Powder Finger

Our bed was perhaps the most comfortable ‘hotel’ bed ever – a queen size pillow top mattress. I slept fairly well but still was bothered by my injured right shoulder. I rolled out of bed at 615a and headed towards the attached bathroom in total darkness so not to disturb Mindy. I had all of my running gear placed strategically in a bathroom drawer so I could be as stealthy as possible. And since Tom S. was bedding in the livingroom, it was even more important that I move about quietly. Much like a super hero, I emerged from the bathroom fully dressed in my running attire. I grabbed my door card and headed out the door. It snowed overnight but only about another inch of fluff. The sky was just beginning to brighten revealing clear skies overhead. Gorgeous! The scenery gave me goose bumps as I wound my way around the resort forging a path not previously traveled. I ran for about 30 minutes best guess. I worked up a good sweat, too, on the uphill/downhill terrain. The condo was still dark and quiet upon my return. It wasn’t long, however, before both Tom & Tommy were up and stirring. I started some coffee while the others woke. Once Tom S was fully awake I opened the window blinds looking out over the sun splashed mountains. Awesome view. In the course of the next hour everyone showered and enjoyed some of the breakfast strada that Glenn made specifically for our trip. All we had to do was nuke it. Besides me, I can’t remember who did and didn’t shower. What was most important was that everyone was ready to roll by 915a. We nervously headed toward Bachelor, which Glenn estimated another 13 miles up the highway. And since they don’t salt their highways, the going was a little slick, and only got slicker as we got closer. It was more like 15 miles up the road, but no biggie. During the winter months, the highway deadends into the Mt Bachelor Ski resort. Nothing short of breath taking! A blue-bird ski day ahead. Looking out over the Butte one could see the swirling trails left behind by powder skiers. What wasn’t immediately apparent was just how deep. It took a while for everyone to gear up. Brother Tommy had to get rentals. We were on our way up the Pine Martin lift at 10-1015a. Not bad! There wasn’t much of a line at all initially, but it was building as we made our initial ascent. On our initial ascent and then again at the top, we met folks that recommended Scalon's as a dinner destination , a fine restaurant in Bend. Mindy eventually would use her smart phone to make a dinner reservation for 8p. Everybody agreed to take a leisurely green run so we could get our ski legs. Glenn served as our trail guide. Yikes! Unless I’m mistaken, we did two fairly easy runs, and both were fun, just the right amount of exhilaration mixed with groomed powder. Glenn suggested Coffee Run next for He, Mindy & I. It's a blue trail and just east of the Pine Martin lift. Glenn suggested we cut straight across from the top of the lift to the start of the trail. Easy enough, right? Off I went down the slight slope towards the trails head. It was pretty much virgin powder, probably knee deep. I simply leaned back on my skis and cruised to the trail's head. Mindy soon followed, but didn't fair so well. Having no experience with powder, she bit it close to the cut over's end going completely head over heels. It looked like an easy fall, and the snow was deep and powdery, but then again, she did go head over heels. She wasn't very happy and said she hit her head. She blamed both Glenn and I for leading her into dangerous territory. I didn't agree, but let her rip into me a little. We proceeded to the real run - Coffee. Something I see very clearly in Mindy, once she's pissed or frustrated skiing, she doesn't ski well until she regroups or gets beyond it. Well, let's just say that Coffee, typically a blue cruiser, was more like a black diamond with all its powdery moguls. She struggled mightily and was slow getting down the run. I stopped every 100 yards or so to wait her arrival. She proceeded slowly and carefully, falling maybe twice. Perhaps the biggest hurdle of all was her negative disposition. Towards the run's end, I could see that she was growing more frustrated. I spotted a groomed trail to our immediate west. The only problem was that it required us to navigate a mogully black diamond off-shoot to get there. But given that our run was mogully too, it measured it indifferent. I caught an earful for that too, but still figured it the quickest, easiest way to end her misery. She made it down without falling but side stepped (slid) most of the way. Of course Glenn had skied on long before. He was nowhere to be found, so only I was left to catch Mindy's seething wrath. Mindy finally let go. We skied Thunderbird (the only blue groomer we could see) and right below the Pine Martin lift for the next hour or so. Mindy's attitude turned around in a hurry. We were having a nice time on Thunderbird. During one particular run down we happened upon a snow boarder from California who had just fallen. We stopped to check on him. Said he separated his shoulder and needed help. Was able to pop it back in but refused to board any further. Wanted a snow mobile rescue. His girlfriend skied on to get help while Mindy and I hung back with him until the help arrived. Took a while. A safety patrol eventually skied up with a pull behind sled. Once he had things under control, Mindy & I skied on. We all agreed to meet at the mid-mountain Pine Martin lodge @1230p. To that end, everyone was on hand and on time. Sadly though, the Pine Martin upstairs lodge wasn't open. Not sure why. We opted to ski down to the lower lodge bar. And given that it was the only open bar, it was crowded. Our persistence paid off, however, and we found a table upstairs. There we ordered a couple pitchers of Mirror Pond Pale Ale and eventually some food - Asiago spinach dip & a plate of nachos. We spent a little more than an hour drinking and eating. And given that the ski day on Bachelor ends at 4p, I had my eye toward the clock the entire time. We headed back out to ski at 145p. Mindy suggested that Glenn and I ski together while she headed off with Tommy & Tom. After lunch we skied over to the western side of the mountain - Northwest & Outback Express lifts. There we skied Leeway, Kangaroo, and Melbourne runs, all fun blue runs. The afternoon flew by. It was 4p before I knew it. I could've skied longer, but admittedly, my legs were fatigued from a day's worth of technical skiing. We met at the minivan at 410p and headed back to our condo. The road was slick but not ridiculous. We returned to the condo by 5p. Mindy went straight for a nap while the rest of us suited up for the hot tub. I asked Mindy two times if she cared to join us. She did not. We headed over without her. We spent about an hour in the hot tub. Nice! Back in the condo we all agreed on dinner in town, but not the fancy restaurant we made a reservation at earlier. I called Scanlon's and canceled. I suggested we dine at the Deschutes Brew Pub instead. Others agreed. We headed out at roughly 730p not entirely sure where it was, but we found it fairly easily. Deschutes was packed. We were quoted a 30 minute wait. No prob. While waiting, we squeezed our way up to the bar and ordered beers. I couldn't wait to try their Experimental Imperial IIPA - Hop Henge -- that I read about weeks before our arrival. It didn't disappoint. We were called for our table after about 30 minutes. Cool! I ordered a 2nd Hop Henge. I ordered their reuben. Mindy ordered a steak. I was impressed. The food was on par with the beer. Good meal. All agreed. I ordered 2 rockets of Hop Henge to-go. I was surprised that they were only $5. Back home I would expect to pay about $10 per. Becaus e I had two or three beers, I opted to let Tommy drive us back to the condo. We were in bed by 1030p.