November 7, 2015, Hidden lake Lookout Skiing
11/7/15
WA Cascades East Slopes Central
2933
3
Ever get that feeling when your clambering up a snowy mountain in the dark and say to yourself..."what the hell am I doing out here?"
Well this past weekend was no exception. We had planned on leaving Bellingham Midday to spend the night in the hidden lake lookout. Our hopes of an empty lookout sank when we arrived at the trailhead at 3pm to find two other cars in the parking lot. After thirty minutes of vacillating we decided to give it a go. We trudged uphill in the pouring rain until we came across two groups making a retreat from the reportedly "waist deep snow". Our spirits were on the rise with thoughts of the deep snow and an empty lookout.
As the sun set we hit the first skinnable snow and booted up. By this point we were pretty soaked from the rain, but with the freezing level dropping we knew good things were ahead. As we made our way through the boulder fields, we found little honey holes filled to the brim with snow that we would be back for in the morning. With the wind howling in our faces we postholed up the final pitch to the hut wondering to ourselves "what the hell am I doing". Upon arriving we wasted little time getting dinner going and getting warm.
We were all pleasantly surprised to see the sun glaring through the hut in the morning and stepped outside to a bluebird sunrise. With a white playground surrounding us we scarfed down some breakfast and grabbed the skis. The coverage wasn't the best in the world, but it certainly sufficed for early November. Here's some pictures of the trip:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/110842198@N06/p07M1y
And here's some video:
https://vimeo.com/145275997
https://vimeo.com/145276052
Well this past weekend was no exception. We had planned on leaving Bellingham Midday to spend the night in the hidden lake lookout. Our hopes of an empty lookout sank when we arrived at the trailhead at 3pm to find two other cars in the parking lot. After thirty minutes of vacillating we decided to give it a go. We trudged uphill in the pouring rain until we came across two groups making a retreat from the reportedly "waist deep snow". Our spirits were on the rise with thoughts of the deep snow and an empty lookout.
As the sun set we hit the first skinnable snow and booted up. By this point we were pretty soaked from the rain, but with the freezing level dropping we knew good things were ahead. As we made our way through the boulder fields, we found little honey holes filled to the brim with snow that we would be back for in the morning. With the wind howling in our faces we postholed up the final pitch to the hut wondering to ourselves "what the hell am I doing". Upon arriving we wasted little time getting dinner going and getting warm.
We were all pleasantly surprised to see the sun glaring through the hut in the morning and stepped outside to a bluebird sunrise. With a white playground surrounding us we scarfed down some breakfast and grabbed the skis. The coverage wasn't the best in the world, but it certainly sufficed for early November. Here's some pictures of the trip:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/110842198@N06/p07M1y
And here's some video:
https://vimeo.com/145275997
https://vimeo.com/145276052
Wow, way to push through. Those photos look great.
Hidden Lakes is great -- how many core shots?
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave your skis and poles outside the lookout next time. The window panes are incredibly fragile and I've had to patch up several over the past several years to avoid winter damage to the lookout. This lookout gets way more use and abuse these days than it was ever designed for, so extra care and TLC is really needed.
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