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May 19, 2012 Iron Peak Ski Tour

Stats: Beverly Creek Trailhead (Teanaway River Road) 3600' Iron Peak 6500'  Total Elevation Gain depends on how many laps you ski.  We skied two laps for between 3500' and (generous) 4000'.  Roundtrip mileage ~7-8. At least a mile or more was on either dry ground or hard, unfun snow (for skiing).  Aspects skied were generally north.  Pitch was WooHoo Steep!

We did not take avy gear since the snowpack had mostly settled; however, we were surprised to see heavy cornices still on the ridgetops.  There also had been a recent avalanche on one of the slopes.  We assumed there was still a sliding layer on that aspect.

Fun Factor: The excellent corn snow was worth getting out of bed at 0420 and on the road by 0500.  Not sure what time we started but we were back at the car by 1500.  We finished the first lap right around noon.  At the end of the second lap we noticed the snow getting mushy and grabby.

Gear: Skis, skins, ski crampons (optional), ski pole whippet, sunscreen

Here are the pictures!

May 12, 2012 Hike to Lake Serene

Lake Serene is a relatively low-elevation lake that sits at 2500' at the base of scenic Mt. Index.  Bridal Veils falls flows from the north end of the lake.  Since yesterday was sunny and the snow was reportedly melted off most of the trail I was hardly alone on the trail for more than a couple minutes at a time.  The parking lot was nearly full when I arrived at 9:30 and overflowing down the road and into a lower lot when I returned at 1:30.  It was a beautiful day and a good way to get myself and Jodee some exercise.

The stats:  Beginning elevatation is 600', ending is 2500'.  RT mileage is 7.2, added 1 mile bonus plus a little more elevation if you take the side trip to Bridal Veil Falls.  The falls are gorgeous and the side trip is worth the effort but the main trail passes right by the falls.  I'm glad I made the side trip.

When I returned there had been a serious accident further east on Hwy 2, which is not uncommon.  This highway is nicknamed The Death Highway for good reason.  In the future, if I'm short on time, as I was yesterday, I won't hike Hwy 2 because planning for traffic jams is essential on weekends.  That's just an FYI.

Here are the pictures.  Also, kudos to the Washington Trail Association and Boeing Alpine Club for all their hard work on the trail yesterday!

May 5 Ski Tour to Herman Saddle & May 6 Ski Tour to Secret Mountain

Initially our plan was go on a multi-day ski tour in the Oval Peak region, which is over the North Cascades Highway, past Mazama and Winthrop, beyond Twisp and up a dirt road into the Sawtooth-Chelan mountains.  We cooked up this plan early in the year, gambling that the pass would be open and conditions would favor driving to the trailhead and the nice spring snow referred to as "corn" would be the ski conditions.

However, as planning goes we were a week off from the pass opening, the Forest Service website indicated that there would be several miles of skiing on the road before we even reached the trailhead and the high temperature of the first two days would only be 31F.  Not exactly the spring ski trip we had envisioned.

Fortunately we are a flexible bunch.  Billy, whom we had not yet met, reserved a condo in the little town of Glacier, the last town before Mt. Baker.  Aimee, a friend from our mid-week downhill ski group, who is the connection with Billy was in on the Oval Peak plan from the get-go, loosely introduced us to Billy via the magic of email.  It was going to work and we were going to have a nice weekend in spite of the weather forecast.

And we did.  We all arrived at the condo Friday night at different times.  Randy and I left work early on Friday, got up to Glacier early enough to have a nice dinner at Milano's then explore Glacier Creek Road to see how far the snow had melted.  We found out that there were still several miles of road to ski before reaching the trailhead to Heliotrope.

For Saturday we got up at a liesurely 7:30, drank coffee, had a nice breakfast of egg, ham, and cheese filled tortillas and homemade rhubarb pie for dessert.  We got to the Mt. Baker ski area, which is now closed for the season, to weather not unlike the previous week.  However it wasn't quite raining real rain drops.  The weather looked like it wanted to clear toward Herman Saddle and there was fresh snow up higher, possibly in Mazama Bowl.

We skinned up to Austin Pass, just like the last week.  Saw the Skagit Alpine Club practicing ice axe arrest on a steep slope.  We skied down into Bagley Lakes in fairly consolidated snow that was difficult for making turns.  Again the snow was deep enough to cross Bagley Lakes and the creek upstream but it won't be for long.

