June 17, 2006, Wy'East Face, Mt. Hood

Nice day on Hood yesterday.  Plan was to hike up the Wy'East Face and descend down into Heather Canyon.  However, by the time I began hiking up the face itself (10:30) the snow was too soft and I was post-holing up to my knees.  Wimped out and opted to call it quits about 1/2 way up.  Usually, I'll climb just about straight up from the ridge at the base of the face, passing between two large rocks on my way to the skyline ridge in the photo below.  Yesterday I ended up stopping at the top of one of those rocks (the left one) and descended from there.  Nice view to the south.  Perfect corn harvest on the lower half of Wy'East.  Increasing dirt and rocks in Superbowl but still very good skiing.  Saw a few people skiing the upper slopes of Heather Canyon.  Snow was a bit stickier in comparison to higher up but seemed like good conditions for the time of year.  Was able to get back to Mt. Hood Meadows ski area via a high traverse from Heather Canyon and then ski back to parking lot.

View of Wy'East Face from Mt. Hood Meadows Parking Lot:


View south from upper Wy'East: