Van Trump...Rainier 5-30 to 6-1, 2008

   
    Dan, Jen and myself took the day off on Friday and headed into Van Trump Park€¦.the weather that day was spectacular  and the forecast called for partial cloudiness through the weekend. We elected to go from Christine Falls  and were able to skin from just beyond the trailhead.  A little ways beyond the bridge we went right and were able to go up along the western flank of Cushman Crest until about 5300 where the creek is still bridged  and we crossed into Van Trump. We camped on the flats at about 6200 and enjoyed a great evening basking in the alpenglow.
    Saturday morning brought a lot of high clouds and some darkening to the south and east€¦.we kept looking over our shoulders as we climbed and the darkness kept on coming.  We sat for awhile at 8200 and kept thinking it was gonna miss us€¦. finally  we gave in, but not soon enough .  we were soaked by the time we made it back to the tents. Next we did a lot of sleeping.
    Sunday morning brought blue sky above our camp (about fifty feet) and we thought we had it made . Surely we could climb out of a little fog layer €¦yea right!  ::) Made it back to the same spot at 8200 and never quite got ahead of the rising weather€¦.made another hasty retreat and packed up the camp.
    Both descents were pretty good skiing with the top thousand being better both days. Lots of snow left up there. Wish we could have made it higher but you get what you get.  As we were packing to go, we were joined by Chuck, Anna and Fred, who were chasing the same illusive sucker hole. We all had a great ski down despite the now steady rain€¦..good trip all!