Rock Creek Lake Road

We skied five miles up the Rock Creek Lake Road (Tom's Place on 395..) between Mono and Inyo Counties today. In the morning the road was icy. It was a haul to crunch up the road, planting each foot, relying on balance and fish scales and the bumpy texture of old snow so each step wouldn’t mean a slide backwards. I have to stop often to replenish the air in my lungs which makes it so Michael has to wait for me a lot. He has skied in the back country of all these canyons but he is patient with moving slowly up the road.
Coming back in the late afternoon it was starting to ice up again, going from mushy comfortable conditions as soon as shade hit the road. The shade was from old Juniper and pines… more ancient beauty to appreciate. Snow is in a constant state of change depending on the sun, wind and temperature and we had a day of it being brilliant and very mellow skiing back down the road but it’s melting in torrents with rivulets of water swelling all the little streams.
More sun and warmth are predicted.