May 12-13, 2001, Sahale Peak - Mt. St. Helens
5/12/01
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2428
0
Saw a cougar sitting in the middle of the Cascade River Road Friday night!
Sahale: I spent the night camped out in a grove of giant old cedars down in the valley, then drove the last few miles up the road, still gated at 2600 feet (just below the hairpin). My tripmates, scheduled to leave at 7 AM, were gone without a trace when I arrived at 7:02, so I sat around and cursed them robustly for a while, then started the long trudge up the bone-dry road, which is blocked by drifts at the usual place just below the trailhead. The first avalanches started pouring off Johannesburg Mtn. and The Triplets at 7:30, and these kept me entertained throughout the climb. I finally caught up to my friends at the foot of the glacier, where they were basking in the sun as I chugged uphill towards them. They tried to take credit for the tracks coming down from the summit ("Join us, Mark: were going up for another run!") but I noted that these were at least a week old. We topped out at the base of the little summit pyramid, about 8600 feet, and while we were sitting around congratulating ourselves somewhat breathlessly, a solo German on rented snowshoes came bounding up the soft, 40+ degree slope, having left the parking lot several hours after we did. Suitably deflated, we started down, with the entire central Cascade crest spread out beneath our feet, all needle-sharp peaks and glaciers fading into the distance. The avalanches coming steadily off Johannesburg and echoing around the valley sounded, as one of us pointed out, like trains in an underground train station. The snow was pretty wet the entire way - I doubt that most of it had frozen at all overnight, but was firm underneath the wet slop on top, the surface sluffing as expected. (At times I could see that Cascades-in-the-springtime bow-wave breaking from each ski tip.) More of a problem, at least for me, were the patches of windblown grit on the surface, which acted somewhat like tacky contact cement. Some of our group looked distinctly more graceful than others, and by the time wed descended a couple of thousand feet down Sahale Arm were looking for the steeper places to play around on. On the other hand (and how shall I put this?), certain others seemed unduly interested in searching out the gentlest slopes available. The snow coverage is thin this year, here as elsewhere, but there's still plenty of snow to ski the 5000 feet to the road. There'll be a few bare spots up on the Arm within a week or two, and the steep shots down into the valley from Cascade Pass might get a bit problematic shortly after that.
Mt. St. Helens: I had overcommitted for the weekend, so after burgers in Marblemount I took off at a high rate of speed for Mt. St. Helens, where the traditional Mother's Day dragfest was about to begin. Somewhat to my astonishment I did succeed in meeting up with the other 7 people from Bellingham, five women and two men, although I pulled in to the trailhead, 2600 feet, at 2 AM and was not fully conscious at departure time. We hiked for an hour or so through gray drizzle, the snow spotty on the trail, before hitting steady coverage around 4200 feet, a short ways uphill from the creek crossing. In another hour the sun came out and the views cleared and out came skirts and dresses, some of which would have passed muster at any formal occasion and others of which would definitely have not. I was not the slowest on the mountainthough I certainly came closebut I found it helpful to let slip periodically that I'd actually done a much more serious, committing and tiring ski just the previous day. No one asked, so I never needed to tell them, that this was actually my normal slow, plodding pace. At the crater rim, 8200 feet, there was quite a crowd oooooing and aaaaahing each others outfits, discussing strategies and borrowing safety pins.....plus the occasional perplexed climber wondering what all the frivolity was about. I added a babushka as a concession to the chilly breeze, posed for a few photos, and we traversed well out to skiers right where the snow had looked the least thrashed and dropped down and down and down. As the previous day on Sahale, the snow was thick and wet, somewhat less stable but still quite skiable with a bit of basic sluff management. I seemed to be sinking lower and lower into my turns as my legs turned increasingly rubbery, eventually reaching the limit of travel imposed by the hem of my dress....then, RIIIIPPP! and I resumed sagging more and more, of sheer exhaustion. Others in my group looked significantly more energetic, and their stitching stayed more or less intact. We succeeded in taking fresh tracks most of the way down before traversing back to the uphill boot pack. From 4100 feet we carried skis, and at the gavel pit we stowed our various dresses and accessories and returned to that widely-consensed reality in which one hikes and skis in gore-tex, lycra, polypropylene and pile.
Oh yes: skiers will want to know that the skiing is going fast, but still quite fun. Should be fresh snow above 6000 feet this week and another sunny weekend coming up. Enjoy.
