May 30, 2007 - Mt. Baker

This was my first post-season trip ever. Given that and the fact that I went by myself I decided to play it safe and stay in-bounds on relatively stable slopes at Baker.

I arrived at Mt. Baker (Heather Meadows) at about 10am. It was plenty hot and ultra-sunny. There was tons of snow all the way down to the Heather Meadows parking lot. I brought snowshoes but didn't end up using them given the firmness of the base. I hiked up along the Austin cat track 3 times and rode down in the general area of Pan Dome each time.

Since this was my first trip this late in the season I was really surprised by how slow the snow was. I'm not sure if that was due to the layer of pollen on top of the snow or the temp (it was supposed to hit 90 degrees in Bellingham on this day). Anyway, as long as I stayed on steep runs it was pretty fun. The snow seemed super stable on Pan Dome.

I've attached two photos. One is the view from the top of Austin into the Canyon area. The other is a view of my ?fresh? turns.

Way to try something new for yourself! You'll find that opportunities for "post-season" trips abound in the PNW. Smart move staying in an area you felt safe, get some knowledge and you'll open doors. Here's a tip: on days that it's going to be 90 in town, the earlier start you get the better. It's more fun to hang out and eat some food and wait until the snow is juuuust right than to deal with sloppy muck.

By the way, in my book it does count as fresh turns