This sun is just too tempting. I had to get out for a second trip this weekend so off we went to the north Cascades! At first the trip was just myself and Beth but we were later joined by Suzanne, Jim, and Barry. Little did anyone, including myself, know what we were in for. We'd considered trying the ridge run between Welcome and Excelsior but with all the new snow and warm temperatures we quickly abandoned that idea. We also found the road to Welcome trailhead completely snowed in and had to park across the highway in a pull out.
Already the snow was soft at 9:45 as we started up. Slow going just on the road walk but thankfully it wasn't too steep. Before long we found our first obstacle: the creek / avalanche chute. We spaced ourselves out and crossed it quickly without incident. The next obstacle? Just finding the route after the road ended! Nobody had been up here for awhile so we had no tracks to follow. The trailhead log was snow covered and the last visitor was back in early February. My GPS aided a little but I only had spotty satellite coverage in the trees. We pushed upwards in the hopes of finding some sign of trail. As luck would have it we popped out right on a large switchback at the Wilderness marker sign. You'd think we knew what were doing!
Now on trail, and aided by some pink ribbons, we felt we were on track. The biggest obstacle now? Absolutely horrible snow conditions! Several feet of heavy, wet, unconsolidated goop. Each step we'd go knee deep and many times just slide backwards. Just lifting snowshoes out of each step, covered with this muck, was the most tiring part. We couldn't even make enough speed to run out of breath, just burn out of muscle energy. Even with the five of us trading trailbreak duty often progress was agonizingly slow. Poor Gusto was just floundering outside our packed trail. Absolutely the worst trailbreaking snow I've ever been through. We kept at it though pushing onwards and upwards before finally arriving at the pass 4 hours 15 minutes later!
We were pretty much at our turn around time now so all we could do was climb up onto the eastern ridge for a lunch spot with a view. And the views did not disappoint! Baker, Shuksan, Sefrit, Tomyhoi - everything. Temperatures were very pleasant with only a light wind. It was very tempting to continue on the ridge but we were out of time and had a slog of a descent to consider. Heartbreakingly short stay considering the effort we put in to get here. Everyone pushed to the limit but nobody gave up, especially Beth who showed me up by bringing her full digital SLR while I wimped out and brought my tiny pocket camera. On only her second snowshoe trip no less!
The descent was slippery but much more pleasant. We could sort of float down in the very soft goopy snow. We made it down to the road in about an hour. But we had one last big surprise waiting ahead! As we approached the chute things looked different. The whole thing had avalanched while we were on top! Giant balls of snow had scoured it down to bare dirt and scraped the sides clean. It's amazing we didn't hear it. This wasn't a dig-me-out-after-burial avalanche, it was the kind that would pummel one to bits. Thankfully we missed it but we still had to cross to get home. The slopes high above were not in the sun so we felt reasonably sure it wouldn't slide again. Still we crossed in groups and didn't hang around long.
BEFORE
AFTER
Now we just had a road slog in soft snow back to the cars. Slow walking but thankfully easier than the steep ascent earlier. Never were we so happy to see comfortable chairs! Sore muscles and knees gave no protest as we finally sat down. We bid goodbye to Jim, Barry, and Suzanne before having a nice dinner at Grahams and arriving back in Seattle after sunset. A full exploitation of the daylight!
Stats for the day:
Time: 7 hours 11 min
Miles: 5.76 miles
Elevation: 3800 ft gain
Miles/hour: 0.8
Gain/hour (ascent): 894 ft/hr
From my GPS tracks it looks like the steepest continuous stretch was from the end of the old road to the summit, gaining 2600 ft in just over a mile.
David - you weren't kidding when you said this was a real slog! The last time I did Welcome - we made it to the Pass in 1 1/2 hours! A little different yesterday. A few pics to add - but the main addition is the commentary on the avalanche scene - it was humbling! There were boulder-sized chunks that came down that chute. Still - it was a lovely day to be out - in short-sleeves, no less! If anyone does decide to head up that way, at least they have a nice trench in place.
Pull-out across from the start of the Welcome Pass trail
First opening for some views
Leaving the road for the summer trail
Sign in please . . . .
Last one to sign in was Feb. 15
Cruddy, heavy, wet snow
We find the summer trail
Name that thing . . . a light? an electric bird feeder?
Gus likes this new trail buddy! Another one of his victims
Dog-high snow
Up and up and up . . .
