Donner Lake

    On Saturday I skied from Truckee to Squaw Valley.  It took me 4 hours, and it got dark on me after I was out of the woods and walking on the road.  I got there and got a warm cider with whiskey from my friend K bartending at a place called Rocker at Squaw Village.  Everything up there is at least 2 dollars, not a good place for a poor traveller.  But I met someone who may get me a job.  It's working in a restaurant at the top of the ski mountain, and you take a Futinel to get there. 
    Yesterday we drove to Reno to drop off a friend at the airport.  We went to In-n-Out, of course.  It is amazing how the desert is just right there over the mountains from Tahoe, big treeless ranges, golden in the sun.  God Bless America. 
    Today I got out on a nice adventure x-c skiing around Donner Lake.  I skied up onto the ridge above the lake, looking down to where I am staying with G, and behind me the Pacific Coast Trail peaks, all covered in white.  I junp-turned, scrambled over rocks, and crunched through live oak bushes to get down to the train tracks that connect San Francisco to the eastern lands.  The rocks out here are hard granites and volcanic rock that looks like it was bubbly when it formed, probably andesite.  The huge conifers produce a sweet smell, and the neon green moss that grows on them adds to the overall beauty of the sunny, warm day.  I did get to make a few nice turns on the southern facing slopes, as the snow there was completely transformed into corn, wheras the shady parts of the mountain have a terrible breakable crust.