TR Replies
Thanks for the great trip report. The circumnavigation has been on my list for awhile. Your description of the short, steep, icy traverse rekindles recent memories of similar slopes. Jeremy's comment of "it happened in a split second" is what separates a smile from a tear.
Hey Gerry and crew. It was good skiing with you guys up there on Saturday even if we didn't quite get the corn we were expecting. We have some photos from the weekend here...
http://community.webshots.com/album/550206746ACvIEv
http://community.webshots.com/album/550206746ACvIEv
Thanks for the commentary Lowell. Jermey Buck and his girlfriend Kristi I met on a Mt Bailey hut trip in 2005. Kristi organized the trip, and is a friend of Aaron's. They are very nice and friendly people. I wish Jermey a speedy recovery. And kudos to the PMR gang for their rescue efforts.
This isn't exactly a trailhead improvisation, but I wanted to pass it along:
Four of us set out to ski around Crater Lake in a late March snowstorm, during which eight inches or so of new snow fell. The next day dawned bright and sunny, which was great -- for about an hour. After that, two of us were having terrible problems with snow sticking to our skins. The glopping was really slowing us down, and we still had 24 miles to go. Nobody had skin wax, so w...
Four of us set out to ski around Crater Lake in a late March snowstorm, during which eight inches or so of new snow fell. The next day dawned bright and sunny, which was great -- for about an hour. After that, two of us were having terrible problems with snow sticking to our skins. The glopping was really slowing us down, and we still had 24 miles to go. Nobody had skin wax, so w...
Snowmobile tracks climbed the Bean Cr. side, and the summit high mark came up from the Stafford Cr. side. Again, back in the day, there were no other skier tracks and certainly no snomo tracks in that high country. Sad, there were some sweet powder days on Iron and Earl before the new snomo technology was developed.
Another issue is that I do not see enough signage that would even reasonably support enforcement. Does the USFS really care? Snomobilers have climbed regularly to over 700...
Another issue is that I do not see enough signage that would even reasonably support enforcement. Does the USFS really care? Snomobilers have climbed regularly to over 700...
Then there's always this problem which should be avoided... ;)
A friend who travelled from CO to ski Silver Star with us left his telemark boots back on a kitchen table in Seattle. I lent him my lightweight hiking boots, which he duct taped in to his bindings. They skied up quite well. He did not make a single turn on the way down, however, but he was happy to have made the trip nonetheless. The rest of us got turns, but it was mostly ultra-deep mush so he wasn't missing a lot.
Sounds great, Sam! I enjoyed your description of the bamboo "poles." It would be fun to start a thread about the best trailhead MacGyvers people have done. A friend of mine once forgot his boot liners during a car exchange. He had the shells, but no liners. We carved down the soles of some running shoes to fit inside the shells and duct-taped blue foam all around his ankles and shins. He completed the tour but I remember him a coming up to the col and sort of wincing with low-grade pai...
author=John_Morrow link=topic=4667.msg19901#msg19901 date=1147116018]
A couple quick thoughts on the Snowmobile access issue:
The main issue is that the machines enter the area legally and then pass through the wilderness basins in order to connect longer trips. This needs to stop.
John
I agree completely with John and might also suggest that stopping snow machine tresspass will not happen in a vacuum...
We were there on the 6th also. I think we encountered you halfway down the loosely treed run above the 5K flat, and I was pumping one of y'all for conditions information. Things above 6500 had not warmed much after you left - barely breakable crust that was no fun to climb or traverse when it got steep. We only made it as far as a high point on the moraine that overlooked the least steep of the couloirs leading to the glacier proper, and then decided that although we probably could have cra...
Here's an Oregonian story about the skier who was injured on Saturday.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1147055132139340.xml&coll=7
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1147055132139340.xml&coll=7
One icy spot sends climber flying down Mount Hood
All-over bruises - Jeremy Buck is rescued near Illumination Saddle thanks to friends who were there to help
Monday, May 08, 2006
DAVID R. ANDERSON
As he cartwheeled 300 feet down...
A couple quick thoughts on the Snowmobile access issue:
Stimbuck is correct that the machines are allowed in Stafford Creek basin as it is not Wilderness.
Bean/Beverly basins are in a voluntary winter closure. It is not "legally" closed.
Currently there is no legal closure (outside of the wilderness) for oversnow motorized snowmobile travel in any of the basins south of the Teanaway Crest. The crest forms the wilderness boundary. If it drains into I...
Stimbuck is correct that the machines are allowed in Stafford Creek basin as it is not Wilderness.
Bean/Beverly basins are in a voluntary winter closure. It is not "legally" closed.
Currently there is no legal closure (outside of the wilderness) for oversnow motorized snowmobile travel in any of the basins south of the Teanaway Crest. The crest forms the wilderness boundary. If it drains into I...
Great report Lowell. You definitely beat the weather.
That sounds like a fun trip. Way to beat the weather!
author=Randonnee link=topic=4667.msg19884#msg19884 date=1147029679]Since the sign at the trailhead states "No Motorized Vehicles" I am concerned about the snowmobile high marks to the summit of Earl.
Randonee, could you describe where the snowmobile tracks were in more detail? Did you see tracks going up along Bean Creek and in Bean Creek basin? Where were the tracks that climbed to the summit of Earl?
I believe that Bean Cree...
Thanks to Skip and Cass for dragging me aloong, and yes, I will confess to vocalizing my displeasure at the Treewell/Moss variation to the summer trail, particually since I had scoped a Chuck Norris style non-wading stream crossing route in the AM. However, we now know which side of the creek has prettier tree wells and sidehilling, in the event that it ever comes up again ;D
Great trip on a magical day spent in the "The Sucker hole" since it appeared that we were surrounded...
Great trip on a magical day spent in the "The Sucker hole" since it appeared that we were surrounded...
Hiking your skis out Snow Creek would be a bad option. Save it for a winter trip.
Skiing to Little Annapurna or Prussik Pass and going back out via Mountaineer Creek on the other hand wouldn't be so bad. If you want to tour the Enchantments, here is a better idea:
Ski in to Prussik Pass via Mountaineer Creek, traverse and yoyo the North side of Temple Ridge, ski to the northeastern side and then drop over around the Black Pyramid to the southeastern side and then trave...
Skiing to Little Annapurna or Prussik Pass and going back out via Mountaineer Creek on the other hand wouldn't be so bad. If you want to tour the Enchantments, here is a better idea:
Ski in to Prussik Pass via Mountaineer Creek, traverse and yoyo the North side of Temple Ridge, ski to the northeastern side and then drop over around the Black Pyramid to the southeastern side and then trave...
Its not too hard to do the Stuart Lake Trhd to Snow Lake Trhd via the enchantments in one day in summer, and as long as you don't mind carrying your skis a lot on the way out it could be done in two days fairly easily this time of year.
It was a nice tour. Thanks, Silas for coming along and for the excellent TR and photos. It was good to run into some other folks on the summit. It was quite a relief to watch them easily skin and walk to the summit on softened snow after we had kicked and scratched our way up earlier. We were not sure if the snow would soften enough to enjoy, but it did finally.
The earlier excellent posting in April caught my interest. Ludwig and I went in to Earl on 4/27 with almost continuou...
The earlier excellent posting in April caught my interest. Ludwig and I went in to Earl on 4/27 with almost continuou...
Good to meet you and see RR after all these years!
Excellent Skiing!
Cheers,
Stimbuck
Excellent Skiing!
Cheers,
Stimbuck
Nice pictures you guys! Great job finding the sun today - Greg and I looked outside today and decided to go biking when we saw it was raining up at the pass!
I might add that our NW ridge assault resulted from a "manual override" of the advice provided by electronic navigation equipment. This longcut was later summarized by one in our party thusly: "It's a better route. F#&k you."
In truth, it was a nice route. So nice, in fact, that we went back the same way after leaving the summit at 2:30 to ski its brilliantly corned open bowls. That was fine spring skiing. Despit...
In truth, it was a nice route. So nice, in fact, that we went back the same way after leaving the summit at 2:30 to ski its brilliantly corned open bowls. That was fine spring skiing. Despit...