Looking west in the direction of Excelsior
Undisturbed snow at the Pass
Heading up the bump
Almost to the top
Barry on the Bump with Baker as a backdrop
Lunch Bunch - one of Gus' favorite parts of a hike! Welcome Pass - 04-05-09
Lunch with a view!
Gus and the Driver on the Bump above the Pass
Tracks in the snow
And then - the shocker for the day . . .
What happened to the trail?
Looking uphil to the head of the avalanche
Looking downhill at the chute
Barry climbing up the debris
Barry and Gus crossing the debris
Barry, Beth and David crossing avalanche chute
No April Fool's joke on this one!
No joke this time!
Eneventful return to the cars.
Crossing the berm back to the cars
Dog Gone (yawn!) - at the end of another hike . . .
Sure hope we didn't scare Beth away with our crazy adventure!
Wow glad you guys are ok! It reminds me of the trip up morning star. similar conditions and same thing happened to us. Avi took our our tracks up through the bowl. then we had some glassade/avi isusse too. wheew!
So glad you guys made in and out of the mountains. Spooky stuff to see the recent avi slide area that you know you have to recross to get back out.
It sure was wet gunky slop this past weekend. Didn't matter where you went - deep into the North Cascades or up by Stevens Pass. Thick wet slop to work with.
1) most difficult trail-breaking conditions I've ever encountered on snowshoes, at least for the poor sucker in front.
Not so bad for anyone behind!
2) the views from the top were fantastic
3) the up close and too personal view of the avalanche was awesome and sobering
It's true that Welcome doesn't mess around in the elevation gain department,
I can't imagine adding gloppy glue snow to the ascent. Well done!
It is an awfully pretty payoff view & the sunshine at the top must have been an added bonus.
Thanks for the post avi pictures, nature is really moving things around this Spring.
First, it’s a good reminder of how heavy and destructive wet snow can be. With rapidly warming temperatures right now (or any time), any slide can be very dangerous.
Second, just so no one will think the group was being unduly careless, this particular spot is a relatively controllable risk. It’s the runout gully that channels snow from slopes high above. Thus, one must be aware that the snow up above may be much deeper and looser than down low where the trail crosses. However, because the channel is only about 150 feet wide and one can see a fair distance above, one can cross it with due caution to move quickly and keep your eyes and ears open for any sight or sound of a slide. I’m not saying it’s risk free; just saying it’s possible to deal with it in a properly cautious way.
-------------- “As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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-------------- “As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
Ditto to what Matt wrote. The gully was quick to cross and we made the trip in pairs just in case. Even so looking at the scale of that slide was very intimidating.
The slide stopped maybe a hundred feet below where the trail crosses. Does anyone know if it's possible to bushwhack straight up/down along the west side of this gully from a lower point on the road?
wow that is what I call mother nature sending a shot across the bows, great shots of the avy debris and chute, what elevation and orientation was the trigger point?
wow that is what I call mother nature sending a shot across the bows, great shots of the avy debris and chute, what elevation and orientation was the trigger point?
South facing - probably around 3700' at the starting point. s.d.
Name that thing . . . a light? an electric bird feeder?
Just a guess.
You guys were less than 5 miles from Canada. The border patrol has vibration sensors placed along the border to detect anything moving across from one side to the other. That looks like a satellite uplink antenna, probably connected to a buried sensor nearby.
A sunny day after a week of big snow storms in the mountains. Avalanche danger was high. David and his friend Beth were heading up north to Welcome Pass and Suzanne, Barry, and I joined them. We were out of Seattle by 7:00 am. It's along drive to the north side of Mt. Baker. We met David and Beth at the Glacier Ranger Station just after 9:00 am. From there we drove east missing the start just as we did on our February 2006 snowshoe trip. That was a beautiful day and I was very ready to come back. The start is a plowed pull out on the south side of the road about 1/3 mile before the DOT maintenance facility. We turned around at the DOT facility and parked at 2000'. By 9:45 we were on our way.
Getting Ready To Go
The road to the summer trailhead was buried and hard to see from the road. Two steps was enough to know we needed snowshoes immediately. Many feet of snow fell the preceding week and it was deep, wet, and heavy. We sank in even though it was shady and cold. We walked the road to the summer trailhead and found the trail log. The last signing was in mid February. There were no snowshoe or ski tracks. I hoped we would have some tracks to help with route finding.
