November 13, 2011

Trust the Trail

Skiing home in fading light with a toy-more-than-tool headlamp, had to trust it.  Trust the trail.  Trust the instinct. 

My instinct this morning wanted to ski the front range, but we couldn't find that consenus having set a path toward Turnagain Pass.  Doc, mw, blob and yours truly left a foot of fluff in Anchorage for Turnagain Pass.  We had our reasons, but the muttering about a failed intelligence test spoke of the morning vibe on Cornbiscuit where we found good visibility with glide crack slide debris, hollow convexities, and a steady breeze.  Snow in the alders was sweet, but we weren't feeling it and didn't lap it.  Hope for a different venue such as the trees of Tincan faded after finding about 100 cars in various pull-outs.

Ya gotta go to know.  And, the question of the fresh snow in the front range had to be answered.  Resetting after the morning episode, I donned lighter gear, and headed up Backdoor Trail to powder in the Wolverine hemlock.  Could barely find yesterday's track in the fresh foot of fluff.

It was inspirational:  chatting on the trail with neighbor skiers, telemarking in alpenglow powder, and following a trustworthy trail.

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