Heya Silas and RR- Looks like Skip, Justin, and I missed you at the summit of Earl Peak today by less than 1 hour (we ascended via the NW ridge). We figured there was another party well ahead of us when we passed the sno-mo parked at the downed tree across the Beverly Creek road :)
Definitely a great day out for sure, and we were pleasantly surprised to have the large blue break in the clouds overhead (especially after the morning drive in light rain between Snoq. Pass and Cle Elum). Ski...
Definitely a great day out for sure, and we were pleasantly surprised to have the large blue break in the clouds overhead (especially after the morning drive in light rain between Snoq. Pass and Cle Elum). Ski...
author=jonthomp link=topic=4659.msg19870#msg19870 date=1146973076]
Perhaps this is better suited to 'Random Tracks', but an interesting point has been raised. What consitutes a first descent?
Definitely belongs on Random Tracks (aka rec.arguing) or cascadeclimbers.com
author=skykilo link=topic=4659.msg19853#msg19853 date=1146865539">'partial descent.'
Perhaps this is better suited to 'Random Tracks', but an interesting point has been raised. What consitutes a first descent? Does it go to t...
Yeah, there was some minor brush scrapage which could have been avoided by driving through some sideways-tilting rocky sections. The main issue was rocky terrain though.
Charles, I booted/shoed up the climbers left of the couloir, not wanting to risk anything coming down on us with no escape. Came down skiers right, past the first narrowing, to catch the softer more sun exposed snow there and get past some ice-ball debrise, then in the couloir the rest of the way down to about 3900'. There are actually several nice lines available, however the weather was not quite as good Tues as you had Wed, mainly because there was a persistant cloud shading the summi...
Yeah, we were about 6hrs up and 3 down. Taking the logging road trail up would probably shave 45min off the ascent. I'd say Dingford Creek might be faster if you include the extra time we spent driving up the Middle Fork, though.
In terms of driving, there was 1+ft of snow just past where we parked. It was continuous from there as far as I could tell, but I didn't walk down the road. There were tire tracks continuing, so some people obviously drove further. The altitude I gave was rough, based on my barometric altimeter which I hadn't calibrated and on gawking at the map. Internet surfing suggests that the start of the logging road (where we parked) is ~0.5mi from the actual end of the r...
We ran into half a dozen bilers on the road up to the trailhead. Later we could hear some way to the west of us, somewhere near the RR grade presumably, and then I saw two fresh tracks up around 9,500'.
Skykilo, thanks for the link to the "other " NW ski forum. A good bit of contrast with this one. I love the way that TAY is relatively free from spray and wothless banter (aside from my contribution here) ;D that others on the web suffer from.
Jon, being stuck in Cubicle Land this week and thinking about doing the C/D on Baker this weekend, your descent makes me extremely jealous. Great trip report!
Jon, being stuck in Cubicle Land this week and thinking about doing the C/D on Baker this weekend, your descent makes me extremely jealous. Great trip report!
I skied down with syle and enthusiasm. ;)
A couple years ago it looked like it would be very doable with snow, so I wanted to take a look and see if I could do better than what Lowell would call a 'partial descent.'
As far as route, I skied pretty much the sam...
A couple years ago it looked like it would be very doable with snow, so I wanted to take a look and see if I could do better than what Lowell would call a 'partial descent.'
As far as route, I skied pretty much the sam...
author=skykilo link=topic=4659.msg19843#msg19843 date=1146858175]
...climb and place screw, downclimb to other screw and retrieve, repeat. . .
Lots of fun. I did a similar thing on a rock climb when we didn't want to bring more than two big pieces for an offwidth.
What way did you ski down?
Thanks for the TR, I've been wondering about conditions - esp. snowmobiles. Were there any up there at the time? I guess I'll wait a couple weeks - those whoopdedoos don't sound fun.
Thanks for the report (skiing and road) and nice photos, Peter. So your description of the way to know the right logging road (the big cut tree) is still correct?
When you say that the snowline was at 2400', do you mean that was where snow prevented driving any further, or that was where you first saw snow along the road? Curious because when I checked with the RS the day before they said the road was drivable to the end, which is ~3000 feet.
I've also read of app...
When you say that the snowline was at 2400', do you mean that was where snow prevented driving any further, or that was where you first saw snow along the road? Curious because when I checked with the RS the day before they said the road was drivable to the end, which is ~3000 feet.
