The amount of snow that fell in the late spring of 2006 set records. Storms had canceled three different tours during the months of April and May. However, we successfully rescheduled one of the trips for the first week of June. The route between Sonora Pass and Twin Lakes had lots of snow and was a stretch of the Sierra Crest that I had not skied. On 2 June 2006, Armando Menocal, Gus Benner, and I all converged at the west end of Twin Lakes. We arrived at different times, found a place to crash, and didn't meet up until morning for our four day ski tour.

DAY 1 - Sonora Pass (9,628 ft) to above Leavitt Lake (10,300 ft) - 5 Miles

At first light, we packed gear and ate breakfast at the Mono Village campground near the trailhead where we would finish our tour. We left Armando's truck in the parking lot ($10 for 1-7 days) and drove Gus's car back through Bridgeport and on to Sonora Pass via Highway 108. We left my car in Bridgeport. The drifts at the pass were 10-15 feet high. Not bad for a June morning! There was roadside parking right at the pass. A big advantage of a late season start for this tour is that the road was open all the way to the pass. Earlier in the year, people must start further east on Highway 108 since the road is closed during the winter. By 9:15 am, we were skiing south on good snow cover. We had to cross several valleys and passes before Leavitt Lake appeared far below. Good corn led to the lake at 9,556 feet. We found a place to camp shortly below the pass just south of Leavitt Lake.

DAY 2 - To Dorothy Lake (9,400 feet) - 9 Miles

Another sunny, beautiful June day! Our crossing of Emigrant Pass seemed strange since it was the low point of the day. It is an East-West crossing of the Sierra Crest and we were skiing North to South. Near Bond Pass, we had to work our way through a heavy forest with lots of obstacles as we approached our camp by Dorothy Lake. We encountered the biggest snow runnels and sun cups I have ever seen. They were impossible to ski! When we got to the lake, we camped next to a big flat rock where we could sit and spread out our gear.

DAY 3 - To Peeler Lake (9,440 feet) - 8 miles

Today was the most interesting day of the tour. We skied to a pass between Helen Lake and Tower Lake. Tower Peak dominated the skyline. On the ridge to the north of Tower Peak is an imposing rock tower called Shaboom where Armando made the first climbing ascent about 25 years ago. The descent from this pass to Tower Lake was the best run of the tour. Lots of carved telemark and parallel turns covered the corn snow on the hillside after the descent. We passed by the north side of Tower and Shaboom peaks, traversed over several valleys and ridges and eventually reached the pass north of Hawkbeak Peak. Below us was Thompson Canyon, near the northern boundary of Yosemite National Park. After crossing one more ridge, Peeler Lake and an open stream could be seen below. The ski down was good up high but required a lot of maneuvering in the trees at the bottom. We headed for flat area near a big rock that we had seen from afar. The "open stream" turned out to be a 30-foot diameter hole with 8-foot vertical snow walls and a deep swift flowing stream at the bottom. Luckily, a smaller hole nearby was safer and water was obtained by clipping a water bottle to the end of a ski pole. It was amazing that there was this much snow at 9,500 feet in June. We had another pleasant camp using the big rock for sitting, eating, and drying out our gear. We were about 1 mile west of Peeler Lake.

DAY 4 - To Twin Lakes (7,092 feet) - 7 miles

A short ski got us to ice-covered Peeler Lake. We skied across the ice to a gap on the east side but found open water blocking us from the trail that led to Robinson Creek. We had to traverse a steep snow slope on the left side where a fall would have resulted in a very cold swim. This completed our skiing for the trip, as the descent on the hard icy snow worked better with boots. We soon ran out of snow cover, but easily found the standard summer trail. Shortly after reaching Robinson Creek, the trail crossed to the east side for a short distance. The stream was much too high to cross, so we bushwhacked on the left side for a while. We eventually reached Barney Lake and 4 miles later, the trailhead. We arrived at 2 p.m. where some of us watched a bear strolling through the campground and looking for goodies.

SUMMARY

Our total route covered about 29 miles. We used a 3-person Sierra Designs Stretch Dome tent, a hanging bluet stove system, and went very light. Our packs averaged 31 pounds at the start. I used my new Marmot Hydrogen bag, which weighs only 22 oz. Other than for the walk out at the end, we kept our skis on for an amazing amount of the time considering this was a June tour. Three 15-minute maps cover the route and are useful for "big picture" planning. They are Sonora Pass, Tower Peak, and Matterhorn Peak. We used printouts from the computer based Topo program to provide more detail. There are other ski options in the Twin Lakes area. From Peeler Lake, Twin Lakes can be reached by crossing Rock Island Pass and Mule Pass, and then descending Little Slide Canyon. This would be quite challenging, I think. Another simpler option is to cross Rock Island Pass and Burro Pass and descend Horse Canyon. I skied Horse Canyon on previous trips and it is a wonderful descent. And finally, you can drive to Twin Lakes and do a ski loop around Matterhorn peak.