7/13/08- Heliotrope Ridge
7/13/08
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
9945
16
The trip began with,
Scotty's call :" You wannna go up tonight and camp instead of driving out in the morning?"
Chris: "Yes, let's go camp..."
We bivied in the campground as I awoke a few times to Scottsman's dog digging a crater above his sleeping head, maybe this is the true cause of his baldness (he did not flinch even once)...
Before long it was time to wake up and break camp to meet the boys at the Wake and Bake Cafe. Shortly after, we enjoyed a random view of two beautiful ladies who then disappeared like an island oasis. Lattes in hand we were ready to seize the day. Then the boys arrived. Zackalope and Lordhedgie here, we chatted about options and decided Heliotrope was the best bet for corn without cups.
After driving the road and experiencing the wrath of Scottsman's "bush driving" (skills he apparently acquired in Africa), we were at the trailhead along with 30 other cars. We managed to squeeze in between some gear and find a spot. Lots of climbers and a maybe 10 skiers total.
The trail begins with the most interesting section- the infamous "Log of Death". Here I bet that Chugach (scotty's husky) had it in him to cross without a carry. I was right... after a bit of coaxing and leg wobbling, he made it across and had his pride intact. The remainder of the trail up to open slopes was unremarkable, save the many blowdowns we navigated around. These require some interesting maneuvers to get around and were much worse navigation wise than the Interglacier trail. After one more section of stream, we managed to coax Chugie across and we were off into the open slopes.
Lots of company along the way and several parties skiing down from the summit gave us some interesting perspectives on ski mountaineering at this time of year. The crevasses were mostly all bridged in the lower sections and seemed the climber's route up had much more snow than Scottsman remembered in earlier years. Seeing the crew of three descend from the summit made me feel like I was not getting the "goods" and they were- I need to get the goods, and sometime soon (alas that will be for another day- and if anyone with some experience reading this wants to lead me up, I will follow(I have gear).)!
After chatting with others and refilling water we continued up to the prominent knob above the bivy sites and we sampled the corn. Minimal cupping, soft but firm snow, clear blue skies, and scotty's wax made for a smooth run just off fall line down 300 vf to the rocks below. We decided that we needed a longer stash to lap with minimal cupping and our eyes wandered to the west and across to the prominent knob across the snowfield. We decided this was the best looking option, and boy were we right! Corn, corn, corn! We had one 600-800 vf run, then another, then lost scotty and lordhedgie to the rocks, then zackalope and I had "just one more"... which turned into,
Chris: "(at top) Wanna do one more after this one?"
Zackalope: "(at top) Yes!"
Chris: (at bottom: sounds of skins being reapplied) silence.... skins swishing uphill...
Zackalope: (ditto)
The descent was creamy, buttery, good ole' fashioned corn on Mt. Baker's cob! Hoots and hollers ensued as we relished turns, over, and over again.
We managed to lose Scotty and Lordhedgie as they thought we had given up on the corn and went back to the car a different route. Nonetheless, we managed to find scotty napping and lordhedgie lounging in the lot, and shortly after, we exclaim: "that was the best corn of the season!".
Yes, it was...
Thanks to Lordhedgie for the great beta and to all for a great day out.
more pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/christopherlyles/HeliotropeRidge?authkey=sDSC8oFkGzQ&pli=1&gsessionid=AvqMmU61yadYGUYj_4GE8A
Video- Chris:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XNPan6hPA0
Video- Zackalope:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8QLNEjap_w
Video- Scotty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7A_275AnBs
Video- Lordhedgie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM-QlJFdjtw
Happy corn hunting,
Chris
Scotty's call :" You wannna go up tonight and camp instead of driving out in the morning?"
Chris: "Yes, let's go camp..."
We bivied in the campground as I awoke a few times to Scottsman's dog digging a crater above his sleeping head, maybe this is the true cause of his baldness (he did not flinch even once)...
Before long it was time to wake up and break camp to meet the boys at the Wake and Bake Cafe. Shortly after, we enjoyed a random view of two beautiful ladies who then disappeared like an island oasis. Lattes in hand we were ready to seize the day. Then the boys arrived. Zackalope and Lordhedgie here, we chatted about options and decided Heliotrope was the best bet for corn without cups.
