June 6, 2012, PCT Catwalk
6/6/12
1536
0
Conditions Summary:
Avy conditions Considerable to High when the sun came out on the new snow above 4500 ft.
All avy slopes in Commonwealth Basin looked like they hand ran.
Four inches of new over soft corn at the Catwalk, trace of new in the valley bottom.
Catwalk mostly open, bring an ice axe.
Good snow arround 5k ft, suncups smoothed over. Lots of rough avy slopes, snow bridges melting out everywhere. Over half the cornices arround 5k ft have melted out and colapsed.
Trip Report:
Scott and I had originaly planned on Kendall Knobs and Red Mtn. Somehow though, I did not recognize the Kendall slope I watnted to ski from below.
After hiking the PCT most of the way accross Kendall we decided to take a look at the Catwalk. Very bumpy going. It was mostly clear w/ one section on the end that necessitated the use of a whippet (or shovel handle) to cross. I stomped a narrow ledge w/ my tele boots while using my whippet for ballance and to carve hand-holds for my other hand - all the while praying to the patron Saint of Fools that the soft corn would not give way.
Skiing the first gully after the Catwalk woudl have released all the new snow, so we traveresed just a little farther to the first ridge and skied it down ove a thousand feet to the valley bottom and off my map. This was fun, so we skinned up the same ridge but on the N side of it and skied it again.
This is where we decided to make a circumnavigation of the whole thing. It looked like we could stay high and traverse the slopes below the ring of cliffs. This worked on the N to NE flanks of Kendall, but we were forced down all to soon into Gold Cr - right upstream of the avy swath through the matrure trees. An hour of picking our way across pick-up-sticks covered in melting corn snow we were forced across Gold Cr where we stumbled across the Gold Cr Tr. The trail, of course, was progressively melted out, covered in debris and riddled w/ meltwater streams. Long walk out!
We dropped packs and Scott hicked a ride back to the car w/ a construction worker. He picked me up five minutes before I-90 was closed for blasting. We had the hwy to ourselves all the way to N Bend. Wierd.
Avy conditions Considerable to High when the sun came out on the new snow above 4500 ft.
All avy slopes in Commonwealth Basin looked like they hand ran.
Four inches of new over soft corn at the Catwalk, trace of new in the valley bottom.
Catwalk mostly open, bring an ice axe.
Good snow arround 5k ft, suncups smoothed over. Lots of rough avy slopes, snow bridges melting out everywhere. Over half the cornices arround 5k ft have melted out and colapsed.
Trip Report:
Scott and I had originaly planned on Kendall Knobs and Red Mtn. Somehow though, I did not recognize the Kendall slope I watnted to ski from below.
After hiking the PCT most of the way accross Kendall we decided to take a look at the Catwalk. Very bumpy going. It was mostly clear w/ one section on the end that necessitated the use of a whippet (or shovel handle) to cross. I stomped a narrow ledge w/ my tele boots while using my whippet for ballance and to carve hand-holds for my other hand - all the while praying to the patron Saint of Fools that the soft corn would not give way.
Skiing the first gully after the Catwalk woudl have released all the new snow, so we traveresed just a little farther to the first ridge and skied it down ove a thousand feet to the valley bottom and off my map. This was fun, so we skinned up the same ridge but on the N side of it and skied it again.
This is where we decided to make a circumnavigation of the whole thing. It looked like we could stay high and traverse the slopes below the ring of cliffs. This worked on the N to NE flanks of Kendall, but we were forced down all to soon into Gold Cr - right upstream of the avy swath through the matrure trees. An hour of picking our way across pick-up-sticks covered in melting corn snow we were forced across Gold Cr where we stumbled across the Gold Cr Tr. The trail, of course, was progressively melted out, covered in debris and riddled w/ meltwater streams. Long walk out!
We dropped packs and Scott hicked a ride back to the car w/ a construction worker. He picked me up five minutes before I-90 was closed for blasting. We had the hwy to ourselves all the way to N Bend. Wierd.
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