The weekend after Thanksgiving, Adam, Helene, Becca, and I headed up to Alpental to get outside after a busy week of Thanksgiving commitments. Were in the midst of an unseasonably long and stable temperature inversion in Western Washington, with a high pressure system driving away storm systems and giving us a week of clear skies and fog in the valleys and lowlands. When we left the car, it was a brisk 24 degrees at the valley bottom and quite foggy, while the top of the ski area, 2,000 vertical feet higher, was a balmy 46 degrees in the sun.
With Becca and Helene still getting their snow legs under them, we set out for a relaxed day, walking up the well-compacted trail towards Snow Lake in the fog.
The Snow Lake divide was pretty socked in, with clouds pouring over the ridge and flowing downslope to Snow Lake before dissipating in the sun. The fog and strong winds made for some very cool ice patterns on the trees, and the mix of fog and sun gave us some beautiful light.
After romping partway around Snow Lake, we headed back up to the Divide and started breaking trail west towards Chair Peak. The clouds and wind were highly localized, with it being quite calm in some spots, and super windy in others just a few dozen yards away. We picked our way through the fog near the crest of the ridge, enjoying the eerie ambiance.
As we approached the eastern slopes of Chair Peak, we climbed just a tiny bit higher, and were rewarded with a crazy view - the Alpental Valley full to the brim with clouds, sloshing gently like a bathtub, their tops just a hundred vertical feet below us. Climbing a little bit higher, we could look back towards the Divide and see the clouds pouring down towards Snow Lake.
We hung out as the sun set, enjoying the magical view, then started skiing down as darkness fell. The snow was somewhat crusty, which made for tricky skiing conditions, but everyone did great, and it was super cool to descend into the fog, which reflected our headlamps back into our faces. Bryant and Chair peaks both looked extra magical in the glow of the fading light, and pretty quickly we were back on the well-trodden trail to Source Lake.
We all had an entertaining time chasing one another down the trail and back to the car.