I've also read of app...
Jim O. and Jon, sorry we didn't make it work out for all of us to do this trip, but like I said, I was concerned that it was getting to be too late for this to be optimal (and anyway, it sounds like you had a good trip too, Jon). PeterC, nice to meet you and your buddy and glad you had a good trip. Definitely surprising to see evidence of so much activity up there!
Boot, I do remember seeing what looked like a board track, as well as dog prints and probably snowshoe tracks. Nice...
Boot, I do remember seeing what looked like a board track, as well as dog prints and probably snowshoe tracks. Nice...
Really fun with skis on pack and only two screws. The ice cliff was slightly more difficult than when I did it in August three years ago. I invented a really fun new form of ultralight alpine ice climbing: climb and place screw, downclimb to other screw and retrieve, repeat. . .
So that explains the mystery tracks. Strange about the thermos. I didn't notice one when we arrived and none of our gear had been messed with when we returned (someone could have snagged a pretty nice glacier rope if they'd wanted to).
There were actually 9 up there--us two, two guys from Whislter, and a group of five snowboarders, though one of them was lagging quite far behind.
How was the N. Ridge?
There were actually 9 up there--us two, two guys from Whislter, and a group of five snowboarders, though one of them was lagging quite far behind.
How was the N. Ridge?
Dude, skykilo's thermos, that's like a collector's item! Now you're NEVER going to get it back.
I was there yesterday. Counted 8 people total going up the CD at one point from a vantage high on the North Ridge. Somebody took my beloved thermos, damn it! I guess that's what I get for leaving it.
Looks like the timing was good. Would have been fun to go, but one sick day a week is about all I can swing. Maybe on another outing.
Sorry, no thermos. Were you up there the same day as us? The Whistler guys said they heard someone arrive during the night and take off and we saw some tracks heading toward the N. Ridge, but no sign of the phantom making them.
You guys didn't see a thermos before dropping off Heliotrope Ridge into the gullies did you?
I've never seen anywhere near that many people on Baker during the week. I left my thermos there to lighten my load before climbing the North Ridge. To my dismay, it was gone when I returned.
Oh well a beautiful day in the mountains is worth more than a thermos!
I've never seen anywhere near that many people on Baker during the week. I left my thermos there to lighten my load before climbing the North Ridge. To my dismay, it was gone when I returned.
Oh well a beautiful day in the mountains is worth more than a thermos!
Awesome, sounds like a great trip! I'd like to do this an a week and a half. Can you provide a bit more info about the approach from the white salmon lodge to the base of the white salmon glacier? (This will be my first time tyring this route.
Questions:
1. Do you start by heading to the base of chair 8?
2. From the base of chair 8 do you head out along a road first before descending into the drainage?
3. Did you do more of a traversing descent into the white salmo...
Questions:
1. Do you start by heading to the base of chair 8?
2. From the base of chair 8 do you head out along a road first before descending into the drainage?
3. Did you do more of a traversing descent into the white salmo...
Or perhaps get a film scanner, depending on how nice a 35MM camera (and lenses) you have...
Jim, It was 6hrs up and 3 down with continuous snow at about 2500'. PM me if you want helpful details.
Boot
Boot
Hey Boot - sounds like a great trip. The couloir looks interesting and the approach does look pretty direct with the aid of the trail.
Where did the continuous snow start and how long was the approach? I'm trying to figure out if this would make a good, fairly quick day trip.
Thanks for the info.
Jim
Where did the continuous snow start and how long was the approach? I'm trying to figure out if this would make a good, fairly quick day trip.
Thanks for the info.
Jim
Nice job! I wish I coulda gotten off work and made this outing. As I read about the trip up, I was wondering about that trip back across the lake later in the day - sounds like you'll remember that stretch for a while.
Peter, those were my shoe tracks coming up from the notch, maybe more from the SW than south. Didn't come from either lake route. If you look at the bottom of the map on Charles' post and follow down and left off the summit to the notch at 6400', then follow the couloir in a NWerly direction down to the blue creek line at 4600', and finally follow that down to its intersection with Dingford creek, you have my approximate route. Sorry for the digression.