Jan 2, 2011, Goat Mt. (N. Cascades)
1/2/11
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
3252
7
Myself, Pete, and Loren rallied the snowmobile and sleigh to the summer trailhead which left us hiking at 9. After hiking a little less than an hour (why would anyone be hiking this time of year you ask? Stay with me here....) we switched to skins and continued to skin along the summer trail until we started to break into the open at roughly 4K feet. We found light unconsolidated for the next 1k feet which took us to the top of the ridge that comes off of Goat. The ridge had a mixed bag of powder and wind pack. At the foot of the last main face (about 1400ft) we initially found fairly heavy sun affected snow. After digging a pit and found a well consolidated snow pack we decided the push to the top would be worth the views in of itself. Almost half way up we were rewarded with slightly heavy powder. The very summit was crusty but the views were only like the N. Cascades can deliver. Skiing down was truly epic: ripping down a peak in great snow, stunning scenery, with terrific company. Skied an otherwise great 2000 ft and then did one of my favorite things: survival skiing in thin snow pack in the forest! After shwacking our way through a few hundred feet of vert, (we decided to be clever and cut some switch backs) we regained the trail which took us back to where we started skinning. An easy hike out put us back to the sled at about 4:30 if I remember right. All in all it was everything a tour should be.
Looks like nice terrain selection.
Well done.
Well done.
Nice lines. However I feel the need to point out that the Hannegan Pass Road is considered part of a non-motorized snow park, and in fact the road itself is titled a "groomed dog-friendly trail" Salmon Ridge Map. I find it hard to believe that large numbers of snowshoers, nordic skiers and off leash dogs mix well with snowmachines. Really do people have to take their snowmachines everywhere they go? You probably could have skinned up the road in the amount of time it takes you to load, unload and tinker with the sled.
Sorry to piss on your upbeat thread but it deserves mention.
Sorry to piss on your upbeat thread but it deserves mention.
Until now I did not know this was a non-motorized road. HOWEVER:
a) there was ZERO signage to say otherwise at the parking area
b) the road was anything but groomed
c) we were the first and last people out that day
d) it would be about a four mile skin requiring muiltiple removable of skis due to bare patches
Furthermore, I am not a sledneck as you seem to think I am. I appreciate and agree with those that take issue with those that need to go screeming up roads tear-assing around making a mess of things. I use the sled purely to get up forest service roads (in other words go where cars otherwise would) and had I known this was an XC road, we would have not used the sled.
There have obviously been numerous threads about this very issue but given the circumstances and how we conducted ourselves, I stand by our choice to use the sled. So perhaps instead of getting on your ill advised soap box, the better way to go about it would have been to ask if I was aware that this was a non-motorized road.
a) there was ZERO signage to say otherwise at the parking area
b) the road was anything but groomed
c) we were the first and last people out that day
d) it would be about a four mile skin requiring muiltiple removable of skis due to bare patches
Furthermore, I am not a sledneck as you seem to think I am. I appreciate and agree with those that take issue with those that need to go screeming up roads tear-assing around making a mess of things. I use the sled purely to get up forest service roads (in other words go where cars otherwise would) and had I known this was an XC road, we would have not used the sled.
There have obviously been numerous threads about this very issue but given the circumstances and how we conducted ourselves, I stand by our choice to use the sled. So perhaps instead of getting on your ill advised soap box, the better way to go about it would have been to ask if I was aware that this was a non-motorized road.
It's a motorized road when there is no snow. I have driven there when there was some snow but not quite enough to stop a (non-sled) vehicle. Does the road really legally change to non-motorized when snow falls?
[There is a nearby road which definitely changes in that manner, being 542 beyond Heather Meadows]
[There is a nearby road which definitely changes in that manner, being 542 beyond Heather Meadows]
This is interesting because I was just considering use of the hannegan pass road for access purposes. I went to the forest service office in Glacier to ask them if I can use a snowmobile on hannegan pass road. The kind lady handed me a map - "Motor Vehicle Use Map" for Mt. Baker & Darrington Ranger Districts. There is no special designation for FSR 32 and 34, and so it is completely legal.
In my opinion, it is also legitimate to use a sled to access lines and mountains that are too deep for a reasonable day trip. When I do so, I'm typically driving under 20 miles prior to unloading the machine. After driving the sled another 4-8 miles up a legal forest service road, I'm pretty sure that I'm using fewer resources than a skins-only purist who comes from Seattle to the N. Cascades. I am also always very considerate of people and dogs walking up the same road.
In my opinion, it is also legitimate to use a sled to access lines and mountains that are too deep for a reasonable day trip. When I do so, I'm typically driving under 20 miles prior to unloading the machine. After driving the sled another 4-8 miles up a legal forest service road, I'm pretty sure that I'm using fewer resources than a skins-only purist who comes from Seattle to the N. Cascades. I am also always very considerate of people and dogs walking up the same road.
It's legal. Until it's designated non-motorized. As far as environmental responsibility goes, don't forget that the ski area up the road runs on diesel and spills it into creeks occasionally!!!! If the road was groomed and had people with new REI snowshoes and labradoodles all over it, I would take my sled somewhere else. But that would never happen. I wake up to early.
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5229211.pdf
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