Fossil Mountain loop counterclockwise

Trip date: Tuesday May 04, 2021

Submitted by Sara M

Particpants:

just Sara M!

Discussion:

Crust ski around Fossil Mountain on skate skis today.  I was pleasantly surprised to be able to ski right from the parking lot up the LL ski-out.  There was 1cm of fresh snow down low, 3cm at higher elevations.  I followed the snowmobile track to Boulder Pass, then left it and skied across Ptarmigan Lake and down to Baker Lake.  I didn't really have a plan for the day, but once I got to Baker Lake I decided to follow the route around Fossil Mountain.  The crust was starting to soften in the trees when I dropped down from Baker Lake to the valley below, but I made it down without any tumbles.  Cotton Grass Pass was lovely to ski, and I followed some old ski tracks to the trail over Jones Pass between Fossil and Skoki.  The crust was getting quite weak in some spots around Jones Pass and I was kicking myself for not starting half an hour earlier... but once I got over the pass and started heading down into the Skoki valley, conditions got better.  Then I hit the snowmobile track again, so I didn't have to worry about the crust anymore.  The slog up to Deception Pass was made even tougher by the fresh snow starting to get slow and clumpy.  But I got in some fun little turns descending to Ptarmigan Lake.  The ski back down to the car was uneventful.  With the fresh snow now melted at lower elevations, the ski-out looked quite dirty but still looked like it falls within the definition of "snow".