We skinned up to Herman Saddle, decided not to go into Mazama Bowl because we thought the recent snowfall was just too warm to be worth the effort.  We thought about skiing around Table Mountain but the skiing down was as difficult as skiing up so we thought it would take too long to complete the circuit.  So we skied down and out.  Nice warm up day with possibly bigger ambitions for Sunday and Monday.  Here are the pictures.

Once we got back to the condo, Aimee and went directly to the hot tub while Randy and Billy went to Maple Falls for a pre-dinner snack and to pick up the second key to the condo.  They joined us in the hot tub after Aimee and I were positively pruney.

Aimee and Billy cooked a nice dinner of pasta and prawns and scallops.  Yum!  We also found out that in spite of the cloud cover during the day, sunscreen was necessary.  Even those of us who had applied in advance were a little more tan.  Billy sported some red spots on his face.

Billy and Aimee know some folks in Glacier who own the ski shop so he was able to get some directions to a secret stash of good skiing that I will only refer to as "Secret Mountain" here.

On Sunday we didn't get up much earlier, still had a leisurely breakfast and coffee before we got going.  Sunday was a beautiful day with bright sunshine and bluebird skies.  We took lots of pictures of the incredible views.

I will say that the skiing was nicer on Secret Mountain.  It wasn't quite corn but perhaps "creamed corn" consistency.  The sun had warmed the slope so whenever we skied, the top layer followed us down.  I didn't like that feeling so much so Aimee and I only skied one lap.  The slide wasn't fast enough or deep enough to cause injury but it could knock a skier over, especially a skier like me.  Fortunately even I skied fast enough to outrun the slide down to a safe zone.  Randy skied another lap and Billy skied two more laps.  We made a serious mess out of that slope with the slides and tracks.  It may not be skiable for the rest of the season so it's not worth trying to find.  I'm just sayin'!  Here are the glorious pictures!

April 29 Ski to Lake Ann and Ann Butte

It was raining when we got up and raining when we met Mark at the Park n Ride and raining when we got to the parking lot at Mt. Baker.  So why did we ski?  We all wanted some exercise and Randy had had his ski boots stretched previously in the week so wanted to try them out on a tour before we set off on an overnight adventure.

The rain wasn't bad when we got out of the car and it was warm.  By the time we started up the hill to Austin Pass it was dry enough to shed outer rain gear.  By the time we got into Swift Creek it was downright sunny and time to apply sunscreen.

Snow still covered the creek well enough to safely ski over the water but a few holes were showing through.  There was evidence of a recent avalanche cycle but nothing else at our elevation was coming down.  We could hear massive avalanches coming down the flanks of Shuksan as we approached the saddle dividing Swift Creek and Lake Ann but nothing was coming our way.

With all the avalanche debris and cornices lining our route we doubted that our objective was possible but we kept going, picking our way to safe lines and checking in with each other to make sure we were all okay with the route.  We weren't sure how we were going to navigate the cornices to get over the saddle to Lake Ann but we found a nifty little notch between cornices and snuck through.  From there we skinned up the ridge well on the safe side of the cornice line.

By the time we got to the top the clouds came in and started snowing.  We hunkered under a tree, ate a quick lunch and pondered skiing down to the lake before skiing back up to the notch and skiing out.  We decided that the snow quality (7-11 slush quality) wasn't worth the trouble so we skied back down the notch and into Swift Creek.  By then the sky cleared and we took off jackets again.

It felt like a long slog back out of Swift Creek but generally the weather was nice until we started the serious climb out of Swift Creek back up to Austin Pass.  To add insult to the uphill climb the rain began in earnest.  At the top of the Pass we ripped skins off our skis and skied the slush down to the parking lot where a serious downpour got us.  Boots and skis and wet jackets came off quickly and into the car we piled.  Off to warm food and refreshing beverages!

The tour was fun in spite of our misgivings the entire way out there and we'd gladly do it again.  Randy's boots passed the test and we got in a fair amount of exercise.  Conservatively the elevation gain was 3500' in approximately 8 1/2 miles roundtrip.  We saw terrain we hadn't seen before and would like to explore more.  It was a day to get both sunburned and drenched. Here are the pictures.

Caught Up Finally!

Luckily (I suppose) March wasn't a very busy month.  The first weekend I got a haircut then we had dinner with good friends Bill and Ramona, Kristie and Peter, Christina and Andy, Ellen and Ken.  I had book club on another weekend evening.  Then there was the weekend with a bridal shower, hike with Jenny, potluck at George and Roseann's, and a walk around Greenlake with Terri and David.  Then Nordic Patrol, about which I just wrote.

