Riley Creek Ski

Last weekend I went on my first good ski trip of the year. It was a quick one compared to the 8 day tour of last March, yet it turned out to be even more ambitious.

Alex, Elizabeth, Jori, Corrie, Dan, and I set out to ski up Riley Creek, over Windy Pass, and down Winy Creek to the town of Cantwell, stopping to overnight at 2 backcountry cabins along the way. Our first day was a tough 10 miles or so to Riley Creek cabin. The snow was deep and sugary and the 7.5 hour effort was enough for us to reconsider whether we wanted to attempt the pass, which would be steeper, longer, and likely deeper in snow. That night while sipping our hot chocolate, we decided we would turn it around and head back out the next day. The trip out was all down river and only took 5 hours, leaving pleanty of time for pizza and beer at the Totem!

I promise that was only a minor factor in our decision...

It was a fun overnight though, and we had some nice clear and sunny days.

In two weeks I will be volunteering on a crew to fly in and set up the climbing base camp on Mt. McKinley. It will be 4 days of shoveling snow and hauling gear at 7500'. My heart rate and the scenery should both be spectacular. Watch out for pictures!

We like to wear green.

Dan punched through the frozen creek, but his feet stayed dry.

At Riley Creek Cabin, built by the CCC in 1931.

Skiing across the lake on the way back.

Frostyface '09!