Jan 9-10, 2008, Sasse Ridge
1/9/08
1052
0
Here's another 'why are you telling me this now?' trip report. In answer to the question, I have no idea. This was yet another week with buckets of snow at Sasse, more than enough for the largest appetite. On Wednesday, pole depth at the car was about a foot, increasing to about 18 inches by the time I made it to my 3400 foot campsite. But I made it, and it was not that tiring thanks to the new Trabs.
It started to snow in earnest about 10 pm with an accumulation of 8 inches by the time I got out of the tent at 6 am the next morning. It was still snowing hard when I started up through the trees at 6:30 the late start from having to shovel a lot of snow out of the campsite. By 4500 feet it was snowing even harder, the pole depth was up to 2 feet. Seemed like a good time to turn around. Besides, the more it snowed, the greater the possibility I would just be poling straight down. Nonetheless, I found a few areas where the turns were fun. Even though the temperature had hovered between 23 and 26 degrees up to that point, the snow was surprisingly dense, perhaps because of the quite small snow crystals. It was heavy even for what passes for powder in the Cascades. I tried several places to ski check something off little road cuts, etc, but even stomping around I could not get anything to go. Maybe just a bomb ticking with all that snow.
By the time I got back to the tent there was another 4 inches to shovel. Another inch at pack-up time.
On the way out it rapidly warmed up with even a few brief sun breaks and the snow glopped up very quickly. I'm sure the avalanche risk went up (even more) equally quickly. Ten inches heavy snow on the car when I got there, no plow yet, so I was glad I allowed plenty of time to dig out.
Not that much to photograph, but the first shot shows my campsite just as I was ready to leave. When I got there, the snow surface was level with the surrounding area.
The second shot shows my little home made snow brush, 20 grams. When there is this much snow, brushing off before you get in the tent is a requirement if you want to dry out. Otherwise, all that snow just melts on the gear and then freezes at night. REI used to sell snow brushes, but I've not seen them for years. Mine is made from a short length of 1 inch aluminum tube stuffed with plastic bristles from a small hand broom and then squished in a vise. Notice the small projection for cleaning packed snow from boot soles and from the Dynafit heel fitting on the boot.
Larry
It started to snow in earnest about 10 pm with an accumulation of 8 inches by the time I got out of the tent at 6 am the next morning. It was still snowing hard when I started up through the trees at 6:30 the late start from having to shovel a lot of snow out of the campsite. By 4500 feet it was snowing even harder, the pole depth was up to 2 feet. Seemed like a good time to turn around. Besides, the more it snowed, the greater the possibility I would just be poling straight down. Nonetheless, I found a few areas where the turns were fun. Even though the temperature had hovered between 23 and 26 degrees up to that point, the snow was surprisingly dense, perhaps because of the quite small snow crystals. It was heavy even for what passes for powder in the Cascades. I tried several places to ski check something off little road cuts, etc, but even stomping around I could not get anything to go. Maybe just a bomb ticking with all that snow.
By the time I got back to the tent there was another 4 inches to shovel. Another inch at pack-up time.
On the way out it rapidly warmed up with even a few brief sun breaks and the snow glopped up very quickly. I'm sure the avalanche risk went up (even more) equally quickly. Ten inches heavy snow on the car when I got there, no plow yet, so I was glad I allowed plenty of time to dig out.
Not that much to photograph, but the first shot shows my campsite just as I was ready to leave. When I got there, the snow surface was level with the surrounding area.
The second shot shows my little home made snow brush, 20 grams. When there is this much snow, brushing off before you get in the tent is a requirement if you want to dry out. Otherwise, all that snow just melts on the gear and then freezes at night. REI used to sell snow brushes, but I've not seen them for years. Mine is made from a short length of 1 inch aluminum tube stuffed with plastic bristles from a small hand broom and then squished in a vise. Notice the small projection for cleaning packed snow from boot soles and from the Dynafit heel fitting on the boot.
Larry
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