June 9, 2002, Goat Mountain, Mt. Baker backcountry
6/9/02
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
2803
0
Having turned down one ski invite (Mt. Shuksan, 7000 vertical feet, way too arduous), I trundled myself an hour up the Mt. Baker Highway to Goat Mountain. I'd been watching the mountain pass webcams, seeing squally snow, so I figured maybe I'd find some north-facing powder and be the envy of my peers this sunny June day. With no one along to roust me out of bed I slept late, but departed the summer trailhead (2400 ft) at 8:00. Found patchy snow at 3900, steady snow at 4100 in the beginnings of the alder at the base of the old burn scar, an inch of fresh wet snow covering the pollen, insect parts and Gobi desert dust (or whatever) at 4500, deepening gradually to 4 to 8 inches up high. The recent snow must've been heavily wind affected as it fell, judging by the fairly portentous fresh cornices. I had the whole mountainside to myself, summiting (6700 ft) around noon. There were spectacular views to the Picket Range, Spickard and Redoubt, Sefrit, Shuksan, over the foothills and out to sea, and north into the Coast Range across the Fraser Valley. Nice.
I had intended to drop down the nice north-facing couloir which separates the two summits of Goat, following its narrow, serpentine glacier down to the Twin Lakes road, but my escape route down the road looked almost entirely melted out-certainly not skiable-so I dropped south instead, playing with the sluffs for a couple of thousand feet into the next drainage, then climbed up to near the ridge and dropped down a lesser distance, then (with some misgivings) climbed to the summit once more, meeting a couple of postholing randonne skiers (who seemed to find my use of climbing skins perplexing). Finally, feeling somewhat worn out, I blasted down the bowl and snaked cautiously through the alder thickets, had my first fall of the day at 4200 feet before de-skiing at 4100. Too tired to change out of my ski boots, I tripped, stumbled and grumbled down the endless switchbacks to the car.
My altimeter claimed 6900 vertical feet for the day, just shy of the amount involved in an ascent of Shuksan, and I felt every single one of them. I am not like some on this board who routinely put up superhuman numbers, and I spent a fair bit of time leaning on my poles or sprawled helplessly in the snow sucking down liquids and eating peanut butter sandwiches. The fact that virtually every bit of the day was spent on south facing terrain above treeline made a difference, too: I've got some interesting bits of sunburn, including a patch on the roof of my mouth (indicating that I was gasping desperately for breath much of the day). This made for an interesting time at the dentist's on Monday.
The snow was, in a word, gluey, but good fun if you kept your speed up. Sluffs were limited to the fresh snow, although some of those new cornices gave me pause. Snowpack is holding up well, for mid-June: still good coverage down to about 3000 feet on north slopes, 4100 on south. My view up toward Hannegan Pass suggests snow intermittent on that trail, with steady coverage beginning several miles before the pass. All will be melting fast this week, with the first real hot spell of the year now upon us.
Enjoy.
Mark
I had intended to drop down the nice north-facing couloir which separates the two summits of Goat, following its narrow, serpentine glacier down to the Twin Lakes road, but my escape route down the road looked almost entirely melted out-certainly not skiable-so I dropped south instead, playing with the sluffs for a couple of thousand feet into the next drainage, then climbed up to near the ridge and dropped down a lesser distance, then (with some misgivings) climbed to the summit once more, meeting a couple of postholing randonne skiers (who seemed to find my use of climbing skins perplexing). Finally, feeling somewhat worn out, I blasted down the bowl and snaked cautiously through the alder thickets, had my first fall of the day at 4200 feet before de-skiing at 4100. Too tired to change out of my ski boots, I tripped, stumbled and grumbled down the endless switchbacks to the car.
My altimeter claimed 6900 vertical feet for the day, just shy of the amount involved in an ascent of Shuksan, and I felt every single one of them. I am not like some on this board who routinely put up superhuman numbers, and I spent a fair bit of time leaning on my poles or sprawled helplessly in the snow sucking down liquids and eating peanut butter sandwiches. The fact that virtually every bit of the day was spent on south facing terrain above treeline made a difference, too: I've got some interesting bits of sunburn, including a patch on the roof of my mouth (indicating that I was gasping desperately for breath much of the day). This made for an interesting time at the dentist's on Monday.
The snow was, in a word, gluey, but good fun if you kept your speed up. Sluffs were limited to the fresh snow, although some of those new cornices gave me pause. Snowpack is holding up well, for mid-June: still good coverage down to about 3000 feet on north slopes, 4100 on south. My view up toward Hannegan Pass suggests snow intermittent on that trail, with steady coverage beginning several miles before the pass. All will be melting fast this week, with the first real hot spell of the year now upon us.
Enjoy.
Mark
Reply to this TR
Please login first: