May 25, 2008, - Lassen Peak NE

author=sempervirens link=topic=10184.msg40922#msg40922 date=1212003645]
The jet dipped south and brought precip and unseasonably cold temps to Northeast California.  Dunk and I drove via Westwood to the Manzanita Lake entrance of Lassen NP, and then to the parking lot at Devastated Area.  Only a fraction of the mountain was visible from 6500', but we could see a small sluff on the ENE aspect.  After a discussion about risks, etc., our tour started at 8:30.  There were 3 guys already on the scene, and we started a bit after they did, but eventually teamed up with them and had no pride in letting them break trail (thanks guys).  After a few hundred feet of vertical, the mist turned to snow, visibility decreased considerably, and stayed that way until at least 3pm.  Our route basically skirted the east side of the mudflow path from the old eruption.  We reached the top at about 1:30 and headed down shortly thereafter....there was a nice coating of new snow from the storm, which took the pain out of skiing in near-white-out conditions.  We believed the main danger was from shallow buried rocks, so we avoided the blown-out ridgeline.  We followed the main bowl down from the summit, keeping to skier's right, before dropping into the right-most morraine and then down through timberline to about 7200' in elevation.  By the end of the day (rotten luck), the clouds broke a bit and we got a nice view of the mountain.
[Hey, remember us at the Mineral Lodge bar?
http://robdaleiden.blogspot.com/]