June 26-27, Liberty Bell and Black Peak

Spent last weekend in the N. Cascades.  Drove up Saturday afternoon and decided to get a lap in on the West side of Liberty Bell, down one of the chutes below Blue Lake.  Snow all the way from the parking lot still but the bottom of the avy swath is melting out and lots of little trees and stumps are sticking up making for some interesting skiing.  Snow in the trees is getting thin in places too.  Maybe another week or two before booting will be necessary.  Climbed up the chute that takes you to the middle of Liberty Bell where we enjoyed the views to the East before skiing back down.  Perfect corn conditions.  Full set of pics here: 

http://s114.photobucket.com/albums/n268/willhbaker/2011_06_25-26%20Liberty%20Bell%20and%20Black%20Peak/?start=all







After that we overnighted at Klipchuck CG then it was up with the birds and back to Rainy Pass to bag Black Peak.  We wondered who's tracks we were following and a little sleuthing around here revealed the answers.  I'd especially like to thank Jason Hummel and Juya for the steps they kicked into the very steep snow on the summit of Black.  Made our work much easier.

Snow was frozen solid when we arrived but by the time we got to Lake Ann there was a thin layer of soft stuff on top of the hard stuff underneath, making the traverse above the lake nearly impossible on skis without crampons so we booted from the point where you leave the solid tree cover to Heather Pass.

Beautiful snow everywhere else on the trip though a bit sun-cupped and heavily runneled from Heather Pass to Lewis Lake and also down to Lake Ann.  Crossing above the cliffs between Heather Pass and Lewis Lake was a bit disconcerting.  Above Lewis Lake the snow just got better and better as we went up.  I carried my skis up as far as it was possible to ski on Black.  You can't ski from the summit, but can get pretty close.  By the time we got back down to the ridgeline above Wing Lake the snow there had been in shadow for awhile and had started to re-freeze.  This took Chris by surprise when he dropped in as it was so smooth everywhere else but wasn't a big deal.  Back to beautiful corn again just a bit lower down.

On the way back we skied down to Lake Ann then followed the outlet  until the slope dropped off, then cut left and rejoined the trail again. 

Beautiful bluebird conditions all day though high clouds started rolling in by evening.  We were really surprised there was no one else up there on such a beautiful weekend day.  Saw one set of fresh snowshoe tracks down at Lake Ann but that was it.  Kind of expected to see other climbers or skiers in the area given the great conditions on a weekend.

Solid snow coverage everywhere it mattered.  I've never seen so much snow at the higher elevations this late in the year.  This route will be doable from the parking lot for quite some time.

Here is a link to some unedited video of me skiing from near the summit.  This is still converting as I type so may not be viewable for another half hour or so from the time of this post. 

http://vimeo.com/25754602

Here is video of Chris making some sweet turns just above Lewis Lake.  Again, this may not be viewable for up to an hour after I post this:

http://vimeo.com/25754909







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ETA:  I used the thumbnail button to add pictures from my Photobucket album but they're not showing up, just blank space where the code is.  I copied the direct links into the appropriate places in the code, per the instructions.  I used the thumbnail feature because  the pictures are larger than 800 pixel width.  Can someone clue me in on what the problem might be?