Home > Trip Reports > 6.30.07, knapsack pass; 7.01.07, flett/russell

6.30.07, knapsack pass; 7.01.07, flett/russell

6/30/07
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
11000
16
Posted by allyson on 7/2/07 2:48am
cass, skip, kam and i hit the mowich lake campground under partly cloudy skies.  began at 4950', and scampered up an unmaintained trail to the top of knapsack pass, at ~6100.  enjoyed the views, solitude, and a nice long nap in the warm temps.  linked patches on the way down, and then headed back up to the nw slopes below fay peak.  got a few extra turns before heading back down to mowich, where we camped for the evening.

the next day we started on the spray park trail around 8:45 under warm sunny skies again.  once we popped out of the forest ~5400', we were able to drop the sneakers and start skinning.  we ran into about 3 other parties out there, some that had come over knapsack pass.  skinned up to 7500' on the flett where we took a quick break, and then continued skinning around the corner to the russell glacier.  the clouds started lingering a bit more around 1:30, making observation rock less visible, and forming a lenticular over the summit of rainier.  we also observed some occasional unnerving whoomping sounds due to some settling new snow.  we climbed to 9110', where we changed modes and began skiing at about 3pm.  the snow was a little sticky in parts, but otherwise was fantastic.  got down to the trail around 5pm, where the rest of us put our sneakers on for the hike out.  (kam had only brought his t-1s, his feet looked like mangled hamburger!).  june and july turns in the bag, and nowhere near virginia!  ;)
Way to keep the dream alive .... hope your feet heal by August Kam  8) ... miss you guy's...Jerry

So, maybe this response belongs elsewhere, but if I post it here, it gets the message to you and I won't have to get too much ribbing: For your feet Kam, keep a tube of zinc oxide (AKA Desitin Diaper Rash cream) in your pack. Lather your feet up, use the rest on your nose (ok, maybe not what you want to do, but it adds a little sun protection) and keep those feet pretty, touchable and blister free. I SWEAR it works really, really well. No blisters yet!

Thanks for the post Allyson.  Couple of questions - did you ski down the moraine side of the Russell (skiers left) or straight down the center? Any crevasses opening up? I'm planning on heading up and have had to deal with a series of small crevasses that form between the center of the Russell and where you transfer over to the top of the Flett.  Thanks in advance for the beta.

Teleskichica: i'm going to try the zinc.  i don't like hamburger feet, but it's worth it though -- i'd run another ten miles in t-1s for a few turns.

scottb505: the Russell is smooth.  no immediate concerns, but we did carry some gear just in case.  here are some photos:







click here for more photos

Computer almost shorted out there, I had to sop up the drool before it hit the electrical components!

We had a perfect day on the otherside, but your pics are fantastic.

(I went 8 trail miles (gasp) last week in my SynerGs for a little taste of cream.)

Sweet pics Kam and thanks for the info

author=scottb505 link=topic=7510.msg29936#msg29936 date=1183407142]
Couple of questions - did you ski down the moraine side of the Russell (skiers left) or straight down the center?

hi scottb505--we pretty much stayed close to our uptracks, and hugged the skiers left moraine side.

Any crevasses opening up?


getting on the flett was no problem at all--no cracks in sight, just nice and smooth.  the russell was also very smooth, but we definitely heard our fair share of "settling" sounds that were a little bit creepy.  we did not see any crevasses opening up.  however, at one point kam did sink what he thought was a snow bridge, but scurried away before he could really find out for sure.   phew!

Thanks Allyson.  I had an experience once on the Russell in that I had forgotten my skins and opted to go for it anyway.  My foot sank in at one point and I jumped fast to take my weight off of it. Yikes. Can you say Darwin award? Any newbies out there - don't even think of glacier travel ropeless without skins on skis - I figure at least you can mitigate some of the risk with weight displacement.

