The day after Christmas we left for a 6-day ski trip. The plan was to ski at Snoqualmie Pass, spend the night in Cle Elum, backcountry ski at Blewett Pass, the go to our friends' cabin between Naches and White Pass (west of Yakima), then spend the remainder of our time with Ward at his family's condo at White Pass. We intended to ski inbounds, backcountry ski in the Goat Rocks area, and I brought my cross country skis to ski the groomed tracks at White Pass.
Plans change, of course. We skied at Snoqualmie, which had surprisingly good snow for a low elevation ski area. The base of the ski area is 3000', which just might be the lowest ski area in the country, or at least on the western side of the country. I'm not sure about that so don't quote me. The point is that the ski area is low elevation and often the conditions are less than ideal. The groomed runs were packed powder and we found little powder stashes off to the sides of the groomed areas, especially in the steeper parts. I felt like I skied like a rock star of skiing and we had a great time.
The motel in Cle Elum gave us a hard time about using some credit card reward points to pay for the room but a couple phone calls straightened that out. We ate dinner at a place in Cle Elum we had driven by lots of time but never stopped. It was their last week in business as a restaurant before transforming into a casino. Oh well, the steak was perfect.
The next morning we drove up to Blewett Pass for our backcountry ski day but quite honestly have had so much fun skiing inbounds that in the parking area we made a snap decision to keep driving up to Mission Ridge. The skiing there was also excellent and the sun was shining and the wind was calm. We found lots of powder stashes just by hiking a ways to the right, to the left. Hiking while wearing clothes designed for staying warm on the chair lift is hot and exhausting but the thrill of skiing fresh powder fed our enthusiasm for the hikes.
From there we drove into Wenatchee to grocery shop for the rest of the week then drive on to the cabin west of Naches. It was a long drive, 150 miles. More than we had expected. The dark and fog over Manastash Pass on Hwy 82 was slightly terrifying. With no tail lights in front to serve as a guide, I drove 50 mph until a truck passed me. Then I stuck close to those tail lights. Thankfully it wasn't freezing fog. We arrived at the cabin just in time for dinner.
The next day Randy skied in the morning with the men-folk and I stayed cozy in the cabin with the women-folk and the two couples' 4 children. After lunch it was our turn to ski while the women-folk turned over the children to their men-folk. Randy skied with us all afternoon.
That evening we moved into Ward's condo and settled in for the remainder of the year. We skied inbounds during the day, finding powder stashes every day and returning to groomed runs when our legs became quaky. Apres ski Randy and Ward rode fat bikes on the cross country trails while I skied a lap around "Leech Lake", which supposedly has good fishing in the summer. Skiing in the dark is peaceful and beautiful.
The next day we did the same thing. No ambition to explore the backcountry although the open slopes in the distance were enticing. I skied the cross country trails a little earlier and found it less peaceful. The skate skiers (I'm a class skier) zip by wearing lycra, while I scooch along on my long skis. I'm not efficient at cross country skiing so I truly enjoy skiing by myself. When the sun went down the skate skiers left and I had the trails to myself.
New Years Eve arrived and we repeated the routine of skiing inbounds. By then it was day 6 of skiing for us so our legs were wobbly. We didn't feel like doing the extra credit activities in the evening so we got ready for the festivities. People who know Ward dropped by the condo in waves. We went to the crowded bar for a beer then left Ward to his acquaintances. Randy and I went back to the condo to drink a couple celebratory glasses of wine, play cribbage and enjoy each other's company. We actually managed to stay awake until midnight and beyond. It was a good year.
The next day we thought we might ski at Snoqualmie again on the way home but when we got to the pass the parking lots were full and the top of the chairlifts were fogged in. We had had way too many good days of skiing to cap off the trip with crowded, low visibility skiing so we called it god and went home. We agreed that this had been one of our best vacations. Here are the photos.