We got shut out trying to ski into the Benson Hut this weekend by a massive Pacific front that dropped precipitation across the West Coast. When the high winds finally eased we set out in steady snow, low visibility and about 5 hours of day light. And I was really looking forward to it.

It was a good try, but we just couldn’t make one wrong turn and at 4:15 we decided to live to fight another day and turned back. We did get a nice long run from the top of Mt Lincoln at Sugar Bowl out of it. I also did get to try out using my Randonne touring binding and my climbing skins for the first time … which I find far preferable to the snowboard/snowshoe combo I would use for backcountry hiking before.

If you’re looking top do this hike, here’s a good report from a group that made a nice run of it.

Intrepid partner Bill Graham also wrote up his take.

Here are some pix I took. Greg did a much better job getting his camera out.

Top photo by By: Ted Rheingold | 04/15/07 | Outdoor Pursuits | Trackback | CommentsRSS