Adventure Woman gazes over the Little Lakes Valley toward Mt. Abbott. The hike to the snow pack was long, but it's always worth it!

Adventure Man leads the trek with his trusty whippet grip. Springtime is feigns winter, but Adventure Couple will not be daunted by idle threats of precipitation!

Spring delivers on its wintery threat, engulfing the terrain (and Adventure Couple) in large, lush snow flakes.

An ice ax comes in handy for self-belaying up steep, snow-covered mountainsides. Adventure Woman demonstrates the technique just above Ruby Lake.

The skis are on and Adventure Woman is on the skis! It's not quite Mt. Abbott, but it sure beats boot-hiking!

Adventure Couple has three Rules of Engagement when pursuing adventures. 1. Come back safe. 2. Come back friends and 3. Have fun. While we didn't make it to Mt. Abbott, we remained true to our rules. We had fun, came back safe and DEFINITELY came back friends! XOXOXO

With spring in full swing and romance in the air, we began our spring road trip with a visit to Las Vegas for Neil and Nancy's wedding. The last time we were in the Vegas area (at the Red Rocks Rendezvous), we avoided the ubiquitous I-15 Sunday traffic by taking a long, scenic drive through the Mojave desert. This time, however, we would escape the traffic by heading North and continuing onward towards adventure! It seemed like a fine excuse for a road trip.

Our Vegas experience began at The Mandalay Bay where we gathered with friends and family to witness and celebrate the love and marriage of Neil and Nancy. The ceremony was joyous and, in Vegas style, expeditious. A lovely dinner reception took place immediately following the ceremony at the Smith and Wollensky Steakhouse on The Strip. We very much enjoyed getting to know Neil and Nancy's families and the many friends we had not met before. Hugs and cheers you, Neil and Nancy! We wish you many happy years of marital bliss!

Wedding behind us, I continued my first-ever Vegas experience exploring the casinos along The Strip. I found it to be more than a little surreal. It was fun to spend time with my friends, have a few drinks and to forget about the "real world." I guess the unreality of the whole place is a big part of the appeal. However, the sense of disconnection with the real, the timelessness of windowless casinos and the constant assault of commerce wore me thin pretty quickly. On Monday morning, as we rolled North into the serene and open Nevada desert, I felt a strong sense of relief as I began to reconnect with the world. Give me the real, any day!

(click on any image for a larger view)

While most Southern Californian skiers have hung up their skiis for the season, AdventureCouple and other back country ski enthusiasts head for the corn-snow encrusted hills. This weekend was no exception--except for the fact that we didn’t exactly go into the back country. We went to Mammoth!

Conditions were VERY spring-like. Slushy on the bottom, but quite good on top. John and MaryAnn joined us on Saturday morning and we did a number of laps on the freshly-groomed, uncharacteristically velvety Cornice Bowl. Of course, we also made time to pose for a photo at the top of the gondola.

Due to limited lift operations, we put our legs to work and hiked up various parts of the mountain to access some our favorite descents—Paranoid 2, Dropout and our daily grand finale: the Avy I chute, which required a sloppy traverse across a slope of sun-cupped snow, tree branches, dirt and rock, followed by a ten-minute boot hike up Lincoln Mountain. The snow was sheer poetry under foot--except for the tree top that Brian clipped as he was dropping into the Avy chute on Sunday! Although he bruised his ankle (and ego?)his graceful recovery enabled him to descend the chute in good form!

Each day ended with cocktails and dinner with John and MaryAnn, our favorite Bishop Inn keepers! AdventureCouple has never had it so good!

In fact, when you need a beautiful floral or gift arrangement for someone, be sure to order from MaryAnn's business, ALPINE FLORAL DESIGN. Her creations are stunning! Email her at alpinefloraldesign@yahoo.com or call her at (760) 937-5354. She really knows how to deliver!

If you've read the previous entries, you already know that Southern California is not just about the bleach-blonde silicon sisters of Baywatch. It's a land of mountains. As the warmth of spring begins to toast the backcountry ski runs in the San Gabriels, AdventureCouple's thoughts turn to climbing. What better way to kick back on sunny spring afternoon than to pull some granite on the high boulders of Horse Flats.

Hiking up the approach trail, I noticed a lot more mountain bike tracks than the last time I was there. It looks like a pretty good run in the opposite direction...noted for the future! As we approached our chosen boulder (an easy one!) we spied a party of three at work on its face. We joined the group, and began to trade encouragement, crash pads, spots and copious beta. In that way, bouldering is at the opposite end of the climbing social spectrum from alpinism. Good. A friendly, fun afternoon of digit dangling and heel hooking was just what we were looking for.

Greg hookin' the heel

After we each had a bunch of tries on the nearby problems, our fingers were toast so we headed back down for dinner at a local classic, Newcomb's Ranch. A resturant/bar has operated at that remote site on the Angeles Crest Highway since 1936. The land is a historic inholding of the Newcomb family from the turn of the 20th century and before that was the stomping grounds of famous bandit Tiburcio Vasquez. Newcomb's is a also popular gathering place for motorcycle riders on the weekends. On our way to Horse Flats fifty bikes or so were out front; on our way home most were gone. Just as well, we got to enjoy a good, hearty meal and our local Craftsman microbrew in quiet serenity of that historic site. I love my local mountains!