The last day of March and first day of April we skied up at Sun Peaks with friends who own a house up there.  The skiing was really fun, the people we hung with were really fun, and it was fun.  The drive to and from Sun Peaks, not so much but the roads were clear and the Coquihalla Hwy only left two rock chips in my windshield, which is remarkable I only ended up with so few.  I took my camera up there but failed to take any pictures.  Oh well, we'll have to go again next season!

This weekend I'm catching up on rest, housework and we'll ski uphill tomorrow for some exercise to prepare for an overnight ski trip we have planned early in May.  The mountains are still getting snow but it's warming up.  Spring in the northwest fashion has arrived.  Yesterday I rode my bike to work wearing winter ear covers, gloves, and neoprene socks over woolies but I did not have to wear rain gear.  That's how I know spring has arrived.

March 24-25, 2012 Nordic Patrol at Mt. Rainier National Park

Pam and I met 5 years ago on a volunteer ski patrol trip at Mt. Rainier.  We have been good friends since and make a point to volunteer for ski patrol every year so we can have our annual slumber party.  She is also my role model for retirement.  Pam hikes several days a week, travels to exotic locales at least once a year to backpack, trek, and do other fun things.  She backpacks all spring and summer then nordic skis in the winter.  What is not to idolize?

After our first year on Nordic Patrol, Pam has brought some of her Seattle friends into the fold and we try to fill the house that the park provides for us.  Usually there's room for one or two more people but we're a tight group so it's not often other people want to join in.  It's better that way.

Pam and I agreed to co-host this year.  Pam's job was to coordinate with the other volunteers and the very important dishes for the potluck.  I was assigned salad and bread but a latecomer actually brought salad fixin's.  My job was to coordinate with the park ranger, get the truck, then make a loose plan for patrol that would either be accepted or rejected by the other patrolers.  Generally, the loose plans were accepted and we had a great patrol on Saturday.

We all brought snowshoes because the snow wasn't fresh and no one in our group were experienced backcountry skiers except for me.  That's fine; I don't mind getting close and personal with my snowshoes at least once per year.

Our primary job is to patrol the marked routes, reset any poles that have fallen over or are frozen in the holes, talk to all the visitors to make sure they have maps, permits for overnight camping, report pesky fox sitings, and generally make sure all is well in the park.  Mission accomplished for Saturday.

Saturday night potluck is the best part.  Marcia brought yummy split pea soup, I brought bread from the Bread Farm, Pam had provided appetizers which nearly spoiled my appetite for dinner but, sigh, I managed to eat all my dinner and Beth's yummy flourless cake for dessert too.  That and a lot of red wine.  Eivand was a champ and lead the charge on dishwashing.

Unfortunately all that great food left me with a rather vigorous bout of heartburn, which I never get.  I'm sure the red pepper goat cheese I had at lunch had a lot to do with it.  Topped by red wine and chocolate.  Couldn't resist and suffered.  Still, I slept to my surprise.

On Sunday we were prepare to either patrol more if the ranger came by to give us an assignment or clean up the house and leave the park for the groomed Tahoma Ski Trails.  Ranger Dan came by and asked us to make more visitor contacts.  Pam and I opted for the route up to Glacier Vista while the rest were aiming for Mazama Ridge.

The weather was dry but cloudy so we had pretty good visibility both days, which is surprising for that area. The snow was only good on Saturday at a particular elevation band -- not high where it was wind-smacked, not low where it was warm but nice in the middle range under the shade of trees.

It was a great weekend and I look forward to next season!  Here are the pictures.

President's Day Weekend Ski Tours in Mazama, WA

Yes, I realize that President's Day Weekend was more than a month ago.  I am now just getting around to describing that wonderful trip.

Last year our friends Paul and Laurie invited us to join their entourage that stays at the Mazama Country Inn for the weekend and hires North Cascade Mountain Guides to lead them on a day trip for some fun eastside backcountry skiing.  Yes, we happily accepted!

The drive over to Mazama in the winter is a long journey since North Cascades Pass closes for the winter.  The journey is necessarily 2 hours longer because the winter route goes over Stevens Pass, then north up Hwy 97 then back west on Hwy 20 to Mazama.  The drive is pretty but I wouldn't want to do it in the dark during a snow storm.  We took Friday off and left during the day.

Mazama Country Inn is unique because it's like a large-scale bed and breakfast.  Breakfast and dinner are served family style and you can either sit with the group you came with or choose to sit with a menagerie of strangers and get to know other cool people who enjoy staying there.

