Monday @ Meadows - Facing One's Demons

I was up again near 545am. Given that it was 845am in back home in Columbus, that would be considered sleeping-in ridiculously late. Glenn was already up and in the hallway bathroom preparing to leave for work. Downstairs, no sign of Tom Sheperd. Appeared as though he left sometime after we all headed to bed. He seemed to have quite a buzz going. I hope he used good judgment. Glenn I both partook in the half pot of coffee that remained from Sunday before starting another. He left the condo for work just after 6am. Wished him well. He planned to be back up Wednesday evening and then ski with us again on Thursday.

Felt good to have the condo all to myself. I enjoyed more coffee, a meditation and lengthy stretch. Life is good. Outside, more clear skies and half a moon with lots of starts. Awesome! I was eager to complete my run and then perhaps even a walk to take some photos. I headed out for a run around 640am. Judging by the continued melting snow, it was just above freezing. I ran the same route as the day before, stopping briefly again at the head of the trail to catch my breath. I figure the run to be about three miles. Either way, with the gradual uphill, it's a tough run.

This was the perfect morning if there ever was one. At the time, there wasn't anywhere else in the entire world that I would've preferred to be. After completing my run I promptly grabbed my camera and phone then headed back out on foot to take in the beautiful Mt Hood sunrise. I took several shots of the sun striking the eastern edge of Hood while the majority of its mass remained shaded. Incredible! For the first time ever, I walked across the bridge connecting Govy Camp to Ski Bowl East. And what a beautiful, ornate bridge it is. There are bronze sculptures molded into the railing. I walked around for 20-30 minutes. Not too long, really.

Back at the condo, I took Mindy a cup of coffee then began the ski ready. The plan was to ski Meadows, which is about a 10 mile drive around to the SE side of the mountain, or the slice getting all the early morning sunlight I just recently photo'd. Everybody was up, eaten, and ready to ski by 845am. We needed to stop by the office to get our lift tickets and it didn't open until 9am. We were there right at the opening. Forgot to mention that Darwin & Brad got a $30 parking ticket in Timberline's lot for not having a snow park parking pass displayed on their dash.

While purchasing our discounted lift tickets for Meadows, Darwin and Brad came in at the same time. Cool! They complained to Shannon about the parking ticket. Unfortunately, they did a self check-in like we did so they didn't know about the parking pass until it was too late. We got our lift tickets and left. Figured Darwin was right behind us.

Arrived at Meadows near 930am. Lot was only about 1/2 full. I wondered what was going through Mindy's mind as we walked across the lot and past the on-site Mt Hood hospital, the very site where her torn MCL was triaged two year prior. Didn't say anything. Once in the day lodge, we stopped to pee before heading to the lifts. The line to head up Mt Hood Express was small, and with the addition of the RFI technology, the line moved fast. Meadows has more of a Utah feel thus is far different than Timberline. Once atop MT Hood Express I suggested we ski Chunky Swirly, the very run where Mindy tore her MCL. On this occasion the conditions were far different - better - the snow completely groomed. In those conditions it skied easy.

Near the bottom of the run we picked up Vista Express and then them ultimately Cascade Express, the run that rivals the Mile at Timberline, though not nearly as spectacular. Atop the ski park there were lots of exposed boulders, certainly more than I'd ever seen before. All of my early season Oregon skiing has been at Timberline, so I wasn't expecting that. And while the base was more than a 100" they're still much lower than a typical year, especially this late in the season when it really piles up. In addition, they hadn't had any new snow for at least 5 days. As such, several areas were covered in windblown volcanic rock dust making some of the snow look dirty.

We skied two or three runs top to bottom before one of my new Line Whip ski poles snapped inexplicably near the handle. What the crap? Shoot! David quickly offered one of his. Said he rarely uses them. Instead, I remembered putting Tom Sheperd's poles in the van that morning before realizing they were his that he left behind from Sunday. How convenient. I went to the van to exchange poles. It didn't take long since we were already at the bottom of the Vista lift near the parking lot. Problem temporarily solved.

David and I skied a few runs together before hooking up again with Mindy and the kids. Got a text from Darwin that read as though he might be aggravated with me. As I read it, it sounded as though it took them a full hour or so longer than us to get to Meadows. Later learned that they took the wrong Rt 35 exit. They were heading south towards Bend. Oops!

The family and David skied over to Hood River Meadows where there was next to no one. It's low on the mountain so the snow was noticeably wetter, mushier, but still navigable. Mindy had to pee so we were in somewhat of a rush to get over there so she could relieve herself. As such, I skied it fast. Mindy, however, apparently had to slow down - stop even - to help or wait on one of the kids. She gave me an earful for skiing ahead. Sometimes I can't win for losing. Finally at the HRM base, Mindy was able to relieve herself and the kids got snacks at the little store. After a brief break we were back at it, my goal to get back over to the main mountain since the snow was so slow and wet down there. By 2-230pm most of the mountain was mushy, sticky and slow. Rather than risk injury we headed into the day lodge for some beer and appetizers.

We hung out there until the entire gang congregated. A little later when Bella and I walked down to the ski/gift shop she shared that Mindy and Jacob got into a heated verbal exchange on the mountain. Said it brought her mom to tears. Oh boy! I didn't say a word when we got back, but planned to ask Mindy about it later, back at the condo. I had some ideas for moving forward.

We hung out in the day lodge until everyone was in. Jordan and Lane went back out despite the grabby snow. We headed back to the condo near 4pm. Made plans to do dinner with Darwin and company at their condo. After the hot tub, David, Mindy and I walked over to the Govy General Store to pick-up spaghetti sauce and a few other accoutrements. We headed over to the McVey/Harmer condo near 7pm.