In June at 45 degrees North latitude civil twilight starts before 5:00 AM. We woke up at 2:00 AM for this one. Ty picked me up at 3 and it was raining. As we drove south through the valley a ghostly light illuminated low clouds on the western flanks of the hills.l Ariving at our destination behind schedule we were miffed by the lack of plowed roads and by our measly wild life count: 3 elk, 1 black bear and cub. Locating the pulloff under 6 inches of snow cost us more time and we left the car knowing that we were racing the sun for what could be the last powder 'till next year. We bushwacked up to the East Ridge where we harvested the last of the powder. By the time we skinned across the East flank and traversed the saddle to the South the snow in the burnt forest had been thickened by sun and rising temps. We continued to the East Col of Doane knowing that wet slides were inevitable. Our accent was stopped by a steep craggy section on the E. ridge that could only be bypassed non-technically via the 45 degree S. face wich was a sure wet slide death trap given the new snow and baking sun. Fortunately, we were able to ski an asthetic steep line which faced North and had ample safe spots to dodge the sliding snow. My first few turns were in the 50 degree range with thick sticky snow that behaved as expected. After admiring our tracks we headed North up the South ridge of Topnotch. From the summit it was clear that we could not access the North face, our initial objective, so we skied West, then North back to our auto.
that was a special day and some of my favorite ski photos. at the end of the day putting the skis in the car on the pass, i felt like one of the wild animals, there for the tourons to gawk at....more people should leave the road in that park to behold its wonders for real. it was our thought while driving out that if the tourists were to summit those peaks and wisp down that they would reevaluate their lives.
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