[MangyMarmot]

Oregon ski trip - Day 3 - Mount Bailey We had originally planned a big day for day 3. The sisters traverse. Unfortunately the weather was looking very warm and we had returned from Broken Top considerably later than expected so we changed plans to something much mellower. Reed and I headed out to Mount Bailey. It was a bit of a drive from Bend, where we were staying. On the way down, we admired a striking, snow covered peak, which we later learned was Mount Scott, and which we would end up skiing a couple of days later. We got off the highway at Diamond Lake, and started around the South side of the lake. We didn't get far before being stopped by a deep snow patch. We turned around and headed around the North side of the lake. There were snow patches here also, but we ended up making to the North-West corner of the lake. We left the car here and started of off on foot. We followed the road to the campground on the West side of the lake. There we left the road and headed West up the hill. There was barely enough snow to start skinning. We had to avoid dry patches, but we gained elevation quickly and the snow soon got deeper and more consistent. Soon we could see the mountain and the East ridge. Getting on to the ridge was tricky. slope was steep and our edges didn't bite into it well. The last few feet to get on the ridge was a bit steeper than the rest and sent us sliding down several times before we actually gained the ridge. Once on the ridge the going was much easier.

Heading up the ridge. Thielsen in the background.

Diamond Peak, Three Sisters, Broken Top and Bachelor.

The ridge led us straight up the mountain. Soon the views were opening up. Bailey has great views of Mt. Thielsen across Diamond Lake, as well as views of many other mountains to the North and South. It didn't take terribly long to get to the top. There we met a couple of skiers from Seattle who were just beginning their ski descent. We also found some tracks we originally thought were from snowmobiles, but we later found out that there i a cat skiing operation there. The summit was warm and pleasant and we had lots of daylight left, so we ate lunch and enjoyed the views for some time.

Summit

Scott

Thielsen

Finally we put on our skis and headed to the North East face. Snow conditions were really nice and we had a great run to the bottom. Then we descended through the forest. We were able to ski all the way to the road. Then a fairly short walk and we were at the car.

North East face with our turns.

At the bottom of the face.

Our turns can be seen from the lake.

Thielsen from the lake.

[Fletcher]

Damn Dave, those turns look sexy.