Bennett Pass (4/14)

Part of the reason I did my long run Friday after work was to get it out of the way so I could go cross-country skiing Saturday.

We had such a wonderful time last weekend and were excited to get back out. Brad checked his map and decided to stop at the Bennett Pass Sno-Park and ski to Sahalie Falls.

Clouds shrouded Mount Hood as we drove from home. But we passed through Govie and around to the east side of the mountain and saw this: Nice!

Our map was printed before the new Highway 35/Mount Hood Meadows interchange, and we drove around for a bit looking for the Sahalie Falls trail, which is on the other side of the highway from the sno-park.

We never figured out how and where to get across the road, so we decided instead to ski to Teacup Lake. The trail to the trail was tough. Thankfully, the snow conditions were very forgiving. Otherwise, my completely exhausted legs wouldn't have made it. I felt like it was really survival skiing - not pretty but just trying to get down.

We followed great trail markers toward the lake. But when we thought we should just about be there, the markers stopped and the trail seemed to go in several directions. Considering my exhaustion level, we decided to eat some lunch and call it the turn-around spot.

I brought a different flavor of the vegan jerky I bought earlier this month at a vegan store in Portland: This one had great flavor but was really salty. I'm happy to find these yummy protein treats and will be buying more.We turned around and ran into the first (and only!) people of the day - and it happened to be someone Brad knows. He always sees skiers he knows on the trails :)

Energized by some food, we tackled the uphill back to the car. Another awesome day on the mountain! I love that there's a potty at the trailhead - such a luxury! I buried our chocolate milks in the snowbank before we hit the trail, so we enjoyed cold drinks before heading for home: Spring skiing is amazing. The weather's excellent and the snow is fun and forgiving. The sun comes out and most people forget about "winter" sports and switch to Little League and yard work. That just means more snow and solitude for us :)