July 1-4, 2006, The Return of Kids in Summerland
7/1/06
1907
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Originally planned for Memorial Day, which worked so well last year, this had to wait until the weather aligned with time off. Fortunately the snow pack worked out about the same as we had last year.
Continuous snow doesn't start until well after you cross Frying Pan creek and it melted way up hill in the four days we were there. You can expect sneakers/boots pretty much all the way to Summerland now. The camp sites are about half melted out and we got to choose a dry one.
We managed to score Heidi a pair of skis a few weeks back, and she got to use my kicker skins, so we now all have "official" backcountry gear. Gone are the days of spindly x-c skis, floppy slipper-boots, and duct-taped skin trimmings for kickers. The kids can now ski with packs just fine, but gone also is the light weight. The four miles carrying skis is a lot to ask of a family, especially since Brett's a 75 pounder and you can't just throw 10-15 pounds of skis, boots, skins, & poles onto his pack without him noticing. I got to pick up a lot of the slack, giving me extra excuses to "look for owls"(imagine the best position from which to examine the forest canopy for wildlife¦) during breaks on the way in. We made good time and spent the first evening soaking in the scenery and wondering why there was only one other party in camp.
Sunday was again glorious. It was our rest day, so Brett took shovel & dug a fort and made us a frisbee golf course while Debbie, Heidi, and I went out for a quick lap on Meany Crest to test out Heidi's new gear. It works. The snow is quite sun-cupped, especially on the shallower aspects, which drove us fairly high up the crest to visit with a nanny & her kid. Lots of good turns to be had just a few minutes from camp. I think there was a total of four groups overnight Sunday, including skiers Tony, Betsy, Robin, and the rest of their six. Nice to meet you guys!
Monday broke somewhat cloudy. We got an early start for the Frying Pan glacier & Whitman Crest. We climbed via the bowl to the east of Meany crest. The east side of the bowl is hidden from view until late in the approach, but don't get scared off by the rest of the bowl since the east side provides easy access to the ridge. Tony & Betsy's group chased us up the bowl on their quick tour back through Panhandle Gap to Summerland before they headed out. From the ridge, we had just a couple of very short carries across rocks/talus to get to the Frying Pan. By now the weather had cleared up, save for the cap on Rainier and cumulus to the east. Goats were everywhere. Soon enough we were on Whitman Crest, eating lunch & watching climbers descend Little Tahoma. The ski down was nice, if a little on the soft side on the flatter part of the Frying Pan. We had the whole place to ourselves. Brett had fun showing us his Body Miller technique on the first pitch down from the crest. It's nice to see such a rock-solid parallel skills in his freeheel quiver. We retraced our approached on the way out, stopping to soak in more views, take pictures, and chat with the goats.
Monday night we were the sole party in camp. A nasty wind/thunderstorm came through in the wee hours, but Tuesday again brought sunshine. We packed up and headed out, being only able to ski a short ways before booting down the gully just west of the trail switchbacks since our snow out in the open had gotten way too patchy, the stream crossing probably would have been significant, and bush skiing just isn't that fun. Sneakers on, back to the car, and on to Greenwater for ice cream.
Two year's running we've visited in amazing weather and had the place to ourselves. Maybe next year, we'll go for the Russell, Adams, or somewhere trendy. ;)
-Dave R
Continuous snow doesn't start until well after you cross Frying Pan creek and it melted way up hill in the four days we were there. You can expect sneakers/boots pretty much all the way to Summerland now. The camp sites are about half melted out and we got to choose a dry one.
We managed to score Heidi a pair of skis a few weeks back, and she got to use my kicker skins, so we now all have "official" backcountry gear. Gone are the days of spindly x-c skis, floppy slipper-boots, and duct-taped skin trimmings for kickers. The kids can now ski with packs just fine, but gone also is the light weight. The four miles carrying skis is a lot to ask of a family, especially since Brett's a 75 pounder and you can't just throw 10-15 pounds of skis, boots, skins, & poles onto his pack without him noticing. I got to pick up a lot of the slack, giving me extra excuses to "look for owls"(imagine the best position from which to examine the forest canopy for wildlife¦) during breaks on the way in. We made good time and spent the first evening soaking in the scenery and wondering why there was only one other party in camp.
Sunday was again glorious. It was our rest day, so Brett took shovel & dug a fort and made us a frisbee golf course while Debbie, Heidi, and I went out for a quick lap on Meany Crest to test out Heidi's new gear. It works. The snow is quite sun-cupped, especially on the shallower aspects, which drove us fairly high up the crest to visit with a nanny & her kid. Lots of good turns to be had just a few minutes from camp. I think there was a total of four groups overnight Sunday, including skiers Tony, Betsy, Robin, and the rest of their six. Nice to meet you guys!
Monday broke somewhat cloudy. We got an early start for the Frying Pan glacier & Whitman Crest. We climbed via the bowl to the east of Meany crest. The east side of the bowl is hidden from view until late in the approach, but don't get scared off by the rest of the bowl since the east side provides easy access to the ridge. Tony & Betsy's group chased us up the bowl on their quick tour back through Panhandle Gap to Summerland before they headed out. From the ridge, we had just a couple of very short carries across rocks/talus to get to the Frying Pan. By now the weather had cleared up, save for the cap on Rainier and cumulus to the east. Goats were everywhere. Soon enough we were on Whitman Crest, eating lunch & watching climbers descend Little Tahoma. The ski down was nice, if a little on the soft side on the flatter part of the Frying Pan. We had the whole place to ourselves. Brett had fun showing us his Body Miller technique on the first pitch down from the crest. It's nice to see such a rock-solid parallel skills in his freeheel quiver. We retraced our approached on the way out, stopping to soak in more views, take pictures, and chat with the goats.
Monday night we were the sole party in camp. A nasty wind/thunderstorm came through in the wee hours, but Tuesday again brought sunshine. We packed up and headed out, being only able to ski a short ways before booting down the gully just west of the trail switchbacks since our snow out in the open had gotten way too patchy, the stream crossing probably would have been significant, and bush skiing just isn't that fun. Sneakers on, back to the car, and on to Greenwater for ice cream.
Two year's running we've visited in amazing weather and had the place to ourselves. Maybe next year, we'll go for the Russell, Adams, or somewhere trendy. ;)
-Dave R
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