Buskin Lake to Elbow Creek Pass

[patrick]

Today I skate skiied across Buskin lake and up the river to the ravine and all the way to the waterfall. Then I climbed out on the left side and skated around on top towards the pass. The snow is now really deep and you can literally ski anywhere - salmonberries are covered and ravines filled with snow. However the crust is really bumpy with melt rivulets and on slopes facing the sun the crust is often too soft to hold you up on top. So not the greatest conditions. I think the lake has the best skate skiing. For photos of today's ski see our family blog at
saltonstall.blogspot.com/
Patrick

[patrick]

I did it again this morning and it gets a 2 thumbs down. Icy and bumpy. Yesterday it was a little soft on top which acted like a shock absorber - no such luck today. I turned back before I got too high up on the mountain. I was scared of going too far because the downhills were scary today. Also - the upper river got a lot of overflow and is icy too. We need some new snow to smooth things out. Patrick