TR Replies
cool .. how far could you drive to the get to the trailhead?
Great photos and TR Amar - Good work to you an Hanna on another beautiful ski descent! I've run into the beer fairy at Muir a few times - but never on the summit!! A good omen indeed. It was fun skiing to the bridge with you - Thanks again for the car shuttle!
My party was the Ulrich's guys. Skiing was good, but your photos show way better vis that what we had the next day. Here is Tom Janisch near the summit. Can't see the summit? We couldn't either (until there was no more up). We didn't need crampons. Good booting the whole way.
author=telemack link=topic=20921.msg89316#msg89316 date=1306116458]
Nice job. I like the first photo with the towers peeking out; was that terrain shown pretty passable, or were there lots of obstacles?
In the Hook Creek basin once we hit snow it was smooth sailing all the way. We had to work the uptrack around things, but it went naturally and no acrobatics required. Below the snow was another story - no...
How can you see the image from that new camera at Muir? Is it a park camera or a NWAC camera?
Looks like you had a fantastic and rather big day indeed. Nice work Eric, way to make the best of a day out. Keep it up young man! ;)
Nice job. I like the first photo with the towers peeking out; was that terrain shown pretty passable, or were there lots of obstacles?
author=mick_scott link=topic=20911.msg89286#msg89286 date=1306049063]
Nice! How close can you get a car to the Esmerelda TH???
Snow free about 2 miles from the TH. With a high clearance vehicle, we got within 1.5 mi. There's a good sized slide 1(ish) mile out that will take quite awhile to melt, but I imagine you will be able to drive up until the slide pretty soon.
Sounds like you had better conditions than we did on Saturday. Mostly overcast with intermittent rain/snow, and quite hard snow above 8k. I was in the group of 7 that came up to Long's in the evening right as you were descending.
The few of us with crampons made it to false summit, but no way would it happen without them. We decided to pass on the true summit given the conditions and lack of ice axes. Nice descent down the Cascadian around noon, but the snow became quite unstable...
The few of us with crampons made it to false summit, but no way would it happen without them. We decided to pass on the true summit given the conditions and lack of ice axes. Nice descent down the Cascadian around noon, but the snow became quite unstable...
Good work gang! Rigorous Attitude Award Winners in my estimation.
same story for my fiancee on st helens that day. cloud break was at 7k though. fortunately for me, i've already got my burn from muir from 2 weeks ago...
one more pic looking up toward the Enchantment headwall from snow lake and a map of our route
Did this on Friday. Went over Pineapple instead of Bryant Col due to fear of cornice drops off of Bryant. A big one let loose off Hemlock when we were heading up climbers right-side in Pineapple basin, so we did an about-face and headed up over Pineapple. The traverse from the backside of Pineapple to below Bryant Col was sloppy, but safe. We were planning on heading up the steep gully to get on Kaleeten, but again, the warmth and the cornices kept us bee-lining for Melak...
My brother and I were up there as well yesterday with almost the exact same story. The sunburn lines are a bit comical, and quite the surprise after liberal sunscreen.
We entertained the idea of the chutes as well, especially after feeling the promise of sun at Camp Muir. Glad we opted to stick to the snow field though. That 5 yd visibility lower down would've made navigation an adventure. Besides, the RMI (or AAI, or NPS) wanded slalom course was a blast....
We entertained the idea of the chutes as well, especially after feeling the promise of sun at Camp Muir. Glad we opted to stick to the snow field though. That 5 yd visibility lower down would've made navigation an adventure. Besides, the RMI (or AAI, or NPS) wanded slalom course was a blast....
Pretty cool Nick. It's awesome to see someone get out on this traverse. You are the first I've heard of since we went in april of 2004. In my opinion, it is a classic. Nice image. I look forward to the rest of the TR.
Lots of good memories in tucks. Learning how to ski steep stuff, learning how to drink, learning how to ski steep stuff hungover. Going the fastest I ever have on skis, my most epic fall... the list goes on.
author=coreyrc07 link=topic=20896.msg89284#msg89284 date=1306046519]Yes you can go thru Eightmile...
Thanks for the info. Great post by the way.
My buddy and I are thinking of checking this out next weekend. I've never been in the Enchantment area, when you say you can go on the lower road through the campsite, do you mean Eightmile campground? Also this may be a dumb question, but what is "NBC" short for?
We were the whiskey guys - glad you enjoyed it. I think we may have enjoyed it too much on Friday, but we still ended up getting up to about 8500 ft on Stuart just before it socked in and we decided to head down. Skiing was still good, although a little sluffy. We woke up to rain, but it clear out and didn't start again until our hike back up to longs. There were a bunch of parties out on saturday, two skied ulrichs and the rest came down the cascadian.
<...
<...
Nice write up and phtography, Amar. On Friday, I was looking at the very same lenticular skinning to Muir and I'm bummed I missed you guys by about an hour, as I did not reach Camp Muir until 2pm. My friend and I hit the chutes around 3pm, and it sounds like 2 hours earlier they were even more enjoyable.
Nice! How close can you get a car to the Esmerelda TH???
Thanks for sharing your adventures Amar! Great TR and photos.
Thanks for the info. Great post by the way.
My buddy and I are thinking of checking this out next weekend. I've never been in the Enchantment area, when you say you can go on the lower road through the campsite, do you mean Eightmile campground? Also this may be a dumb question, but what is "NBC" short for?
My buddy and I are thinking of checking this out next weekend. I've never been in the Enchantment area, when you say you can go on the lower road through the campsite, do you mean Eightmile campground? Also this may be a dumb question, but what is "NBC" short for?
