TR Replies
Nice to run into you guys up there. I was with a guest for those alpine rock objectives, which were both awesome by the way; the other guy you ran into was John Minier.
I was jealous of your tracks, but we saw some other good ones out on the McAllister--wolverine!
I was jealous of your tracks, but we saw some other good ones out on the McAllister--wolverine!
Very cool! "A good goat will do that, you know……." ;D
We saw a male one time that was for sure, the Herman Maier of goats - would have made a Great Northern train turn around.
We saw a male one time that was for sure, the Herman Maier of goats - would have made a Great Northern train turn around.
Nice photos Dan. Looks like a fun trip. Thanks for writing it up, Mack.
Thanks! Justin definitely wins on polar bear points. I heard he was close to passing out after diving in deep for his sunglasses. The rest of us sure had wet feet from the multiple stream crossings and endless postholing...
Okay... I have a veeeerrry slow internet connection where I'm at so it will be easiest for me to simply post a link to my flickr site with a few photos.
Definitely a very scenic area and I enjoyed my first time exploring these parts. Lots of dreaming and planning for future adventures.
Great trip! Thanks Mack for making it happen.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/danpeck/sets/72157645497161431/
Definitely a very scenic area and I enjoyed my first time exploring these parts. Lots of dreaming and planning for future adventures.
Great trip! Thanks Mack for making it happen.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/danpeck/sets/72157645497161431/
Jamie, you get the gold star for the best skiing attitude of all time!
Love your perspective!
Love your perspective!
The first thing I did when I was thinking about this trip, was try and get some idea how long it would take. To do this, I gleaned what information I could from Lowell's report. I figure out how far it was from Seattle, to the trail head, a long way. Then got out a map, and figured out how many vert. from the trail head to the summit, a lot. And I took it for granted that he was being modest, when he said he was "moving pretty quickly", and that he had lunc...
Super fun day Mack! I'll post photos tomorrow. Just arrived late to our destination in OR.
author=mikerolfs link=topic=32018.msg134651#msg134651 date=1404430764]
I am saying that. The ranger told us if we camped below a certain elevation (6400 I think) that we had to carry a bear can. It was late in the afternoon and I didn't want to commit to getting that far, and I didn't want to carry a bear can, so I said "we'll just sleep at the trail head". He replied "I'm obligated to tell you that you can't do that&...
Well thank God they were only "OBLIGATED to tell you that you can't do that". I lied; that is a new level of stupid from OUR NP Service. :(
BTW, very nicely done TR and photos. I enjoyed that part. ;)
BTW, very nicely done TR and photos. I enjoyed that part. ;)
author=Boot link=topic=32018.msg134648#msg134648 date=1404425653]
...are you saying they wouldn't let you camp at the trail head...?
I am saying that. The ranger told us if we camped below a certain elevation (6400 I think) that we had to carry a bear can. It was late in the afternoon and I didn't want to commit to getting that far, and I didn't want to carry a bear can, so I said "we'll just sleep at th...
"Add to the drive that NCNP's desire is to dictate where you sleep, crap, and how you carry your food,"
No level of stupid coming from NP would ever surprise me anymore, but are you saying they wouldn't let you camp at the trail head or are you just talking about restrictions of camping up on the mountain?
Don't ask, don't tell??
No level of stupid coming from NP would ever surprise me anymore, but are you saying they wouldn't let you camp at the trail head or are you just talking about restrictions of camping up on the mountain?
Don't ask, don't tell??
nice of you to smooth some of those suncups.
author=danpeck link=topic=32018.msg134633#msg134633 date=1404369395]
Oh, and I don't think that was Forest... I believe he's currently in the alps.
We didn't think to ask the guy's name until too late. Nice young guy who looked competent.
I was planning on trying trail 112 but the Forest Service Ranger said the road was still snowed in. I don't know if 112 gets you high enough to allow for a continuous ski. If it does, please let me know.
The way out was tricky. At camp there was no visibility beyond the tips of my skis so I was using GPS and map/compass. Staying on or near the trail while it was covered in snow was tough. Almost skied into a lake in the fog but no swamp issues. It helped to have a GPS route...
The way out was tricky. At camp there was no visibility beyond the tips of my skis so I was using GPS and map/compass. Staying on or near the trail while it was covered in snow was tough. Almost skied into a lake in the fog but no swamp issues. It helped to have a GPS route...
Yep its been my favorite place so far. Itching to go to Cascade Pass area and change it up!
You can bypass the crossing altogether if you follow the old road grade past the bathrooms to the right, after road starts to peter cut straight up through the trees to crag view, then go up to the right of big house and bee line to the crater.
Oh, and I don't think that was Forest... I believe he's currently in the alps.
Oh Man! Nice work fellas! Super envious. Now you know why I can't stop going back to this place.
I was actually just in the area with my family. We drove through HWY 20 and stayed in Mazama for some climbing and hiking. I was lucky enough to get a quick lap at the hair pin.
But as we drove into the North Cascades I felt this sense of awe, wonder and sacred fear for the place. The mountains there really are something to behold.
<...
I was actually just in the area with my family. We drove through HWY 20 and stayed in Mazama for some climbing and hiking. I was lucky enough to get a quick lap at the hair pin.
