It's a short drive from the warm ocean beaches of San Diego, to the high Sierra  snowy mountains, through the Joshua Tree deserts that U2 made famous, to Mammoth.

Well, kinda…

Really Jen and I left San Diego around 4. We were hoping that a combination of shorts cuts and early departure would help us beat the Friday night rush hour traffic. But the crowded southern California populous centers were all thinking the same thing.

I supposed the traffic could have been worse and we finally got to the outskirts of L.A. around 7p.m. Monica and Shawn were supposed to meet us to carpool north. I gave them a quick call on their cell. They too were stuck in traffic and didn’t show up until several hours later.

Funny how those sunny southern California brochures never advertise the traffic.

Yet soon enough, those 10 lanes of traffic melted into a tiny two land road called the 395. we shortly found ourselves steaming alone along a dark desert highway.

Radio stations faded in and out while Joshua trees cast eerily shadows over the desert rock formations.

We drove until after midnight and pulled off into the tiny one light town of Independence. The nearly ghost town stood alone in the dark desert. It’s only sound was a steady hum from the couple neon signs. Rooms for $31 a night seemed to good to be true. We slept.

The next day we woke up next to the Sierras. We hadn’t seen them in the dark the night before. But now, under sparkling blue skies, the huge jagged giants, home to the highest peak in the lower 48 states, towered over the highway.

I stood in the parking lot that morning squinting into the monolithic range trying to pick out Mt. Whitney from her neighbors. I realized, that I was very close to where Rob and I spent a few days summiting the rocky giant a few summers ago.

We were up with the sun and finished the remaining drive to Mammoth before 9am. By 10 we had parked, gotten our tickets, and were uploading the high speed quad under warming temperatures.

The several feet of fresh snow the resort had gotten a few days prior, were still hiding in the trees, along the edges of the slopes, and on the difficult, steeper runs.

We spent the next two days seeking out every last flake.