Alder bAshwood and a Fool's Jewel

We made what appears to be our final attempt at Ashwood today, at least until some serious brush clearing takes place up the Gold Creek valley. There was about 30 cm on the Fools Creek Main where we unloaded sleds and began our goose chase. We pivoted to a trip in the Fools Peak area and were pleasantly surprised with good sled access beyond the truck-blocking road washout (at ~400m where the Main turns west) and an interesting tour along a low (1050 ish m) ridgetop, saving Fools Peak proper for another day. At 1000 m it was more like 40 cm of new snow on 15 cm of old coverage on the ground. Was fun to play around in but 'early season' hazards were a real concern with such meagre base. Winds were perceptible but not enough to move snow at our elevation. We suspect it had a bit more umph at treeline and alpine ridgetops. We got just an inkling of soft slab forming around at around 900 m after a short descent. Otherwise, the snow was light and fluffy pow Even so, snow falling at 3cm per hour most of the day was enough of a sign to play it conservative. North Island pow times are back! Surely due to the insanely good vibes at BC Fest. ;)