April 10, 2005, Washington Pass (NCascades)

Four of us decided to help Lara celebrate her birthday with a tour of her own, a variation on Sally Portman's Birthday tour.  The ski up northwest facing slopes to Blue Lake Peak col was first on stiff crust, then some nice dust on crust, varying in depth depending on where the previous days' wind had placed it.  Full sun on the Early Winters Spires made for nice photos.  From the col we descended southeast, first finding powder on crust, then very nice corn lower down.  We ate lunch before skinning up toward the next col on the standard birthday tour, but considering the graying sky and likely dry ground at the  tour low point, turned left instead, crossed a northwest facing basin, and climbed to a higher col.  Again we descended nice powder over crust, then good corn, and finally soft crust and avalanche debris.  The last ten minutes were spent trying to avoid injury, dodging trees and exposed streambeds in the minimally snowcovered forest just before the hairpin turn on highway 20.  

Conditions were a pleasant surprise, thanks to the past few weeks' unexpected precipitation.  We also enjoyed seeing Tootsie Clark at the Eatery, called in by her daughter in law to work when things got busy.  Tootsie (89yr old lifetime resident of Marblemount)  finally got some well deserved publicity this year, when both Seattle TV and newspapers interviewed her about her annual interest in being the first person at the highway 20 spring reopening.