March 13, 2004, Bare and Lennox Mtn
3/13/04
3236
5
Yesterday my friend Ed and I skied a route from the North Fork Snoqualmie to highway 2 (Money Creek), following benches next to Bare and Lennox mountains, and summitting Lennox.
We got lucky with the snow levels and forest roads, which allowed us reasonable access to the (sub)alpine. Normally this time of year anything up the North Fork would be a long haul I think, but we were able to drive to within two and a half miles of the Bare Mtn trailhead.
The snow conditions ran the gamut from ice to crusty slush. There was decent almost-corn, but of course no powder. You could punch through the crust on the south slopes with your pole, and it was pretty slushy/sugary underneath. The snow surface was also pretty runnelled, which was annoying on shaded aspects. No avy activity, although there had been a large slide in the basin north of Lennox this past week.
Our position at the edge of the range allowed for good views of Puget Sound, and unusual views of peaks like Garfield and Index.
It was a fun day overall, and a little shorter than we expected (only took 8 hours... mostly firm snow made for fast travel). No serious obstacles were encountered and overall it was a pretty moderate tour.
More details and photos here
We got lucky with the snow levels and forest roads, which allowed us reasonable access to the (sub)alpine. Normally this time of year anything up the North Fork would be a long haul I think, but we were able to drive to within two and a half miles of the Bare Mtn trailhead.
The snow conditions ran the gamut from ice to crusty slush. There was decent almost-corn, but of course no powder. You could punch through the crust on the south slopes with your pole, and it was pretty slushy/sugary underneath. The snow surface was also pretty runnelled, which was annoying on shaded aspects. No avy activity, although there had been a large slide in the basin north of Lennox this past week.
Our position at the edge of the range allowed for good views of Puget Sound, and unusual views of peaks like Garfield and Index.
It was a fun day overall, and a little shorter than we expected (only took 8 hours... mostly firm snow made for fast travel). No serious obstacles were encountered and overall it was a pretty moderate tour.
More details and photos here
Great job Phil - thanks for putting all of the photos in the TR, it really brings the trip alive.
nice job, Phil, Ed and dogs! sounds like a little less schwackage than our trip on Saturday...and that's a good thing!
Nice one, Phil. That's what I call a real ski tour - use those skis to cover some distance!
I am curious about your route from Lennox down to Money Creek via Goat Basin. I did a hike up there one fall to check out the terrain, and thought it would be a good ski with enough snow down low. From your photo "Our route down to the valley" it looks like you descended around the skier's right side of Goat Lake, and then stayed skier's right of the main drainage out of Goat Lake down to Money Creek?
How about that final slope from about the elevation of Goat Lake down to the Money Creek bottom - skiable, or did you have to hike down some of that?
I drove up Money Creek road early last April, I believe, to look at that route and there was very little snow below the level of Goat Lake.
I am curious about your route from Lennox down to Money Creek via Goat Basin. I did a hike up there one fall to check out the terrain, and thought it would be a good ski with enough snow down low. From your photo "Our route down to the valley" it looks like you descended around the skier's right side of Goat Lake, and then stayed skier's right of the main drainage out of Goat Lake down to Money Creek?
How about that final slope from about the elevation of Goat Lake down to the Money Creek bottom - skiable, or did you have to hike down some of that?
I drove up Money Creek road early last April, I believe, to look at that route and there was very little snow below the level of Goat Lake.
The slope from Goat Lakes down to the valley bottom is your choice of 100% avy slopes (nearly always full of debris from the cliffs above), or 50% open glades, then 50% avy slope (since the open glades start cliffing out). It gets bouldery near the bottom, but still had just enough snow, but probably not for much longer.
Then out the valley to Money creek we stayed right of the drainage, then crossed to the left at a certain point (not shown in the picture), just because that's the way I know from previous forays into there, and it avoids the brush as long as there is a couple feet of snow. Right side might work too, although then you might have to cross a combined Money Creek + Goat Basin Creek :)
Then out the valley to Money creek we stayed right of the drainage, then crossed to the left at a certain point (not shown in the picture), just because that's the way I know from previous forays into there, and it avoids the brush as long as there is a couple feet of snow. Right side might work too, although then you might have to cross a combined Money Creek + Goat Basin Creek :)
Nice imaginative tour! I bet the dogs were glad to be home on Saturday night.
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