August 6, 2005, Sahale Glacier

Lara P., Eli R., and myself all came down with a serious case of turn fever last weekend. We'd read that, although the trek was long, the goods were REAL good! So, we headed toward Cascade Pass and beyond, with the Sahale Glacier as our destination. As I'm sure you all know, the scenery never gets old in that neck of the mountains, and we were not disappointed! We cleared Cascade Pass in just over 2 hours, and reached the snout of the glacier right at 4 hours. We then skinned/booted to the west ridge just below the summit block, and decided to begin reaping the cream corn. Man, was it yummy! The report we'd read from late July indicted that we'd need to take care around 'schrunds and crevasses. Being none that I could see as formidable, I surmise it must have snowed up there the last time it rained down here, early last week. What was left behind was about 3" thick on a bomber base, and we were able to slice through just over 1000' of vert; Eli even yo-yoed a few runs, and ended up with about 1500! As can be expected, the descent was grueling on the quads, but we all agreed that this area is perfect for a mostly mellow multi-day tour come mid-spring, even with a winter such as the one we just suffered through! So, the future is set for another visit to this great place for next year. Perhaps we'll have some company then...

Take a look:

http://spcmanspiff.users.poppinfresh.net/images/sahale_08062005/

Happy Tracks!!

PS: Thanks for the heads-up from last month, infamous!