June 16, 2011, Palmer/South Side Hood

After skiing the Wy'east on Tuesday and then attempting Adams on Wednesday we were pretty tired and not terribly motivated by the iffy weather forecast.  We had hoped for Helens but did not want to commit, nor deal with the permitting process, if the weather was going to shut us down.  We chose to sleep in, if you can call 4:30 sleeping in, and head to Timberline Lodge.  Because of the late hour we paid the $30 to get to the top of the ski area, which was met with some protest by the strongest member of our crew.  It was a weird experience to feel so fresh and look up and see Crater Rock right in front of me.  We climbed up to Hogsback for a lunch spot with a great view and then climbed to the bergshrund to descend.  The top of White River from the bergshrund provided my favorite turns of the whole trip.  Amazingly there was a good amount of fresh snow and at the right altitude it had not turned grippy.  It was a perfect lazy day hanging out in the beauty of the crater and enjoying a lot of turns with not a lot of effort.  A great way to end a week of June skiing.