Mark
Sahale: I spent the night camped out in a grove of giant old cedars down in the valley, then drove the last few miles up the road, still gated at 2600 feet (just below the hairpin). My tripmates, scheduled to leave at 7 AM, were gone without a trace when I arrived at 7:02, so I sat around and cursed them robustly for a while, then started the long trudge up the bone-dry road, which is blocked by drifts at the usual place just below the trailhead. The first avalanches started pouring off Johannesburg Mtn. and The Triplets at 7:30, and these kept me entertained throughout the climb. I finally caught up to my friends at the foot of the glacier, where they were basking in the sun as I chugged uphill towards them. They tried to take credit for the tracks coming down from the summit ("Join us, Mark: were going up for another run!") but I noted that these were at least a week old. We topped out at the base of the little summit pyramid, about 8600 feet, and while we were sitting around congratulating ourselves somewhat breathlessly, a solo German on rented snowshoes came bounding up the soft, 40+ degree slope, having left the parking lot several hours after we did. Suitably deflated, we started down, with the entire central Cascade crest spread out beneath our feet, all needle-sharp peaks and glaciers fading into the distance. The avalanches coming steadily off Johannesburg and echoing around the valley sounded, as one of us pointed out, like trains in an underground train station. The snow was pretty wet the entire way - I doubt that most of it had frozen at all overnight, but was firm underneath the wet slop on top, the surface sluffing as expected. (At times I could see that Cascades-in-the-springtime bow-wave breaking from each ski tip.) More of a problem, at least for me, were the patches of windblown grit on the surface, which acted somewhat like tacky contact cement. Some of our group looked distinctly more graceful than others, and by the time wed descended a couple of thousand feet down Sahale Arm were looking for the steeper places to play around on. On the other hand (and how shall I put this?), certain others seemed unduly interested in searching out the gentlest slopes available. The snow coverage is thin this year, here as elsewhere, but there's still plenty of snow to ski the 5000 feet to the road. There'll be a few bare spots up on the Arm within a week or two, and the steep shots down into the valley from Cascade Pass might get a bit problematic shortly after that.
Mt. St. Helens: I had overcommitted for the weekend, so after burgers in Marblemount I took off at a high rate of speed for Mt. St. Helens, where the traditional Mother's Day dragfest was about to begin. Somewhat to my astonishment I did succeed in meeting up with the other 7 people from Bellingham, five women and two men, although I pulled in to the trailhead, 2600 feet, at 2 AM and was not fully conscious at departure time. We hiked for an hour or so through gray drizzle, the snow spotty on the trail, before hitting steady coverage around 4200 feet, a short ways uphill from the creek crossing. In another hour the sun came out and the views cleared and out came skirts and dresses, some of which would have passed muster at any formal occasion and others of which would definitely have not. I was not the slowest on the mountainthough I certainly came closebut I found it helpful to let slip periodically that I'd actually done a much more serious, committing and tiring ski just the previous day. No one asked, so I never needed to tell them, that this was actually my normal slow, plodding pace. At the crater rim, 8200 feet, there was quite a crowd oooooing and aaaaahing each others outfits, discussing strategies and borrowing safety pins.....plus the occasional perplexed climber wondering what all the frivolity was about. I added a babushka as a concession to the chilly breeze, posed for a few photos, and we traversed well out to skiers right where the snow had looked the least thrashed and dropped down and down and down. As the previous day on Sahale, the snow was thick and wet, somewhat less stable but still quite skiable with a bit of basic sluff management. I seemed to be sinking lower and lower into my turns as my legs turned increasingly rubbery, eventually reaching the limit of travel imposed by the hem of my dress....then, RIIIIPPP! and I resumed sagging more and more, of sheer exhaustion. Others in my group looked significantly more energetic, and their stitching stayed more or less intact. We succeeded in taking fresh tracks most of the way down before traversing back to the uphill boot pack. From 4100 feet we carried skis, and at the gavel pit we stowed our various dresses and accessories and returned to that widely-consensed reality in which one hikes and skis in gore-tex, lycra, polypropylene and pile.
Oh yes: skiers will want to know that the skiing is going fast, but still quite fun. Should be fresh snow above 6000 feet this week and another sunny weekend coming up. Enjoy.
Mark
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