Alpental to Granite traverse-
Becky and I had plans to do the traverse from Snoqualmie Pass to Granite Mtn a few days ago when Saturday's forecast looked a bit sunnier, but we figured we might as well give it a go today despite the less than sunny weather.
One of these days we'll try the traverse with Kaleetan Peak thrown in, but we figured the extra 1600 vertical feet to get it would make the day long enough we'd be getting out after dark, so we opted for a slightly tamer route. From Alpental we skied over Bryant Col, down to Melakwa Lakes and then followed the Pratt River to about 3500ft. From there we climbed a divide and descended to Tuscohatchie Lake and began a long, mellow climb towards Granite Peak.
Visibility on the top of Granite was awful, but we had a gps track to follow and snow conditions were quite safe...so we gingerly skied down the south side in mostly whiteout conditions and then began to find much nicer snow and better viz once back in the trees. Eventually the open space between the trees changed to slide alder between the trees and the snowpack got thin enough that we racked our skis and hiked the remaining bit to the car via the hiking trail.
Fun tour, a good adventure...hopefully next time we'll have some views.
Becky and I had plans to do the traverse from Snoqualmie Pass to Granite Mtn a few days ago when Saturday's forecast looked a bit sunnier, but we figured we might as well give it a go today despite the less than sunny weather.
One of these days we'll try the traverse with Kaleetan Peak thrown in, but we figured the extra 1600 vertical feet to get it would make the day long enough we'd be getting out after dark, so we opted for a slightly tamer route. From Alpental we skied over Bryant Col, down to Melakwa Lakes and then followed the Pratt River to about 3500ft. From there we climbed a divide and descended to Tuscohatchie Lake and began a long, mellow climb towards Granite Peak.
Visibility on the top of Granite was awful, but we had a gps track to follow and snow conditions were quite safe...so we gingerly skied down the south side in mostly whiteout conditions and then began to find much nicer snow and better viz once back in the trees. Eventually the open space between the trees changed to slide alder between the trees and the snowpack got thin enough that we racked our skis and hiked the remaining bit to the car via the hiking trail.
Fun tour, a good adventure...hopefully next time we'll have some views.
