Sparrowhawk

Headed down the Smith-Dorian and forged trail up Sparrowhawk Creek en route to Sparrowhawk Tarns. Lots of thigh deep snow lead to plenty of route finding on this afternoon. Thankfully, I had great company in Barkley and of course Cy. After 2.5hrs of climbing, we reached the Tarns and basked in the 25 Celsius heat (and this is February?!) as the sun reflected off the snow and cooked us in this sheltered oasis. If our Sherpa would have shown up with some beach chairs and case of Corona, I'm sure we could have sun bathed there for the day.

Here, these building sized boulders guard the valley that house the Tarns. We were surely the first bipedals to lay eyes on the Tarns this year, as all tracks had signaled defeat far back down the valley.


Left: Alpenland looks so much better and feels more rewarding in the dead of winter without a purchasing a lift ticket. Right: This chute we rode down from the Tarns was my highlight of the trip. A combination of running, bounding and rolling got us down 500ft within minutes without setting off any major avalanches.


Barkley looks majestic as he guards the entrance to the Tarns. Actually, he's looking back down the valley waiting for Cy to catch up and bust out some food.




Always herding his flock.


Left: Barkley readies himself to charge down the valley. Right: Somebody's getting pissed of being buried shoulder deep in snow. Poor neglected poochie!