May 5, 6, 2005, Iron Peak

Based on the conditions last week on Little Navaho, I was guessing that the NE face of Iron Peak would still be skiable this week. You never would have guessed it hiking up the Beverly Creek trail however. Faith!    :)

Low clouds Thursday morning, and then light drizzle in the afternoon after I was set up in the tent and taking my usual nap.  It cleared off overnight and Friday was a great day for skiing.  I could put the skis on near the Fourth Creek trail junction, and had the best luck staying fairly close to the creek for a while. Got to the top at about 8:00 am, none too soon really. There were too many rocks showing just under the summit, so I chose a spot maybe 100 vf down the ridge which turned out to be excellent. My first ski check pushed off a slush slide that just seemed to keep going and going in slow motion, all the way to the bottom. It also created the largest sun wheel I have ever seen; the size of a tire on an eighteen-wheeler. The next ski check caused another sun wheel maybe even bigger that slowly crept down the hill until it had a wreck when it ran into a rocky outcrop.  :)

The ski down was great, and no slush slides behind me although I was expecting it. I think that the there will still be enough snow for this trip for another 3 or 4 days depending on the weather, but timing important. If the sun is out, I think the snow would probably slush out completely by ~9:00 in the morning.

Larry