April 11, 2004, Earl Peak, Teanaway
4/11/04
WA Cascades East Slopes Central
3477
2
Pico C. and I drove up Stand Up Road 1/4 mile before being stopped by a blowdown. Our destination was the long, broad south facing gully on Earl Peak 7036 ft.
At first the trail approcah was great due to heavy forest shade. We skied to 4200 feet even though the slopes on either side of the creek were already bare. Then we had to climb out on bare slopes toward the southeast 6400 foot point on the Stafford divide. Snow was firm from there to the top of Earl.
The first 1250 vertical feet of the gully descent was perfect 1 inch thawed corn. The entire run is 1800 to 2000 vertical feet of a nice fall line. Then it was a hike on exposed summer trail, some soft post holing, and brush back into the valley floor where we could put skis back on for a fun trail ski out. Makeshift logs made for good stream crossings.
At this point I recommend either a Bean Creek or Stafford Creek approach to Earl.
FYI, Stafford Creek TH will be accessible by this weekend for sure. But Bean/Beverly may not be, as the typical shady spot 2.5 miles up the North Fork Teanaway road(just past the historic washout) still has 3 feet of snow on it. No one has tried to bash through.
At first the trail approcah was great due to heavy forest shade. We skied to 4200 feet even though the slopes on either side of the creek were already bare. Then we had to climb out on bare slopes toward the southeast 6400 foot point on the Stafford divide. Snow was firm from there to the top of Earl.
The first 1250 vertical feet of the gully descent was perfect 1 inch thawed corn. The entire run is 1800 to 2000 vertical feet of a nice fall line. Then it was a hike on exposed summer trail, some soft post holing, and brush back into the valley floor where we could put skis back on for a fun trail ski out. Makeshift logs made for good stream crossings.
At this point I recommend either a Bean Creek or Stafford Creek approach to Earl.
FYI, Stafford Creek TH will be accessible by this weekend for sure. But Bean/Beverly may not be, as the typical shady spot 2.5 miles up the North Fork Teanaway road(just past the historic washout) still has 3 feet of snow on it. No one has tried to bash through.
John, thanks for this info. When you say "2.5 miles up the North Fork Teanaway road", from what point are you measuring - 29 Pines? Also, how far does that put the snow blockage from the intersection of the N.Fk. road with the Bean/Beverly spur?
Do you get the impression that lower sun exposed slopes (say below ~5500-6000') in the area are unusually melted out? It sounds like the lower part of your run on Earl was pretty bare, and that was the case for the bottom 500vf on Navaho last Friday, even though the coverage higher up on the same aspect seemed great.
Do you get the impression that lower sun exposed slopes (say below ~5500-6000') in the area are unusually melted out? It sounds like the lower part of your run on Earl was pretty bare, and that was the case for the bottom 500vf on Navaho last Friday, even though the coverage higher up on the same aspect seemed great.
Good question! Yeah, I mean from 29 Pines. This still puts us 1.5 miles shy of the Beverly Creek road (#112 spur) junction. Spur 112 is a little over a mile long to the summer trailhead parking lot.
The slopes below 5000 are definitely quite melted out. I think they look like about a month early from normal snow melt seasons. Snow pack above does appear like it will hold on for a while. Most major runs off the Teanaway peaks should hold up, I hope, 'till at least early May.
As of Thurs 4/15 I have received no new info on road conditions.
The slopes below 5000 are definitely quite melted out. I think they look like about a month early from normal snow melt seasons. Snow pack above does appear like it will hold on for a while. Most major runs off the Teanaway peaks should hold up, I hope, 'till at least early May.
As of Thurs 4/15 I have received no new info on road conditions.
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