Dog Days 19, 20, 21 -- 4/23-25/2011

YOU CAN’T TAKE your dog into a restaurant, grocery store, or barber shop.  But the good news is that, in many areas, you can take your dog skiing!

[mason, solar engineer]

With vast amounts of snow heaped all over the western mountains, skiing is stellar, and the exceptional conditions should continue into the summer months.  (Note: Mammoth is talking about a twelve-month season.)  Though Brad and I haven’t skied together since his move to Alameda in late January, we hooked up for a three-day Easter exploratory trip to the western Sierras.  (My Sierra experience, though considerable, is limited to the “east side”.)

Carson Pass, southeast of Tahoe, is a hugely popular backcountry destination, with a vast selection of world class peaks and descents.  We had the good luck to hook up with a veteran of the region, Mason Terry, a solar engineer from Palo Alto, who provided great route finding and beta.  An additional benefit was his dog Kali, a robust Chow-Lab mix who jaunted ahead of us on the uptrack,

[kali, hardy mountain guide]

and dashed downslope with the glee of any true-blue shredder.  For a twelve-year-old (82 in human years), Kali proved to be a hearty and inexhaustible alpinist, usually jaunting ahead and turning back, wondering why we were such slowpokes.

Brad’s dog, Luke, was along for the weekend.  But on a past trip a few years ago out of Utah’s Amerian Fork, Luke struggled in the breakable crust and Brad was concerned if he was suitably conditioned for the rigors of a long day at
high altitude.  So Luke stayed behind for our second day in the cabin at Sorenson’s Resort. (A plug here for the wonderful hospitality and great food at this little cabin enclave 15 miles east of the Kirkwood.)

[kali leads to summit]

So Sunday, with Kali leading the way with the keen route finding acumen of a seasoned alpine guide, we climbed Steven’s Peak -- no relation, though I did feel a sense of kinship after two creamy powder runs from the 10,000 foot summit.

[first turns off mt. stevens]

Monday was our getway day and Brad decided to give Luke a tryout in the relatively mellow terrain east of Red Lake  -- mellow in the sense that this would only rate a single black diamond at a regular ski resort.  Luke proved a natural mountaineer, bounding ahead, around, off into the trees, back down to reconnect.  If we traveled three miles, Luke probably covered three times that, investigating every scent, probing every stump and varmint hole.  He was in sensory nirvana, overwhelmed by an infinite palette of natural stimuli.

[dude, let's ski!]

At a rock-pile peak overlooking the east rim of Red Lake, he bounded up the wind-scoured rocks for his first alpine summit.  Then came the real fun – the plunge back down to the car.  Luke dove down the fall line, a true shredder, porpoising through the deep snow, hooked on the thrill of a steep and deep line through the trees.

Mountains seem a natural habitat for dogs, which reminds me a my climb of Pico Orizaba in Mexico.  On a training dash up Malinche (14,500), we were joined by a companion group of feral local dogs who happily guided the rugged talus route to the summit block.  They scrambled to the top for the meager reward of a piece of Power Bar or some sandwich scraps. But, equally I think, they simply appreciated
the amicable company of fellow high-altitude travelers.

It was a great intro day for Luke, and now that he has proven his chops, no doubt the first of many in coming seasons.  In sum, this was a great ski weekend in new terrain, gaining three new ski buds – Mason and Kali from Palo Alto, and Luke, the shredder dog.

Weekend's Vertical: 6,500                           Season to Date: 66,500