With a flight scheduled for first thing in the morning out of Portland on November 2nd for a trip with the family to Maui, I didn’t want to chance waiting until we got back to get November turns in, so I made plans to head out on the 1st and see what I could find. The weather forecast that had looked so promising earlier in the week for dropping a load of snow at the Pass didn’t pan out, so I decided to head over to Mt Bachelor to see what I could find. I took the Cascade Lakes Highway and then cutoff Road 40, enjoying some good music and nice morning colors before pulling into the parking lot a few minutes before 8:00 am.
Approximately 24 to 28 inches of snow greeted me, and I wasn’t surprised to see a hundred other cars in the parking lot. Not having a lot of time to kill since I needed to get back to head to Portland in the evening, I donned skins quickly and started out towards the Cone, before deciding to head off towards Pine to leave the crowds behind.
The skinning was taxing and the snow was deep, but soon I worked my way over towards Old Skyliner and headed up from there. When I reached the bench about halfway up, I snapped a picture, sent it to Dan, and then called him with a report before continuing up. A couple of other folks came down as I continued up, and eventually I stopped near the top of Pine. After switching over from skins to ride mode, I pulled out the tripod, fired off a few shots, and then stepped into bindings to enjoy some soft and fresh November turns.
The turns down were fun, and the snow was great. It wasn’t that epic 20 degree blower powder, but it wasn’t too heavy either and it was pretty damn fine for the first of November. I enjoyed turns all the way down to the bottom and back to the truck. After checking my watch, I figured I had time for one more lap so I headed out again with the goal of exploring some of the snow beneath the Red Chair.
I skinned up towards the Cone like the first lap, and then cut off again part way up and worked a few hundred feed higher to a suitable point where I could enjoy a cold beer while pulling the skins. My offering for the day was a tasty Mooncrusher Porter from the Obelisk Beer Co. and it hit the spot. I always look forward to that first porter or stout to start the season that marks the beginning of the powder season!
After getting my board halves back together and downing the rest of my beer, it was time to enjoy some more turns and that’s exactly what I did. After making my way back down to the truck, I wasted little time before heading out, super stoked to have November turns in the book. The road home was a bit dicey, since it had snowed about 2-3 inches on Road 40 since the morning, but I made it back to Highway 58 unscathed and the rest of the drive was easy.
A few hours after getting home, we had the car loaded with our travel gear for Hawaii, and made it to the hotel later that evening. Our flight left at 8:00 am the following morning, and by 11:15 (Hawaiian time), we were enjoying beautiful Maui. It was definitely a trip to remember, with our trip to Hana being one of the many highlights. I’m already looking forward to heading back! Below are a couple of shots from the trip…
