on an audible

(pix = marcy over the shoulder of saddleback's slide. from gothics. stay tuned. too bushed ta hit the editing room or spend much time with the shots i managed. i'll probably get to some tommorow.)

initially i wanted to scoot over to the dax and see if i couldn't go on and grab something from the loj. but i overslept. didn't roll until 7 a.m., which would not have given me a whole lotta daylight on the backside to tackle anything interesting.

instead figured i'd just do gothics.
shakedown cruise of the season for my boots (which fared well, but managed to punish my toes a bit), crampons (without question necessary. strapped 'em on heading down pyramid), my winter bag (not real happy with it's accessibility, but what the hell, it looks way cool and fits real snug).

mistakes made: running out the door i didn't pack near enough food so energy was leaking as the day progressed; had a lite pair of gloves when something wit more fuz probably would have been appropriate; the final push from pyramid on over would have been made a whole lot more manageable had i drug along the snowshoes.

and note to self: hiking in the winter requires a whole lot more mental and physical commitment. was actually planning on a run from gothics to grab a few others. nope. and a good decision. the 14 miles logged feel like 18-20 summer miles.

a great day though. and a decent first run in conditions just a smidge shy of being truely winter conditions.
be careful up there!