I haven’t practiced much at hitting the melt-freeze cycle in our area with the correct timing. Of course we all want it not too hard and not too soft, right? Surely. It’s a mystery to me how to time it, so I go a for a nice comfy 11 am start for me on the split board and Ann on snowshoes. It’s not bad! Definitely very firm on our ascent, and borderline too firm on the steep upper reaches, but with some route finding we make it to a summit we’ve come close to before on the Tahoe Rim Trail, but never visited. For lack of a name on the map I deem it “Coxcomb Knob” after the cobblestone crags it sports. Our descent timing is great, with a couple inches of nice velvety mush.

Lunching over Tahoe

Ann climbing to the coxcomb

Us at coxcomb rocks

I wonder if the east face of Incline peak ever softens up enough – definitely not today. The south side still has enough snow for happy turns though.