Tahoe locals seem to be able to identify each other with a single glance. This has been one of my favorite experiences about living in Lake Tahoe for the short time I have so far.
I stop at 7-11 to acquire caffeine for a moonlight hike at 1am. Another pollen painted car pulls up in the same moment as me and sees me wearing shorts, tights, and a sun hoody in the middle of the night. The only words spoken between us are complementing each-other on the amount of pollen covering our cars, somewhat of a secret handshake between locals.
That moment lives in my head every single day since, because only in a mountain town in the middle of the night could that interaction take place. We part ways and I never even got his name, but I’ll remember him forever.
I arrive at the trailhead 5 minutes before my friends and realize Ive forgotten to pack my Solomon Ultra Glides in the car, big yikes. I've spent the entire afternoon going over my checklist and barely slept out of excitement but managed to forget the most important piece of gear. The answer was simple, to hike in sandals or go home. Luckily my friends instilled all the confidence in the world for me to go for it anyway.
All of the sudden, a brand new challenge was introduced and I impressed not only myself but everyone we passed on the way up thinking to themselves, “is that guy running in fucking sandals?” My self-presented challenge became even more exciting when a hiking partner asked if we wanted to try turning our headlamps off to let our eyes adjust to the moonlight. Holy pile of rocks, what a surreal experience that was.
We reached the peak and discovered another party had gotten there about an hour before us, and none of them were wearing any bit of “hiking attire.” It appeared they had just come from some banquet dinner and made last minute drunk plans to climb a mountain. I’ve found my people.
Throughout the hike, I felt frustrated with myself that I did not have proper footwear to hike, only to make new friends on the summit who seemingly went out of their way to be less prepared.
I now felt intense gratitude for the challenge I presented myself with on accident, and I promised myself I would plan some type of adventure every time the full moon comes around again. For some reason I was happy it worked out the way it did, and I discovered new things about myself during this adventure.
I am falling in love with this place one day at a time, and I will continue to become the Tahoe Local I’ve fantasized about my entire life.
Why is it so magical to see a place
you’ve been to a thousand times before from a new perspective? It’s the
same exact place, nothing about it has changed except for your point of
view, and that is exactly what my backcountry partner, Cooper and I had
experienced at Little Round Top in Kirkwood, CA.
Every backcountry adventure begins days, weeks, or sometimes months
before you click into your skis. This episode began three days prior
staring at maps on computer screens all night. We make decisions in
advance so that the decisions we make during our trek are greatly
simplified for us. Of course, we still keep an eye out for changing
conditions and any other red flags, but we have our uphill route picked
out and three potential routes to ski out, all of which never exceeded
28 degrees gradient to protect ourselves from the ever looming presence
of the white wall of snow.
We also made it clear to each other that if we didn’t start skinning
by at least 5:00AM, we would have to abandon any hope of reaching the
Little Round Top ridge line as 100mph winds were supposed to ramp up at
10:00AM.
As we set off from my apartment sipping coffee in heated seats, my
stomach reminded me of the pancakes I had made the night before….but
where were they?
I left them on top of the car as we were packing and by some miracle,
THEY WERE STILL THERE after driving for five minutes! We happily gnawed
on ice brick pancakes on our way to the trailhead.
As we set off under headlamp, tunes of Aerosmith and AC/DC kept us
company in the silent loneliness of the starry morning light. Don’t
worry, we also made sure to click it off every once in a while so we
could take in the sounds of the beauty surrounding us.
Skinning higher and higher as the snow gets brighter and brighter is
an awe-inspiring experience I encourage you to seek out for yourself. We
joke, tell stories, and lend an ear to the landscape around us as we
make our way closer to our goal.
What is the goal though? Is it just to reach the top and ski down on
fresh tracks? For some it is, but for Cooper and I, the goal is to see.
As I turn my head and observe this mythical environment around me, I
know my goal has been achieved that day. Everything beyond that moment
is a bonus.
Continuing on climbing and meditating simultaneously until we find
ourselves standing on top of the ridge line, we are greeted with the
most pleasant surprise of being able to see Lake Tahoe from where we
stand almost 15 miles away. We only admire the scene for a brief moment
before we realize the winds don’t have to be 100mph to rip you right off
the ridge.
We transition and head down on some of the best snow I’ve had the joy
of experiencing this season. As we conclude our mission at nearly
9:30AM, Cooper and I both cannot contain our excitement, euphoria, and
stoke for the adventure we just experienced, all packed into 5 hours.
We scream into the sky, hug each other, and reminisce over the incredible snow conditions we had just glided over.
