Waking up Christmas morning to hear reports that Old Man Winter delivered 21″ of white goodness to Tahoe’s west shore is more than enough to get you motivated. Having already been on the fence if I could break away from the family right after Christmas, this news seemed to tip the scales. Several text were hastily sent with the hopes of firming some plans up for the following day.

Fast forward three Christmas events and two large full blown meals later, I was beginning to have second thoughts. I got comfortable on the couch and began to wonder; Will the pow keep? Is it worth the 6+ hour solo drive? What do I need to do around the house? Luckily Buddy who was already on the West Shore was down to ride, so I committed to making it happen.

After picking up Buddy in the Homewood area we headed down the west shore to Jakes Peak.

Buddro was pretty excited about the amount of snow compared to the last could seasons.

Patagonia’s new Recon pants and jacket are pretty trick with their hybrid soft shell/hardshell design. The temps were in the low teens for much of the day and I could feel a noticeable difference in the breathability of the soft-shell areas of the pants. I’m interested to see how they perform in warmer conditions.

One of the best parts of Jakes is the views.

I’m so glad I got out of bed for this. Even with all of the cars we saw parked on the road, there wasn’t too many tracks out there.

It was Buddy’s first day out this season and he was hooting and hollering all day.

location location location

Every time I have second thoughts about going, I should think about this time..