Skiing into Blue Ridge Reservoir

I just haven't been really anxious to ski lately, but today I was inspired to do something I've been wanting to do for a while, and that was to grab the skinny skis and kick my way from the gate at the highway down to Blue Ridge Reservoir. The way I see it, is that today was just the right time. The recent snow has been cleared from the highways, so driving there would be no problem, yet the snow behind the gate should still be in good condition. I split from my place in Phoenix a little after 6:00 am, and I parked the car at a snow cleared pullout just up the road from the gate. I left my car about 8:45 and kick the 5 miles down to the lake via FS road 571. It wasn't totally untracked, as a snowmobile had beatdown a nice path for me, so breaking trail was easy. That and the first 2.5 miles is flat. The 2 miles after Rock Crossing Campround it drops down about 600 vf, but the slop if the road is pretty gentle for coming down on skinny skis and and climbing back out of. I saw a couple elk, and could hear others battling off in the distance. The temps were pretty cold when I started, prolly about 10 or 12 degrees, but once I got moving, I wasn't bothered at all. I didn't shoot any video, so I pretty much kept moving, but I took my time. Actually I didn't really look at my watch until I was nearly done, which was about 3:00. I ended up going all the way to the dam, so the round trip was about 13 miles. Here are a few snaps: