_modzzz_articles_page_title_browse_letter RSS2016-12-03T16:38:00+0000Participants: Paul Kubik, Bill Maurer, Michelle Hyun, Dave Robertson, Manouane We were able to drive to 800 meters which is the big landing below the winter parking lot. We started skiing at 8:54 and skied to the summer trailhead at the dam 4 kilometers from the vehicles. The lower road was criss-crossed with alder so we went up 100 meters on a shortcut through thick trees on skis. It intersected the trail on S Line above the dam. There was very, very short couple of sections of criss-crossed alder on the S Line before it turned up S1 road. The alder was now mostly buried and travel was easy. We took the left fork near 1000 meters to go up Demon Ridge. This road reaches to 1500 meters. The sun came out briefly at the top of the road so we stopped for lunch at 1 PM. Then it clouded over again and started to get cold. The group broke trail the last 300 meters to the ridge crest at which point it was 2 PM. We didn't have time to go to the cabin after descending the south gully. This was a first descent as far as I know. Conditions were quite good overall- mostly powder with a bit of buried avalanche debris in the lower 150 meters and a bit of wind effect in the upper 75 meters. The angle was up to an estimated 38 degrees in its steepest section. The avalanche danger was rated moderate and we detected no instability. The height of the run is 500 meters. It would appear to be a good skiing destination from the new Watersprite hut. There was a huge amount of terrain on the north side of the ridge that was very inviting- mostly alpine bowls with the prospect of big tree skiing below that. We went out the winter route, following Dave and Gerry's tracks who had been at the cabin earlier in the week. I don't find the winter route all that great for descending. It has a lot of flat or up and down terrain so it seems like you're slogging for 3 km. The alder became a problem for the last kilometer coupled with a nice breakable crust. It was a bit nasty in about six sections. ... Read more

]]>2016-12-03T16:38:00+0000I have not climbed Mt Baker for a few years now. I and my friend Mandy car camped near Glacier to recky the area. We reserved a campsite for two nights at the Douglas Fir Campground in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near Glacier. We arrive Friday night about 10ish to a torrential downpour and in a controlled panic erected a sorta leaky tent. After some debate regarding how to remedy the problem, the downpour stopped and we ventured out and made things right. The next morning we stumbled into Glacier about 8ish and found a marvelous coffee shop, The Wake Bakery. After fiddling about Glacier and area. we found ourselves at the Helitrope trail head about 3ish, hiked up to snow line which was at about the 1600m level, caught a stunning view of the lower part of Mt Baker and its massive crevasses, and scooted down back the car by 6ish. Still plenty of snow on Mt Baker, lots of water coming down. The parking lot was full, but we did not meet or see many people. We had planned to have our dinner at the campsite, but we were tired and opted for diner at Griffins instead. Our last evening at the campsite was marred by vandals who in the dead of night, liberated all license plates in the campground that were facing the roadway. We lost the front plate off our vehicle. The Sheriff appeared as we were packing up Sunday morning and took our statements and assured us that no stone would be undisturbed in the quest to apprehend the post pubescent long blonde haired suspect.    

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