The guy I’m dating skis at least once a month.  He asked me to go skiing with him in August.  It was also his birthday.  I have no desire to ski in August, but I wanted to celebrate his birthday with him.  So, the plan was for him and another friend to ski Skyscraper Glacier and I would hike up and down with them.

The hike up was a little rough for me, but only for a little while.  The top of Skyscraper Glacier is at about 12,000 feet so I was huffing and puffing a bit.  I can’t quite imagine doing it with skis attached to my pack.  There were quite a few cool looking rocks along the way.  As often happens, I did end up with a pocket full of rocks by the end of the morning.  It was beautiful being up at what appears to be the top of the world, especially since it was a Wednesday and working was the other option.

After they left me to ski, I headed around the glacier to pick a path down the steep slope and them meet them at the bottom.  I met a really nice marmot on my path.  He stood up on his hind legs and watched me.  We had a little conversation, but it was a pretty one-way conversation.  I spoke and he listened.  I was off any trails that existed at this point and chose a path down the steep slope.  It was steep enough that I had to make switchbacks every few feet.  I thought I might fall many times, but I didn’t.  But the views were great.  I could see three different lakes at the same time – Lakes Betty, Bob and King.  There was also this great boulder field below me.  I got to the boulder field and wow the boulders were huge.  It took quite a long time to get through the boulders as I was on both hands and knees crawling over them for a lot of it.

I finally got through the boulders and was able to take some pictures of them skiing.  The hike out was so beautiful.  There were wildflowers, the lakes and even a small waterfall.  How beautiful the continental divide is.