1.5 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
I had heard about a glowing orb returning to our region of the planet for a few days, but when I woke up Saturday it was cold, damp and cloudy. At first I cursed Cliff Mass and the local weather crew, but then I decided to take action and look at the web cams to see what was actually happening up high. Low and behold there was patches of blue sky and even some white stuff on surrounding trees. I quickly gathered my things and hit the road. While driving through North Bend, I noticed that there was a fresh coat of snow at about 3k. My blood really got pumping and the stoke was certainly high. By the time I reached the pass it was actually snowing and snowing hard. Not much was sticking, but I had high hopes for the slopes up high. After about 30 min of skinning, the sun came out and provided some much needed warmth. It would come and go throughout the morning, but in those rare moments I couldn't resist stopping to soak in a few extra rays !! The fresh snow was just enough to fill in the sun cups that had formed over the past week and it really helped to smooth things out. I got 2 laps in, the East Valley side wasn't all that great. The top third had the freshies and I was able to lay down the 1st tracks of the day. The bottom two thirds on the other hand was sticky and schmooey. After that mediocre run, I quickly skinned back up to the top and got ready to try the west face out. It had been in the sun for quite sometime now and hopefully it had done its thing and microwaved me some corn. After the first turn, I knew that it was going to be an amazing run. Good firm base with just enough creamy corn to spread around. No Slush Puppies were had this day !!! Sections are melting out fast, so get it while its still here. Expect about a 100' carry to and from your car as well.
