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Fletcher Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Posts: 1870 | TRs | Pics Location: kirkland |
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Fletcher
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Wed May 18, 2022 4:21 pm
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Riley and I were looking for a new summit and hopefully some decent turns on Tuesday. The south facing gully that leads straight to the summit of Beauty seemed to fit the bill. After the long drive to the Robinson Creek TH, we weren't hiking until 9am under clearing skies.
No snow and only a few blowdown until the Beauty Creek junction, we began hitting annoyingly intermittent snow around 4600 ft but coverage didn't become good enough to skin until 5200 ft or so. It felt good to finally have the splitboards off our backs as we fairly quickly found a food snow bridge crossing to the east side of Beauty Creek at 5500 ft.
finally some views Beauty Creek snow bridge
Skinning conditions became increasingly difficult as the snow cooked in the sun. We pretty quickly determined that we should have gotten a much earlier start. It was getting sloppy up there! At 5800 ft, we began ascending more aggressively as we traversed towards the entranced to our gully at 6400. The entrance to the gully is very narrow and steep, which seemed sketchy given the sloppiness of the snow conditions but there looked to be a scramble bypass on the left. We decided to give it a shot.
Beauty Peak coming into view scramble bypass
Given the time of day and the sloppiness of the snow, I was beginning to doubt that we would summit. We scrambled up past the sketchy part of the gully and tested the quality of snow in the gully leading to the upper mountain. Sure enough, although a bit slushy, the snow supported some good kick steps. I yelled down to Riley that it was on!
the suffering begins
Our last 1200 ft of booting to the summit was a test of physical determination. Its been a pretty sedentary spring and I have let myself fall out of shape. We swapped leads, putting one foot in front of the other until topping out at exactly 4pm. Views of our excessive snowpack in the North Cascades were impressive. The summit of Beauty currently supports a massive cornice that we gave ample respect.
Riley working hard still working hard nearing the summit (Jake) Robinson Mountain Gardners to Tower featuring Silver Star and Big Kangaroo Monument and Lake with the Lago Group behind The Craggies and darker skies to the east
After a 20 minute break fighting a frigid wind on the summit, it was time for the highlight of the day, the 2000 ft ski back down to Beauty Creek! Turns werent amazing, but they werent terrible either. The ski conditions are hard to describe. Most of our run was on partially melted avy debris that was water-saturated and slushy enough to not be too choppy. We triggered many small and slow moving sluffs, but nothing that caused much concerned. We both felt comfortable skiing the lower section of the gully that we bypassed on the way up, just with care.
looking down the tight section of the gully looking back up our route
As the grade mellowed near the creek, the snow became unridable and we switched back to skins for the slushy slog back down to the trail. We were both thankful it was only a couple miles. Getting out of our skis and the slush was an immense relief and we cruised the final 4ish miles of trail back to the car, arriving around 8:30. Fun trip but I am really ready for more spring-like conditions!
evening light
~13.5 miles
~5300 ft of gain
~11 hrs 29 minutes c2c
pwrobinson, MangyMarmot, NWtrax, Gimpilator, Eric Gilbertson, ozzy, Nancyann, Bronco, ONELUV1, RichP, awilsondc, bubblehead, rubywrangler KascadeFlat
pwrobinson, MangyMarmot, NWtrax, Gimpilator, Eric Gilbertson, ozzy, Nancyann, Bronco, ONELUV1, RichP, awilsondc, bubblehead, rubywrangler KascadeFlat
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bubblehead Member
Joined: 17 May 2021 Posts: 8 | TRs | Pics
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Hell yeah dude. Just as expected, already looking forward to the next one! Great to be getting back after it with you!
Fletcher
Fletcher
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raising3hikers Member
Joined: 21 Sep 2007 Posts: 2343 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, Wa |
Way to fight through the tough conditions and make it happen. A hard slog in the mountains is better than a day at work
Eric Eames
Fletcher
Eric Eames
Fletcher
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Nancyann Member
Joined: 28 Jul 2013 Posts: 2314 | TRs | Pics Location: Sultan Basin |
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Nancyann
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Thu May 19, 2022 12:38 pm
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I always enjoy your videos, Fletcher. Agree that “You gotta get footage of the whole adventure”!
Fletcher
Fletcher
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zephyr aka friendly hiker
Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 3361 | TRs | Pics Location: West Seattle |
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zephyr
aka friendly hiker
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Thu May 19, 2022 2:13 pm
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I concur. The video was excellent--puts you right there. Loved the music. ~z
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Michael Lewis Taking a nap
Joined: 27 Apr 2009 Posts: 629 | TRs | Pics Location: Lynnwood, WA (for now) |
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