March 12, 2011, First Top (Olympics)

We decided that it'd be a fun weekend to check out Hurricane Ridge, so it was off to the Olympics. The road was closed when we arrived, so we made a lazy waddle up the Mt. Angeles trail, ultimately reaching what we thought might be First Top in time for late afternoon sunbeams to flicker on the nearby peaks. Thanks for the correspondence, GaryJan!

Snow - quite a bit of heavy powder. Bonds were good down low, becoming somewhat dubious higher up. Weak layers within a few inches of the surface and at least one down 2-3'. Wind slab at the ridgetop from moderately powerful winds out of the E/NE. Better stability than we'd anticipated from GaryJan's kindly forwarded stability report, but hardly bomber. Skiing was plenty fun for an exploratory trip, but not for a powder hound.

Trail skinnable from nearly the trailhead.  Intertidal pools and rainforest waterfalls are neat - can't do that at Snoqualmie.

Edit: Jason Hummel's photo presentation in Port Angeles was excellent! Steph Abegg is making a similar presentation in mid-April.