TR Replies

That looks like some straight up snowless Rockies hardcore action.  What would possess you to forego that sweet-arse north slope!

Jeff, thanks for the timely report, glad you were above the clouds. How much of Adams & St Helens could you see above the cloud deck?

We were thinking of heading to Hood (north side), but changed plans to Adams (west/NW side) after reading your updated Cloud Cap road info. But we ended up not even leaving town early AM on Saturday, after webcams showed whiteout at Paradise & Johnston Ridge (unfortunately, no webcam photos for Hood early that day: Meadows cam had a day-old photo,...

Great adventure. I have toured on both ends of your trip and the terrain is fantastic. Until my sherpa grandsons increase in size, I probably won't tour the middle section.:)

I agree,the Mobil deli is a "must stop" whenever in the Lee Vining area.  Jill has become addicted to the fish tacos.

Zap(sitting in a snow storm in the Sisters Wilderness with wireless internet connectivity) :)

Great report Jeff!
I never realized what a great climb to the summit of Hood can be, but you detailed that out really well.
Thanks for sharing.
Joe

Very cool, Amar.
Which gps unit are you using?

Thanks for the TR Lowell. I'm glad I could join you on a trip to  a great area, great mountain and a great line! And it's too bad we couldn't spend another few days up there cause carrying all that food up and down was reason enough to earn the sufferfest award of the week. 8)

Amar,

Great trip.  

I also want to THANK YOU for all the great info and links on your website.  During my 2 plus months of skiing around Tahoe and the Sierras, I would constantly use the links provided on your site.

Jill and I used the 31st as a travel day from Lassen to Shasta due to the forecast.  The wildflowers were incredible and Jill was happy.  We spent the evening of the 31st on the Everitt Memorial Highway and the winds were strong and the clouds...

Road Cut, n
A compilation of B side type songs, often recorded live, used to entertain traveling motorists.  :D

Really though, temps are nice and cool today! My pal wants to do Muir or Inter G tomorrow. But if it's socked-in weather, Chinook still has enough snow to be a safer navigation-wise alternative...

Excellent report, thank you Amar!
Your photo of Hidden Valley is the best I've seen showing the West Face Gullies route, which looks mighty scrumptious, and genuinely makes me want to dial in sick and pack the freakin truck right this very instant. Do you have any estimates based on your frequent experience w South and West sides of Shasta how long the W Face Gullies might stay in that kind of shape? Seems like given their W facing these would be a good choice for a oneday from car ski ascent...

???

No summit? What's there to comment on?  ;)

Of course, I'm just jealous that I didn't get to go.

Ok back again and did a little homework.
Jodabaker
The area you would want to ask for is called the Ptarmagin Ridge alpine zone.it appears Spray park is split into a couple of XC zones Also Seattle park has a xc zone  
Backcountry zone map (Rosetta Stone)


The way the regs are written implies year round use!

Nice ! Was it about 3 years ago ? June 11th almost a foot of freshies up there. Of course it goes sour quickly. My strategy for that was park the car just east of the bridge and imediately drop into the "valley of no return." and ski down to the American.
Does anybody remember what a road cut is ?

Now that's a good trip report!

Paul:  Any comments?  ;D

Lara -- it would have been fun to shoot together.  Helmet cams only really work as an altrernate POV in a vidi of a skier.  Just the HC shot by iteself is monotonous.

Jon -- I wanted the skiers view, so I have the "Lipstick lens" velcroed to the bill of a baseball hat.  It is mounted about three inches above the bridge of my nose.  I tried it on a helmet, but then you are seeing from one side of the skier's head.  I wanted the camera to record what the s...

Tim,

That video is a wonderful treasure!  Now I wish Silas and I had something like that.  Silas and I took some vid, but I'm still waiting to see it. Silas???

~Lara

gravyb - the West side of the pass is where this shot is taken - you'll see lakes on topo when you check it out.  It's the bowl tucked in on the SW side of Naches.  the bowl you speak of (good fun indeed) I believe is the SE quadrant of Naches.

Excellent report and pictures, Amar. Thanks!

There was a time just a few years ago when it seemed like "the map" was always kept under the counter and the general public didn't even get to see it except in unusual circumstances an only then after you told the ranger where you intended to camp.  Back then scoring a copy of the "rosetta stone", as we used to call it, was a major help in planning overnight camping trips in the park... the info on the NPS web site was sometimes unreliable and seldom update.
Not so a...

When I spoke to the Park Ranger today I asked him about official camping above Spray and he stated that the snow season camping, unless in designated areas such as Sherman, Curtis and Muir is done for the season. I am unclear on the designations other than the issues that I found out about in our fight against the Park allowing skiers from Crystal Mountain to ski in the Park. Which is where they designate areas for uses based on the amount of users of the park area and risk to the enviroment.