bastard creek

[JoshK]

Yo. What's the brush bash up bachelor creek on the dome peak approach like? Am I crazy man for thinking I can pack skis through there? It's only at around 3500 feet so I'm thinking the brush is going to be pretty exposed by now.

[ski_photomatt]

It's not that bad (two summers ago). The trail is still pretty easy to follow when melted out. Lots of down logs which are probably the most annoying part. There is one stretch through a slide path or something that sucks. I dunno about packing skis in, depends on how bad you want to ski Dome. I'm personally waiting to ski it until the end of the ptarmigan traverse. The brush will be on the way out then, and I won't care at that point.

[JoshK]

Thanks for the info. It's not so much that I want to ski Dome (I plan on skiing the traverse as a whole also) but that I think I'll need flotation of some sort and skis are almost always less shitty than snowshoes, ya know?

[ski_photomatt]

Snow shoes suck ass

 

I forget what the elevation was really, but I bet the top part is snow covered. I do remember thinking it would really suck it we couldn't follow the trail. It was something like a narrow slot through the brush, that as long as we stayed on the trail we were ok, but venturing off would have been more difficult. I remember lots of meadows higher up too. Good luck.

[Szyjakowski]

contact the SKOOGs they go there a lot...

[klenke]

Josh,

 

I climbed Dome on September 1, 2002. Here is TR: Sergio's Dome Page

 

Regarding the brush in Bachelor Creek, I think its difficulty was overrated--at least for a late-summer climb (in May, the "growth" rate of the brush may make it more formidable but I don't know). From 6-mile camp at Downey Creek, the trail goes up through forest. There will be some overhead issues for skis in here but it's mostly easy travel. Eventually, you'll break out of the forest and begin winding up through brush not too far from the creek. This is the type of brush which is only encroaching from the sides, not overhead (for the most part anyway since there are always those brief spots where alder arches overhead).

 

Eventually, you'll near the creek and the trail will appear to wye--one way goes left into the forest and the other way goes right and drops down to the creek at a log crossing. We saw the brush across the creek and decided to take the left fork up into the forest. DO NOT GO THIS WAY (THAT IS "LEFT"). GO RIGHT DOWN TO THE CREEK. The forest is not bad but BW1 and 2 cross-country travel. Where as, if you go right, you'll cross the creek on a big log, find the trail on the other side amongst slide alder, and continue on the salmonberry-encroached trail all the way to the large avalanche disaster area higher up the valley. Right after crossing the log (and in a couple other short stretches), you will have some overhead issues for your skis in the big alder. But other than that, the trail is only overgrown from the sides.

 

The avalanche area is more or less just debris underfoot, not overhead. However, once you cross the debris area to the left side of the valley, there is some underforest bushwhacking (might be snow by this time, but pink tagging may also be visible) until you find the trail again. You could stay in the steep timber on the right side of the avalanche swath but this is really steep terrain and a little awkward for skis, probably. Albeit, if it is snow-covered up there, you could simply ascend the avalanche debris area directly up to its top.

 

Once atop that, you go right to Cub Lake Pass (no problems). No more problems for the skis on your pack. A steep meadow/snowfield then gets you down to Cub Lake and then another steep incline get you to Itswoot Ridge.

 

---Paul