June 12, Cragview, south side of Baker

Yesterday, I went up with the dog for a quick ski in the narrow window of good weather.  There was a surprising amount of snow.  You still can't reach the trailhead (I drove to nearly 3300 feet), and skiing becomes continuous about 100 yards from the car. The snow quickly gets deep.  It seems to me there is much more than on Hood at equivalent altitudes.  There is even more than on the north wide of Baker.  The forest has plenty of snow but its surface is often covered with debris.  In places, at least, it might be better to walk.  Above the forest (it breaks up at about 4400 feet) everything is beautiful. There is new snow above about 5,000 feet. The glacier to the summit looks ok, though I didn't venture there (I'd rather keep the dog away from crevasses).  Pollen didn't seem to be a problem - perhaps recent rains have washed it into pockets.  The snow wasn't fast, but it wasn't agonizingly slow, either.  I think suction, rather than pollen was the culprit, and base structure, plus fast wax (I had klister on my skis) would cure the problem.