First Sierra powder

I went to Mammoth this weekend primarily to cross country ski, but I slipped my telemark gear in the box as well, thinking maybe one day, but when the snow dumped Friday afternoon and night and then all day Sunday I forsook the skate and classic skis for the tele boards and skied two long days at June Mountain. Great snow, lots of sun on Saturday, and Sunday’s dump made the skiing get better and better as the day went on. I did a little classic x-c on Friday afternoon after the long drive up.
On Saturday I skiied for an hour with a Inoyo National Forest naturalist. I was the only one who showed up for the tour. We talked about the vulcanology of the Long Valley caldera and the white-bark pine beetle, among other topics. Retired guy, now a volunteer, great skier.
Driving back five hours Sunday night I realized that some of those nice people I chatted with on the lifts may have been the same anti-social SUV assholes who tailgated me with their high-beams on at 75 mph on US-395. As they close in on L.A., the reversion to type is complete.
You know how when that happens, you hope they suffer a speeding ticket, if not a single-vehicle rollover fatality? The former kind of poetic justice finally happened on the way up to Mammoth on Friday. This car rode my bumper hard all the way through a speed zone in a little town, roaring past me at the first opportunity and straight into the waiting arms of Smokey, who might have gotten me for a few miles per hour over the limit if this car hadn’t flushed him out. Green Jetta with two women. Ha ha ha!