Sharatin with Nora and Andy

Finally on snow!  It took over an hour and a half just to reach the snow

We just finished an incredibly busy and sun-blasted weekend.  We started with a backyard fire pit barbecue on Friday night.  Adults sat by the fire while a pack of kids roamed the neighborhood.  Then on Saturday and Sunday I took the kids skiing.  First Nora on Saturday and then to make it fair - Stuey on Sunday.  Phewwww but I am tired, and so are the kids.

Both ski trips were epic and I was lucky to have a friend accompany me on each one.  Kids just seem to do better and go further when there is a non-family member along.  On Saturday my friend Andy S came along.  We hiked up Sharatin Mountain from the trail at the end of the road at Small Creek.  It has a fairly gentle incline and is shaded by spruce forest.  But low incline also means LONG - we had to hike more than 2 miles before we even got to the snow.

Nora was in Heaven and had a smile on her face the whole.  She just loved all the snow, and tells me that after the ski, when she was trying to get to sleep, she was sad thinking about all the snow melting and going away.  A daughter after my own heart!

The sun was so bright on the snow it was like a radar dish.  Nora was very good about the sunglasses and used copious amounts of sunscreen.  We toured over and checked out Shelly Lake.  This is the usual destination for the trail we used.  But we kept on going and toured around the big bowl until we got up onto the summit ridge - just 300 feet or so below the summit but still a 1/3 of a mile away.  We ate lunch and Nora had a nap.

Then it was time to go home.  Whoooo wheeeee - we got to ski for 2 miles.  Just coasting along in the sunshine with very little work.  And then all the gear went into the packs and we were back a foot - wending our way through the spruce forest down to the car.  Long Day!
Patrick

Look where we are!

Andy and Nora above Shelly Lake

Shelly Lake - Whoooo Hoooo

Climbing up the big bowl at such a low incline that Nora and I did not even need to use climbing skins - the fish scales worked fine

On the summit ridge

Andy rips it

Nora ripping part of a 2 mile long ski

We started up there!

Still not done!

End of the snow - at the end of the tongue of white it was time to start hiking

Finally back at the car after a 5 hour tour!