June 9, Cannon Mountain Couloir

Kevin and I left the Leavenworth McDonalds en route for the Cannon Mountain Couloir with expectations of a good run and a good 'schwack on the way out.   We hiked from the Stuart Lake Trhd up the road to the slide (that thing is big) and went pretty much straight up the fall line from there with only a few jogs to the south.  We encountered snow patches at 5500 with continuous snow at 6500.  The couloir was decent corn, with the lower apron seemingly suffering from the same suncupping that it sounds like the Teanaway is getting.  Still fun though with a thawed 1 inch or so on a firm base.  We were able to ski/board down to ~5700 ft for a drop of a little over 2000 ft.  The hike out was quite the adventure.  Poor routefinding decisions and just enough of a shower to get everthing wet made for some interesting hiking.  Just imagine 12 foot high alder interspersed with cliffs and 12-inch logs suspended 4 feet off the ground and piled like pick-up-sticks.  While it wasn't this bad the whole way, there were times I didn't think it was possible to get through at all.  We had boards and skis on our backs as well.  Kevin even hiked the whole thing in his Garmonts.  Like I said, we definitely took the hard way.  Despite the hike out, it was still fulfilling to look up from Bridge Creek and admire our work.  I definitely plan on going back in March or April.