The Inn has a capacity of about 60, I think.  Mixing and matching during meals and between activities is fun.  The weekend we were stayed, groups who like to cross country ski (Mazama is well known for its network of groomed cross country ski trails) and a yoga workshop was also going on.  Some people were doing both.  Our group of 8 was the only group who were backcountry skiing although one fellow who had recently retired from a metropolitan fire department was heliskiing one day.  Heliskiing is where a helicopter flies skiers up to the top of a ridge, the skiers ski down, the helicopter flies the skiers back up.  Repeat until you can't move, the helicopter has to go in because of flight time limits, darkness, weather, etc.  It's very expensive but untracked ski runs are guaranteed.

Our guided trip was on Sunday so we had Saturday to goof around.  About half of our group of eight opted to cross country ski. Randy, Laurie, Leigh, and I decided to attempt a backcountry ski up nearby Sandy Butte.  The elevation was low so the snow had a crunchy crust on it.  Going up was fine but coming back down was, er, exciting.  We had a great time and felt warmed up for tomorrow's ski tour with the guide.

We arranged to have breakfast ready a little early for our group so we could meet the guides at 0800.  The Inn staff also put out lunch stuff so everyone can pack their own lunches for the day.  The staff is very accomodating for "special" people, like me who have food sensitivities.  They prepared wheat-, dairy-, almond-, and corn- free dishes for me and provided gluten-free bread and cookies for lunches.  It was really great.  I think I gained 40 pounds that weekend.

The guides were ready for all 8 of us and took us through a short avalanche rescue scenario before we got into cars to drive to the end of the plowed road.  At that point we took snowmobiles 8 miles up the closed highway to the bottom of Delancey Ridge.  Larry, our main guide, set a nice upward track to a place where we could enjoy a long ski down without going all the way to the bottom.  Then we skinned back up even higher before skiing all the way down.  It was a great day with a fun group.  Randy and I made our reservations for next year at the Inn already.

Here are the pictures!  And here are more pictures that I forgot to post!

February 11 Smithbrook South Ski

We often ski the north side of an area known as Smithbrook, which is so named because of a dirt road that is open in the summer.  We've seen the south side in all the years that we've driven to the trailhead to go north but crossing the highway with our skis discouraged us from trying it.  However, when familiarity breeds contempt (or boredom) for the north side, we opted to explore the south side on a warm-ish day that promised tree bombs and heavy snow.  What could go wrong?

Here is our proposed route.  Note that we park on the north side of the divided highway, ski west along the bank to where the highway joins together, figure out how to get down the bank (requires a shovel to build a platform and stairs) the scoot across the highway carrying our skis.

Here's a nice slope to consider skiing on a less sloppy day.

And here it is looking up.

Some obstacles to cross.

Another obstacle.

A pretty!

Cool snow formation.

Once we got a little higher in elevation we decided to turn around.  The terrain was getting steeper, the trees were dripping which might mean some snow above us slipping down.

The ski down was difficult.  The snow was heavy, difficult to make turns, and there were a lot of obstacles to avoid.  I followed Randy down the first long pitch, fell a lot, cursed, got wet from the sloppy snow.  We reached the logging road we had followed in to my relief.

Relief was soon replaced by boredom as logging roads are long and dull, full of switchbacks that make the route longer.  I found an opening that would cut off at least one long switchback and get us down faster.  I took the first run down and found it easier to ski since I didn't have to negotiate over the lines Randy had made.  The terrain rolled sideways.  We were in a drainage and a creek was below the snow under us.  We could see the water through open holes.  Another obstacle to avoid.  Near the bottom the trees were so thick that we took off our skis and boot-packed to the last section of road.

Not too much later we reached the highway.  After we crossed, here is how we got back up the bank on the other side:

Nice toe holds!

It was an interesting day, which scouting trips usually are. Some of the terrain is inviting enough to try it again in the future.  This is the year of exploration!

Jolly Mountain Backcountry Ski January 28, 2012

In January of 2009 we attempted to ski Jolly Mountain but fell short of our goal, largely because the conditions were difficult: breakable crust.  Then we had stayed in a motel because we didn't yet have a camper.

This year was our year of accomplishing our missions, as we proved on January 1 when we accomplished our mission of skiing to Lake Valhalla.  That was another ski we had tried a few years ago and fell short.