After driving the road and experiencing the wrath of Scottsman's "bush driving" (skills he apparently acquired in Africa), we were at the trailhead along with 30 other cars. We managed to squeeze in between some gear and find a spot. Lots of climbers and a maybe 10 skiers total.
The trail begins with the most interesting section- the infamous "Log of Death". Here I bet that Chugach (scotty's husky) had it in him to cross without a carry. I was right... after a bit of coaxing and leg wobbling, he made it across and had his pride intact. The remainder of the trail up to open slopes was unremarkable, save the many blowdowns we navigated around. These require some interesting maneuvers to get around and were much worse navigation wise than the Interglacier trail. After one more section of stream, we managed to coax Chugie across and we were off into the open slopes.
Lots of company along the way and several parties skiing down from the summit gave us some interesting perspectives on ski mountaineering at this time of year. The crevasses were mostly all bridged in the lower sections and seemed the climber's route up had much more snow than Scottsman remembered in earlier years. Seeing the crew of three descend from the summit made me feel like I was not getting the "goods" and they were- I need to get the goods, and sometime soon (alas that will be for another day- and if anyone with some experience reading this wants to lead me up, I will follow(I have gear).)!
After chatting with others and refilling water we continued up to the prominent knob above the bivy sites and we sampled the corn. Minimal cupping, soft but firm snow, clear blue skies, and scotty's wax made for a smooth run just off fall line down 300 vf to the rocks below. We decided that we needed a longer stash to lap with minimal cupping and our eyes wandered to the west and across to the prominent knob across the snowfield. We decided this was the best looking option, and boy were we right! Corn, corn, corn! We had one 600-800 vf run, then another, then lost scotty and lordhedgie to the rocks, then zackalope and I had "just one more"... which turned into,
Chris: "(at top) Wanna do one more after this one?"
Zackalope: "(at top) Yes!"
Chris: (at bottom: sounds of skins being reapplied) silence.... skins swishing uphill...
Zackalope: (ditto)
The descent was creamy, buttery, good ole' fashioned corn on Mt. Baker's cob! Hoots and hollers ensued as we relished turns, over, and over again.
We managed to lose Scotty and Lordhedgie as they thought we had given up on the corn and went back to the car a different route. Nonetheless, we managed to find scotty napping and lordhedgie lounging in the lot, and shortly after, we exclaim: "that was the best corn of the season!".
Yes, it was...
Thanks to Lordhedgie for the great beta and to all for a great day out.
more pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/christopherlyles/HeliotropeRidge?authkey=sDSC8oFkGzQ&pli=1&gsessionid=AvqMmU61yadYGUYj_4GE8A
Video- Chris:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XNPan6hPA0
Video- Zackalope:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8QLNEjap_w
Video- Scotty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7A_275AnBs
Video- Lordhedgie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM-QlJFdjtw
Happy corn hunting,
Chris
This was my pre-heart surgery fun day out, and it was an amazing day. I know a lot of you whom I've skied with have asked me to let you know how my heart surgery went, so I'll tell you right now it went okay and I'm still alive. If I'm lucky I hope to be skiing again in mid-August or so, but I don't think Heliotrope will be so good then.
I tried to take fewer photos since I'd been up there just two days before, but I didn't succeed. I've posted the best 55 photos here if anybody wants to see them. As always, click on thumbnails to get low-res versions, click again for high-res photos.
I tried to take fewer photos since I'd been up there just two days before, but I didn't succeed. I've posted the best 55 photos here if anybody wants to see them. As always, click on thumbnails to get low-res versions, click again for high-res photos.
 SkierLyles breaking through the trees |  Zachalope on top of the world |  Some extra "coaxing" required |
Nice job, gang: 3 young bucks, an adolescent dog, and an old goat!
Skierlyles: check your PMs. :)
Skierlyles: check your PMs. :)
author=lordhedgie link=topic=10665.msg43360#msg43360 date=1216222763]
so I'll tell you right now it went okay and I'm still alive.
Excellent! Heal well! :).
author=skierlyles link=topic=10665.msg43357#msg43357 date=1216188705]
We bivied in the campground as I awoke a few times to Scottsman's dog digging a crater above his sleeping head, maybe this is the true cause of his baldness (he did not flinch even once)...
Don't know what he was up to. As you say I woke up with a huge hole dug right next to my head and Chugach sitting beside it staring at me!
Prehaps he tought I had died during the night and was going to bury me! That damn dog is wierder than I am. We make a good pair.
