[TR] CCR - HWY 20 - Isolation Traverse 06/26/2022

[kmfoerster]

Trip: CCR - HWY 20 - Isolation Traverse

Trip Date: 06/26/2022

Trip Report:

Catching up on TR's, which is unusual for me. I usually get them done the following week. I'll have another after this too. Life's been busy and I'm going out of town soon back to to the mother land. Anywho, @willgovus and I did the Isolation traverse over two days, 6/25 - 6/26, on what was the hottest weekend of the year so far I think. Not Much to say other than the views were killer and the skiing was okay. Will went up Eldo to ski the face down to the Tepeh Towers. I didn't feel the need since it felt like I was just there, even though it was 2019. Time is funny. I just Sat and had a snack and aired out my boots while I watched him go up the E ridge. The rap out of the Mcallister for us was about 5m tops. The snow was sloppiest on the S facing slopes on the traverse across the Marble Creek basin. So sloppy in fact I took a slip down a runnel and rode a bunch of wet snow until it oozed to a halt. I was okay, just shook up. That wet, reactive snow was actually short lived and from there northward the next day we just had to contend with  the pollen. The Ice Elation Couloir was great, after that was when the pollen started to get worse. It was just as bad as we had experienced on our 2018 Ptarmigan Traverse Ski. The snow remained sticky through the Neve and Colonial Glacier. We met with Julie on the trail down just after Pyramid lake. She had beer and snacks for us at the car while we drove back to get mine at the Eldo TH.

 

Gear Notes:
Skis

Approach Notes:
Eldorado TH, out Pyramid Lake

[JasonG]

Well done! That's a lot to cover in a couple days...

[olyclimber]

That third picture down!

[Trent]

Awesome! Looks like an adventure!

[jakedouglas]

Quote

The snow was sloppiest on the S facing slopes on the traverse across the Marble Creek basin. So sloppy in fact I took a slip down a runnel and rode a bunch of wet snow until it oozed to a halt. I was okay, just shook up.

Glad I'm not the only one! I also fell down a runnel in the same location on 7/13, narrowly missing a rocky moat. I was surprised to find myself uninjured given the length of the fall and going head over heels a few times. In retrospect we should have dropped lower for this section, and I should have pulled out my ice axe once we found ourselves in this dumb position, though I'm not sure it would have been able to hold the slip or arrest the fall given the nature of the snow.

I'm pretty paranoid about this kind of thing and have only experienced something similar either 0 or perhaps 1 times in 10+ years of mountain travel. Cheap wake-up call for me to stay diligent.