CD #4

Went up Kulshan again yesterday, 4th of the season up the CD for me. I hit snow at the top of the hogsback moraine, stashed shoes, and skinned from there. Easy travel on skins all the way to Colfax saddle, where we transitioned to walking. With a nice bootpack, we could hike to the summit plateau without crampons. The Roman wall was excellent corn at 1 pm. Below there we found various states of semi-supportive schmoo and some crusts. All things considered, the snow skied pretty fast and easy for the heat. It's still a ways from being consolidated except at the very lowest elevs where the smaller suncups begin.

The mountain felt nearly deserted. We barely saw any other humans during the whole climb and passed 3 or 4 parties total on the route higher up. Only a few other skiers were out. The hike down in the afternoon was busy with lots of day hikers.

Other route info: There is running water at the top of the hogsback as well as at the campsites just above there. Be wary of hidden creeks under the snow. Crevasse-wise, the large crux crevasses near the saddle are opening up. Don't just travel where the existing bootpacks are, be wary and end-run when needed. Hiking down in the afternoon, the creeks were running a lot higher and I had to get my feet wet on one crossing.