May 13.Sally Portmans Birthday Tour, NCP
5/15/06
WA Cascades East Slopes North
3664
4
JibberD and I braved Friday night traffic out of Seattle and drove up to the Blue Lake TH. As previously reported the TH carpark has not been plowed but there is sufficient space at the entrance for about 4 vans/cars. There was already one pair there, sitting in their mini-van drinking a glasss of wine and listening to Jazz. Very civilized. Jibber set his one-man tent in the woods and I bivvied in the back of the truck bed. Very cold night, absolutely clear with a full moon. Spectacular.
By next morning about 6 different groups had arrived . JibberD and I probably where one of the last groups to leave. Skinned up to the col and changed into crampons for the climb to the cornice.
Excellent bootpack and no real need for crampons but it felt good with them on.
The ski down Madison Ave was super. Not perefect corn, but good enough ;D. By the time we reached the valley the snow at the base was very wet. At this point , having done the tour two years ago, I remembered that the tour went to the left up to a narrow col. However, JibberD had plotted the waypoints from a previous trip report into his GPS. There where a set of tracks leading up to a nearby col that although did not look familar to me, was according to Jibber's GPS the col we needed. There was also another skier ahead of us so despite me saying" this ins'nt the way I went last time", we followed that skier to the col. It was not the correct col ??? so we skied back down and followed another track to the correct col. The skiing to the second col is steep and we both put on ski crampons.
From the second col, some other skiers left just as we arrived. Some chose to carry their skis down the initial 10' of steep ground from the col. Jibber and I skied up and set off on perfect corn down to the hairpin. The skiing through the widely spaced larches in the middle section was just sublime ;D
Got a lift from a very nice couple back up to my car and drove down and picked up Jibber.
Time for the tour was 5hrs 10 mins, including the detour to the wrong col and Jibber being as he puts it, " in low batttery mode" due to recent easy living!
Fantastic tour, heartstopping scenery. One of my favorites. Jibber has pics and will post them.
By next morning about 6 different groups had arrived . JibberD and I probably where one of the last groups to leave. Skinned up to the col and changed into crampons for the climb to the cornice.
Excellent bootpack and no real need for crampons but it felt good with them on.
The ski down Madison Ave was super. Not perefect corn, but good enough ;D. By the time we reached the valley the snow at the base was very wet. At this point , having done the tour two years ago, I remembered that the tour went to the left up to a narrow col. However, JibberD had plotted the waypoints from a previous trip report into his GPS. There where a set of tracks leading up to a nearby col that although did not look familar to me, was according to Jibber's GPS the col we needed. There was also another skier ahead of us so despite me saying" this ins'nt the way I went last time", we followed that skier to the col. It was not the correct col ??? so we skied back down and followed another track to the correct col. The skiing to the second col is steep and we both put on ski crampons.
From the second col, some other skiers left just as we arrived. Some chose to carry their skis down the initial 10' of steep ground from the col. Jibber and I skied up and set off on perfect corn down to the hairpin. The skiing through the widely spaced larches in the middle section was just sublime ;D
Got a lift from a very nice couple back up to my car and drove down and picked up Jibber.
Time for the tour was 5hrs 10 mins, including the detour to the wrong col and Jibber being as he puts it, " in low batttery mode" due to recent easy living!
Fantastic tour, heartstopping scenery. One of my favorites. Jibber has pics and will post them.
author=Scotsman link=topic=4722.msg20041#msg20041 date=1147624818">
Jibber has pics and will post them.
This sounds like a threat Chris and because I fear the wrath of the barbaric Scots, I shall post the following:
Looking south from the top of COL1:
Madison Avenue with yo-yo skiers in foreground and distant background nearing top of COL1:
This is a beautiful tour. The two col climbs are steep, but nothing even a softy like this jibber couldn't handle, "one step at a time."
Thanks for heading this one up Chris.
More_Pics_Here
Three of us did the Birthday tour on Sunday May 15. We skinned southwest over "Col 1", which opens up into the North Fork Twisp drainage. Topo! labels this Copper Pass. We contoured counterclockwise around what I believe is Copper Mountain, then put on skins to further ascend the valley, popping out above the hairpin turn at what I think has been called Kangaroo Pass. This added perhaps 1 1/2 hours to the tour and some much appreciated solitude. We didn't see anyone else back there, and saw only a few very weathered tracks.
So Clem, was your route over Copper Pass planned or a case of, as Scotsman puts it, "the blind leading the blind?"
We erred over there following the obvious skin track, then realized it was incorrect (for the B-day Tour) and cut back to COL2 by going up the valley.
I'm still very much learning the ropes of my Garmin E-trex Vista and often find that it will seem to point in most every direction at some point when using the "Go To Waypoint" function. Any tips out there for me on dialing this device in? (first person to say "map and compass" gets my wanker of the day award). Not talking about that here...I get it there, just trying to learn something new ;)
Did you notice the massive temperature gradient near the bottom of Madison Avenue. It went from cold firm-ish corn to slush in a matter of 50 vf. or so it seemed to me. It was downright balmy in the basin.
We erred over there following the obvious skin track, then realized it was incorrect (for the B-day Tour) and cut back to COL2 by going up the valley.
I'm still very much learning the ropes of my Garmin E-trex Vista and often find that it will seem to point in most every direction at some point when using the "Go To Waypoint" function. Any tips out there for me on dialing this device in? (first person to say "map and compass" gets my wanker of the day award). Not talking about that here...I get it there, just trying to learn something new ;)
Did you notice the massive temperature gradient near the bottom of Madison Avenue. It went from cold firm-ish corn to slush in a matter of 50 vf. or so it seemed to me. It was downright balmy in the basin.
We were there on Sunday the 14th. at the bottom of Madison Ave at about 10:30. Nice corn snow the entire way, and no remarkable temperature differential that day.
Our route was intentional. I read an old TAY trip report, can't remember who posted it, or when, but he described the birthday tour in reverse, and included the extra loop around Copper Mt. I liked the addition - extra mileage, solitude, and new views. We contoured around Copper Mt. with a minimum of altitude loss, and skinned perhaps 1,250 feet up to what I'm calling Kangaroo Pass (not sure if this is the correct name).
Our route was intentional. I read an old TAY trip report, can't remember who posted it, or when, but he described the birthday tour in reverse, and included the extra loop around Copper Mt. I liked the addition - extra mileage, solitude, and new views. We contoured around Copper Mt. with a minimum of altitude loss, and skinned perhaps 1,250 feet up to what I'm calling Kangaroo Pass (not sure if this is the correct name).
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