Notice nowhere in there did you read that the sun shines. Because it doesn't. I mean, not in our mountains. We live in the clouds. But even the rain will clear the roads and that requires we pay homage to our favorite places regardless of the weather.

So that's how I found myself (and Tinkham) cutting steps with an ice axe in the Gully of Doom™️ in the not quite but might as well be rain. And to be clear, the steps were for me, not Tink. She has no problem running up and down the rock-hard snow packed into the gully. I, on the other hand, do have problems so it took two or three times as long to climb the gully. But at the top...

No. Never mind. Still cloudy. Still cold. Still wet. The smart me would have turned around right there. The smarter me would have turned around at the bottom of the gully. (The smartest me might have slept in.) But since I was already up here, I might as well go to the top, right?

In the snow, we don't follow trails. We wound up slopes that felt right occasionally wondering just where we were and then seeing a landmark peeking out of the snow that gave us our bearings. At the final summit block, smart me prevailed and we didn't get on the rock. We'd been up there so many times before there was no reason on this day. It's not like we'd have seen anything anyway.

Glissades made the trip down faster. A couple of mediocre slides and then a long one that is one of the better on this route. Unfortunately, the joy of the glissade was erased by the tedium of downclimbing the gully. Even the electric blue around the lake didn't really get me excited.

But we paid our dues and the mountains are open for the season. Hopefuly they'll treat us better next time we're out.

But before you go, check out this video of me calling for Tink and her racing back to me like she was a well-trained dog. Amazing right?

📍 On the lands of the Wenatchi people.