Squaw Valley

and Tahoe   We returned from our quick weekend in Reno to Tahoe and another storm hit overnight, sealing the deal on our good choice to leave town and let the crowds disperse.

We chose to hit alpine meadows in the morning, and found almost perfect conditions.  Blue skies, sunshine and a nice top cover of fluffy powder.  We also felt like we had the mountain to ourselves...a huge contrast to the last week in cali.

To be honest, we really hadn't expected much from this resort, being the smaller of the two, but had an absolutely great day in every possible way!  We rode until our legs gave out and then headed back towards Squaw, stopping in at the Bridgetender for apres with the locals before making our way back to the village.  Pity we didn't stumble upon this place a few days ago or it likely would have been our nightly haunt! The next day at Squaw wasn't quite as great in terms of snow.  We looked all day for soft patches of fresh and occassionally got a glimpse of what had come the day before, but for the most part the runs were blown off or tracked out.

No complaints however, as it was another perfect bluebird day and we covered just about every inch of the mountain before finally making our way toward high camp to have a cocktail overlooking the valley.

We stole a few more runs, made our way to the bottom and celebrated at le chamois while karma played in the dog park with a few local pups.

We begrudgingly drove away knowing that was the last of our mountain collective passes.  A few short weeks ago it seemed like a huge task to navigate the west trying to hit all of these resorts and now it seems to have flown by in a blur.

We're excited for many reasons to start driving north, and I'm certain we'll hit a few of the oregon resorts before arriving to portland, but it doesn't stop a bit of disappointment from entering our heads that this trip is wrapping up and winter is coming to an end.

Still...we're as surprised as anyone...but for a couple of self proclaimed beach bums this trip and the experiences and views we took in along our path were an absolute perfect way to spend winter (at least if you're not going to be on a tropical island), and we had a blast every inch of the way!!