Down lower, the snow started to get heavier and thinner. So did the trees and willows. We had to pick our line down very carefully and never really felt completely safe until we were back at the summer trailhead. I happened to be on the receiving end of the two most noteworthy incidents. Finding the slope's biggest hidden rock garden and taking a scrubby aspen square between the legs. Luckily, I was able to push it mostly down and out of harm's way. Sheesh. The risks involved with trying to take a few early season turns...

We didn't make it to the top, but we were able to partake of the slope's best snowfields which, other than being a bit thin in spots, actually held pretty decent snow. Don't know if I'm gonna make it up Table this month. I haven't yet and I only have two more available days to do it.