Home > Trip Reports > May 2, 2015, Sarvant Glacier, MRNP

May 2, 2015, Sarvant Glacier, MRNP

5/2/15
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4773
9
Posted by Kenji on 5/4/15 5:49am
David and I made a beeline to Sarvant Glacier right after the WR gate opening though we were not sure about tour-ability of the route given the low snow pack this year, while Sally was unsure about the whole plan...  Approached form Tamaos side, which is too late for much continuous skiing.  The trail is now bare all the way to Owyhigh Lakes.  Btw, it is a nice hike in Summer giving you a different vantage point of Rainier from the Tamanos ridge.  To maximize our chance, we took the most direct route to the glacier over the ridge down to the moraine below, then up on itself.  Gorgeous view of L.Tahoma and Rainier summit form the saddle, and scenic alpine valley.  Skiing was great on soft corn on the glacier, then sugary slush down to the lake.  A long, but pleasant hike out ended the day.  The timing wasn't ideal, but we had a enjoyable day in an isolated glacier valley, didn't see anybody.



Banshee Peak and its droppings:










Governors Ridge:


More pics here.
Melting fast. Lakes were covered two weeks ago.


NICE photos!!!!!!!!

We did this tour last year in June.  You actually got a couple of nice photos of our tracks:

http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=31882.msg134056#msg134056

So much more snow last year a full month later.  We skinned right over the lakes.  Wow.

Thanks for doing the TR Kenji!
What a perfect day! It is amazing how good the skiing is a full month before it usually gets like this. What a lovely place!

David

Excellent photos! 
So many places to ski before the loooong summer break...

Still a lot of snow to ski, albeit above 5000'...  Here is Goat Rocks looking good:

thoughtfully & thoroughly enjoyable foto sequence, thanks

I did a loop today up to Summerland (almost completely bare highway trail until it gets into the open in the basin), Panhandle Gap, then over to Sarvant Glacier and Owhyhigh Lakes. Snow was a bit sticky and the new layer was a bit slidey on steep aspects, but overall pretty good (much more consolidated than Cascade Pass last weekend). Snow is still mostly continuous from the Tamanos/Cowlitz Chimneys ridge down to the pass just up the trail from Owyhigh Lakes (I think I had your old skin/descent tracks from last Saturday to follow for easy route-finding. Your tracks had been erased on the Sarvant Glacier though).

The trail to Owyhigh Lakes is definitely not bare though. There is still patchy snow the last mile. Wasn't the cruise in running shoes I was anticipating :P.

Didn't see a soul the whole day.

Reply to this TR

12591
may-2-2015-sarvant-glacier-mrnp
Kenji
2015-05-04 12:49:28