May 29-30, 2010, White Pass, GP Wilderness
5/29/10
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2485
4
We set out for Glacier Peak with hopes of a weather window on Sunday and not much new from Friday's storm. Didn't get either.
Made it to White Pass and camped for the night. Widespread natural wet loose activity, that was entraining up to 1-ft deep and 20-50-ft wide. We thought hard about turning around before White Pass, and probably should have. By the time we made it to the pass for camp, we'd talked ourselves out of any more exploration or summit bid on Sunday. So much for sloggin in all that heavy gear....
Visibility was crappy all day on Saturday, but we got some local views at least on Sunday. Even got to celebrate my b-day by taking a mellow lap in the sunshine from White Pass. Overall, it was a good way to celebrate.
Gear Notes: 100lbs is too much
More pics here
Made it to White Pass and camped for the night. Widespread natural wet loose activity, that was entraining up to 1-ft deep and 20-50-ft wide. We thought hard about turning around before White Pass, and probably should have. By the time we made it to the pass for camp, we'd talked ourselves out of any more exploration or summit bid on Sunday. So much for sloggin in all that heavy gear....
Visibility was crappy all day on Saturday, but we got some local views at least on Sunday. Even got to celebrate my b-day by taking a mellow lap in the sunshine from White Pass. Overall, it was a good way to celebrate.
Gear Notes: 100lbs is too much
More pics here
Wow, still looks pretty wintery up there!
What elevation did you hit snow/ put on skis?
yeah it was winter above 5k. I wish the conditions had warranted at least an exploration day, but it was pretty sketchy.
We hit broken snow at 4400', and started skinning at ~4500' in 3' of snow. The snowline is so abrupt this year, it's really fantastic for not having to fight patches for long!
We hit broken snow at 4400', and started skinning at ~4500' in 3' of snow. The snowline is so abrupt this year, it's really fantastic for not having to fight patches for long!
nice .. too bad about turning back .. thx for the beta .. o happy b-day .. and your pix are cool
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