Around here they say that summer doesn't REALLY come until July 5. Well, this year it came early, and we had spectacularly clear weather on the 4th! It truly does seem that it takes that long for the first big high pressure system to push into the state and drive the clouds away. So, with several days of clear weather forecast, I was able to sneak out on one of them for a tour.
Unfortunately the camera battery died after I took this one picture, so this is the only one I have from the trip. This is on the Baker Lake Road. Shuksan is harder to see than Baker. It's only a little over 9000', and is further east, so you can't see it from I-5 at all. As you drive up the Baker Lake Road this is the first time you see it, from the SW:
Shuksan may be the most photographed mountain in the world. When I was in Argentina I was at a church, in the kitchen, and the resident preacher guy asked me where I was from. All I had to do was point to the calendar on the wall, where the classic shot of Shuksan from Heather Meadows was displayed. It's quite the jaw dropper. The Sulphide Glacier follows the right skyline and is just out of sight from this perspective. The summit pyramid is too steep for me to ski, and I left the ice axe behind on purpose, so I would be less tempted to climb it. This is a ski trip first and foremost. Most parties go to the base of the summit pyramid, and that's what I did.
This is a really mellow tour. I worked on Shuksan earlier in the year and really wanted to come back and ski it, but in the two months that passed alot of snow melted out. So instead of skiing from the truck like on the Baker tour, I left the 2500' trailhead on foot and hiked for about an hour to about 3900' before putting on the skis. After another hour and a half I was up to the base of the glacier, right at the bottom of the topo map:
The tour follows the west side of the glacier, and is devoid of crevasses.
Also unlike Baker, I saw no snow machines, and only 3 climbing parties. Two of them were guided, and I knew one of the guides. It's kind of like Seneca, but a little bigger.
So basically this is what a day trip looks like out here in the Cascades. Instead of a long hike, or a long mountain bike ride, it's a long ski trip. The terrain dictates the mode of travel, and skiing is by far the best way to go. Being July 7th, I was able to pack pretty light. So I had a little food, 2 litres of water, odds and ends, a soft shell jacket and a down jacket. While climbing I wore a t-shirt, then put the jacket on while at the high point, where it was a little breezy. Suz recently bought me a fake North Face down jacket from Nepal. It cost me $100, has super high quality down, and it is proving to be the perfect weight for Cascade use. I used it at the high point, where I hung out for awhile, scattered some more of her ashes, watched some climbers, and basically just enjoyed the beautiful weather.
From my high point you can look to the east into the heart of the North Cascades, with the Picket Range right next door. To the south you can see the big volcanoes in the chain, Glacier Peak first, then Rainier, over 100 miles away. And Baker looms right next door to the west, and beyond that, the puget sound and Vancouver Island. Stunning.
Since I have no photos I will relay the stats:
5700' gain over 11k
Only one spot over 30 degrees, the traverse on to the glacier. Very do-able.
7 hours to the high point with lots of long breaks, probably 5 hours skinning.
3 hours back to the trailhead from the high point.
5 hours of driving (this is moderately big country out here)
The skiing was excellent. It's fun to crank out a dozen telemark turns, then a dozen parallel turns, as snow conditions warrant. It's REALLY fun to set the boards on edge and rail some big fast telemark carves on a wide-open glacier, and the snow was perfect for that.
Well, there you have it. This will probably be the last ski tour of the year, unless I sneak out for another one on Baker. July is looking really busy between working two jobs and moving Suzanne's stuff out of her office.
Thanks for reading!
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