Valerie photographs the sunrise over Palmdale using my Canon D60...the first time we have ever brought the digital SLR on one of our snowboarding trips. We usually see the sun come up over Mojave, but Valerie and I got off to a slow start this morning
Despite starting late, we stop in Lone Pine around 8am, our usual arrival time...
...and our usual breakfast destination
We unexpectedly find plenty of parking at Little Eagle...unusual for a Saturday morning, but not uncommon this late in the season
It's time to suit up for another day on the mountain
Valerie tightens her boots
Little Eagle and Canyon Lodge both close this weekend, but there's still plenty of snow...far more than in 2002, the only other time we've come during their closing weekend
We head up Eagle Express for the last time this season
The snow once dominating the roof of this house appears to have mostly come down
With no new snow, construction has progressed on their neighbor's house
If only we had the means to buy property here back in 2002
Valerie is excited to get a t-shirt weather weekend!
The runs off of Eagle are quite empty
Bringing the DSLR simplifies photo-taking since I can use manual mode to set exposure, shutter-speed, and aperture once and use those settings for numerous shots
Valerie thinks I'm foolish for bringing my bulky camera gear and backpack
That said, she grabs the camera out of my hands...
...afraid that there won't be any pictures of me
After a somewhat slushy ride to Canyon Lodge, we head up Canyon Express
The conditions improve as we go up in altitude
At Main Lodge, I swap to my old 28-105mm lens (despite my better judgment, I decided to leave my monstrous 70-200mm F2.8/L IS lens at home)
Today, Mammoth's Unbound hosts the Dragon Three Ring Circus, an amateur rail jam event
This competitor throws down a grab on his dismount
This competitor has a clean run
I have never tried to grind a rail
