Donner Pass on 1/10/2004

by Steve Sergeant


The full moon was just starting to rise as we cross-country skied up the back side of Boreal Ridge with our headlamps on. Through the mostly cloudy sky, I could make out Jupiter and the belt and sword of Orion.

As I had no magnifying optics with me, I cannot post any more detailed observations. However, the snow was quite consolidated and starting to ice over. After the moon rose completely, it was the only extra-terrestrial object we could see in the sky. Rings around the moon, cause by the thin, low clouds, appeared to cover as much as 15 degrees of the sky.

We turned off our headlamps and descended back down, carving our telemark turns in the crusty snow by moonlight. By the time we got back down to our hut, even the moon was indistinct through the clouds.