December 25, 2002, Mt. Baker Backcountry
12/25/02
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
2938
2
TR: Christmas Logging Road Tour
With the ski area closed for the holidays and the avalanche center forecasting howling winds, high avalanche danger and three feet of snow by tomorrow morning, I threw a set of tire chains into my van and headed for my favorite backcountry venue. Unfortunately, the state DOT crew had other ideas, and they closed the Mount Baker Highway at the bottom of the hill before I arrived there. I pleaded my case as much as dignity allowed (having just yesterday stood in a long line at the local discount auto parts store to buy my new chains), then yielded to their superior obstinacy.
My tour began, therefore, at valley bottom (1900 feet) in an inch of translucent slush over logging-road gravel. By the time I turned around just short of the end of the Anderson Creek Road at about 3300 feet, the snow was almost three feet deep and functionally bottomless, damp and a bit slabby. At that elevation, it was snowing light to moderate, a half to one inch per hour, and despite the high winds in the foothills and in town, it was dead calm. I dug no pitshaving no need under the circumstancesbut at various places along the road cut there were natural releases on steep unsupported slopes (40+ degrees). I noted a bit of hollowness, with snow settling around me as I huffed laboriously uphill, and cracks propagating five or ten feet in random directions. It was pretty slow going.
In fact, it was difficult to note much of anything, given the excessive and insistent volume of my breathing. Even the ski down was hard work. Near the top I lost my grasp on reality briefly and tried to drop through a steep clearcut to avoid a long, flat switchback. However, three feet of unconsolidated mank does not quite suffice to fill the holes in fields of giant stumps and logging slash, and I almost got swallowed whole before regaining my sanity and painstakingly booting back up to the road. After that, I stuck to my uptrack.
Tomorrow, with all that new snow, might be epic...or it might just be another one of those days where the skiers get horribly mired, the Pisten Bully's can't keep up, and the snowboarders float effortlessly along the surface of it all. Even I'll admit that it's probably not a good day for the backcountry.
Enjoy.
Mark
With the ski area closed for the holidays and the avalanche center forecasting howling winds, high avalanche danger and three feet of snow by tomorrow morning, I threw a set of tire chains into my van and headed for my favorite backcountry venue. Unfortunately, the state DOT crew had other ideas, and they closed the Mount Baker Highway at the bottom of the hill before I arrived there. I pleaded my case as much as dignity allowed (having just yesterday stood in a long line at the local discount auto parts store to buy my new chains), then yielded to their superior obstinacy.
My tour began, therefore, at valley bottom (1900 feet) in an inch of translucent slush over logging-road gravel. By the time I turned around just short of the end of the Anderson Creek Road at about 3300 feet, the snow was almost three feet deep and functionally bottomless, damp and a bit slabby. At that elevation, it was snowing light to moderate, a half to one inch per hour, and despite the high winds in the foothills and in town, it was dead calm. I dug no pitshaving no need under the circumstancesbut at various places along the road cut there were natural releases on steep unsupported slopes (40+ degrees). I noted a bit of hollowness, with snow settling around me as I huffed laboriously uphill, and cracks propagating five or ten feet in random directions. It was pretty slow going.
In fact, it was difficult to note much of anything, given the excessive and insistent volume of my breathing. Even the ski down was hard work. Near the top I lost my grasp on reality briefly and tried to drop through a steep clearcut to avoid a long, flat switchback. However, three feet of unconsolidated mank does not quite suffice to fill the holes in fields of giant stumps and logging slash, and I almost got swallowed whole before regaining my sanity and painstakingly booting back up to the road. After that, I stuck to my uptrack.
Tomorrow, with all that new snow, might be epic...or it might just be another one of those days where the skiers get horribly mired, the Pisten Bully's can't keep up, and the snowboarders float effortlessly along the surface of it all. Even I'll admit that it's probably not a good day for the backcountry.
Enjoy.
Mark
Brings back memories of some of my early season road slogs... better than being home playing couch potato, but on slightly so. ;)
Good info, Mark.
Thanks.
Good info, Mark.
Thanks.
Good to see a post again from Mark and hear of what was happening up north as I watched it here down near "the pass"
cw
cw
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