The Outpost Gondola was running today, which may be the first time this season and Prospector was open... so I figured I'd go check 'em out. When I got off the gondola I saw that a hiking trail open at The Outpost (red line 1.5 mile and 0.5 mile sections). I probably should have read where I was heading before starting the 2 mile (1.5 straight up the mountain) trek but my eagerness got the better of me. After several stops, of which a few were to gasp for air like my life was hanging on a thread, I finally made it up to the top and walked across the mostly flat half mile stretch to gain access to Alhambra.
The bowl was adequately deep and it felt amazing to sail down the fluffy slope into a wooded Jane's Journey trail... Since I was riding a park board (Gnu Headspace) today, stopping was not really an option because this board tends to sink in deep snow... so I barreled on through as best I could. But alas, somewhere on this epic run my GoPro (Hero9 Black) fell off. For several days now, I have been riding with it clipped to the shoulder strap of my backpack but I suspect that at some point my knees came up to my chest and unclipped the GoPro mount.... talk about heartbroken...
When I got to the chair lift, I looked down and realized it was gone... stunned and in disbelief I replayed the run in my head and decided it most likely fell off in two or three locations, 1. in the deep powder of Alhambra where I reached max speed, 2. at the entrance to Jane's Journey where I took a quick detour and had to hop uphill a little to avoid descending into a ditch, and 3. in the middle of Jane's Journey on the flattest part of the path where I caught an edge and tumbled.
I went back to retrace my steps starting with the arduous hike. I managed to stay positive and began to reflect on all the things I was thankful for... the weather, my board, my health, etc. The second time up was not as bad since I was able to pace myself much more reasonably. Part way up I stopped and realized I could see my trail on Alhambra!
The 45 minute hike went by pretty quickly and its memory started to fade as I absorbed the views from the top. They were quite spectacular and a great reason to take an extended break.
On second pass, I didn't see any signs of the GoPro and started to head home pretty downhearted. After reporting the device to lost and found, I went back up the mountain to ride over to Peru Express where my car was parked... what a day!...
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