Aiken Lava Flow

[btowle]

Has anyone here ever skied up to timberline on the Aiken Lava flow which generally runs from the Smith Butte Snow Park (apparently closed this year) to the Lunch Counter?

 

Can this be skied on a normal snow year or do you need a lot of snow to cover the rocks?

[catbirdseat]

I did it in 1999 on snowshoes and wished I had had skis. This year you should be able to reach it on skis into May. Go for it. If you plan on climbing Adams, I suggest you camp on top of South Butte at ca. 8,000 ft. There are good views and it is far less windy than the lunch counter.

[btowle]

Thanks. We are planning to go this next Friday thru Monday. I was sure that I had seen a report somewhere of someone skiing the flow. Looking at it in summer, I wasn't sure if all of those rocks would be snow covered or not.

 

We were planning to go just to timberline or South Butte. Climbing isn't our first priority this trip, but we will see what happens.

[catbirdseat]

One of the things I remember about the Aiken Lava Bed is there were these rock "islands" sticking up through the snow with miniature gardens of alpine trees that to me resembled japanese gardens complete with bonsai trees. They were quite beautiful. I've got a picture of them somewhere.

[b-rock]

a buddy and i skied to lunch counter and back via the aiken flows a couple of years ago, i think in late april or early may? pretty much all of the rock was covered. good mellow ski. i've heard some stories though about limited coverage later in the year making it a real pain in the ass. smith butte snow park was snowed in then too adding an extra few miles to the approach.