I am seriously in love with snowboarding.

And hiking through the national parks of California.

~~~~~

On Monday noon, my 2 other roommates (Luo on left, Geoffrey on right) and I got ready to join those who signed up for the trip, organised by my housing as a post-exam activity.

Sleeping bags, gloves, snowboards, thick clothings all started to load onto the bus, as everyone gets set for colder weather in the city of Big Bear, California.

The journey there was straight-forward, but what a sight as we drove through the mountains of California!

We arrived at our lodge (Singing Pines Lodge) after 2 hours on the bus, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the lodge. It has this rustic feel to it, with a fireplace, wooden everything, but yet it is modern with lightings and stuff. Sitting peacefully amongst the trees with only a road leading up to it, it really looked like a perfect getaway!

Singing Pines Lodge
A really cool lodge in the midst of Big Bear City

After a short briefing and orientation, we're off to explore the nearby area and take some crazy photos!

The lovely view of the lake, and the mountains

~~~~~

Now for the main part of the trip! Snowboarding! I'm pretty excited about it, being a first-timer, especially since I heard so much about the sport! And renting the cool equipment just makes you feel so pro! Even having to slip our feet into the hard snowboard boots (worse than NEW army boots) and looking totally new to the sport, we're ready to hit the slopes!

After a couple of falls, total flip-overs, butt pains, I can feel myself getting the hang of this snowboarding business. I think I was amongst the best first-timer that day! *beams* But we have some real snowboard lovers out there with their own equipment and stuff. After 3 times at the beginner's slope, I was ready to hit the "real" stuff!

Yes it reads "This is NOT a Beginner Lift". *grin*

I love the feeling of going down the slope fast and feeling the wind in your hair (especially now that I have slightly longer hair than usual) and seeing the beautiful scenery ahead of you, of the lake and the mountains. Learning how to conquer the equipment, braking when needed, and switching direction when coming to an edge. The feeling of control is really indescrible, so is the feeling of falling down. There was once I sped so fast, and when I lost control, I turned head over heels flat into the snow, with a couple of rolls. It must have been really spectacular, because people up there in the lifts shouted down at me and asked if I'm alright, and even the staff that snowboarded up and down regularly stopped to ask if I'm ok, because I flipped and landed on my head. Ouch, but it was a lesson learnt =p never try to catch up with the pros. haha.

But snowboarding is tiring business, and sometimes I fall purposely so that I can sit down in thre artificial snow and rest. Enjoying the view ahead, and then getting up again for the that indescrible feeling of charging downhill on nothing but a piece of board.

Tetsu, me and Geoffrey

We ended the day at 4pm, because it is getting dark and the lifts closed at 4.30pm. I could do this all winter, telling everyone who cared to listen. haha. It is really great fun, despite all the aches we start to feel in our shoulders and butts, and the tiredness in our knees and thighs.

Everyone was so tired that we fell asleep pretty fast in the night. Luo, Geoffrey and I even caught a movie that night because movies are 5USD on Tuesdays! We wanted to catch "Narnia", but it was sold out by the time we get theree after dinner, so we settled for "Walk the Line" (which actually is the only other show showing in the small theatre in this small city), which is a really good show as well!

~~~~~

The next morning, I woke up way earlier than anyone in the lodge at around 7.15am, packed a sandwich and went on my way with my water bag, determined to have some sort of a hike through the national parks of San Bernardino across the lake from where we are. Went alone, because I'm pretty sure no one is really interested in hiking, especially after a day of snowboarding.

I was not to be disappointed with the walk and the scenery that captured me so.

For 3-4 hours, I walked on and on, soaking in the scenery and the fresh air, always checking the time and telling myself that there is time to just go forth a bit more before turning back. I had to cross the lake to the north side of the lake (all the snow activities and happening stuff are on the south side of the lake), crossing the dam and exploring the well-established trails like the Alpine Pedal Path, Woodland Trail and Marsh Broadwalk. I had really wanted to go up the Cougar Trail to meet the Pacific Crest Trail (famous trail on top of the Californian peaks), but there wasn't enough time as we had to get back to the lodge by 12 to head back to school.

I covered a few trails and explored the area, not even remembering the ache in my shoulders and lower back from the snowboarding the day before. The view is just so magnificant! Lookin at the snow-capped mountains where we snowboarded yesterday, to the ducks that swim so close to me from the lake.

Me on one of the trails, with the sun, mountain and lake behind me

I really did not feel like walking back to the lodge, but just indulging in the nature all around me.

After packing up and stuff, we headed back to school, with the only eventful thing happening was that our bus brakes burned out and we had to wait 20 minutes for it to cool down again. But besides that, mostly sleep conquered us during the 2-hr drive.

And did I mention butt aches? and shoulder pains? Ouch, I can still feel them now.. it has prevented me from sitting in one position for extended period of time.

But hey, I still love snowboarding. If only I can do it all winter.