Shane headed back to Calgary last night. Adam and I turned off the alarm and slept til 8:30. We weren't exactly motivated - defeat, coupled with being tired and sore along with knowledge of the warm temperatures yesterday led to a very leisurely departure.

I headed to the only place that was close that would hopefully still have good snow - Zander's Zip was the only chute off of Moose Peak that didn't have tracks in it. The day turned worse when we found that a snowshoer had poached the up track from the road, across the small lake. It took a small turn for the better when they turned around part way up to the base of the Moose Chute. The up track was icy and the snowshoer wasn't the only poacher. The other one had four legs and probably wouldn't have said "meow" if we'd met. Slowly, painfully, but steadily we gained the top of Moose Peak. With dead calm winds and sunny skies with minimal clouds, we spent over an hour on the summit soaking in the views and reflecting on yesterday. The views to the Herbst Glacier and Galloway bowl were a bit tinged with a bit of regret - the forecast was right. The views down the Akamina Pass also had a bit of regret too - with blue skies we could have found something to ride down there.

Before even dropping in for the first turns of the day, we were also quite sure that winter was over for the moment. We could see the results of the warm weather on exposed aspects, had climbed up through the protected aspects and still seen bad things, and knew that there were a lot of tracks hiding in the usual spots. Until the snow flies again, this place is done.

We picked our way through the cliff bands to the top of Zander's Zip. For a few fleeting seconds all negativity was removed. I chased Adam down through some powder without a care in the world, but soon enough the effects of yesterday's warmth was encountered. Some cautious turns soon led us to the lake and back to the cross country snowboard. The day wasn't quite over yet though - we'd noticed what looked like a snowboard track on the ridge beside the Rowe Bowl. A very odd choice given recent weather. I had to investigate since I was positive I hadn't seen a skin track in there this morning (or yesterday, or last week, or since I'd been up there almost a month ago - the wind and sun had ruined it and there hasn't been enough snow to fix it since). The investigation revealed a boot pack. We were dumfounded. Someone had bootpacked the whole thing - what looked like a snowboard track up on the ridge was actually the up. We saw no evidence of a descent - maybe a snowboarder was still climbing this late in the day, maybe the bootpacker had keeled over, or maybe a special agent from the department of homeland security was climbing back up to the top of this Canadian peak to rendezvous with his Blackhawk?

A measly 2,670 feet. I'm licking my wounds and sulking for a few days then off to the Kootenays for a Yurt trip with the Moose & co.