June 8, 2010, Ruth Mountain

Wanting to take advantage of the short weather window this week, Wayne and I made plans Monday to do some skiing in the North Cascades the next day. With the forecast calling for weather moving in shortly after noon we wanted something rather short. He suggested Ruth Mountain, having never been there before. I've done Ruth several times before, but it's always been a favorite ski objective of mine so I happily agreed. We bolted out of Seattle after dinner and drove north under a clearing sky. When we got to the trailhead it was obvious it had been raining only hours earlier. We left the car a little before 7 wearing tennis shoes. We stopped to put on boots and skis just before the Hannegan camp, a few hundred feet short of the pass. The skin from here to the top was quick and easy. The descent was great; a bit icy at the very top but not difficult at all and it softened to perfect corn within a few hundred feet. Great coverage allowed us to ski directly down to the valley and along the creek for a little ways before we climbed up an avalanche path to meet the trail again. We noticed it was getting considerably cloudier. A little under 8 hours after setting out we were back at the car under now fully cloudy skies. A few miles down the road, we saw the first raindrops on the windshield. Perfect timing. :)


Nothing too terribly exciting, but here are some pictures for those interested in conditions or in need of some Shuksan mtnporn.