Mt. Jefferson Wilderness + Valentine's weekend = Love

Compared to last year, it's been hard to get out on epic trips this winter, since Matt's school and volunteering schedule is taking up most of his free time. But a Valentine's Day weekend getaway was just what we both needed and the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness is probably my favorite place on earth.

This winter has been pretty crappy, with little snow, and a lot of rain on the mountains. When we arrived at the snow park Friday night, there was barely three feet of snow on the ground (compare that to nearly 8 ft last year!). We crashed in the van and woke up to a fresh 5 inches of snow, yeah! We picked the right weekend, for sure.

Here's a shot as we crossed a small lake

Matt coming around a bend, looking happy to be outside!

We set up camp a little before sunset, so we could try to catch a glimpse of Three Finger Jack at sunset (and ski for a bit without our heavy packs). Making camp is my favorite part of any trip, since it means sculpting out a bench and table out of snow, then making hot totties in the new "kitchen". mmmm.

Matt and I looking good while breaking trail in almost a foot of new powder. Another 8 inches of snow fell Saturday night, and our tracks were completely covered by morning.

Made it!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

UPDATE: We left Günter at home, since it was a romantic weekend getaway. He's a good sport though, he even did the dishes while we were gone!

Mount Warner

Now that formal introductions have been made, we thought to explain why we set up a blog. Since most of our family members reside in different states (and countries!), and many of our friends are moving to Asia or the far north this year, Matt and I decided to create this blog in hopes of keeping in contact and to share our lives and latest adventures with those we love.

Our first adventure of 2009 was in celebration of Matt's birthday weekend. We cross country skied 10 miles and 4500 ft. in elevation to reach Mount Warner Lookout. The hut is a working fire lookout in the summer, and a snow-lovers dream shack-on-stilts in the winter. Check it out:

We were all pretty excited when we arrived at the trailhead, eager to start our journey.

Four hours and approximately 3,000 ft. in elevation
later, I realized we were only halfway. Ugh!

We got a late start at the trailhead and didn't arrive at the cabin until 1:30 in the morning! So, i can't describe how stoked we were to find the "wood" stove already going, and the cabin at 50 degrees. Sweet.

Matt making fresh tracks in the morning. Check out that view!

Incredible sunset, obviously

Goodbye Mount Warner Lookout! We hope to see you next year!