Moon Mission to Herman

By:  Sam
December 11, 2011


After the success of our first Moon mission this season, I was eager to get back out under the full moon again. As luck would have it, only two months after our first time out, the weather was again offering clear skies and stable snow. For this adveture I convinced Tess and Brian that, despite all being scheduled for work the next day, it would be a good idea to leave town at 8pm and get back in the wee-hours of the morning.

As we ascended the Baker Highway, we encountered progressively colder air. Before climbing out of the valley, the car thermometer read a very Vermont-like 25 degrees. Unprepared for actual cold, we began to question the brilliance of my plan, yet as we drove up the steep final portion of the road the numbers on the thermometer began to creep upwards. By the time we reached the parking lot it was reading 37 degrees. The inversion was going to allow for some very comfortable moon skiing.

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Tess and Brian skiing across the lakes. Visibility was better than it is on most days up at Baker, so we decided to ski Mt. Herman.

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It hasn’t snowed in over a week and the snow is hard and very stable so we made quick progress up the skin track. Per-usual, the higher we got, the better the views got.
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We stopped a few times to take in the surreal night/day view.

By 11:30 we reached our high point for the night.
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Read about the author:   Sam
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  1. TR: Moon Mission To Herman

9 Comments

  1. powhounddd
    wrote on December 11th, 2011 at 4:28 pm  
    1

    Trippy photos, thanks for that. I have yet to do a moonlit mission on anything but flattish ground; looks fun!!

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  2. teleskiqueen
    wrote on December 11th, 2011 at 5:58 pm  
    2

    That looks like a great time. Excellent trip report and ‘trippy’ photos – thanks!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  3. rangerjake
    wrote on December 11th, 2011 at 6:24 pm  
    3

    man. just super photos. really interesting. almost painted style 2d background.
    so cool.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  4. cliffy
    wrote on December 11th, 2011 at 8:22 pm  
  5. Ben
    wrote on December 11th, 2011 at 8:45 pm  
    5

    very cool! Feeling kinda lazy now for not taking advantage of the full moon… maybe next month!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  6. K_C
    wrote on December 12th, 2011 at 10:27 am  
    6

    God Ben, you’re so damn lazy. You better ski something super-cool during the next full moon to make up for it.

    Oh and cool pics Sam!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Sam
      wrote on December 14th, 2011 at 1:59 am  
      7

      Thanks!

      …and Ben, don’t be so lazy man, this isn’t the only place in the world with clear moonlight winter nights

  7. mgeorge31584
    wrote on December 12th, 2011 at 8:55 pm  
    8

    what kind of camera do you use to get these great pics?

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Sam
      wrote on December 14th, 2011 at 1:57 am  
      9

      I used a canon 40D on a tripod (not sure what kind, it belongs to Allen) for these shots. Glad you liked them!

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