Bike rides

[bertvorgon]

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[bertvorgon]

and final

[gooned]

Never have got up there yet! Looks like the kids need to be waay older before we do a family hike up there
thanks for sharring Kieth

[bertvorgon]

SUN has finally come out up here in Vancouver, even warmer now.

Went for a ride, then washed the winter mud and slime off our bikes, the family shared dog, Teddy, was even glad to come out in the sun.

He commented that I should just leave the bikes out in the rain.....I told him to go play with a pine cone.....

[510rob]

wow, you really "framed" that shot well Keith

nice weekend, finally!

[bertvorgon]

Matt and I are heading into the "Great Silence" tomorrow, up into the mountains. I will post up some pictures, possibly going into an old area in the Cascades, where we used to hike years ago. Will have to see if the road is open...Has been closed for years, stupid Homeland security B%$&S$#T....

[bertvorgon]

KEEEE.....RACKKKKKK......BOOM......"RUN!!!!"

Two or three thousand feet above us, a snow cornice has broken away in the midday heat, and is now thundering down towards our general direction.

As the weather has finally turned nice, Matt and I decided to try to revisit an area that we hiked last about 14 years ago, and had hauled some of the early 510 Club members up to. After 9/11 the valley was shut down, both to Border concerns, and, it was used as a route for drug smuggling, at least by helicopter. I have hiked up there since 1969, up to the 5,000 foot level, where there is a huge old gold mine, mined from the 20's to the start of WW2. It is actually across the U.S. Border, with the trail crossing back into the States at about the 4,000 foot level. As this is the backside of the Cascade Mountain range, it gets up to 20 feet of snow on these peaks. Originally it was just a horse trail up to the mine, then in the mid 60's it was logged a bit up the side hill, so we walked an old logging road, then hooked into the old horse trail, again right at the crossing into the U.S.. Then, over the years, nature took back the logging road, turning it into a nightmare bushwack till we got to the horse trail.
For early spring hikes, we traditionally just do what we call a "base" hike, just to the start of the real up- hill climb. There is usually snow at the bottom, as the base is around 2,800 feet, and, at the start of the climb, it is at the bottom of about 3 snow chutes, where the giant avalanches come to rest. In the past years, what with our changing weather, we have seen massive slides come down, one was estimated to be traveling at well over 100 MPH, with a wind in front of it that blew down trees on the other side of Slesse Creek. This year was no different in terms of snow, and Matt and I are always mindful when we are at the bottom of the snow chutes.

When we got to the gate for the valley, it was indeed open, so off we went for some 8Km, till we had to park and begin the hike, about 5 Km from the base. The logging road is gone now, amazing, only some vestiges in the trees, which at least made walking easier. After 45 minutes we came upon the wreckage of a huge slide that must have happened years ago, the whole forest wiped out, and the trail/road obliterated. This was a bit of a work out, scrambling up and over this stuff. We now had our first real glimpse of the mountain peaks, RED MOUNTAIN ( where the gold mine is), Canadian Border Peak, and on the other side, Mt. Slesse, all covered in pure white snow and ice. Red Mountain as at one side of a huge hanging valley, which is why the snow slides are so awesome in their power, the drop being totally vertical for over 2,000 feet.

After another 45 minutes we came to the final creek crossing, having to jump over it, then encountering snow through the trees. This made walking really hard, so by now the temperature had gone up and the hard crust had softened. I stupidly did not bring my gaiters, so the tops of my socks started to get wet. With no trail to follow any more, we worked our way up through the trees, trying to get our bearings as to the old route. We stayed close to the edge of the trees, again thinking about what is above us. Finally we got out into the open, just at the bottom of this year's massive avalanche. The snow is HARD at that point, even in the noon sun. I would estimate the bottom parts of the snow slide here was 50-75 feet deep, with easily 100 up higher. We walked maybe 100 feet up onto the snow, snapped some pictures, then proceeded back into the trees to grab a snack before hiking out. we had our bearings, so we took a slightly different route down, hoping to see if there was any flagging left from when we last marked the trail, back in the 90's...nothing.
We got back to the creek crossing, with Matt jumping across first, then, as I was in mid air, we both heard this huge KEEEE....RACKKKKK....BOOM......I landed...then we heard this train like noise, and we both knew in an instant that something big had let go above, and was roaring down the valley. Now, where the creek crossing is, is just at the edge of the "blast" zone from avalanches long ago, but, with no idea HOW BIG the one was that was heading down towards us, he just screamed "RUN!!!" My ole' 63 year old legs turned into L20 pistons with 20 PSI boost behind them, launching me back across the creek, hitting the other side at a dead run, as we sprinted into the trees. The roaring got louder, and we could tell it was a big one, but, had no real sense of where EXACTLY it was heading. After about 5 minutes, the noise started to subside, and just through the tree edge, we could see the bottom of the avalanche, settling down much further away than we thought. That was scary, I don't mind saying. We waited another 10 minutes before crossing back over the creek, and heading back down the trail. With the heat of the day building, you never know when another will fracture off in an instant.

We traversed the section below the valley very quickly, getting out of the "zone". While I'm sure the worst of the winter avalanches are done, that is the biggest I have seen come down this late in the season. Just a reminder that you can never be too careful out there.

Two hours later, we were back at the Tracker, soaking up some much needed sun, and nice 10Km hike under our belts, and some truly fantastic mountain scenery taken in.

[bertvorgon]

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THIS IS THE FACE AND BOWL THE SNOW BUILDS UP IN...AND THEN...GRAVITY TAKES OVER..

LOOK OUT BELOW!

[proflex]

My dad used to take my older brother trout fishing up that valley back in the late 60s. I’m sure they never went as far as you did on your hike today thought. Pocket Lake is west of the area you were in right? I Google mapped Pocket Lake and then set it to Google Earth view, gives a good view of the road in and the bowl at the end of the valley. This reminds me that we have many hidden treasures in our own back yards. Thanks for the read Keith.

[bertvorgon]

Morning World,

Chad, Pocket Lake is VERY west, and south of Mt. Baker, on the U.S. side, a long ways from this area.

There is a Pearce Lake, the next valley over, to the east. It is a sub-alpine lake, with a very steep climb up to it, really pretty.

Yah, I doubt very much you came up this far, the road was dead ended a ways back for anything other than a true 4 x 4.

We are so lucky to have all this so close to us, 1.5 hour drive, 2 hour hike and we are away from it all.

That's also why people get themselves in trouble, they forget that this is the true back country, and help is a long ways away....and that is only if you left instructions as to where you are going. We always leave very good plans with my wife, with a return time that we stick to.