August 16, 2002, Hadley Peak, Mt.Baker backcountry

Stephanie Innis and I headed up to ski Hadley Peak on a beautiful sunny Friday. We battled brutal mosquitoes for the first 1.5 hours. I stopped to put on my ski clothes to fend the mosquitoes off. Once we hit the snow, the bugs subsided and the maddening tensions eased. We cramponed up on firm suncupped snow to the summit ridge at ~7400 feet; the last 200ft was steep enough and firm enough for front pointing. After a lazy summit lunch hour, we headed down.

The sun had warmed the snow on the Hadley glacier into some of the finest August corn I've ever skied. The firm suncups had been transformed to a consistent layer of two inch corn from the just below the top steeps to almost the very bottom. The few crevasses opening up were easy to avoid or jump.

Details: Expect 1.5-2 hrs to snow from Cougar Divide trail head; ~1900' ft skiing from 7400' to 5500'; smaller crevasses on Hadley glacier, rope optional; and solitude (we saw only one person on the way out).

Bill Frans