WWTD (What would TAYers Do)

Dear TAYers,

My question is:  If you had money to blow, 4 months off from work (starting Nov 1), homeless (starting Nov 1), a 4x4, avi 1/crevasse rescue 1 (and all the necessary BC gear), a new pair of Karhu Jak's and a beat up pair of Joo's what would you do?

I'm looking forward to your suggestions.

Climberdave 

P.s. I currently live in Portland

November- North Cascades: winter should come early and bountiful, it always seems to snow a lot in the beginning compared to other places in the country.

December- After monitoring conditions thru Nov, go up to Canada: start at whistler and work toward the interior BC depending on conditions.

January- Start looping back South. Tour de Montana, Wyoming, Idaho: Whitefish, Tetons (mad coulees!!) , etc, by this point in the season these "continental" locales should have a decent base.

February- Based on what's happening throughout the winter, Tahoe: massive amounts of BC and lift access around Mammoth and the multiple ski areas of Lake Tahoe.

Of course this is just a loop assuming conditions are good at these places. The refined version would involve keeping track of storms and positioning yourself just ahead of them.

Since it sounds like you have ample cash to blow I would incorporate some sort of Tourie de Brewery as well.

ummmm brewery's!!!!

Thanks hefeweizen for the beta.  I'm solo on this little adventure (meet and greet at the trail head sort of thing) and while I have some money to blow I surely don't have what it takes to pull of such a wonderful itinerary.   I'm thinking a volcano tour starting with Shasta and ending with Baker (and a detour towards the Wallowa's) might be the thing with breweries along the way, but Jackson Hole is starting to sound really good about now.

You really don't want to mess with early winter, unconsolidated snow on glaciers with softly bridged crevasses. Leave the volcanoes for spring.

I'd consider staying near Hood until the North Cascades got their coverage, and then hit the little, local ski areas that have decent backcountry access -- in Washington that would be Baker, Alpental, Baker, Crystal, White Pass ... and Baker, of course.

In BC, Whitewater is not to be missed.

Wise words tim_place and I'll take them to heart. Maybe I'll bum around for awhile with my sea kayak and hope for early snows.

climberdave

If you've got that kind of time and you aren't jonesing for a lot of very everyday it might be cool to check out the little areas in WA and OR: Loup Loup, Anthony Lakes, 49 deg N, Hurricane Ridge, Mt. Ashland.

I always want to check those places out but when it comes down to it I have a hard time not going to the bigger (usually better) areas. With an open schedule a guy could kick it.