But as we drove into the North Cascades I felt this sense of awe, wonder and sacred fear for the place. The mountains there really are something to behold.
<...
I think it will be fine next weekend. It seemed like one of the cases where the snowdepth increased pretty rapidly once we hit snowline. I imagine some of the grassy meadows below snowgrass flat will melt further, but perhaps still skiable. Above should have plenty of snow - treewells were roughly 2-3 feet deep at treeline, from what I remember. But who knows, it has been pretty darned warm this week.
Thanks for the write-up.
I've been up Middle Sister a handful of times, does that line ever soften up?
I've been up Middle Sister a handful of times, does that line ever soften up?
Thanks for the comments! Stay safe out there!
WOW nice lemonade out lemons! And huge huge polar bear points, sure glad I was not on that trip, or I would have been honor bound to get wet!
Way to get in there!
Curious: how does trail 112 look? As 'crow flys', it appears shorter but of course, does it really get you to where you want to go?
That "diamond" snowfield looks sweet? Did you have any problems staying on the trail or did you just gps it out etc.. Heard there are some nasty swamps that one can easily slop into if off route exiting...
How were the mosquitoes? They are starting to gear up for a drilling fest down here...
Curious: how does trail 112 look? As 'crow flys', it appears shorter but of course, does it really get you to where you want to go?
That "diamond" snowfield looks sweet? Did you have any problems staying on the trail or did you just gps it out etc.. Heard there are some nasty swamps that one can easily slop into if off route exiting...
How were the mosquitoes? They are starting to gear up for a drilling fest down here...
Here's the text Jake was unable to post last week. Plus some more photos below.
author=Jake the Brit]Snow is still continuous from the Cascade Pass lot up to Cache col, as long as you’re prepared to zig zag.
Frank Frank & I strolled through the picnic tables & dived into the brush & we were onto the snow, booted up with an exposed, left traverse through the cliffy bit to Cascade Pass. The Mixup arm traverse looked a bit grim...
Cool. Enjoyed the pictures. Looks good up there. :)
Good choice -- after some hard experience, my attitude is now "no new scar tissue".
author=PhilH link=topic=32014.msg134617#msg134617 date=1404325822]
"Nope, not for me" is sometimes a hard choice.
Agreed, and good for us all to hear once in a while. Thanks for the post.
I had a not-for-me moment this weekend, and it was really hard to walk a part that I could have skied. The ego hurts, but your partners thank you.
Good post and valuable (for me anyway) insights into your decision making process. "Nope, not for me" is sometimes a hard choice.
Pigtail Peak snotel just below top of 6000' WP main area chairlift holds 2 feet of snow with 13" SWE and losing ~3" snow/day. Hogback ridge at 7000' just above top of expansion area should still hold lines to the east for those that want to play on approach to McCall Basin. The drop to Tieton Pass and...
I think there will still be snow at Snowgrass Flat and above. But what do I know. I went up for 3 days of rain...
Good to meet you too, bcjunkie. Thanks for the kind words everyone, heres a little video
knowing this is a loaded question and difficult to answer, I'll ask anyway: What do you think about conditions and coverage in about a week and half? I was really hoping to make this trip happen sooner rather than later, but it was not meant to be.
We followed the prominent ridge up to treeline at the next flat bench around 6400', this is where the 5th picture was taken from. From there, the possibilities are endless. Old Snowy is at far left in that picture. Ives is middle-right. We did most of our skiing on the back (east) side, then came up and over the ridge on the far right.
I don't have a GPS of our path, but it was nice to set a couple of waypoints (one being the red circle in the map above) for finding our way...
I don't have a GPS of our path, but it was nice to set a couple of waypoints (one being the red circle in the map above) for finding our way...
Thanks! Yeah all the video was taken with a Go Pro 3+.
A short vid from the trip.
http://youtu.be/FnJYVZ_mMi8
http://youtu.be/FnJYVZ_mMi8
We (Avajane, Phil and I) camped just about where the end of the line appears on bfree's map. We toured over to Snowgrass Flat, and around/beyond the flat area between the 5860 and 5880 contours.
Thanks for the reply. I think we were very close. We lost the trail where you did but picked it up near the end of the first meadow area and before it became steeper again. We camped at the second meadow area. Where did you climb from? As we couldn't see anything we just weren't sure where to start. I think the bypass trail may have led to the PCT. Perhaps if you were hiking that trail you'd come down to camp at the flats.
author=avajane link=topic=31981.msg134594#msg134594 date=1404115903]
Great report. You guys nailed it. We just got back and didn't...Rain and fog all weekend. Good approach from Snowgrass. Your skin track was all washed out. We never saw the mountain or the good slopes. Where exactly did you make your camp? We saw a trail sign that said Snowgrass Trail with arrows showing the way and another arrow going to a bypass trail. We continued up the Snowgrass tra...
Great report. You guys nailed it. We just got back and didn't...Rain and fog all weekend. Good approach from Snowgrass. Your skin track was all washed out. We never saw the mountain or the good slopes. Where exactly did you make your camp? We saw a trail sign that said Snowgrass Trail with arrows showing the way and another arrow going to a bypass trail. We continued up the Snowgrass trail about another 3/4's mile before camping. We explored the area below the fog/cloud line quite a bi...
The most concise trip report I've seen from you yet, Sir Jake!