March 26, 2009, Herman Saddle, Baker backcountry

With all of the recent avalanche deaths and another winter of suspect snow, I have done most of my skiing within the relative safety of resorts. My friend, Lorne, is by nature a back country skier. He (along with some positive avi risk data) was able to convince me to join him and his dog, Shayla, in a return trip to the Herman Saddle area, where he had played in great powder last Saturday.

We followed a skin track out the upper ski area parking lot around 9:30. The track had obviously been laid in the previous 24 hours because Baker had received around a foot of snow Tuesday night.It didn't quite reach the Saddle as it angled off to the pass between Mazama Dome and Mount Herman. We had untouched snow beyond this point and had no contact with other skiers until we returned to the car around 4,(when we bumped to Markharf who was departing even later than is his custom).

As should be apparent from the photos, the touring was spectacular. While it certainly wasn't breakable crust, the top layer of the 9"-12" of new snow had a stiff quality to it that made turns a bit more challenging. We lunched at Iceberg Lake, played in the trees on the west side of the Saddle before taking off our skins for the last time around 3 PM. The best part of the 1,000' run down to the Bagley Lakes was through the treed gully to the south-east.