April 19, 2008, Jim Hill powder fest

Jaakko and I headed up to Jim Hill. We started at the Stevens Pass nordic center and followed that drainage up with the idea of gaining the ridge and then going up. Bad idea. Getting to Lanham lake was easy but the route up the ridge was nasty. A boiler plate crust was under 1"-6" of light snow. After our skis continually kept slipping out, we opted for booting the ~1200ft to the ridge. It was a strenuous hoof up and while grabbing lunch at the top was saw two guys and a dog come down whopping with delight with powder plumes in tow. It was clear what had to be done. We dropped down to the saddle and then traversed to pick up their skin track (thank you very much by the way) to the top. Most of the day was sunnyish though the last several hundred feet were totally socked in. Just before the peak the sun came out again and we enjoyed some excellent powder for about 2000ft. We followed Henry creek out (which is DEFINITELY the way to go in) and ultimately had to walk back up Hwy 2 after attempting to traverse (which I'm not sure was worth it versus just heading straight down Henry Creek. It was an adventurous and rewarding day to be sure. On a final note, I lost a grey wool "Peruvian" style hat with a black fleece lining that I lost on the way up to lake Lanham that I was very fond of, so if you see it please let me know, thanks. Sorry no action shots, to busy enjoying the ride :).