May 26, 2018, - Silver Peak
5/26/18
WA Snoqualmie Pass
1958
1
So it begins.
While everyone else is off bushwhacking to the snowline on Glacier Peak, I decided to go for a much lower-hanging objective. The road is passable, with reasonable clearance and decent tires, to within a hundred feet of the Mt. Catherine TH but it will be split into discontinuous patches likely after today. The Xmas tree farm / swamp has less cover than in most years when the road is still impassable to Windy Pass, but the general rule of thumb remains the same: go as far left as possible. Even with that in mind, I found myself bashing between young growth trees and contemplating my sanity. The route from the old road to the snowfield below the north bowls is continuous save for 5' which I didn't feel the need to carry for. Once into the more open terrain coverage is good with a marked increase in snowdepth above 4000'. I kept the skins on (with the help of some ski straps) to the ridgeline where I rendezvoused with the friends I had been tailing the whole way up. They had skied a lap down towards Annette Lake, didn't get too far and informed me it wasn't worth the effort. So instead we lapped the headwall of the north bowl a few times before heading down the waterfall chute, which is increasingly narrow and will likely be discontinuous by the time the road melts to WP. They chose the standard exit route back left along the old road and down the way they came up. I followed the creek drainage on its left side to the PCT and then strolled out. Neither seemed much faster than the other but as a sideways slider I enjoyed that little gully run more than the traversing & flat route out thru the tree farm.
I'll probably wait at least another week before heading back up. Being able to leave a car at the PCT crossing (or further up) markedly simplifies the approach and I don't mind the descent thru the north bowls back to the road network, either. That always seems to be a less brushy affair, but typically requires a carry thru the same tree band as it does on the way up.
Happy skiing!
While everyone else is off bushwhacking to the snowline on Glacier Peak, I decided to go for a much lower-hanging objective. The road is passable, with reasonable clearance and decent tires, to within a hundred feet of the Mt. Catherine TH but it will be split into discontinuous patches likely after today. The Xmas tree farm / swamp has less cover than in most years when the road is still impassable to Windy Pass, but the general rule of thumb remains the same: go as far left as possible. Even with that in mind, I found myself bashing between young growth trees and contemplating my sanity. The route from the old road to the snowfield below the north bowls is continuous save for 5' which I didn't feel the need to carry for. Once into the more open terrain coverage is good with a marked increase in snowdepth above 4000'. I kept the skins on (with the help of some ski straps) to the ridgeline where I rendezvoused with the friends I had been tailing the whole way up. They had skied a lap down towards Annette Lake, didn't get too far and informed me it wasn't worth the effort. So instead we lapped the headwall of the north bowl a few times before heading down the waterfall chute, which is increasingly narrow and will likely be discontinuous by the time the road melts to WP. They chose the standard exit route back left along the old road and down the way they came up. I followed the creek drainage on its left side to the PCT and then strolled out. Neither seemed much faster than the other but as a sideways slider I enjoyed that little gully run more than the traversing & flat route out thru the tree farm.
I'll probably wait at least another week before heading back up. Being able to leave a car at the PCT crossing (or further up) markedly simplifies the approach and I don't mind the descent thru the north bowls back to the road network, either. That always seems to be a less brushy affair, but typically requires a carry thru the same tree band as it does on the way up.
Happy skiing!
A great trip report of the climb and the descent. ;)
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