I had been sick with a rotten head cold for two weeks but was ready to stretch my legs and blow out the rest of the head cold with a long ski.  Leaving Friday night after work is always stressful and this time did not prove to be any different.  There was some snapping and snarling but we got over it.  Bellevue traffic was predictably awful.  We stopped in Issaquah at our favorite watering hole to wash away the stress of driving I-405 on a Friday night hauling a camper.  Yeesh.

We pulled into the snow park (a plowed parking lot usually for snowmobilers but anyone with a pass can park there) around bed time.  We were the only vehicle in the lot so we had our pick of camping spots.  Not too much later a fancy RV towing a snowmobile trailer pulled into the lot and parked opposite of us.

In the morning we ate breakfast, waited for daylight, then got ready to ski.  On an online forum we had read about a pair who often ski up and camp on the route up to Jolly Mountain.  We easily found their skin track and followed it up.  Soon enough we saw their tents on a nice flat spot with a view.  Since their skis were outside the tents we assumed they were inside taking a nap so we quiety skinned on by.  Later we found their trip report with pictures of their tents online: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=23476.new;topicseen#new

We reached the end of their skin track at the same clear cut we had stopped at the previous time.  We had plenty of time to continue so we toured to the south then up the ridge with Sasse Ridge in our view.  The snow was deeper on this stretch and I broke trail for a while.  All the while we kept noticing potential ski runs for future trips.

We crossed a knife-edge ridge to another knoll and could see the summit of Jolly in the clouds.  By then it was raining, we had gained over 3500' in elevation.  Neither of us were driven to continue so we called it good enough and skied down.  The skiing wasn't great but not awful either.  We were back at the camper just before cocktail hour.

With the heat on, clothes changed, ski clothes drying we poured some adult beverages and made dinner.  After dinner we played the National Park Service version of Monopoly until bed time.

We woke up to a slow drip on Randy's sleeping bag.  Darn it.  The roof leak we thought we had fixed clearly wasn't fixed.  And it was obviously raining, not snowing, so skiing didn't seem like a fun option.  We decided to call it an early weekend and go home.  Except the truck wouldn't start.  We had forgotten to run the truck while we were playing Monopoly for hours the previous night.

At 0700 no one in the RV next door was stirring yet.  No cell service to call AAA.  We thought it unlikely anyone would come up to snowmobile on a rainy day.  So we waited, walked around in the rain, waited, fidgeted, waited until about 0930 we couldn't stand it any more so Randy went over to knock on the door of the RV.  Just then a diesel pickup pulling a snowmobile trailer pulled into the lot.  The driver was early meeting his cohorts so cheerfully pulled his truck up in front of ours and hooked up the jumper cables.  Our battery was so dead that it took about 15 minutes of charging to get it going.  Hurray!

We thought about stopping in Roslyn (filming location of Northern Exposure) for breakfast but that would mean turning off the truck.  No way!  We drove to North Bend, kept the truck on while I refueled (it's okay to do that with a diesel because of the low flammability of diesel fuel) then finally felt confident enough to stop for breakfast/lunch near Bothell.  Except the place we had in mind was closed.  So we went slightly out of our way to a new place we'd heard about in Mukilteo and had an early lunch.

We got home early, unpacked, and relaxed.  Since then we've been trading colds back and forth.  Most recently Randy has the flu.  Plus we've been away on the weekends between colds so the camper sits.  Maybe this month we'll be able to deal with that leaky roof.

One day we'll explore that terrain again and maybe even make it all the way to the summit of Jolly. Here are the pictures.

Backcountry Ski Jan 15, 2012

Right after the avalanche field trip weekend I offered to lead a ski tour to a group of people who were interested in learning where to ski on a high(er) avalanche hazard day.  Fortunately on Sunday January 15 there was plenty of fresh snow and the avalanche hazard was rated as "Considerable", which means that skier-triggered avalanches are likely in certain terrain.

Our mission was to explore terrain that would be safe to ski even with that kind of rating.  Five of us met at a park n ride in Marysville then caravanned to Smithbrook, on the east side of Stevens Pass.  We were expecting a snowy, low visibility day.

And got a bluebird day.  We are taking turns breaking trail through deep snow.  Brian is in front of me.  Miyabi, Emily, and Jessica (not necessarily in that order) are in front of him.

Here is the marvelous work we've done as a team.

Miyabi, Brian at Rainy Pass.  Lunch stop!

Whee!  We skied down through the trees on relatively steep terrain through this lovely, thigh-deep powder.  What a fun day with a fun group!