Nice work Amar and Hannah! Life is good when you can ski at the drop of a hat and enjoy the sun that has been lingering behind clouds for so long. The gray and rain can get the best of us, I think Hannah has the right idea, live in Co. while the gray lingers and come to Wa. when the sun manifests.
It's interesting that you posted this TR before your tours in Ca. Must have been motivated by a ski partner joining you rather than your solo trips of late. I look forward to seeing wh...
It's interesting that you posted this TR before your tours in Ca. Must have been motivated by a ski partner joining you rather than your solo trips of late. I look forward to seeing wh...
That is an awesome TR! Thanks for sharing and all the photos and details - I am stoked!!
Good one....
Hey be careful traveling on Sun baked glaciers with people and especially solo.... Glad your back safe....
I wander how that scene would play out in surfing? Well whatever as long as you had fun!!!!
Hey be careful traveling on Sun baked glaciers with people and especially solo.... Glad your back safe....
I wander how that scene would play out in surfing? Well whatever as long as you had fun!!!!
Wow! thanks for sharing so many great pics. Looks like a couple of perfect days.
Awesome, Awesome...Wish I was there to share that with you boys. Was thinking how good that would have been as temps got a little higher than I wanted 7000ft and and below.
SWEET!!!!
(Some day I will get around to figuring out how to post pics too..)
(Some day I will get around to figuring out how to post pics too..)
I was up there a day earlier and it looks like we shared identical conditions both days. I found perfect rock hard climbing carrying my skis and excellent creamy top to bottom skiing too. It was moderately windy most of the way up (no wind at top) which I think did the trick to keeping the snow cooled down for a great ride down.
JJS
JJS
Nice pics! sorry I woke you and Hanna up from your slumber :-)
Wow! Read the full story from the link. That first photo is gnarly.
Hopefully your next adventure goes more smoothly!!
Hopefully your next adventure goes more smoothly!!
author=Brian C link=topic=20891.msg89204#msg89204 date=1305898460]
Garrett- was the road melted for biking all the way to the fire circle where the trail starts climbing to the ridge? Nice work and pics, thats one hell of an approach if you're not pedaling!
The road had snow on it starting at about 2800 feet, the lowest I have ever seen for this time of year. Pushed the bikes up about 1600 feet then skins from the...
author=hyakSS link=topic=20891.msg89188#msg89188 date=1305856804]
So are the bikes just used as mules or can you move the gear around enough to actually ride them?
They are mules for the way up and a fast ride for the way back down...that road is a bit too steep with heavy packs on to ride up. At least for me.
author=jackal link=topic=20891.msg89187#msg89187 date=1305856163]
Garrett, these and your blog pics are awesome. I look forward to more if you keep posting here. What's your wideangle lens?
Thanks! When out for longer days I use the nikon 24-120 f/4 and a sigma 15mm f/2.8 fisheye. Good combo to capture most things.
Thanks for the report, we found the exact same conditions yesterday on the Watson Traverse and it took about the same time. We had really hoped to ski the headwall proper but after looking at it form the top it was pretty much overhanging and looked like crusty, punchy powder. After skiing the first 1000 feet and looking up you could see an entrance on skiers right and we found out that the snow wasn't too bad. Wish we hadn't wimped out on that, but otherwise a fantas...
Thanks Jason! Must have been pretty scary seeing your brother take a fall on that face...good thing he was able to keep it together and get the skis back on the snow. A route worth skiing again for sure :)
Great effort and pics guys! This trip is high on my list. Gotta love those unexpected 10k days!
Nice work Amar and Hannah.
Smooth conditions from the top must have been a real treat.
Smooth conditions from the top must have been a real treat.
Nice Amar. Sorry about your friends. A great day on the mountain has a way of healing ill feelings. There are few things that beat a sunny day on the raindawg.
That was a great trip in perfect conditions with your son. Those memories will last a lifetime. ;)
Awesome. That face and couloir along with the views are a class act. That face on Colchuck always sticks out for me because I watched my brother tag a rock there and almost sail off those cliffs. Amazingly he pulled it together even with ice and cartwheeling! Even though I have always wanted to ski that route again, I don't know that I ever will. Either way, it is still very cool to see your images.
Great TR, he looks like a ripper!
My first back-country ski trip was back in the late 60s when I hauled my alpine gear up St. Helens with my dad. I had to carry it back down to the top of the Dog's Head because of white-out conditions, but loved it when I cruised past the climbers from there. I miss that beautiful symmetrical peak!
My first back-country ski trip was back in the late 60s when I hauled my alpine gear up St. Helens with my dad. I had to carry it back down to the top of the Dog's Head because of white-out conditions, but loved it when I cruised past the climbers from there. I miss that beautiful symmetrical peak!
A short video from the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFXyyYK9D7c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFXyyYK9D7c
Nice going, those backwater ski spots are the best, and this year seems to have the snow to make them great spring trips. I just passed west of there, wish I would have thought to give it a look.
author=coreyrc07 link=topic=20896.msg89223#msg89223 date=1305938748]Yeah they are still working on clearing out the landslide. You can use the lower road thru the campground to bypass, gate may be locked. A mountain bike would help as the road is melted out almost to TH.
Yeah, isn't the road closed?
author=cumulus link=topic=20899.msg89231#msg89231 date=1305957078]
nice!
I was just looking through my pics from yesterday on Shuksan and realized by reading this report that these are your tracks...
Thanks for the picture.
It looked like people were busy up on Shuksan ... saw some nice tracks on the Hanging Gl when we got to our car. Nice couple of day for getting out.
nice!
I was just looking through my pics from yesterday on Shuksan and realized by reading this report that these are your tracks...
I was just looking through my pics from yesterday on Shuksan and realized by reading this report that these are your tracks...
Looked like fun, Barnett and I saw your tracks down the Park from Barometer yesterday.