JoeMack

Went up on Saturday (6/6) from Pamelia Lake. Went up next to the SW Ridge. Skied from around 9,700 ft, so I didn't summit. But here are some photos from my trip: Above the clouds: From my high point:

Thanks for the report. Any pics?

It looked pretty good from where I was, but I didn't get on the other side of Milk Creek to look closer. Here's a picture from the ridge on the south side of Milk Creek. The west rib is on the left side of the photo:

I left the Pamelia Lake Trailhead at 6:30am

Trip: Mt. Jefferson - Pamelia Lake/Milk Creek Date: 5/17/2009 Trip Report: I went up to Jefferson for the day Sunday. The road to the Pamelia Lake trailhead is completely clear. The trail though the woods was dry at the beginning but I ran in to snow soon after starting, so I switched from running shoes to boots. The trail had more snow than I've seen this late in the year, but it was too dirty and patchy to skin. The view from the lake was nice and it was getting quite warm already. I headed over to Milk Creek. I've climbed that way before, but was surprised about the wall of recent avalanche debris. A few years ago at the same time (May 2006), this is what it looked like: I scrambled up the steep slope to the climbers right of the Milk Creek and ascended the ridgeline. Looking down into the Milk Creek, I could see the avalanche had scoured the gully to the dirt. Above treeline, I started booting up to the Southwest ridge. The snow was soft and made it very difficult to boot up (too steep for skinning). I was postholing thigh deep and wound up climbing on all fours to try to keep from sinking in too deeply. Being solo, I had no one to help put in the bootpack, so by the time I reached the ridge I was beat. I rested a bit and decided to ski down since it was getting even warmer and it was about noon. I skied down the soft snow. Big fun. My tracks are visible if you look closely. I continued skiing down a gully and was able to ski all the way to about 200 feet above the lake. I descended a little further and found the Hunts Cove trail near the lake. By the time I got back to my car I was quite tired. I didn't see another person the whole day.

I've slept in my car right by one of the day lodges, but don't know of an area that would be OK for setting up a tent. Make sure if you do set up your tent it's not in an area that gets plowed Another cheap option could be the Mountaineer's Lodge

I think the closest you'll get is the east side of Odell Lake or the PCT trailhead on Hwy 58 (just east of Willamette Pass). It will be a long way from that side. That NE Face sure looks like it would be a fun ski.

You could find anything from a warm day with nice corn to a full on storm and powder. The approach for So. Sister will be tough because the road to the nearest trailhead doens't get plowed 'til end of May or early June. Have you considered St. Helen's in addition to Hood?

No. If you don't know what you're doing and have to side slip or flounder, stay out of the trees. Please. Don't ruin it for people who know what they're doing.

The snow goes on forever and the party never ends... Nice pix. Where is that?

Thanks Billy. I'll add that the Pioneer Gulch road (FS 2149) is blocked by snow just past 4000 ft, maybe 2 miles before the Corrigan Lake TH. This was as of last Monday (5/26)

We went up yesterday (Sunday) figuring that most everything that would have slid had already went. Heard about the Pearly Gates going on Saturday when we were in the lot getting ready to go. Here's a picture of the upper slopes from the Hogback We went left from the Hogback and climbed to the top of the Mazama chute before skiing back down.

Way to get after it. How far up did you go?

May not help Jay, but there's a deal at Willamette now for $149 5 day minipass

I'd definitely be interested in doing the Haute Route. Non-guided, I presume?

Went up to the Whitewater Trailhead on Saturday (Stinko de Mayo). Snow drifts blocked the road about 1/2 mile prior to the trailhead (about 3,900' altitude). I am guessing that with the warm weather predicted this week, a high clearance 4wd vehicle might be able to get all the way to the TH next weekend. There was a little snow on the trail from the storms earlier in the week, but I didn't hit skinnable snow til the turn at Sentinel Creek. The snow on the trail is drifted in and challenging due to the tree wells and made the travel to the ridge slow. That combined with the wet cement consistency of the snow, and a late start (left the car at ~9:00am), meant that I didn't get as far as I hoped. I got a bit lost also when the trail flattened out. The trail is marked with a faded red painted blaze on widely spaced trees, and I missed out on them somehow near the top of the Sentinel hills. I climbed to the top of the ridge searching for the trail and ate a leisurely lunch with a good view of the mountain. It was clear that it would still take quite a while to get to the Glaciers; with the consistency of the snow and the late time, I decided to call it a day and headed back down.