Ally - cool trip, nice report, uh, so-so trip partners.  Looks like you pulled off a primo trip in spite of 'em  ;)

Kam - great pics, mate.

Cass - nice form, as usual (back to AT, eh?).

author=scottb505 link=topic=7510.msg29951#msg29951 date=1183419529">
... My foot sank in at one point and I jumped fast to take my weight off of it. Yikes...


sounds scarey.  my nerves are more 'testy' when skiing on glaciers.  i've shown this photo a number of times, but every time i look at it gives me the willies.  i'd have a bad day falling into one of these.  :-[

An excellent weekend of day trips! Glad we lucked out on getting a well-timed break in the clouds/fog to allow us visibility for finding and skiing the Flett ‘headwall’.
Additional trip photos posted here.
Michael and Brenda - great seeing you again randomly on a ski outing [guess that makes 3 times in the past month! :) "> 

author=ron j link=topic=7510.msg29953#msg29953 date=1183425077">
(back to AT, eh?).
I just can’t fully break away from the darkside ;)

excellent weekend up in Spray Park. This was the first time Brenda and I had ever camped there.

Kind of weird weather. Both days socked in late in the afternoon. Sat evening it cleared off nicely as things started cooling down, then Sat morning perfectly clear until early afternoon. I'm not sure how you all found a clearing window to ski down the headwall that afternoon. Things really socked in after we passed you just below the headwall. We headed to the south side to ski, and lost visibility right away.

I'm not crazy about glaciers. We've been on the Russell once before and it was a lot different then - old snow and you could really see the crevasses. Things were way too smooth out there this time, and looked like there was new snow higher up.

I had planned to go to knapsack on saturday as well but mountain biked at crystal instead. Wish I would have gone saturday so I could have hooked up with you guys...

But today, Tuesday,  July 3, 2007, I booted up to the  Knapsack area and skied down from the pass, up and then down the flanks of Fay, and up and down on the other side of the valley as well.

Beautiful corn made for easy and delightful skiing. Unfortunately the melting out prevented a continuous line. For that I'll have to head over to observation if this old body can take it and make it.

Here's a photo and here's another.

Nice tour!  I followed in your footsteps yesterday and was pleased to find so much good snow left.  I wish I got the memo about bringing tennis shoes...I hiked back in ski boots.  Heading up Knapsack Pass from Mowich Lake I was worried things would be patchy and unlinkable, but after reach the pass, instead of descending the east on the obvious trail, if you traverse to the SSE along the ridge past Fay, there were some fine turns on the north side of Pleasant.  With all this hot summer weather it's not going to last long...get it while you can!  8) 

author=cascadesfreak link=topic=7510.msg29974#msg29974 date=1183452630">
An excellent weekend of day trips! Glad we lucked out on getting a well-timed break in the clouds/fog to allow us visibility for finding and skiing the Flett ‘headwall’.
Additional trip photos posted here.
Michael and Brenda - great seeing you again randomly on a ski outing [guess that makes 3 times in the past month! :) "> 
I just can’t fully break away from the darkside ;)

Hey stranger!
Long time no ski!
Looks like you guys had a great line.  I have to agree about your form, very nice, but was also wondering about the AT...?
(I just toured my first volcano with Lisa, pretty close to where you guys went.  Check it out!  July 4th, Flett.) ;D
Keep in touch!

sounds like so much fun, don't know where to begin........ >:(......I'm like a dalmation tied to a leash at this school....its a given that I'm an Einstein on Biology because I attack science with the same untamed, untracked lines with the fall line as usual exploiting the most beneficial boundaries possible......but I'll be free soon......I'll be the fool skiin down on my tippy toes....hands holding a tray of pasta.....more like punching down Evander Holyfield (sp?)..............style is a crystallization....to crystallize is to die.........to be yourself is to thrive.......

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6-30-07-knapsack-pass-7-01-07-flett-russell
allyson
2007-07-02 09:48:25