December 18, 2011, Herman Saddle and Mazama Dome

    At about 8 AM me, Luke and the dogs Davey and Whisper left Bellingham in hopes of finding some great lines. We headed for the Mt. Baker ski area and the back country surrounding. Once again our destination was Mazama Bowl, but would let our snow analysis be the final decider in what directional facing aspect we would set our sites on. As we hiked out we noticed that the snow was very soft and wet with a thin crust over everything. There was some wind loading up to a foot or more on north facing lee slopes. We hiked up to the ridge of Mazama Bowl and when we got up there, there was zero visibility, so we decided to have lunch and see if we could get a clearing. The weather forecast was calling for clearing in the afternoon, and as we hiked up great views were coming in and out of existence. We ate a minute and looked back and the whole bowl was wide open. The top was wind loaded and soft, but as we looked down below we noticed a lot of wind scoured terrain and not looking forward to the hike back out because I have been fighting a cold, we decided to ride back down towards the Saddle and traverse out skiers right. The fog never lifted at this point and on the decent down  Table it was a blinding trip of vertigo, until we reached the trees  and they gave us some perspective. It was a great day out though, the snow was soft ( but heavy with a little crust), and I had a great time and the dogs couldn't of been happier.