2012-01-27 Panorama Pt

Today I woke up to gloom. The ground was wet. It really did not look like a day to be up in the mountains. But the Weather Underground said that it was sunny. So we got ready to go, ate, diddled around around a bit and at 11 headed off to Grant's Grove. Steven drove up while I enjoyed the ride. The sky still looked dreary, but more like high overcast.

And then we got to the National Park border and poked through and the sky was pure blue with the sun shining. We stopped at the visitor center to find out about conditions on the Panorama Pt trail/road, but they did not have anything for us. So we ate lunch and headed off.

The snow was mostly good on the way up with a few icy spots. And even though this is the end of January, the snow is thin--in places we can see through the snow to the pavement. By Sunday, there should be many patches of ground showing through. But today, it is good. Only a few bare places. But there are four downed trees across the road, but they are easily skied over. The smell of fresh cedar is to be enjoyed.

The trip up is a lot more enjoyable than it was last year when we did this with David. Today we make good time and I only stop in a few places to get a few breaths. Am I in better shape? I do not think so. It may be just the cold weather last time got me tired enough that I needed to stop at the parking lot before Panorama Pt. But today the snow is not sticking, the air is fresh and clear and I am feeling great.

We make it to the point without incident and in good time--a little after two. And the view! Mountains are spectacularly clear. All peaks are in full view. Even the distant ones like Goddard. They make you want to go further in and further up. But this old body will need to go down soon. But we stay and enjoy the gaze. In the summer, there is too much smog and haze. In the winter, too many times the mountains are hidden by clouds. But today, today they are in full array with all of their snow topped beauty.

It is time to go back down. And it is not long before I have the first fall of the season. The sad part is that I was standing still, just eyeballing how to go down the 300 yards from Panorama Pt to the parking lot and I quickly found myself on the ground. It did not take long to get back up again.

Then skied the narrow trail, bounded by a cedar post fence almost down to the parking lot. I hit a patch of crusty snow and got concerned and fell--into a small patch of buck brush. Why there? Not much damage from the thorns, still a bit hurtful--why not crash a few feet further?

One of the great things about this ski trail is the accommodations--there is an open outhouse at the parking lot which we make use of. Then it is down the snow covered road. That is down around 900' of elevation drop over 2.6 miles. While not technically hard, I slow myself down instead of bombing down it like a skilled person would. Steven does a better imitation of a bomber. I will be sore tomorrow from doing a snow plow down the slope.

I do pretty good for myself on the way down, most of the time I was in control. But all in all, I had room to maneuver and it was on a road. Only fell one more time.

We get back to the car around 3:30 and head off to Foster Freeze in Fresno to enjoy a well deserved burger--and pick up Sherri who stayed home.