The weather looked iffy this weekend and this was going to be our consolation prize to see how far we got depending on how we felt and what conditions were. But it turned out to be a stunning day and perhaps our best day at Muir!
We arrived in the Paradise parking lot just before 7am to get a front-row parking spot and took off shortly after. The snow is continuous from the lot, so it was skinning all the way. We had some issues getting up to the Panorama Point area - it was steep and icy with no dedicated skin track. Ski crampons were very helpful but ultimately we had to boot pack the top half of it. A couple brave and talented skinning souls were able to make it up on skis but the majority of people we saw were booting.
From here it was pretty much continuous snow, minus a very small carry section over a few rocks. Oh, and fresh powder! A glorious couple of inches made for soft, smoothing skinning. Things got slightly wind scorn and icy in the 700 or so feet below camp. There were just a handful of other groups at the camp and on the way up.
We transitioned and started our descent and the sun had baked the snow just right. An amazing ride down. Then we found all the people! A big conga line coming up. We were very happy to go when we did, especially because snow conditions were starting to deteriorate on the lower half past noon. We made it back through the mashed potatoes and back down to the lot where it was an absolute zoo. We sat in the back of the car letting our feet dry and eating some snacks while we watched cars and tourists buzz around before heading out.
Comments