May 5-6, WA Pass (not-Cutthroat, B-day tour)
5/15/07
WA Cascades East Slopes North
1202
0
As many folks as we saw in the parking lots this weekend, we were surprised to be largely alone for most of our two tours...
Saturday we drove up from Seattle and got an almost crack-o-noon start on a tour up toward Cutthroat Pass. Having never been there, we lost sight of the correct drainage once we were in the trees and ended up contouring way too far right into the small valley directly west of Cutthroat, instead of making our way into Porcupine Creek. The first few hundred feet of skiing was deep muck, but once the slope angle lowered a bit it was fast, wet corn. We took a short lap up the north-facing side of the valley and were rewarded with a nice coating of day-old powder on a firm base, before plunging into the side-slipping, tree-bombed luge run back to the road.
(We found a bag on the roadside with some "ten essentials" in it -- if 'twas yours, see the post in Random Tracks)
After a leisurely evening around the campfire, hitting rocks with sticks and chatting with Jonathan from Spokane, we got to the Blue Lake trailhead and started up around 9. We caught up with a group of three who'd had a big tour on Saturday around Black Peak and Maple Pass (hello! nice to meet ya!) and gained Blue Peak Col as the "Corn Bell" struck, right around 11. Fantastic smooth, fast corn all the way to valley -- perfect timing. The climb up to the exit col went quickly and we surfed through wet, grabby snow back to the hairpin, where our car shuttle and, ultimately, milkshakes at Good Food awaited.
Next week, St. Helens for my mother.
Saturday we drove up from Seattle and got an almost crack-o-noon start on a tour up toward Cutthroat Pass. Having never been there, we lost sight of the correct drainage once we were in the trees and ended up contouring way too far right into the small valley directly west of Cutthroat, instead of making our way into Porcupine Creek. The first few hundred feet of skiing was deep muck, but once the slope angle lowered a bit it was fast, wet corn. We took a short lap up the north-facing side of the valley and were rewarded with a nice coating of day-old powder on a firm base, before plunging into the side-slipping, tree-bombed luge run back to the road.
(We found a bag on the roadside with some "ten essentials" in it -- if 'twas yours, see the post in Random Tracks)
After a leisurely evening around the campfire, hitting rocks with sticks and chatting with Jonathan from Spokane, we got to the Blue Lake trailhead and started up around 9. We caught up with a group of three who'd had a big tour on Saturday around Black Peak and Maple Pass (hello! nice to meet ya!) and gained Blue Peak Col as the "Corn Bell" struck, right around 11. Fantastic smooth, fast corn all the way to valley -- perfect timing. The climb up to the exit col went quickly and we surfed through wet, grabby snow back to the hairpin, where our car shuttle and, ultimately, milkshakes at Good Food awaited.
Next week, St. Helens for my mother.
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