May 6 and7 (oops),2007, Grand Park MRNP

I went solo for a ski  into MRNP€™s Grand Park via Lake Eleanor from FS road 73 off of Hwy 410 6 miles past Greenwater.  The road is open to 8 miles from 410, where nearly continuous snow takes you on skis about 1 to 1-1/2 mi to the TH.  to the hairpin turn at Eleanor Cr and the informal trailhead. There are a couple of rockslides not quite cleared, blowdown cut to single car width, and a big rock at 6 miles in to carefully navigate around. One big elk, too. I stopped to do some earthwork with an army shovel to be sure of clearance for my Subaru.  As I got ready, Doug and Liz from Tacoma pulled in, and we became a threesome for a while. 

Open areas and glades have a few inches of recent spring snow, very nice especially for the ski down.  No ski tracks, and only one set of days old boot tracks.  Snow in the trees is continuous, hard and crusty, with lots of moss and needles to keep it from being too fast. We three did fine on fishscale metal edges skis, no skins. However, we were talking and not paying quite enough attention to direction and going up climber€™s left of Eleanor Cr started to head too far left to the first creek down to Huckleberry Cr, then over corrected and started around the N side of Scarface, so had some backtracking that slowed the trip and came back to bite later. We  made it though the Parklet and stopped for lunch at a little opening beyond that. By then it was 1:30 PM, misting, and Doug and Liz had to turn back. I went on to Grand Park in several inches of soft untracked snow. The park was in a beautiful, foggy mood, with islands of trees in every shade of green and grey. Just went halfway across due to time and lack of views out. Skis down glades on the way back to just E of Lk Eleanor was wonderful, with easy turning where slopes are steep enough.

Then, at about 3:30 some routefinding trouble began, as I met and followed our old deviating tracks, backtracked, then followed a NE bearing trying to get to the road at 4720€™ el. But, I missed the hairpin turn, and wasn€™t sure which side of it I was on. I was actually E of it, countouring above Huckleberry Cr, but thought maybe I could be W of it, which also has a steep side slope to the E, and my Gr Trails MREast map stops just north of the park boundary, so it was not all that clear, esp. with clouds and forest preventing any views out. I headed down some more, still on NE bearing, getting out of snow and following deer trails on foot and obviously not in the right place. Now 6:30 PM and decision time. I decided to get comfortable for the night instead of thrashing around in the dark forest with a little LED headlamp and lots of logs and moss covered scree. I headed directly down toward the creek to 4000€™ for a warmer night, found a nice log with soft cedar bark beside it, got wood for a fire and settled in feeling bad that my wife was not going to know if this was an accident or just an unplanned bivy. No phone coverage. With a puffy jacket, windbreaker, warm hat, balaclava, dry gloves, thermofit boot liners, and a mylar space blanket, I was warm enough, getting more sleep than wife and friends she called and MRNP ranger Geoff Walker, who left a note on my car at 1:39 AM. Only my legs got cold, and moving around some would fix that for another doze. I did hear lots of owls, and I could swear I heard people (babbling brook) and saw lights (moon or stars on distant snow patches) that I whistled to. With light at 5:30, I started a scramble back up the steep slope to 4600€™ then SW across slope till I ran into NPS/NF boundary signs and blazes at 4800 on what I now know is Eleanor Ridge. That had to be too far south, so I headed NW and came to a tree farm area on the ridge that had openings for views, and it was clear. I could see the road down and west! I also got an outgoing phone message out briefly to 911, a text message back and a page from my wife, so they now knew I was still kicking, if not necessarily gliding. I started hearing and answering voices and soon after seeing the road heard an airhorn, so thought that I€™d have a greeting party. And did.  When I slid the last few feet to the road, there were Jeff Sharp and two other Tacoma Mountain Rescue volunteers and Steve Jones with search dog Charlie.  They relayed to others that I was fine. I skied the road back to my car and met Beth Cheslin and her German Shepherd Search Dogs, Ellie and Minnie. Then changed, drove to Greenwater FD to meet the good ranger Geoff Walker and Pierce Co Sheriff€™s deputy Bill Cassio, who had also been up most of the night on the phone with my wife, and friends Jerry, Kevin and Fred, who skipped work to join the effort if needed. Thanks to all for being there and ready! 
Lessons learned:  Take a bigger map. Go by the bearings all the time. Voices can carry farther than whistles and horns, at least on a calm day. Grand Park is still grand. 
more pix at http://www.photoworks.com/photo-sharing/shareSignin.jsp?shareCode=A78D652C393&cp=ems_shr_alb_pml&cb=PW