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naturealbeing Member
Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Posts: 1565 | TRs | Pics Location: Great Mystery |
With a short notice, day, and trip, three intrepid souls journeyed to the meager hill known as Calamity Hill/ AKA The Eaglet. You might be asking, who on Earth would make such an epic quest to experience the sacredness of this special place, so glad you asked, that would be Steve F., Donny, and yours truly. This would be my second time up and I was looking for those elusive views that are cloaked behind clouds, fog, and falling moisture in the great NW. Hyped by the forecast of 0% chance of rain and 50% cloud cover it seemed that luck would shine on us. Last time Jeff R. and I had the pleasure of witnessing the color of fog gray within our 50 yard bubble.
Stopped by a 4' high snow berm on the road to Heather Lake TH, we had to back up a couple hundred yards to a safe pull off area. Once geared up we hit the hard packed/ tracked out snow with Steve & Donny wearing snowshoes and myself booting it. It was probably an 1/8th-1/4 of a mile to reach the TH (1,400'). At 2,000' I put on my snowshoes and we all headed off trail into the mystery before us. As we progressed along the ridge I was reminded where all of the elevation is on this trip, right in front of me. Sometimes trees and bushes were friendly enough to lend a branch or trunk in exchange for my CO2. I was glad to assist as I was well aware that they were also sharing with me the oxygen they were creating. The snow was firm and easy to travel on, traction bars on the snowshoes bit well and provided a good purchase on the steeper sections. As we continued we were witness to many slides from 3-4' high that ran from 50 yards to 75 yards.
Once at the open ridge it all became clear that a mixed bag of clouds, fog, mist, and partial sunshine muted by fog was going to be the weather served for the day. The steep snow covered rock faces that surrounded Heather Lake and Lake 22 where impressive, huge fans of avalanche debris skirted the lakes, fracture lines created by the parting slab releases looked like sinister smiles created by Mother Nature on a mean streak. The virgin snow scape ridge held the imprints of the winged ones dances, the four legged ones scurrying from one place to another, and the ever changing shadows created by the sun and clouds doing their dance across the sky. The trees were cloaked in a layer of fresh frost that winked at times from the sun sending a reminder of it's presence. On days like this it's hard not to come up with some interesting photographic images, and this was the norm for the day.
I know, your probably saying to yourself, yeah yeah yeah, now wheres the pictures? Are we on the same page here? Ok Ok! but first I'd like to say that there has been a good deal of people making their way up here in the past couple of years and their reports can be experienced as follows:
John Roper and party 11.28.04.
My past report 3.26.06.
Fred Beavon 4.18.06.
Justus S. 2.8.07.
Stefan 1.15.08.
Eaglet Peak Summit, 2.14.08. Frosty Tree Family, it appears that the younger trees are heading down slope for some unknown reason. Hummm!t, 2.14.08. Fog Frost Snow Treest, 2.14.08. Snow Drift Ridge , 2.14.08. Big Four 2.14.08. Hall & Marble Peaks 2.14.08. Vesper Peak 2.14.08. Snow Covered Peaks, 2.14.08. Avalanche Debris Heather Lake, 2.14.08. Trees Slogging To Summit, 2.14.08. Summit Of Mt. Pilchuck , 2.14.08. Nearing Eaglet Summit, 2.14.08. Snow & Shadows, 2.14.08. Snowy Ridge , 2.14.08. Snowy Shadowed Ridge, 2.14.08. Steve & Donny, 2.14.08.
Pano between Lake 22 to Heather Lake with the summit lookout of Mt. Pilchuck on the upper right hand side.
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Tom Admin
Joined: 15 Dec 2001 Posts: 17851 | TRs | Pics
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Tom
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Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:44 pm
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Nice pics. Wow, those fracture lines are nuts.
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Matt Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
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Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:01 pm
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Nice photos, both along the ridge and of surrounding peaks.
Those fracture lines on Pilchuck sure are impressive. Wonder how deep those slab breaks are.
