[TR] Huckleberry Mountain - The Trail 11/30/2019

[JasonG]

Trip: Huckleberry Mountain - The Trail

Trip Date: 11/30/2019

Trip Report:

In perhaps the longest shoulder season in 43 years what is a man to do?  Ski areas closed, backcountry boney, ice thin, wet and scrappy....sigh.  I guess it is time to slog up a bump in a scenic part of the range and take pictures.  At least we didn't need snowshoes.  That would have added insult to injury.  Here are some views to tide you over until who knows when....... (I hope you like Whitechuck).

You'll get used to Whitechuck (captions are for photo above)

Pugh and phew, it's a long way up to this point of the ridge and the views.

It looks snowy in the upper Suiattle, but don't be fooled.

Tired of Whitechuck yet?

Dome

Sloan (L) and Misch(R), one is worth climbing and the other isn't.

Dakobed

You guessed it

Dakobed again....

The Suiattle River Road is still fixed, thankfully

 

Gear Notes:
boots and a sense of humor

Approach Notes:
Suiattle Road to the TH and start walking uphill!

[genepires]

did you need a telephoto lens to get some of those photos?  Seems like dome is pretty damn close but I thought dome was light years from anything else.

 

[JasonG]

2 hours ago, genepires said:

did you need a telephoto lens to get some of those photos?

Now you're figuring out my secrets @genepires!  Yes, 300mm in the case of that Dome photo (many of the others were in the 120mm range), plus a bit of cropping.  It helped that the air was quite clear, hiding my optical jiu jitsu. 

[dberdinka]

2004/2005 was a shit winter like this and access and climbing conditions in the mountains were sweet!  Pray for the Pineapple Express! (those of you who still engage in such shenanigans).

[JasonG]

1 hour ago, dberdinka said:

Pray for the Pineapple Express!

I agree!  If it is going to suck for skiing, make it really, really suck, since climbing and ski quality are almost perfectly inversely proportional. 

But that is my plan B.  Skiing powder is always my plan A.  Right now it is Plan C, which isn't nearly as grand.

[tanstaafl]

my current plan b is to spend next week skiing around SLC.  here's hoping for ten days of storms while I'm away.

[JasonG]

3 minutes ago, tanstaafl said:

my current plan b is to spend next week skiing around SLC

That sounds even better than Plan A!

[tanstaafl]

yeah, when I checked in with der Rat as to how he felt about me spending a boatload of cash on an Ikon Pass, he said would only approve if I visited my college roomie in SLC and skied there too.  (That guy really abuses his powers as head of the household.)  Now it looks like it might the only way to get my money's worth out of it!  Might even have to do a second trip in the spring.....

 

btw stellar photos as always, especially the Dome and Whitechuck shots.

Edited December 6, 2019 by tanstaafl

[curtveld]

Nice work Jason!  Good training value and more scenic than I would have guessed

[JasonG]

Thanks @curtveld!  It certainly did have better views that I was expecting and low enough to be a good option in the shoulder seasons.  You won't ever find it crowded!