Thumbtack snowpatch

Finally after all the smoke it was time to get some September turns in the Thumbtack Basin! 

Clearly I wasn't the only one with such a great idea as I saw 5 (!) other folks with skis...the Snow Lake Superhighway/Dog Park was unsurprisingly busy until I left the main trail at the Source Lake cutoff.  Fall colors have progressed a lot since my last time in the mountains a few weeks ago, but there were still plenty of berries to munch on.

I'm not really sure what I want to call the perennial snowpatch: Snoqualmie Snowfield? Chair Pk 'Glacier'? Either way, it skied relatively smoothly with only a few rocks to dodge. 

The pika were plentiful and it felt like they were cheering me on during my laps as I celebrated another full year of turns. yay skiing!