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Kenji Member
Joined: 18 May 2010 Posts: 320 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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Kenji
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Tue May 03, 2022 12:28 pm
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I had been interested in skiing deeper onto Rampart Ridge and finally had a chance to try last Sunday. Jule was easily convinced of explanatory nature of this trip as she is always ready for a new adventure. We took Randy's short cut to the backdoor trail to Lake Lillian, which follows an old road shortly beyond the end of Gold Cr snow park turnaround. The road was still blocked by a short stretch of snow then clear until the trees.
The spar road still has a sign at the beginning and is shown in some old maps. Many fallen trees in the first half mile but nothing major and easy to navigate. It does not connect to the upper road, but a shortcut was quick and easy through spaced trees. Then just follow a gentle downhill to connect to the main access road across Rocky Run creek.
distance: 12.05mi range: 2549' to 5828' gross: +4425' -4427' leaving the summer TH
Reaching Lake Lillian was easier than we had thought. Staying higher helped with a short bridge over running water. On our return we went lower along the main drainage crisscrossing it over easy snow bridges.
The crux was a short but steep gully to gain the ridge above the lake. Fortunately the snow was supportive enough for steep skinning, nothing stops Jule anyway.
By now the sky was blue with clear views all around though the snow wasn't ideal for fun skiing. I joked it "liquid powder", up to 2' of pole penetration through recent wet snow.
liquid powder turn
We turned around at the sight of a Rampart lake. Then pretty much tracing back our up-track.
We took the main road all the way back to the car thinking it'd be quicker since no skinning required. However, it was so flat and slow, then challenging skiing over very wavy 2D moguls down followed by a looong stretch of walking paved road with ski boots. We decided following the ascent route would have been more pleasant even with some uphill. Overall, it was a fun day to explore a new winter scenery, but we are not so sure about a future re-visit...
Slim, rubywrangler, ALW Hiker, Fedor, day_hike_mike, BarbE, ozzy, El Puma, fairweather friend, wyattmullen, mbravenboer, Nancyann, Cyclopath, reststep, Tom, Randito, Silas, jaysway, zimmertr, abkoch3 GaliWalker, awilsondc KascadeFlat
Slim, rubywrangler, ALW Hiker, Fedor, day_hike_mike, BarbE, ozzy, El Puma, fairweather friend, wyattmullen, mbravenboer, Nancyann, Cyclopath, reststep, Tom, Randito, Silas, jaysway, zimmertr, abkoch3 GaliWalker, awilsondc KascadeFlat
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zephyr aka friendly hiker
Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 3370 | TRs | Pics Location: West Seattle |
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zephyr
aka friendly hiker
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Tue May 03, 2022 12:55 pm
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You gotta love this shot. So much going on here. Very nice. ~z
Roly Poly, GaliWalker
Roly Poly, GaliWalker
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KascadeFlat Member
Joined: 06 Jul 2020 Posts: 319 | TRs | Pics Location: Eating peanut M&Ms under my blue tarp |
Nice work! Looks like a beautiful day.
For a good time call: 1-800-SLD-ALDR.
For a good time call: 1-800-SLD-ALDR.
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puzzlr Mid Fork Rocks
Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 7220 | TRs | Pics Location: Stuck in the middle |
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
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Tue May 03, 2022 9:45 pm
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It's fun to see that area I know well with a thick blanket of snow. All the talus and cliffy walls look so soft and curvy. Great use of skis to get in here.
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Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9513 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
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Randito
Snarky Member
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Tue May 03, 2022 9:58 pm
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Good to hear that you explored that route successfully. Hamed, Will and I did quite a bit of trimming on the spar road this fall. When I toured up that way in February after the big storm in January there were many additional trees down. I might need to invest in some saws that can cut logs bigger than a foot in diameter.
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fairweather friend Member
Joined: 31 May 2012 Posts: 322 | TRs | Pics Location: Not so dispersed |
Great photography, as per usual!
awilsondc
awilsondc
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