JP and I arranged to meet up for some mid-morning transceiver practice but it was snowing so we ended up chucking that plan and skiing instead. We kept it short and dropped a mostly soft, mostly untracked line off the aqueduct into Current Creek.

At the trailhead we ran into another friend who offered us a ride if we didn't mind waiting five minutes, adding, "But you might want to stick a thumb out anyway."

"Right," I said. "Because you never know when that guy will pull up. Big American pickup, bottle of liquor, huge smile."

In truth, everyone who skis road laps in Colorado has met that guy at one time or another.*

So I walk to the edge of the roadway and before I even had time to raise my thumb, a large pickup pulls over. A couple skiers jump out. They hand us a bottle of liquor. I look at JP. He's looking at me with an enormous grin and laughing, "No WAY! This is the best ride ever."

* Old-school THAT Guy Story: Once many years ago we were thumbing rides on Loveland Pass. We were a group of three, but Vince had some gear issues and had fallen behind, so we agreed that we'd all grab whatever rides we could and regroup at the top. Two of us got a ride just as Vince slid up... seconds too late. No problem. We'd wait up top. Well as it turns out, we didn't have to wait very long before a rusty old Dodge van pulled up, spluttering, coughing and smoking; a wild-eyed, half-bald genUINE Colorado hippie at the wheel, cackling incoherently and tugging on a Winston; and a very drunk Vince spilling out the back with a bottle of Bacardi 151 in his hand.