August 24, 2007, Paradise Pebble Patches

The sun at the Eatonville Bakery warmed cinnamon rolls and early morning smiles as Cass and I met up with Teleskichica. However, from Narada falls the fog fell heavy and clouded our chances of the summer skiing I might have hoped for.

We debated other nearby stashes before deciding that the heavy cloud layer must only be merely 2K above our heads, thus clearing above Pebble Creek. This was indeed true, as we left the car. But the hills of heather and ripe blueberries disappeared soon after beneath white out conditions, misting my curls and the liners of our tele boots that hung from our skis.

Fearing better snow conditions above Pebble Creek, there we turned our faces into howling winds and turned our backs on the couldn't-be-seen Muir snowfield. What, you wanted a typical Muir August Trip Report? No, instead we favored the pebble patches. The first offered nearly 40 vertical feet of watermelon snow. This seedless variety was so good, we lapped it numerous times to bump our numbers in the triple digits.

Stepping it up, our next patch was 20 feet; the next a whopping 5 vertical feet, bringing us a bit of attention from hikers. We overhead a conversation between mother and young son that went like this: Son: "Do you think they're going to ski that?" Mother:"No honey, I think they only want to touch it." But ski it we did. Cass even lapped this little wonder, as it offered a fine place for a jump turn clinic.

Our final two patches were long(er) cross fall line sections, that we skied while the Tatoosh Range danced in and out of the clouds. By the time we arrived at the car, laughing through the wind and mixed sun, Rainier remained cloaked in fog.

Thanks for the fun!
Nice to meet you Holly.
Cass has the photos, and his Northern Hemisphere August turns in the bag!