PTAC does Bon Jon & Beyond

my recent PTAC idea was to have a mountain pot luck. the weather sort of dictated where we went since we had a solid week of snow in the mountains. we ended up trying to reach Bon Jon pass (success) and then try to reach the trailhead for Mt. Townsend from the backside. Well, there was loads of wet nice washington cement to trudge through, and we missed the goal by 1 mile. Here are the photos of the wonderful time we had and the incredible pizza we made to refill our depleted calories.

up to Bon Jon pass, the only section void of deep snow. there were 6 of us, one pair of skis, 4 pairs of good snow shoes, 1 pair of vintage shitty snowshoes, and one newby hiker from Indiana who was in yellow rain boots and a peacoat...Jocelyn....you have the heart of many lions!

jesse's osprey jet pack

Bob skins up and sets the track for either Me or Jesse to break behind him. This was really, really crappy snow. I mean it was beautiful, wonderful, but not the midwest/rockies powder you remember floating on. This is heavy, deep saturated cement that comes from a dank wet climate. It sticks to your skis/shoes and adds pounds upon pounds to each step. A serious workout.

just shortly after the pass, we loose trail. meaning, no old tire tracks, ski tracks or snowshoe tracks...not that they helped before. But now we have feet over feet of heavy snow to break...Bob suits up.

beautiful view up to the San Juans

our destination lies above that crest, but the clouds roll in, the snow starts to fall, wind picks up and legs grow tired.

but Ben is ready to keep going!

we take a vote on stay or press on. happy to crack a beer and get to cooking pizza, we settle in back against rock wall. Dig a few snow seats and berm to protect us from the wind. We cozy in and start slinging pizzas. Feta, shrooms, artichokes, tuna, Alfredo, cheese.....on and on and on and on.

a few things i have learned about my friend Jesse. Jesse loves nature. Jesse has endurance. Jesse has excitement and genuine interest for the outdoors and it can be heard...from every bird call, every plant identification, every deep breath. Jesse likes to share his enthusiasm and knowledge and it shows, in his commitment.

a few things i have learned about my friend Vasily. Vasily is a rock. Vasily never says no. He is happy, steady, solid and zen. Vasily is the godfather that brings us all in and keeps the warmth going. He brings calm and determination.

oh so hungry

back country oven procured pizza

a few things i have learned about my friend Ben. He loves good food. He loves to cook for friends. He loves to share. He always packs in the best ingredients and pre-meal snacks. Ben is a sharer and you can tell by his smile.

jesse gets cold, so he digs to raise his heart rate and to make a new pizza eating bench.

we don't need no stinkeeng plate!

this was genius. So, every hike Jesse brings 2 tuna fish sandwiches. It works for him. So when i proposed the pizza party, you can imagine his confusion. In lieu of the sando's, Jesse brought tuna fish pizza toppings! Cape Cleare tuna and Alfredo sauce...was a big hit. Let the tuna live on Jesse!

Since Bob skinned up on skis, he was obviously the first one down to the cars. While he waited for the 5 of us, he cooked up the last pizza for a departure...like usual, Vasily had about 1/4 of a cup of his soy latte in the truck to enjoy with his cigarette and happily gave us the Bridgeport IPA. Hey....we earned those beers and smokes, stop judging.

newest newby Jocelyn shoes us how it's done. shovel style.