Weekend in Mammoth

My cool company's annual sponsored trip to Mammoth Lakes in the Sierra Nevada mountains was last weekend.

I don't enjoy downhill skiing much anymore, so I packed my snowshoes and cross-country skis for the trip. I stayed in a condo with co-workers Andy, Nic, Hillary, Elissa and Asha. Everyone arrived on Thursday, and Asha made a fabulous dinner. We all drank too much wine and hit a party at another condo, forgetting that the dry air and altitude (8000 feet) would make us all feel it the next morning....

Yeah, there was a bit of a headache on Friday morning. But Asha made wonderful quiche, and that, along with lots of water and some coffee, helped out.

I headed up towards June Lake for some snowshoeing, while the rest of the gang headed to the mountain for skiing and snowboarding. I hike up Obsidian Dome, feeling the altitude but enjoying the amazing sun, snow, blue sky and fragrant Jefferson pines. It was almost TOO warm in the sun. I was on the trail about 3 hours - then ate lunch at the car and thought, 'OK, I need more!' So I headed for another trail, Inyo Craters. This one was shorter, but a bit tougher - it went straight up. I added a little loop at the bottom. Another 3 hours on the snow, and it was FABULOUS!

I arrived back at the condo sufficiently spent. A little time in the hot tub with the girls eased the aches, and a little food restored me. Then we all headed to another condo for a birthday celebration for Maile & her twin sister Lonnie. It was a rocking good time, but I was a little more careful with the alcohol this time!

Rush (from our Reno office) and his brother Trevor showed up late Friday night and claimed the couches. Really nice, polite guys - a good balance to the estrogen.

Friday night a storm rolled through, and the winds were incredible. I don't think anyone slept much, as the banging and howling never let up. I was awake from about 1:30-4:30 am. Saturday morning it was still windy, and everyone knew the skiing wouldn't be much good. I had planned to cross-country ski, but the area I was going to go is pretty wide open, and I figured it wouldn't be too fun. And I was tired - so I took a little nap after breakfast (aren't vacations great?!). The gang decided to go sledding. And I said, "I'll be sure to bring my first aid kit and splints, because someone is gonna get hurt." They all laughed - but it was experience talking here.

We walked the mile to the sledding hill - it was pleasant in the sun, but horrible in the wind. The sledding hill was steep and a bit icy. About 10 folks climbed onto sleds, formed a train, and went screaming down the hill. Every run ended with a wipe-out, laughing, and faces full of snow. I had my snowshoes on, and scampered up and down the hill taking pictures.

I was very tempted to join in, but didn't have a sled. Just as I was thinking "I'll go on the next run," the sled-train crashed and a guy was down, screaming in pain. Uh oh.

As I got to Rush, he was holding his right thigh, and I immediately thought "femur." A busted femur is bad. But it was his knee. He was in a lot of pain, and we were a steep half mile away from the road. My co-worker Bruce and I went to work helping Rush, splinting his knee, and keeping him calm while another co-worker called 911 and went down to the road to wait for help. We organized the troops to ease him down the hill on a sled.

The paramedics showed up first, then the fire engine with a 'good' sled to get Rush down the rest of the hill. Rush elected to have a friend drive him to the hospital instead of using the ambulance. Turns out he tore his MCL. Good because it usually doesn't require surgery, though it's a long month of healing. Bad because he had a big back-country snowboard trip planned in Utah in 10 days.

After Rush left for the hospital, the wind had died down and I decided I needed some snowshoeing. So I headed up the Vista Point Trail behind the visitor center. It was pretty late in the day, so I had to be careful how long I was out, so I didn't get stuck out in the dark. It was pretty beautiful in the late afternoon light.

Saturday night, we hosted a dinner in the condo for 15. Nicole made an amazing dinner, and the 8 of us we were joined by Maggy, Steve, Emily, Lisa, Mitch, Tim and Megan. It was wonderfully fun! Me, I just did the serving and the dishes. Hey, everyone does their part.

Sunday morning we started packing and cleaning up the condo. Hillary and I went out for a quick snowshoe - we did the 'short but steep' Inyo Craters trail. Then we picked up Jenning in town and started the long drive back to Ventura. It was fun to get to know these wonderful, intelligent women. And to have company for that long drive (I drove up alone, and caught up on hours of NPR podcasts).

It was a great weekend! Now I'm off to Albuquerque to visit Elizabeth. Stay tuned!