AdventureCouple in full-on relaxation mode

Certainly by now, you must be wondering, doesn’t AdventureCouple ever rest? Well, the answer is YES!

AdventureCouple just spent a relaxing weekend in the beautiful desert paradise of Borrego Springs with a varied and vivacious crowd of cohorts in relaxation and revelry.

The weekend was spent mosaic painting, cooking, dancing, drinking frozen margaritas (yes, there was a frozen margarita machine!) and socializing. Things got interesting on Saturday when the wind came up and turned the desert plain into a swirling, glittery, snow (dust?) globe. We spent most of the day in the shelter of the geodesic camp dome and strolling around wearing playa goggles.

After a great potluck dinner, the dome transformed as the thumping dance beats echoed into the night. We howled at the full moon and let the music move us. Great new friends shared their spirit and kept us charged up into the wee hours.

Sunday offered the same torrential kaleidescope of golden, glittery dust eddies, so we all packed up and went to breakfast at the Red Ocotillo in Borrego Springs and then headed home.

It was fun watching the fire spinning until it got too windy!

Because hiking up snow-covered mountains and skiing down untamed slopes of “shredable gnar,” can be dangerous to the untrained adventurer, AdventureCouple thought it would be wise to enroll in a three-day Avalanche Training course to ensure many happy returns to and from the many backcountry ski destinations in AdventureCouple’s future.

AdventureCouple summoned a small group of back country enthusiasts from the CalTech Alpine Club to participate in the clinic presented by Sierra Mountain Guides, an exceptional mountaineering outfit run out of Bishop and June Lake. The class was taught by Peter Leh, a visiting guide with wealth of experience and a great teaching style

Day one, Friday, April 11, was a particularly special day as it was AdventureMan’s 41st birthday. After a full day of lectures in the Mammoth Ski Museum and field work in the Mammoth Scenic Loop area, AdventureWoman took AdventureMan out for a romantic dinner at Nevado’s where they indulged superb culinary delights, cocktails and wine.

The highlight of Day Two was an avalanche simulation at Lake Mary where a number of avalanche transceivers were buried deep beneath the snow while clinic participants used their newly acquired search skills and beacons to locate the transceivers and dig them out within a limited time period.

Day Three was spent hiking up the Airport Chutes near Convict Lake, evaluating snow conditions and conducting a Rutschblock Test as an exercise to confirm our assessment of snow conditions.

We crested the ridge to find stunning views of Mt. Morrison and skied down the chute all the way to the end of the line where snow met brush. After hiking back to the car, we reviewed our test, enjoyed a beer and headed for home fully Avalanche Level I certified.

AdventureCouple would like to thank JOHN MAIR and MARY ANN LEYEN for the luxury accommodations and exceptional company in beautiful Bishop.

AdventureMan is awake now. Several cups of coffee downed (plus a back-up drip from Starbuck’s), he is primed for the day’s adventure. AdventureMan takes full command of the Rav4 as he navigates the serpentine Angeles Forest Highway that is leading AdventureCouple to the magical mount that both captured and ignited AdventureMan’s passion for backcountry skiing. We are returning to The Source. We are returning to Baden Powell.

We arrive at the trailhead at two minutes past 9 a.m. We are a few minutes ahead of Alan and Spencer, the two Baden Powell zealots who introduced AdventureMan to a world in which one can only achieve glory by rhythmically and determinedly kicking steps one after the next into steep, snow-covered slopes while wearing big, clunky boots and shouldering one’s skis and equipment upon one’s back.

Alan and Spencer pull into the parking lot. This is AdventureWoman’s debut with the Boys of Baden Powell. She is under scrutiny. She has been told they are fast. They will not wait. They will RUN up the mountain laughing. AdventureWoman will not be left in the dust. She is ready. She will suck up the cold, dry, oxygen-starved air and charge to the top with them. The Boys of Baden Powell will NOT get away.

AdventureWoman is fortunate. The BP Boys do not get away today. Although, AdventureMan easily runs up and down the slope barely breaking a sweat to position himself for taking photos and movies of the rest of us as I suck wind and kick my toes upward toward the summit. But he ultimately makes AdventureWoman look good on camera this time, so she forgives him for this.
Greg says: I was sucking wind, too and sweating like a pig!

We make only two short stops to shed extra clothing and fuel up before reaching the summit. It is a gorgeous spring day as we stand on the peak that is bejeweled by a glistening morning sun and an endless blue sky. We have arrived. And there is a picture-perfect East-facing gully that beckons us. We quickly gulp some lunch and then it’s time to heed the call of the gully.

Alan drops in first—a telemarking wonder. Then AdventureMan. AdventureWoman follows. Then Spencer. We revel in the soft, swishy corn snow, elated until it bottoms out. Then begins the climb back up to the summit. It is longer and steeper than it appeared on the way down. We decide that one run on the East Side was enough. We still get to ski all the way down the mountain, ending big on the Angeles Crest Highway. It's one more great run and that’s good enough for us.