June 15, 2013, Silver Pk

Took my new splitboard out for a trip today to mine the quickly-melting snow. The road's brutal up to Windy Pass - far too many potholes to count and long stretches of washboard with the ever-present threat of rockfall in the usual places. Didn't try to get any further up the road from the PCT trailhead, walked a few hundred yards to what appeared to be continuous snow only to be let down a hundred yards further at the corner, after which cover was very thin but continuous. Due to our late start we opted to boot up the pitch into the main bowl as our skins stopped getting much purchase in the sun-softened afternoon snow and continued to boot to the ridge looker's right of the peak. The slopes down to Annette Lake are beyond done for the season and the lake's melted to the shores. We were able to pick our way back to the road we skinned in on with little trouble aside from dirty and slow snow and a few steps along a downed log to connect the patches.

The group camped up on the knoll in the bowl had the best plan for the weekend. Encountered a handful of others on our way in and even a pair of very late arriving splitboarders on the way out.

Obligatory summit pic: