Jan 26, Hurricane Hill revisited

Randy, Sidnie and I decided to make a return trip to the "Hurricane Hill Hilton" where Randy spent the night in a snow cave a few weeks ago.  The sun was shining as we started up the road from Port Angeles but when we arrived at the Lodge it was starting to snow and the wind was building from the south.  The snow increased as we skinned out the road and after arriving at the road end picnic area, it was snowing hard  so we decided to ski a north facing slope into the Little River drainage Sidnie and  I had skied in the past.  The snow was settled base from the last snowfall on Monday with some wind transported old and new snow, all on a deeper rain crust .  I did a ski cut and nothing moved so we proceeded down through nicely space glades and  had surprisingly good skiing.  This line had run out after about 300 ft. in the spring. But now it went on  over three benches for about 850 vf.  Skinning out proved to be a chore with the unconsolidated snow sloughing and the track collapsing on the Monday crust about 8 inches down.  After reaching the road it was blowing and snowing harder so we decided to return to a line about halfway back to the lodge near the restrooms sometimes referred to as "Toilet Bowl"  We decided to ski the Northeast facing slopes to  find shelter  in the trees.  This area had a slightly more easterly aspect and the sun had had much more of an affect, creating variable conditions which challenged our egos on several occasions. This line went for about 500 vf  over two distinct benches before biting into the trees.  The skin out was even more arduous than before as we broke through the crust on several 45 degree sections. After regaining the road we decided to check out the south facing open slope. This slope had a serious breakable crust with a few inches of new snow blown into pockets.  300 vf of this was enough and we skinned back up and out the road to the lodge where our car was almost buried in a drift. It was about three thirty and the visibility was near zero. Randy said it looked familiar as dusk began to settle and we drove carefully off the ridge to the warmth of our own beds.  It was good to accompany Randy back into the backcountry.  Here are some pics.