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Spring at Blewett

1/15/22
WA Cascades East Slopes Central
1122
4
Posted by RightHanded on 1/17/22 7:03pm

I spent some time figuring out where to go this weekend.  Given the saturated snow, I was thinking go high to get lighter snow (like Rainier), or go warm and sunny to try for something resembling corn.  Staying out of the areas with glide avalanche warnings, I started looking at Blewett.  With the holiday dump (and melting since), the snotel still showed over 20" on the ground, which is my threshold for that area.  Additionally, the temp had cycled above and below freezing at least 3 times.  We started late Saturday around 10:30 to give some time for the temps to rise and sun to do its thing.  Headed over to a south west aspect on Tronsen Ridge near the switchback on road 511.  Coverage on the road and in the trees was good and the snow was smooth and starting to soften enough for a pleasant skin.  We took a peak at the south aspect on the way up and it was too melted out.  Topped out around 5100' due to low coverage (bare rock) on the windswept ridge.  The open slopes were sufficiently covered with some brush (and the occasional rock) sticking out.  The snow softened further during our ascent and when we starting descending, we found mostly transformed spring like almost corn.  It was dense and buttery (enough).  We were able to descend the south west aspect until about 4300' where there were too many downed trees / brush to have any more fun.  We took a second lap, then headed one ridge southeast along the pass trail.  Off trail travel to this area looked difficult due to downed trees, and from what we could see of the slope, it was much more bare, so we decided to head over to the old road connecting to 7245 to make a loop out.  This travel was very difficult due to downed trees.  We finally connected to 7245, put on headlamps, ripped skins, and followed the trails back to the car (Sidestep to Tronsen Meadows).  We were happy with the day, given the conditions.

 

 

Brush exposed around 4900'

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Beautiful views

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Glad you got some turns in! Thanks for the TR!


"Almost corn", "buttery enough"... Sounds like you might have found the best snow in the state right now!


I found similar conditions on similar aspects in the 5 Mile Rd environs on Wednesday. Felt like May out there--I'll go back for more if I can find the time. 


Good work. Tough to find good snow now!


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68625
spring-at-blewett
RightHanded
2022-01-18 03:03:47