June 18-19, 2011, Hoodoo and Raven Ridge

Susan's been trying to get to these two peaks all Spring, and I'd never been to the Chelan-Sawtooth wilderness, so off to the Methow it was!

Booted ~1-2 mi up from the easily-reached parking lot (4340 is washed out, but only on one end), then skinned to a camp on a flat below Hoodoo and Libby Lake. Skinned, then booted, to the top of Hoodoo as a snow squall kicked up. As became the trend for the entire trip, I couldn't swap leads with Susan on the bootpack because I couldn't catch her. Sloppy and thin turns off the top, a moment's traverse across talus, then more sloppy turns to camp. Sun came out again when we were at the bottom.

Clear night led to a clear morning. Skinned to Libby Lake, then booted up the largest couloir to the ridge. Soft wet snow made crampons unnecessary. Left the skis at the saddle and scurried across the talus to the true summit of Raven Ridge, where the clouds promptly socked in, but not before we stole a few good views. Back at the saddle, the sun came out again as we prepared to ski. Cautious ski-cutting cleaned out the top 6-8" of snow in the couloir as we leapfrogged down. Alas, we didn't quite hit the lake with the slide debris.

After easy turns back to camp, we packed up and followed the fallline to our uptrack. Staying a little farther south might have spared us a lot of thrashing in the woods. Heavy packs made the walk back downhill long, but the views, forest, and flowers helped.

It wasn't clear if skis made the trip more efficient or not (snowshoes and light packs/boots would make the total trip faster now), but while we were skiing in the sunshine, the choice was obvious.

Casualties: One set of toes, one boot heel.