April 11, 2004, Hawkins Mnt.
4/11/04
3064
3
Sarah Bruce, Kelvin Wu and I decided to give Ingalls Peak or Mnt. Stuart a try, but we were stopped well short of the trailhead by snow on the road. Without a decent map of the area for more options, we decided to drive to the top of Cle Elum Lake, along Route 903, to see what we could find. About one mile past the Salmon la Sac FS station, we were again stopped by snow on the road (below China Point, ~2600 ft.). Considering how late it was (10:45am), we agreed to call it a day and go for a hike instead, and then suddenly we noticed the vehicle of opportunity:
(*.asf movie, 900KB) http://www.students.washington.edu/kleang/philms/hawkins/cat.asf
Kelvin nicely asked for a ride and the snow cat driver was more than happy to drive us as far as his cabin, about 3 miles up the patchy-snow road in the direction of Tucquala Lake. From there we followed the road for about mile and looked at our options (standing at 3000 ft, time: 12:45pm). To the west we noticed Davis Peak (6426 ft.). The northeast ridge to the top looked a bit steep with some exposure, but the skiing looked good. To the east we saw Hawkins Mountain (7100 ft.) with a more forgiving approach. We decided on Hawkins Mountain.
Our ascent route was up a ridgeline south of Camp Creek over medium-steep terrain. The climb was fun because of the occasional bushwhacking and skinning over dirt and rocks where the snow had melted. After several hours we decided that a few thousand feet of climbing was enough and stopped to enjoy the view before skiing down. From our vantage point, the upper-west slopes of Hawkins Mountain looked to be a good ski when conditions are right. Taking into consideration the location of the sun and the air temperature, we decided to ski the north slopes from the ridge down to Camp Creek, and then follow the creek down to the road. Modulo occasional sections being too mushy to ski, we found decent turns for a 1000 ft. or so. Did I mention the fantastic tree skiing at the end?
(*.asf movie, 1.9Mb) http://www.students.washington.edu/kleang/philms/hawkins/treeski.asf
(*.asf movie, 900KB) http://www.students.washington.edu/kleang/philms/hawkins/cat.asf
Kelvin nicely asked for a ride and the snow cat driver was more than happy to drive us as far as his cabin, about 3 miles up the patchy-snow road in the direction of Tucquala Lake. From there we followed the road for about mile and looked at our options (standing at 3000 ft, time: 12:45pm). To the west we noticed Davis Peak (6426 ft.). The northeast ridge to the top looked a bit steep with some exposure, but the skiing looked good. To the east we saw Hawkins Mountain (7100 ft.) with a more forgiving approach. We decided on Hawkins Mountain.
Our ascent route was up a ridgeline south of Camp Creek over medium-steep terrain. The climb was fun because of the occasional bushwhacking and skinning over dirt and rocks where the snow had melted. After several hours we decided that a few thousand feet of climbing was enough and stopped to enjoy the view before skiing down. From our vantage point, the upper-west slopes of Hawkins Mountain looked to be a good ski when conditions are right. Taking into consideration the location of the sun and the air temperature, we decided to ski the north slopes from the ridge down to Camp Creek, and then follow the creek down to the road. Modulo occasional sections being too mushy to ski, we found decent turns for a 1000 ft. or so. Did I mention the fantastic tree skiing at the end?
(*.asf movie, 1.9Mb) http://www.students.washington.edu/kleang/philms/hawkins/treeski.asf
Don't ask to borrow my skis!
I guess that's why those skis are called "Scratch" BC's
Scratch 'em in the backcountry!
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