July 3-4, 2010, Hidden Lake
7/3/10
WA Cascades East Slopes Central
1309
1
My buddy and I decided to head down to the Northern Cascades for some Canada Day weekend (and Independence day I guess!) turns. We left Vancouver at 7:30 am to find a fabulous 1.5 hour border wait due to 'Seattle shoppers' (which is even more popular now with our newly introduced harmonized sales tax :( ). We arrived at the Hidden Lake trailhead at about 12:30pm, ready for the hike up.
After ~45 minutes of bootpacking we found our of the lake and the surrounding mountains (although I wish it was a clear day for full views!) It got down to near-zero at night with some howling winds, but we had good cover so sleeping was great in my -17C bag! We woke up to poor visibility in the morning and light rain. After an extended stay in the tent we started down at about 1pm once the rain had stopped. The snow was beautifully wet, making for some excellent turns. The last couple pictures are the result of the bottom part of the snowpack in the valley (crusty, but better than walking down). The top two-thirds of the ski was really nice, but I didn't take any pictures due to visibility. Overall, a really fun weekend and I'll be sure to head back during a bluebird to figure out what views I was missing
After ~45 minutes of bootpacking we found our of the lake and the surrounding mountains (although I wish it was a clear day for full views!) It got down to near-zero at night with some howling winds, but we had good cover so sleeping was great in my -17C bag! We woke up to poor visibility in the morning and light rain. After an extended stay in the tent we started down at about 1pm once the rain had stopped. The snow was beautifully wet, making for some excellent turns. The last couple pictures are the result of the bottom part of the snowpack in the valley (crusty, but better than walking down). The top two-thirds of the ski was really nice, but I didn't take any pictures due to visibility. Overall, a really fun weekend and I'll be sure to head back during a bluebird to figure out what views I was missing
Definitely get back there on a clear day.
Didn't get around to posting photos from my trip there a couple of weeks ago, but will do so now so that you can see some of the scenery that you will encounter.
The snow depths seem remarkably similar to that found by my son and I when we were there. Certainly has not melted as would be expected this time of year. That is likely to change this week however.
Alan
Didn't get around to posting photos from my trip there a couple of weeks ago, but will do so now so that you can see some of the scenery that you will encounter.
The snow depths seem remarkably similar to that found by my son and I when we were there. Certainly has not melted as would be expected this time of year. That is likely to change this week however.
Alan
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