Bill Lutz's private trip report:

I went up to South Lake . Lots of people were fishing that Opening Day on the still mostly frozen lake. I parked next to a group of five skiers who were heading in for a six night trip; Too much skiing with a heavy pack for me.

A climber was coming out just as I was going in who said he spent the night on top of Mt. Gilbert, and that it was very cold up there. I bet. I skied across South Lake, and then up the drainage at the inlet of South Lake, to Lake 10,668.

I camped just above Lake 10,688, near a knob marked 10,718 on my topo. Probably Mt. Goode in the sunlight. I skied slopes on Hurd Peak on Saturday afternoon until almost dark.

On Sunday, I skied up the first drainage just West of Lake 10,668, following a bunch of other skiers, a couple snow-boarders, and a couple dogs to a col that leads to Mt. Gilbert.

The boarders and dogs went up and down the col while the skiers stayed behind.

They all skied back down the same drainage.

I went up and around to the right, and skied down a different way, but eventually back into that drainage.

Then, I went to the top of the ridge just South of Lake 10,668, and skied down to the lake. I had a long lunch and a rest in the tent before heading out. I got back to the car around 5 p.m. Hope your adventure was great too. South Lake area should be good for weeks to come. --Bill