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[TR] Washington Pass - Hinkhouse Peak and Ragged Ridge 4/30/2016


AlpineK

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Trip: Washington Pass - Hinkhouse Peak and Ragged Ridge

 

Date: 4/30/2016

 

Trip Report:

The opening of Highway 20 is on my mind when spring starts. While the real opening weekend wasn't in the cards, we settled for weekend two at the pass. Lower elevation snowpack looked a bit thin, but plenty of white stuff was there for the taking up high.

 

On April 30 clouds were still rolling through Rainy Pass, so we opted for something closer to Washington Pass. The popular routes looked packed, but nobody seemed to be skiing north of the pass.

 

We opted for an ascent of Hinkhouse Peak with a descent into Cutthroat basin. The sun was out but snow was hard pack in the morning.

 

Hinkhouse from Washington Pass

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/H2-W-DSC03312.jpg[/img]

 

It didn't take too long to gain altitude and get good views south of the pass

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/H5-W-DSC03315.jpg[/img]

 

At the ridge crest we debated on the descent line. I'd followed a line towards Cutthroat lake in the past, but after a climb to the top of the peak we opted for a descent on the eastern side of the summit.

 

Things started out just fine

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/H8-W-DSC03319.jpg[/img]

 

Nice views of Silverstar and the Wine Spires

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/H12-W-DSC03323.jpg[/img]

 

Skiing was great

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/H14-W-DSC03325.jpg[/img]

 

We got one last view of the peak before playing a game of tree dodging

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/H19-W-DSC03330.jpg[/img]

 

It didn't take too long to find the trail and reach the highway. Hitching a ride back to the pass did take some time but wasn't too bad.

 

On May 1 despite low elevation snow we put skis on our back and hiked the Easy Pass trail. Just before the reaching the basin under Greybeard skis were back on our feet. At pass level and above we got great views of surrounding peaks

 

Avalanche in Fisher Creek drainage

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/R4-W-DSC03337.jpg[/img]

 

Fisher Peak and Black. Another party was skiing in the upper Fisher Peak Drainage.

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/R5-W-DSC03338.jpg[/img]

 

From Ragged Ridge we found sweet corn back to Easy Pass

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/R8-W-DSC03341.jpg[/img]

 

With elevation drop snow quality slowly declined. Eventually we reached the end of the line

[img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/3072/medium/R14-W-DSC03347.jpg[/img]

 

More snow at lower elevations would have been nice, but another fun spring weekend skiing off Highway 20

 

Approach Notes:

With warm weather snow pack might decline rapidly

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