May 24, 2008, Lower Tuscohatchie Lake

I was interested to travel back to this nearby Snoqualmie pass destination in a high snow year.  This trip is more of a tour than for turns, but it did not disappoint.  I got an early start from the Granite Mountain trailhead.  Continous snow began at perhaps 3500 feet on the South side of Granite West, before the junction to Ollalie Lake.  No tracks to follow, so I climbed a little north and attained the west ridge of Granite West, and then skied west down that to the Pratt Lake Divide.  Found the trail sign, but no evidence of others.  There was a great view of Rainier and the snow-covered clearcuts south of I-90.  Some of the upper slopes of Granite West, facing SW to NW, also looked pretty good. 

I had tried this trip before but there was never enough snow to drop in to Pratt Lake from the divide.  This time there was.  The top bit was nasty old snow in steep forest, a bit much for metal-edge fishcales, but then it opened up to nice turns into the small upper bowl, and then great mellow downhill touring to the lake.  The lake itself (3400') was 98% snow-covered and I skied quickly across on the shadowy side.  From there I traversed east to Lower Tuscohathie (LT).  LT is at about the same elevation as Pratt; I took a few ups and downs, likely unnecessary; the snow was continuous.  Big cracks on the snow-boulderfields.  At LT I did some surgery on the snow ramps at the footbridge spanning the major outlet stream and had a nice break.  The return trip seemed laborious but was basically a re-tracing.  Funny how everything on a big forested hillside can all kind of seem the same even when you :basically: know where you are going. A pretty long day (14 miles); did not see anyone until the last bit back after the Granite merge.  A few pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/koelle/