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Topic: June 6-7, 2009, Mt. Skokomish, Olympic N.P. (Read 1510 times)
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Robyn
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Posts: 78
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Hamma Hamma, in my interpretation-->the sound of legs being hammered into the ground while descending 3,000' over 4 miles carrying skis, boots, and overnight gear...although my original idea was to leave skis at home and just do some scouting for future trips, I found THIS and was easily swayed by the possibility of some fun turns. Ohh, when am I going to learn?
Also easily convinced was Spencer; our friend Nikki opted to stay in Bellingham and study for finals while we pushed the limits of the stupid-o-meter on the ski-to-hike ratio. Instead of a day trip though we decided an overnight may be a bit easier...the jury's still out on that one.
There was a washout in the road a little over a mile from the trailhead, passable only with 4wd and high clearance, neither of which my car possesses. We caught a ride to the trailhead one way, but made it over halfway back on the way down before somebody drove by and picked us up.
Visibility was ~50ft on Saturday afternoon upon arrival in the Lake of Angels basin after 4 hours of hiking, scrambling, and crawling up the trail; at about the same time we hit continuous snow, so the scenery was...very white and misty. No skiing today, since exploring on foot yielded nothing much on the north side of the basin and the other sides were a gray mass of clouds.
Sunday morning brought--surprise--better visibility! Since clouds were drifting around the upper basin and offering glimpses of the top of Mt. Skokomish, we decided to go for it. An hour or so of skinning to the west rim of the LOA basin (it sounded like the folks in the June 2006 report took a different route somewhere around this point), then a short descent, and then crampons & ice axe for the last steep snow pitch up to the top of the east face. We dropped skis there and scrambled southwest for a while on the rocky, crumbly ridge leading toward the summit. Thanks to the clouds we couldn't really tell how far away the real summit was, or the best way to get there, so back to the snow we go.
The east face was FUN!! Steep, good corn, but just a little too short at around 200 ft. Skiing back into the basin was increasingly sticky and flattening out. There were some fun-looking options on the south side of the lake but more climbing was the last thing in mind given the hideous descent ahead of us.
I kept skis on all the way down to a marshy creek crossing at around 4,000', though a few portages were required. The rest of the way down--fun in reverse. 
In retrospect, this trip would be a better ski a bit earlier, with snow lower down, and maybe better as a long day trip to avoid carrying more gear. Hey, at least it didn't rain!
No photos here, I managed to leave the battery in the charger again, but maybe Spencer will come up with a few...
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« Last Edit: 06/08/09, 01:39 PM by Robyn »
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"We don't stop playing because we grow older. We grow older because we stop playing."
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cascadesfreak
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Posts: 366
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Nice work! That steep "trail" approach certainly makes the turns well-earned (especially when carrying overnight gear up there!). Bummer the weather/visibility wasn't better, but glad to hear good turns were had on the east face of Skokomish (Skip and I couldn't really see anything while skiing the upper portion of that face in a white-out).
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Spencerhutch
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Posts: 18
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Well as could be imagined there weren't to many pretty pictures to be had but here is what I got.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spencerhutch/sets/72157619383325979/
This was definitely a good use of my weekend, taking into consideration that I got less than 3 hours of sleep last night and took 3 finals today. I felt like I could barely walk from test to test. Although an adventure is an adventure and I'm gonna take all that I can get!
PS. Its pretty funny seeing the looks you get trying to hitchhike with an ice axe sticking out of your pack.
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Robyn
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Posts: 78
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PS. Its pretty funny seeing the looks you get trying to hitchhike with an ice axe sticking out of your pack.
Haha--oh, the car troubles, much more eventful than the adventure itself! Broke the key off in the ignition, then started it with a pocket knife, only to discover that it wouldn't go...very fast. Made it to Lena Creek campground averaging under 10 mph, parked and locked it with most of our gear to catch a ride out to cell phone range and call my dad to see if he knew what the heck was wrong. Apparently the throttle linkage somehow popped off, but thankfully home was only 1.5 hours away in Poulsbo and dad could come to the rescue. It took him less than 5 minutes to diagnose and fix the situation, after breaking a small window to get into the car because he forgot to bring a spare key. In addition to saving my day, he also was able to help a group with a flat tire pry their stuck wheel off with the giant crowbar for his truck; he is hereby nominated for Dad of the Year. 
All this meant Spencer had to hitch a ride to catch the ferry from Kingston and get back to his car; luckily somebody didn't mind picking up a kid with an ice axe, and everything worked out fine. And I will not be taking a 1980 Mercedes diesel on any more mountain trips in the foreseeable future...
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« Last Edit: 06/08/09, 10:25 PM by Robyn »
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"We don't stop playing because we grow older. We grow older because we stop playing."
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Snow Bell
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Posts: 507
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Cool trip guys. Too bad about the vis, there are some beautiful vantages above the lake. Stone and Skok were on my list this season but I didn't make it out there in time. Next year.
Robyn, I think that I met your folks at a party a few months back. Your dad was speaking very proudly of you and your success racing mt bikes. It's good that he was available to come to your rescue. I know of no better role than to be a hero to your little girl. 
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Life is going to slide by you one way or another
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eskinmo
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Posts: 95
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lake of the angels is a great place to camp and fish ......in july.........and you can still ski 200 v/ft
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tabski
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Posts: 83
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In addition to saving my day, he also was able to help a group with a flat tire pry their stuck wheel off with the giant crowbar for his truck; he is hereby nominated for Dad of the Year.
Hi Robyn! That would be me who your dad halped. I was too flustered with the tire changing to ask you any questions about your trip, sorry for being so rude. We had ski stuff in our car but ended up just hiking. Valley of the Silent Men below the Brothers is an incredible spot. Even saw a mountain lion!
Nice work on Skok! Let's ski the Brothers next winter!
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Robyn
5Member
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Posts: 78
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Robyn, I think that I met your folks at a party a few months back.
That's funny, Snow Bell--such a small world this is! Were they perhaps playing music at this party?
Hi Robyn! That would be me who your dad halped. I was too flustered with the tire changing to ask you any questions about your trip, sorry for being so rude. We had ski stuff in our car but ended up just hiking. Valley of the Silent Men below the Brothers is an incredible spot. Even saw a mountain lion!
Nice work on Skok! Let's ski the Brothers next winter!
Hey, it's all good, I'm just happy everything turned out ok and I finally made it home to eat some dinner.
The Brothers are still on my list for sure, dunno when/how long I'll be around this winter since I'm headed back to Tahoe soon and might end up with one of those dreaded "job" things. I'll keep you posted; the Olympics are pretty neat and I'd like to do more skiing up there (with less hiking, heh heh).
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