I love mornings like this

Watching the sun's light creep into the sky before that blazing ball even breaks the horizon is one of the wonders of the world. I sometimes think that the powers that be made it so spectacular just so those who get up early to see it get to enjoy something special.

I busted out of the house this morning at 5:15am for a quick up down over at Shawnee. I tried to get Karen or Matt(or both) to go but neither were up for the adventure so I was on my own.

It was colder then I had expected, -6, but no wind so it wasn't too bad.

I used my BD 80mm kicker skins instead of my full skins, and had no issue, even going straight up a couple of steeper pitches. That made my morning as they are smaller, lighter and easier to take on and off.

It was a great climb, tried to stay fairly even. I used my Garmin 705 that K got me for Christmas, here is the trip according to Garmin. You can play with the map view- I like the Satellite version.

I got to midstation just as the first light started hitting the sky, and I wanted to try and make the summit before the sun broke the horizon.I juiced it up and enjoyed the view, trying to snap some photos that showed the color- they just don't do justice.


I swapped hats, donning my Eldora hat in honor of my sister, who I'm sure was still sound asleep (at least I hope since it was around 4am in CO). Threw on a down vest, took off my skis, shortened my poles and headed down the hill.

The snow was excellent (as always) and it was nice to have the hill to myself. I enjoyed the view and took my time making nice easy turns. Once at the bottom I stripped out of gear and headed home, even stopping to snap a shot of the alpenglow on Mt. Washington.
I got home in time to help get the girls ready and then on the bus and now it's off to work. A great way to start the day, and as a bonus- it's Friday!

Enjoy the day.


sven