June 11, 2006, Chinook Pass, Pk 6567'

Brenda and I headed up to Chinook Pass yesterday in the hopes a dry day around Naches Pass. Weather the last few weekends have proved a bit challenging for us and we have yet to have a good day at Chinook this year. We arrived on the east side of the pass at around 9:30 to clear skies, warm temps and one other ski party that looked to be heading our direction. We quickly geared up and headed out toward the NE bowl of Naches Pk. Snow was firm but could have be a bit colder, lots of suncups on the flatter terrain. Our goal was the summit of Pk 6567 and a day skiing from the summit and enjoying the sun. We followed the ridge past NE bowl then crossed to the south side at the saddle where the PCT crosses down to Dewey Lake €“ this avoids some sidehilling on the north side €“then booted up the ridge to the summit.  Lots of folks up there. At one pt there must have been at least a dozen people at the summit. We did a run down the NW face then climbed back for a run down the back side. Snow on these steeper slopes is still fairly smooth, and coverage should be good for a couple more weeks or more. Upon returning to the summit we said good bye to the last of the crowd and had the summit to ourselves. A few minutes later the forecasted afternoon thunder showers started our way and we saw it was time to leave. Another run down the NW face, and a quick ski out got to the car, just in time to avoid most of the heavy rain.