Sasse Ridge, Dec 5-6, 2006
12/15/06
3353
6
Very pleasant ski camping weather this week. Warm in the afternoon above the fog, with a low of 26 degrees at night.
The stars were out when I started out from the tent at 6:00 am on Wed making the ski in the dark most delightful. The snow has settled a lot since last week, so the climbing was much easier. Going down was another matter however. Except for a few turns below my high point of ~5500 feet, the snow was USBM. (Un - skiable by me). :D
There was a modest sun crust most everywhere with light snow underneath. Nothing that a little new snow would not fix however! The pic below is from near the top of the ridge showing the first sun on the Cascade Crest.
Larry
The stars were out when I started out from the tent at 6:00 am on Wed making the ski in the dark most delightful. The snow has settled a lot since last week, so the climbing was much easier. Going down was another matter however. Except for a few turns below my high point of ~5500 feet, the snow was USBM. (Un - skiable by me). :D
There was a modest sun crust most everywhere with light snow underneath. Nothing that a little new snow would not fix however! The pic below is from near the top of the ridge showing the first sun on the Cascade Crest.
Larry
Nice pic, Larry. So it sounds like the cover is getting decent out east - true?
I've heard a rumor that the standard approach to Hex (i.e. by the Newport Creek sno-park) now has a new housing development (either done or being built) - do you happen to know what's up there, and whether there's still reasonable access to that route? The optimist in me in fact wondered if you can now drive a plowed road up to near where the trail gets onto the ridge, with parking nearby and everything. The pessimist wonders if I've done my last tour on that particular route...
I've heard a rumor that the standard approach to Hex (i.e. by the Newport Creek sno-park) now has a new housing development (either done or being built) - do you happen to know what's up there, and whether there's still reasonable access to that route? The optimist in me in fact wondered if you can now drive a plowed road up to near where the trail gets onto the ridge, with parking nearby and everything. The pessimist wonders if I've done my last tour on that particular route...
Hi Jim,
John Morrow would be the best one to answer the question about Hex. I know he was very disappointed in what has happened there. John?
Glad you liked the pic. It was one of several sets I took while climbing up to stitch as panoramas. After stitching the tiff file is ~50 mb! (Some 360's I do are up to 150 mb - my excuse to build a new computer for Christmas. :)
Here's a link to a low res version - a lot of jpg artifact. Even so you should be able to pick out a lot of detail along the crest. Horizontal field of view is 180 deg, Vertical field of view is about 50 deg.
http://web3.foxinternet.net/lrobinson/pics/DawnSasse06.jpg
Larry
John Morrow would be the best one to answer the question about Hex. I know he was very disappointed in what has happened there. John?
Glad you liked the pic. It was one of several sets I took while climbing up to stitch as panoramas. After stitching the tiff file is ~50 mb! (Some 360's I do are up to 150 mb - my excuse to build a new computer for Christmas. :)
Here's a link to a low res version - a lot of jpg artifact. Even so you should be able to pick out a lot of detail along the crest. Horizontal field of view is 180 deg, Vertical field of view is about 50 deg.
http://web3.foxinternet.net/lrobinson/pics/DawnSasse06.jpg
Larry
Thanks, Larry. I'll PM John in case he doesn't spot this posting. I was bummed enough to see one of my favorite old growth glades on Hex turn to slash pile in the late '90s (though admittedly the skiers right of that slope is still pretty fun, though uglier)...
Oh well, I guess we were lucky that the owners didn't decide to do more sooner up there.
Oh well, I guess we were lucky that the owners didn't decide to do more sooner up there.
I drove past the Hex trailhead a week and a half ago (meaning the spot just past where Newport creek crosses route 903). There is development in the area, the "Bell Creek" development lies a little past the Hex trailhead. At this point I don't think that development encroaches on the ski route. The 3 acre "homesites" in "Bell Creek" run about $350,000 -- if these get snapped up -- Hex could become "suburban skiing"
Thanks for the pic Larry -- I figured that you probably would have some good above-the-cloud views given your local explorations and the weather patterns of the area!
Here is my first time above the clouds in the cooper river valley - you'll recognise the same peaks and lighting -
http://www.catdaddy.com/people/kevin/images/01_11_Cooper/CooperValleyPan.JPG
Regarding the new subdivisions - it is certianly a shock to see sprawl so close to the wilderness - one can only hope that the owners are community-minded and allow public access on the roads...
I did find one access point to Sasse that has some nice lines, and involves neither clearcuts, roads, or subdivisions! Bushwhacking is kept to a minimum as it is an open rocky-ponderosa type setting. Check out 'Dry Creek Gulch' on the map. Of course there was no snow there exactly 2 years ago this date!
http://www.catdaddy.com/people/kevin/images/04_12_SasseElum/elements.jpg
Here is my first time above the clouds in the cooper river valley - you'll recognise the same peaks and lighting -
http://www.catdaddy.com/people/kevin/images/01_11_Cooper/CooperValleyPan.JPG
Regarding the new subdivisions - it is certianly a shock to see sprawl so close to the wilderness - one can only hope that the owners are community-minded and allow public access on the roads...
I did find one access point to Sasse that has some nice lines, and involves neither clearcuts, roads, or subdivisions! Bushwhacking is kept to a minimum as it is an open rocky-ponderosa type setting. Check out 'Dry Creek Gulch' on the map. Of course there was no snow there exactly 2 years ago this date!
http://www.catdaddy.com/people/kevin/images/04_12_SasseElum/elements.jpg
Good grief! Those are spectacular photographs.
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