Home > Trip Reports > Birthday Tour Washington Pass April 28, 2007

Birthday Tour Washington Pass April 28, 2007

4/15/07
WA Cascades East Slopes North
3135
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Posted by cochise on 4/28/07 3:12pm
Hey all, Today Patti, Jerry, and I decided to head up North for some fun in the sun on the east side. When we arrived at the Blue Lake trailhead the parking was at a premium. We had to dig a bit of the shoulder away to fit Jerry's Subby in off the road. Then on with the skins and off with the jackets and extra insulation. The sun was out and it was quite warm. The skin up was nice and the snow was great. Nice conditions for the boot up and  over the cornice in the col. To our left there were three guys coming down S.Early Winter Spire and it looked like a fun climb! Way to go! Your pictures I took are in the photo gallery follow the link.

We pulled our skins and got ready to make tracks. The snow was pretty good for about 1200 ft and then we struck it rich....Gwanch!! Not just any gwanch I mean nice thick soupy take one turn and start a river  flowin' gwanch! A couple of skiers were headed back up and said it only got worse down towards the valley floor. Since it is Patti's B-day we really wanted to complete the tour so we pushed on. With some good slope management we continued up the other side of the valley and made it up to Copper Pass. The snow got much better on the last slope up to the pass. Nice corn.

The other side of Copper pass yielded some nice turns and firm snow. Bumped into another party who had skied and boarded straight down the chute and down the valley away from the road and they said it was the best snow they encountered on the tour. We decided to head out to the road instead as it was getting a little late. The tour was great the weather was superb.

What a gift to have the mountains we do. What a gift to be able to enjoy them as we do. Take care my friends, Jay.

http://climbingjay.smugmug.com/gallery/2775183#147756219  The Pics ;D
Excellent!  Did you drive up from Seattle?  If so, how long did it take you to get there?  (I want to head up there next weekend!)

We left from Seattle at about 630 am stopped in Darrington for gas,and were at the Blue Lake Trailhead at about 10am. That's at the speed limit and getting caught behind the slow folks too. We were out and on the road again at about 4-430pm. Home by 730pm. Kind of a long trip for the one tour but that was the only day we had. If you can spend the weekend you won't run out of tours to do. I'm going to try to head up next Friday for Hidden Lakes and then? ;D Have a good time and get an earlier start then we did. Snow warms quickly. Jay

Awesome!  Thanks.

Absolutly beautiful, I can't wait to make it up there in the next week or two!

author=cochise link=topic=6960.msg27940#msg27940 date=1177827135]To our left there were three guys coming down S.Early Winter Spire and it looked like a fun climb!


The couloir looks ripe for some yo-yoing!  :D

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birthday-tour-washington-pass-april-28-2007
cochise
2007-04-28 22:12:15