Great trip, glad to hear lordhedgie's surgery went well.
I ran into you guys at the top of the trail as you were trying to figure out which way Scottsman had headed down with the dog. Glad you had a great trip. I skied up to about 7200ft on Heliotrope that night for a nice sunset view over Bellingham.
I started Monday morning at 0800 and made it to the saddle in about 2 1/2 hours. Good skinning but icy in places.. (thank goodness for ski crampons!). I stopped at the saddle for about hour to let the Roman Wall start to melt and began climbing at 11:30. I stayed at the top a bit as the folks from Sunday told me to start down after 2. Started down then but it was still a bit crusty...great corn from the upper Easton to the Coleman flats. GPS had me at over 30 on the flats with tons of great turns all the way to camp. All the major crevasses are easy to see and the minor ones haven't opened up or melted out yet. No other skiers Monday.
Glad to hear your surgery went well!
I started Monday morning at 0800 and made it to the saddle in about 2 1/2 hours. Good skinning but icy in places.. (thank goodness for ski crampons!). I stopped at the saddle for about hour to let the Roman Wall start to melt and began climbing at 11:30. I stayed at the top a bit as the folks from Sunday told me to start down after 2. Started down then but it was still a bit crusty...great corn from the upper Easton to the Coleman flats. GPS had me at over 30 on the flats with tons of great turns all the way to camp. All the major crevasses are easy to see and the minor ones haven't opened up or melted out yet. No other skiers Monday.
Glad to hear your surgery went well!
looking forward to skiing with you !
Lordhedgie- glad to hear it all went well. Was going to include that all in the tr but decided I would allow you to disclose your surgery on your own- you sure are a champ, going out the day before heart surgery.
Mack- hope we can get as good weather again this weekend
JCR- nice to meet you too (had no idea it was you)
All- thanks for a good time
Robie- you looking forward to skiing with me? I doubt that, I am not as much of a good time as Scottsman is (maybe that is who you meant).
Mack- hope we can get as good weather again this weekend
JCR- nice to meet you too (had no idea it was you)
All- thanks for a good time
Robie- you looking forward to skiing with me? I doubt that, I am not as much of a good time as Scottsman is (maybe that is who you meant).
I dunno about being a champ for skiing before the surgery -- I'd rather think that if you're going to have heart surgery, you ought to maximize your fun right before it.
The wound is healing nicely. I'm already feeling a lot better in situations that previously really strained my heart, so I guess that's a good sign.
(I thought Robie wanted to ski with me!)
The wound is healing nicely. I'm already feeling a lot better in situations that previously really strained my heart, so I guess that's a good sign.
(I thought Robie wanted to ski with me!)
Hey Chris! I am so jealous. That snow looks fabulous! Glad you guys had such a good time. Good video, and great pictures, except you had too many with that big white thing in the background, surrounded by all that blue stuff. 8) I'm glad to see you get out with another tele buck - Zack I presume.
Also, I think Robie wants to ski with everyone.
Lordhedgie - I look forward to skiing with you when you get back to full strength. Glad your surgery went well.
Also, I think Robie wants to ski with everyone.
Lordhedgie - I look forward to skiing with you when you get back to full strength. Glad your surgery went well.
Sorry I missed your call. I wasn't getting a phone signal at silver fir. Glad you had a good day!
Also, I think Robie wants to ski with everyone.
Rusty, that's true but i mainly meant it towards Lordhedgie to cheer him on in recovery mode!
Robie, I'm heartbroken. I thought it was me. :-[
You're just a tour slut!
You're just a tour slut!
Robie- apparently everyone really wants to ski with you!
We are all hoping for a quick and speedy recovery for Lordhedgie and look forward to more turns with him in the near future.
Chris
We are all hoping for a quick and speedy recovery for Lordhedgie and look forward to more turns with him in the near future.
Chris
Great skiing with you guys! I look forward to more.
Lordhedgie, I'm glad to hear the surgery went well.
Lordhedgie, I'm glad to hear the surgery went well.
author=lordhedgie link=topic=10665.msg43381#msg43381 date=1216256394]
The wound is healing nicely. I'm already feeling a lot better in situations that previously really strained my heart, so I guess that's a good sign.
Here's to a speedy recovery, take care.
Jimmy, Jill and I are pleased to hear that the heart surgery went well.
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