24 Attachment(s)
TR: Breaking Rad. A trip to the land of Walter White. (May 27-30, 2016)
About a month ago, a conversation with The_Flying_V resulted in the impulse buy of a round trip ticket to Albuquerque with the intention of driving up to Taos and skiing some fun lines in the BC. Time seemed to crawl by as plans became closer to reality.
The night before the big trip, the reality of how much crap I planned to bring was evident on the floor in my dining room. How was I going to carry all of this?Attachment 183086
Day 1
Finally, the day was upon me and I departed for the airport giddy with excitement like a child on Christmas morning. To make the journey even better, I won the plane seat lottery as the fat guy in the middle seat was moved to an empty row in front of me, allowing for a nice roomy flight to ABQ.
Arriving in ABQ after midnight, I grabbed my rental car and tore off to the north in the darkness. The only places that seemed to be open were the dozen or so casinos along the way. I've never seen so many of them outside of Las Vegas.
Day 2
I finally made it to Taos ski village around 330am, and took just enough time to blow up my mattress and collapse on the floor of Josh's cabin. I've never been so out of breath trying to sleep as I was that early morning at around 10,000 ft.
After sleeping in until about 830 am, I rolled out to the morning sun shining on Kachina peak. Attachment 183087
We decided to make a trip down to Arroyo Seco for some grub at the Taos Cow. Some eggs, potatoes, ham, and toast really hit the spot, and the temporary relief of lower altitude was nice. Attachment 183089
After breakfast we headed back up to village to grab a few necessities (kahlua being the most important). I couldn't help but notice how empty the village was since ski ops were no longer in session. A sense of abandonment was certainly felt. The only activity was a construction site in the middle of the village. Attachment 183090
One last stop to do some barley-water carb loading at The Bavarian lodge and we were finally off.Attachment 183091 It was only 2pm. Josh said we were running on Taos time. Sounded a lot like something I heard in Hawaii once. They were always late there.
The approach was reasonably short, but in our haste to get our skis on snow, we chose a route through the trees that proved to be quite difficult. The hundreds of branches and bushes seemed to reach out and grab us in futile attempts to halt our uphill progress. Our first look at the alpine. Attachment 183092Me leading the wayAttachment 183093
Upon reaching our camp, we rested and rehydrated while chowing down on some "gourmet" freeze dried food. Spaghetti and meat sauce isn't all that bad when you're starving. Attachment 183094 After dinner, we headed up to the upper saddle below Lake Fork Peak and scouted out our line options for the next day. Our number one choice was obviously not going to work as the avalanche danger was much too high thanks in part to a rain event the night before, and poorly consolidated layers as a result. So after deciding to climb Lake Fork itself the next day, we headed back to camp. It was nice evening corn mixed with ice for the decent back to camp. Attachment 183095
That night we enjoyed the alpenglow sunset and ate some apple crisp with our bottle of kahlua and hot chocolate. Life was feeling pretty grand at that point. I wish I had a quality camera for the ensuing star show we received that night in our bivys. Absolutely wonderful to see the stars free of the light pollution I'm accustomed to back home.
Day 3
It was the big day. We awoke with the sun and since it was only an hour and a half to the top of our objective, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal, sourdough bread, and jam.
Progress was quick up the skintrack we set the night before and we were quickly back to the saddle. About 200 ft from the top of Lake Fork, we switched to boots and crampons for the final push. Much to our dismay, the snow was terribly rotten still even after below freezing temps the night before. Punching holes that were almost waist deep we stopped about 80 ft short of the top on a flat spot and made the decision to ski from there for safety reasons. Some shots of the climb. Attachment 183096Attachment 183098Attachment 183100
Summit selfie Attachment 183101A couple summit shotsAttachment 183102Attachment 183103
Then it was time to do what we came for. The snow was fast and loose as we hurried down off the rapidly warming summit. Attachment 183106Josh tearing it up after giving me first tracks. Attachment 183107
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We returned to camp via the same saddle we skied the night before.
Upon reaching camp I discovered my poor decision to leave my atom lt jacket on the rocks while away. Mr. Marmot decided he wanted the salty sleeve ends and did a fine job of customizing said jacket. Attachment 183109The culprit returns to the scene of the crime.
After recharging and enjoying the morning sun, we packed up camp and headed down to further rehydrate once more at "The Bav."Attachment 183110Looking back one last time.
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The last leg of the descent.
That night, Josh took me out to the Taos Mesa brewery where we enjoyed great beers and had a good time talking skiing and watching the cowboys do the 2 step on the dance floor. Attachment 183113Sufficiently hydrated and happy, we called it a night and returned home to the village.
Day 4
My final morning in beautiful Taos. We went into town for another great breakfast at the cow. That place really grew on me. Great vibe. Better food. After filling our bellies we ventured out to the Rio Grande gorge and sat on the rim for awhile enjoying the views and watching the rafters brave the river wild below. What a huge hole in the ground. Attachment 183114
Around 11 am we said our goodbyes and I set off for the ABQ airport. It was one hell of a trip and won't be forgotten any time soon. I look forward to one day returning to the land of Walter White and the beauty of the Taos ski valley. A big thanks to Josh (The_Flying_V) for his hospitality and great company.