Take nothing but...trophies Leave nothing but...gut piles

Wow! 4 lbs for a pair of skis. That is amazingly light. I just found the Sahales on sale here Cheap Sahales

Excellent work. Very inspirational. I liked the historical perspectives. Thank you Lowell and the rest of the crew.

This was my first time up there. Took the Pamelia Road turn off from Highway 22 (near mile marker 62). The road is a one lane, paved road until about 1/2 mile before the trailhead when it becomes gravel. I'm not sure about future plans. I'd definitley like to get up there during some nice weather.

Climb: Mt. Jefferson-Pamelia Lake Trail to Milk Creek Date of Climb: 5/28/2006 Trip Report: I got a relatively late start (8:00am) from the Pamelia Trailhead. I thought that the weather would improve during the day, so the rain didn't bother me. The trail is through some beautiful old growth trees and next to the Pamelia Creek. Real nice. I wore sneakers since there was no snow in sight. At Pamelia Lake, I saw that the snow was falling well above the Lake elevation. Kept hiking up to the Pacific Crest Trail. My plan was to ascend up the Milk Creek, so I was happy to see that the snow started just above where the PCT crosses the Creek: It was snowing lightly as I booted up the Creek. Could this be the snow from the huge avalanche last year? The new snow was about 2-3 inches deep. The climbing was easy but the visibility wasn't improving very much as I climbed. The newly fallen snow was getting deeper and it was looking like winter: At the place where the creek splits, I took a break and put the skins on since the postholing was getting a bit much; the snow was considerably deeper. While I was having a bite to eat, I heard a train or jet fighter in the Milk Creek canyon below me. I realized it was either an avalanche or rock fall, so I made a mental note to not linger in the canyon during the descent. I kept dawdling but the copulating cloud/fog wasn't lifting; the visibility was getting worse and the snow and wind started picking up in intensity. I was able to keep climbing to a ridge that had a few exposed rocks that provided perspective. I got to about 7,400 ft before I gave up and pulled the skins. Skiing in a white out isn't that great since I wasn't sure where there might be some drop offs or moats. I ski cut the slope but wasn't able to get any slabs going thankfully. The snow at this elevation was pretty good, though: about 10 inches deep of new that was reasonably light. I got a few chest shots. The run down the canyon was a fun rolly coaster ride. I saw where the avalanche I heard earlier had come down one of the canyon walls. It actually was smaller than I thought it would be. I changed to shoes at the intersection with the PCT and hiked back down the way I had come. It was raining the whole way. I saw a Dad and his two sons heading up the trail: the only people I saw all day. Dry clothes and a cold beer were never more appreciated. I'll definitley be back since it was only about an hour and a half from my house to the trailhead. Gear Notes: skis, skins

Climb: Diamond Peak-Pioneer Gulch Date of Climb: 5/6/2006 Trip Report: Although we we were uncertain of the weather when we left cloudy Springfield early Saturday morning, the clear and sunny skies above Diamond made us eager for a corn fest when we arrived at the Pioneer Gulch trailhead. We weren't disappointed. There was snow on the road just prior to the Pioneer Gulch trailhead, but the first 1/2 mile or so of the trail was snow free. We were able to find continuous snow and skinned through the trees by staying a bit further east than normal. As we exited the trees, we saw a large wet slide from earlier in the week in the South Bowl. We decided to take the direct path to the summit and skinned up, keeping a wary eye for any sliding activity. It was cold and windy at the top. The views from the summit ridge were beautiful. This view is to the south, with Thielsen and Bailey on the horizon. If you look closely you can see timmy and jlag on Thielsen's summit. To the north, some of the additional pitches can be seen (they were too firm to ski, unfortunately). Mt. Batchelor is in the distance. After a quick lunch on the summit, we got our corn dessert. The snow was smoooove- virtually no runnels nor suncups. It was so good we skinned up and took another run, this time from further east near the false summit. Delightful. We skiied down through the heavier snow in the trees. We had a 10 mintue hike to the car. We only saw two other people all day.

Inspiring. Great photos. Casey sure must have a lot of trust to use Dynafit bindings for the first time on such a route.

The revolution will not be televised You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out. You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip, Skip out for beer during commercials, Because the revolution will not be televised.

quote] I wouldn't reccomend the NSP basic courses for BC travel or Avy skills. Care to elaborate?