We woke to a winter wonderland right here in Bend. It snowed seven inches during the night and then the storm passed leaving perfection in its wake. To take full advantage of a big snow in town we decided to drive across town to ski in Shevlin Park. Used to be very few people skied at Shevlin, even with tons of snow in town, but the past few years more and more people have discovered it makes for a lovely outing when the snow is deep enough. To beat the crowd and to get first tracks we left the house at 7:30 AM, and arrived at the park ten minutes later. We were disappointed to discover there was very little new snow on the west side of town, maybe three inches, and that a number of others had skied in Shevlin Park yesterday, and several were already skiing before us. In fact the skiing was just plain bad and the wind made us bitterly cold so as soon as the dogs pooped in the sagebrush meadow we all went home feeling dejected

 

I broke away from my writing shortly after 2 PM to get out for another ski. With so much new powder on the east side of Bend. I could see the next storm moving in across the Cascades so I opted to drive 25 miles east into the desert, and then up onto Pine Mountain, which is kind of a magical place that features draws and side-hills thick with old growth Ponderosas. It’s also the home of Pine Mountain Observatory. 

 

This was my first trip to Pine Mountain this year and I opted to take a different road than I’ve ever skied on before.  The snow was less than a foot deep and pretty wind packed but I still had a nice time. At first only sagebrush and some junipers kept me company but the forest service road I was on pushed steadily uphill and a mile or so later I got into the old growth Ponderosa Pines that I so love to ski with. Sage and bitterbrush was scattered throughout the forest and there were thick batches of Lodgepole Pines as well. I remarked to myself on several occasions that this was the landscape I most love to ski in. Of course it looks just like the hills and valley around Aspen Ridge Ranch so it is no wonder.  It only took 30 minutes to get down the hill. It had been pretty steep climbing for cross country skies, which made the return trip fast and fun. I mostly just focused on my balance and let gravity take me home.  Unfortunately the sun had set, clouds and wind moved in forcefully, and without the exertion of skiing hard I got chilled to the bone.