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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the Zachster Member
Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 4776 | TRs | Pics Location: dog training |
"May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am"
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naturealbeing Member
Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Posts: 1565 | TRs | Pics Location: Great Mystery |
Tom, Matt, and TZ, I'm glad that I was able to stimulate your cerebral cortex in a visual way that was pleasing to you. As far as the fracture lines on the N face of Pilchuck; in the past 12 years that I've been going up there I've never seen anything like it. What I've seen in the past, has been cornices and rocks breaking away creating small slides. It would be interesting to get up there for a closer inspection. My best guess at how deep those slab breaks are would be at least 2-4'. Those few fractures in the image titled "Summit Of Mt. Pilchuck" were just samples of what was peppered all across the N facing slopes. Quite a site to see in real life.
BTW, I should add a word of caution for anyone going up to Lake 22 or Heather Lake, while we were at the summit of Eaglet we witnessed a slide on the Lake 22 side. I would say going around the lakes would be putting oneself in a potential high risk area. Lets read a report about your trip to these areas and not a report on how you were brought back down from a mishaps.
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weathercrazy Member
Joined: 09 Dec 2006 Posts: 59 | TRs | Pics Location: Vancouver, Washington |
Some of the best photos I have seen! I especially like the mountain/cloud views.
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SteveF Member
Joined: 10 Oct 2007 Posts: 5 | TRs | Pics Location: Mystery Lane |
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SteveF
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Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:05 pm
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DonK-RichardB-Eaglet summit-2-14-08 RichardB-Valentine-Eaglet summit-2-14-08 DonK-Valentine-Eaglet summit-2-14-08 Pilchuck-from Eaglet-2-14-08 Saddle between Lake 22 & Heather Lake-from Eaglet-2-14-08
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wildernessed viewbagger
Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 9275 | TRs | Pics Location: Wenatchee |
Nb, more great pics. Thanks !
Living in the Anthropocene
Living in the Anthropocene
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Tazz Member
Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 7902 | TRs | Pics
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Tazz
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Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:15 pm
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NB you rock! Thanks for the great images! Wish I was there. hmmm maybe soon...
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goats gone wild Mr. Goat
Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 2524 | TRs | Pics Location: Vampireville |
.....leaving me wanting to return over and over in what ever capacity that may be, even if one day my knees are too old and I can only see the mountains from my porch.
Jason Hummel
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Gabigabs Trail Breaker
Joined: 07 Nov 2007 Posts: 841 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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Gabigabs
Trail Breaker
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Sun Feb 17, 2008 5:12 pm
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Amazing photos. What a great day to be ouut there.
Life is simple... Eat, Sleep, Hike!
Life is simple... Eat, Sleep, Hike!
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Sabahsboy Member
Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Posts: 2484 | TRs | Pics Location: SW Sno County |
Remarkable! Love the shot of Big Four and the shot of Hall and Marble. Vesper is amazing.... That north face view of Pilchuck....sensational! The place looks like "avy central"! Any photos of Three Fingers?
Thanks for the TR and the shared photos. Inspiring....though daring!
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naturealbeing Member
Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Posts: 1565 | TRs | Pics Location: Great Mystery |
weathercrazy, I'm not washing your car, He He He! glad you enjoyed the pics.
SteveF, Thanks for adding some pics, now has the cat got your tongue?
wildernessed, Your welcome!
Tazz, I know, you bet, I do to.
GGW, If you want you can use the frames for any of your shots, there sized for a 800 x 600 image, just copy and paste, there you go.
Gabigabs, Thanks! Agreeded!
Sabahsboy, You're such a word wizard, you never cease to amaze me with the way you weave words. No shots of Three Fingers. That part of the sky held all of the mountains in the clouds all day. Once or twice it looked like Three Fingers was about to appear then all of a sudden more clouds mysteriously appeared. I think I'm going to fire the scene manager on that set.
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cartman Member
Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 2800 | TRs | Pics Location: Fremont |
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cartman
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Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:24 pm
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Great pics, nb. Especially like the one of Big Four.
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Schroder Member
Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 6716 | TRs | Pics Location: on the beach |
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Schroder
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Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:54 am
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Could you post your Pilchuck fracture line photo at nwac.sew@noaa.gov? The NW Avalanche Center would appreciate it.
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