Winter 2019

In December of 2018, I moved to Lake Tahoe, California to ski and save money for a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike attempt the following May. I busted butt working seven days a week split between the ski rental shop at Alpine Meadows and as a driver for a free on-demand transit service called Mountaineer at Squaw Valley. Having world-class ski resorts literally in my back yard led to over 70 days out on the hill. A late season injury kept me from taking advantage of Tahoe’s legendary spring skiing, but I still got pretty darn good at alpine skiing and have a solid foundation on telemark skis. If nothing else, Tahoe showed me the ski-bum way of life is definitely something I’ll be making a point to maintain over the next few winters.

I spent the majority of the season living with some good family friends, Morgan and Bryan Hering, their kids Stella (11), Heidi (9), Cole (4), and Buddy the dog. Their little house tucked in the trees next to a USFS campground was full of life and was the perfect place to spend a winter surrounded by friends. Part way through the season, I moved down the west shore of the lake to Tahoma to make room for a visit from Morgans sister, Hannah. In Tahoma I lived with three coworkers from the rental shop, Sierra, Morgan and Nicole. We had a cozy cabin pretty far removed from anything at all, lending to the town nickname of “Stayhoma”. After about a month and a half there, I moved back to finish the season with the Hering’s until I hopped on the train to the Mexico border to start my second thru-hike.

Winter 2019 tunes

My roommate Morgan lounges on the floor. | Tahoma, CA 1/18/19

Standing around while slowly cleaning up after dinner. | Tahoma, CA 1/20/19

Taking a walk down to the lake. | Tahoma, CA 2/10/19

Sierra swiped my new hat right off my head. | Tahoma, CA 2/10/19

Morgan surveils the Sierra after several feet of fresh powder dumped the night before. Over 650 inches of snow fell by the end of the season, making it one of the snowiest on record. | Alpine Meadows, CA 2/8/19

Packing up for the brief move from Tahoe City to Tahoma. | Tahoe City, CA 2/17/19

Jay enthusiastically smokes a cigarette at Winter Wondergrass bluegrass festival. | Squaw Valley, CA 3/31/19

As I hudled next to a propane heater, a lonely heart hung above the crowd. | Squaw Valley, CA 3/31/19

Nicole glissades down a steep slope behind Eagle Rock. | Tahoe City, CA 4/7/19

Perched in her rooftop tent, Molly takes a break from watching the sun dip below the mountains for a portrait. | Austin, NV 4/10/19

Pastime, a classic dive bar in Truckee. | Truckee, CA 4/16/19

Nicole takes a bundled up smoke break. | Tahoma, CA 1/18/19

Buddy guards the Hering household in the calm before a blizzard. The last offical blizzard was in 2008. | Tahoe City, CA 2/4/19

After several days of intense storms, the lake finally came back into view. Lake Tahoe is the largest and highest alpine lake in North America, and the second deepest at 1,645 feet. | Tahoma, CA 2/10/19

Bryan and I took a little hike over the high traverse at Alpine Meadows on an astoundingly gorgeous day. | Alpine Meadows, CA 1/25/2019

Stella does a flip off of the second floor deck into eight feet of snow. In the 28 days of February, it snowed 26 feet. | Tahoe City, CA 2/15/19

Morgan and I went out during a break in the storm, but still ended up getting hit with the next wave. | Alpine Meadows, CA 3/28/19

Trampled by Turtles closed out the festival with some killer bluegrass jams. | Squaw Valley, CA 3/31/19

Morgan breaks out the old hula hoop on a snowy evening. | Tahoma, CA 3/10/19

Sunset over the Toiyabe range in central Nevada. | Austin, NV 4/10/19

Sierra and Nicole pack up the car for their roadtrip back east. | Tahoma, CA 4/12/19

**Next: Pacific Crest Trail**

May-October 2019