Yesterday afternoon I drove the 4-Runner a mile up to Four-points hoping to escape the dense frozen crust atop the snow on the valley floor.  It took nearly two hours to ski around the Aspen Ridge Loop because even at this higher elevation the snow was not forgiving. Though light beneath an icy scab, I had to step more than glide to break the rigid surface. Occasionally I would find stretches that hadn’t iced over and could move along through a foot of powdery whiteness at a decent pace, but mostly not.

Today I decided not to bother with a search for perfect powder. By late morning it had warmed considerably and the wind picked up. Bob opted to go with me so we snow shoed the Lower Loop route just to get in an hour of hard exercise, and then we headed back to Bend a day early.  The 4-Runner is filled to the brim with firewood rounds that Bob cut up yesterday. We put out a dozen bails of hay for Brumby. The feeders are brimming, dishes washed, carpet vacuumed. It has been a lovely, brief visit but the Internet isn’t working–again–so we need to get back to town, back to work, back to reality.