April 23, 2006- Hidden Lake Peak (N. Cascades)

    Well, Jerry was "The Man" and organized a superb tour to a beautiful spot. A huge posse (Jerry, Jay, Ethan, Chris, Chuck, Stephanie, Lara, Alex, and myself) met at the Lynwood PnR and headed up via Darrington and then FS roads until significant snow forced us to park. 1.5 -2 miles of skinning up the road lead us to the summer trailhead, over a few wet slides that look only a day old. The trip from there headed up a narrow valley, with huge cirques all around; there were some large slides on all sunny aspects, including one (6 ft crown??) that was down to dirt. We skirted up the side of the valley and avoided sketchy slopes. There was then a nasty section in the trees, skiing up icy pine needles. After this point, the cadiomutants (Jay, Jerry and Chuck) did what they do best and scooted up towards the summit.
    The conditions were perfect- cloudless, bright sunshine, and just enough wind to keep things comfortable. After ~ 4800 ft of skinning, the summit finally was ours- and the view was nothing short of staggering- it is truly an amazing spot. Jerry, Jay and Chuck then did a lap off the backside into the valley, and just kept going, going, and going- they were clearly loving it!  After they skinned back up, we all took off. The first 1000 feet of skiing was sublime- cold windbuff with occasional patches of softer fluff. The sight of nine sets of perfect tracks (along with some doggie prints from Cosmos) was pretty stunning! Lower, the snow had softened quite a bit and was pretty grabby, but the sun and company made it fun all the same; some mellow XC touring and then dirt skiing (for some) or hiking (most) we arrived back at the cars around 4pm. The posse then reconnected at the Mexican place in Arlington for some excellent eats. All in all, a near perfect tour!

Pictures are c/o Chris- thanks!

also- link to Lara's pics-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laraskis/sets/72057594117061723/?batch_done=1