Powder Haus Christening

Ever since we returned from Australia last year we’d been on the hunt for a cabin up in the Sierras: the four of us missed the mountains and ski season so much when we were abroad for a year that we decided a place of our own for the winters should be on the cards. After lots of quick cabin-hunting trips to the Tahoe basin over the past year, in June we managed to secure ourselves a quaint little cabin on Donner Summit a few minutes down the road from Sugar Bowl (the mountain where both Max and Lilia learned to ski when they were still hanging onto a hula hoop in front of Lisa and I!). The cabin was built in 1970 and had been owned by the same family since it was built. When we received the keys a couple of weeks ago it was a bittersweet occasion for the sisters we purchased it from: they were sad to see it passed out of their family but at the same time excited for us to start making memories of our own in a place where they both grew up skiing and enjoying the mountain outdoors. Given our intended use for the place, we’ve dubbed our new cabin Powder Haus. Fingers crossed for more winters like the last one!

It was a magic drive over Ebbetts Pass and down into Markleeville following our long weekend at the cabin with the Munselles. I’d only ever driven over Highway 4 once before and I’d forgotten how stunning the drive can be, so many rivers and streams over Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway, I’ll have to go back with Max next summer with a couple of fishing poles. We managed a quick jaunt on the bikes through Woodchuck Basin above Lake Alpine on the way, definitely felt the burn in our lungs climbing on the bikes above 8000 feet!

It was primarily a work week at Powder Haus: 50 years of knickknacks from the previous owners made for a few donation trips to the thrift store, and we had some material selections to take care of for renovations before the snow starts to fall. That said, we definitely managed time for some mountain adventures and also marked our first visit with Max’s birthday (the big 10!). The kids were a great help with wood splitting chores, both of them surprising Lisa and me with their ability fo haul some pretty sizable rounds of wood to the splitter. And Max was in hog heaven with the Yuba River a short walk from the cabin: he reeled in his first trout on a lure 100% solo one evening and also would have done Uncle Luke proud collecting crickets from the woods to use as bait.

The MTB trails around Serene Lakes – a roughly 10 minute drive from Powder Haus – were a ton of fun. Smooth, bermed trails with some great flow, all of us had big grins on our faces at the end of the descents the couple of times we rode there. A friend of mine who grew up in Soda Springs also put us onto some great swimming holes in the area, Long Lake was a family favorite with its granite-lined shore and crystal clear mountain water. The couple of gnarled bristlecone pines next to the spot where we swam one afternoon were pretty cool to see. I have a feeling there’ll be a lot of excursions to Long Lake in the Valtenbergs family’s future… Emerald Pools was also a fun stop, although – thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and his cronies – I think we’ll avoid it on the weekends in the future. It did make for some phenomenal people watching, though!

To be honest, I was a little nervous when we rolled up at Powder Haus a few days ago: I’d seen the place in the flesh twice before but Lisa had never actually visited the property prior to our arrival on Tuesday (even though I took a ton of photos and FaceTimed her a tour on my first visit…). But after spending our first week up in Soda Springs everyone in the family has given the place a solid tick of approval. Fishing, MTB trails, some amazing swimming spots and only a few miles up the road to Sugar Bowl, everything we’d hoped for in a Sierras abode. Can’t wait for the snow to start falling!