April 19, 2007, Mt. Margaret (W slopes)

Had a great pre-work morning on Mt. Margaret. I parked at the road closure, though the road was very likely passable much farther in. Skinning was possible, but thready, from right about where the forest service road last leaves I-90. The snow took the form of dust (.5-3", increasing with elevation) on a variable crust  (solid from 3-4k and above ~5k, but not-so-scary dinnerplating cracks from 4-5k) in the morning, and softening with sunhit. The weather and views were nice enough to induce spontaneous yodels, though the clouds obscured large swaths of the view.
      The skiing proved educational and enjoyable for this backcountry newbie. I skied from ~20' below the true summit; there are some large drift/cornice structures that don't permit easy access to the mellow summit ridge. The snowmobile tracks appeared to be at least two days old, but a handful headed up as I headed down. Incidentally, there's a yard sale out there for random, largely broken, snowmobile parts, assorted brands of crushed beer cans, and sundry other tidbits. I scored myself a new, if slightly rusty, pair of channellock pliers, and I missed one of those nifty ratcheting tiedowns that I saw on the way up (it's not too far from the parking lot, on the I-90 side of the road) but didn't see on the way down. If you can identify the pliers, they're yours.

Sure beat a morning at work...