Naches Peak, May 15, 2010

(this was mistakenly posted to lift/non-backcountry)
My friend Tom and I headed toward Chinook Pass under beautiful sunny skies!  We parked at the Chinook-Cayuse 'Y' and walked the road to the first switch back.  We climbed the snowbank...dawned our skis and skins and took off for Naches Peak.  The snow was soft and slushy, but skinning was relatively easy.  We noticed a lot of surface slides which have occured over the past few days.  After lunch we skied the Northeast Bowl.  From there we skinned towards Chinook Pass and Yakima Peak.  We traversed across the second switchback where we skied down through the trees to 410 just below the 'Y'.  The snow is not yet "corn snow"...give it a few weeks.