Soft Snow
Shuksan View
The summer trail begins as an old road. It's wide and climbs gently. Soon we came to the creek crossing. This is the crux of the trip in the winter. The creek gully drains the slopes high above. It's only about 100' across but in high avalanche danger times it can be dangerous. It was early and still pretty cold. We had no trouble getting across. A little more road walking and the route was suddenly filled with small trees. We could not see any trail heading uphill but chose to start climbing. Up to the end of the road we gained 900'. We still had 2300' to go in less than 1 1/2 miles.
Creek Pre Avalanche
The snow was not too bad on the road section. It was much worse as we climbed. Sink and slide back. Lift your leg high to get above the snow, sink, and slide. It was not possible to make much progress without constant lead changes. A few hundred feet up from the road we ran into the trail. Just to the left was the Wilderness Boundary sign. We were able to follow the trail for awhile but lost it again. The slope began to follow a defined ridge. It went from steep to very steep sections followed by just steep again. With the soft snow a fall would not have gone too far.
Starting Uphill
Wilderness Boundary
Time moved rapidly but our progress was glacial. The whole climb was in forest. This and the ridge minimized avalanche danger but afforded almost no views. At one point a few hundred feet below the ridge a small open spot afforded some views. That last few hundred feet was the worst. The snow was deeper and even less consolidated. Going straight up was nearly impossible in places and we mostly made short switchbacks. Even with blue sky showing through to highlight the ridge top just above us we had to slowly slog on. At long last we topped out just above 5200' Welcome Pass. It took us 4 1/4 hours to climb just over 3 miles. More than half that distance was on a smooth road. We were all beat.
Mt. Sefrit View
Suzanne Near Ridge
View Northwest Of Pass
We could see the pass and the ridge to the west. We could see north to Tomyhoi and peaks in Canada. We could not see to the south because of the wall of trees. We had to keep going to get the really good views. The last climb was short and steep. As we climbed Baker and Shuksan came into view. There was now a layer of high clouds turning the sky a light white. It did take away contrast to the mountains. Barry and Suzanne led the way up and David, Beth, and I followed. At the top of the bump on the ridge the views really improve. We added Goat, Ruth, Sefrit and others to the field of view.
Last Push To Ridge
High Point Ahead
Welcome Pass Below
Mt. Shuksan
Mt. Baker
Goat Mountain
Tomyhoi Peak
Northwest Again
Heading Back To Pass
We sat and ate and photographed the mountains all around us. On my earlier trip we continued up the ridge to the high point above Yellow Aster tarns. This time we lacked enough time. It was already past 2:30 when we headed down. The drop to the pass was fast and easy. The slog down the slope was a little slick and the snow broke away on some steps but it was much easier than the ascent. Barry and Suzanne were down to the road in just under one hour. Within 1:15 we were all down to there. Now it was just a road slog back to the car. Or so we thought.
David Descending
Barry and Suzanne took off again and I didn't expect to see them until at least the summer trailhead. As I approached the creek I caught up with them. Wait a minute, something did not look right. Hoy cow! The whole creek gully avalanched while we were up high. All the way up and all the way down! It was not a snow slide. It was a violent blow out. Hundreds of icy balls up to 3 or 4 feet in diameter filled the gully. The avalanche scoured much of the snow out. We saw bare ground where there had been 5 feet of snow. The ice ball pile formed a wall we had to climb over. It was scary to imagine the power of that avalanche. Scary and more than a little sobering.
Creek Post Avalanche
Barry Crossing Rubble
Looking Up Gully
Looking Down Gully
David & Beth Crossing
On the positive side, the avalanche originated high on the slope. One could cross it quickly if it was noticed mid way across. We also crossed early before the afternoon sun weakened the snow even more. We crossed quickly though it did not look like much snow was left above. After that it was just a snow slog back to the cars. We were all tired and glad to be back. It was a challenging day with some of the most difficult snow conditions I have snowshoed in. The views were every bit as good as I remembered. The trip down was easier than I had feared. It was an awful lot of work but it did make for quite and adventure.
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There were boulder-sized chunks that came down that chute. Still - it was a lovely day to be out - in short-sleeves, no less! If anyone does decide to head up that way, at least they have a nice trench in place. 
wheew!
although, for only being my second snow shoeing trip, i'm glad i made it to the hardest one you guys have climbed! geez, what luck!
