Fellow snow-goers,

I skied the EFL trail today, after we received ~5" of wet, heavy, WEIRD snow here in LA. EFL is in the Jemez, near mile marker 35 on NM4. There is a large, plowed parking area on the south side of NM4 just east of the trailhead. The area is described on p.40 of Sam Beard's book, and on the club website under Trails and Maintenance/Trail Maps.

It was one of the least enjoyable outings I've ever had. Bluebird skies, comfortable temps, snow-flocked trees, etc. BUT, the snow was thin at the trailhead and always sticky in sun-exposed areas. OK - I did break trail, which was tiring, but the snow was continuously clumping up in spite of several maxi-glide applications. After getting around the loop and skiing in my outgoing track, things were a lot better, and my clicking-and-gliding started to catch up to the earlier clicking-and-sticking. EFL has a lot of southern exposure, so if you go, you might bring maxiglide. The broken trail will probably facilitate trips before the next snowfall..

Coincidentally, I saw Sam and Byron at the Coyote Call trailhead, where they invited me to join them in the CC loop. That's better protected against the sun, so Sam may report very different conditions.

NM4 was clear, and the Los Griegos and Corral Cyn traihead parking areas had been plowed.

Happy trails,

Mike

The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine. J. B. S. Haldane