December 17, 2006, Mount Catherine, Snoq. Pass

What a difference two weeks makes!  After a cold start about 8:20 from Hyak we quickly found ourselves at the bottom of the clearcut on Catherine's north side.  There was a bomber skin track that chose a few perhaps tad steepish lines but was definitely great to have, right to the top.  Thanks!  No wind on the summit, but I need to upgrade from REI long undies to something that wicks away sweat better.  The coverage was a lot better than two weeks ago, with really sweet turns down through the old growth on the sheltered north side.  There was a rain crust maybe 4-7 inches down, but it was more on an auditory annoyance than anything else.  You could hear it, but it didn't seem to trap or trip you.  Once again a semi-Nordic pass, semi retrace-your-uptrack descent brought us out to upper Mill creek-ville, but the improved coverage sped the exit, and by staying a little higher we avoided flatland.  We finished up Mt. Hyak and down it's front, where the snow was chopped by happy sliders but quite good.  A few pictures eventually at http://www.flickr.com/photos/koelle/  (among the recent mountain photos, the first are today, the later six are from two weeks ago).