Solo Up the Palmer

The forecast promised a clear sunny day.   My backcountry buddies, Young and John, decided to ski up Mt. St. Helens and invited me to join them.  Although summitting MSH has been on my bucket list, I was battling a very sore hamstring.  Not wanting to be out in the wilderness should something go awry, I reluctantly declined.


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Timberline Lodge view behind me

But the itch to get out and ski somewhere was nagging me.  I needed some sort of tour to satisfy my backcountry craving.

The sun tries to break through clouds

Luckily, there is always the Palmer Lift at Timberline Ski Area.  Closed in the winter due to severe weather, the Palmer is only operated for spring and summer skiing.  But uphill travel is allowed on its slopes anytime.  Due to the close proximity of the resort, it's a safe place for solo backcountry skiers.

Not sure what this tiny building is

I'd never before tried backcountry skiing by myself, so was a little bit nervous as I gathered my skis and backpack in the parking lot.  A huge class of Mazamas mountain-climbers-in-training were just heading up, and with their ropes, ice axes, and huge backpacks, were a bit intimidating.

Hood begins to emerge from the clouds

But I managed to find the snowcat road adjacent to the lodge, and after securing my climbing skins, and donning my backpack, began to climb.  Although sunshine was predicted, the skies were cloaked in thick, white clouds.  A bright, fuzzy, round sun struggled to burn through the foggy layers.

Snow covered Silcox Hut

My ascent was turtle-slow.  I'd done a long training run the day before and my body was still tired (and my hamstring unhappy) from the exertions.  But I was also distracted by a small grove of snow-crusted trees adjacent to the cat road.  The icy white patterns on the branches were most picturesque.  Lots of good photo ops.  (In truth, this delayed me more than my worn out legs.)

Mountain climbers in training

As I ascended the lower slopes, the sky began to lighten.  The shape of Mt. Hood's summit started to emerge from the clouds.  By the time I reached the top of the Magic Mile lift, my favorite mountain was in full view.

Follow the tracks

Ah....looking back downslope, the adjacent forests and mountains began to appear.  That sunny day I was promised might just happen after all!

Ice crusted lift cables

The path to the top of the Magic Mile lift gains approximately 1000 feet in elevation over a mile.  Not super-steep, I covered the distance without too much trouble.  However, the ascent from the Mile to the top of the Palmer was much steeper, gaining 1500 feet in a slightly shorter distance.  After a quick snack and photo session near the Silcox Hut, I gathered my strength for the tough climb ahead.

Ahhh.....nice groomed track

The good news - I discovered a wonderfully groomed track cut into the snow leading to the top of Palmer.  Yippee - no breaking trail!  The bad news - once I started up the steep black diamond slope, my body was not happy at all.  Legs and lungs screamed, my breathing became labored gasps for air, and my heart hammered in my chest.  The higher I climbed, the more frequent the rest stops became. 

Mt. Jefferson makes an appearance on the horizon

Luckily, the sky was mostly clear, providing excuses to take lots of scenery-capturing photo breaks.

Maintenance Man trying to knock ice off the tower

My groomed track paralleled the Palmer lift.  Still recovering from a recent storm, the cables and towers were coated in a white, icy crust.  About halfway up, I noticed some activity at one of the towers.  A maintenance guy had climbed to it's top and was attempting to knock the ice off.  An interesting sight, it didn't take much convincing to take a break and watch.



Ice removal from the lift cables



After all the ice had been removed from the pulleys on top, the maintenance guy climbed down, and was joined by another man in a snowcat.  They attached a long rope to one section of the lift's icy cable.  The other end of this rope was then tied to the snowcat.  Once everything was secure, one of the men jumped into the snowcat and drove it downhill.  As the rope traveled along the cable, snow and ice sheared off.  In no time at all the cable was clear, and the men had moved on to the next section.  For a skier slogging up the steep slope, watching this show was a welcome distraction.

Gettin' passed yet again....

I wasn't the only person crazy enough to ski uphill that day.  Chugging up this second section, I was passed by a couple dozen skiers.  Almost all of them were young and male, so I didn't feel too bad.  Then an older gentleman slid by me (he appeared to be in his 70s).  Then I started to feel like a wimp.  Looking back down the hill I realized I was now the last skier. 

Timberline's snowcat - the cheaters way to the top

Oh the last quarter mile was so hard!  I was dead tired, my heart kept trying to leap out of my chest, and it appeared the top of the lift would never come.  It got so bad I made myself count to 20 before I'd allow a rest stop.  I even briefly considered taking off my skins before reaching the top and just skiing back down.

View from the top of Palmer

But finally, finally, I climbed the final pitch to the top lift station.  What a sight for sore eyes!  The first order of business - find a spot to sit and have some lunch.

Clouds coming back in as I ski down

There were a few people sitting around by the snow-covered lift house.  I spotted a couple ski patrollers having their lunch, so I sat down nearby.  I wondered why the ski patrol was way up here when the lift wasn't running. 

Snow begins to fall near the top of the Mile

Then I made a discovery.  Timberline was using one of their snowcats to shuttle skiers up to the top of the Palmer.  I watched a bright red snowcat lumber up the slope.  Once stopped, a dozen snowriders got out.  The ski patrollers were assisting the people riding the snowcat. 

I was kind of disappointed.  Here I'd climbed all the way to the highest lift under my own power, and was looking forward to skiing pristine snow.  I'd earned the right to ski this.  But now I'd have to share the slope with people who took the easy way up.

The snowcat makes another trip uphill

Some lunch in my belly mellowed me out a bit.  There really was enough snow to go 'round.  And the nice groomed run wasn't very tracked up yet.  So I packed up my lunch, took off my skins and prepared to enjoy my reward.  Downhill travel, here I come!

Timberline Lodge in the snow

As I began my descent, I noticed the sunny skies had disappeared.  They'd been replaced by heavy clouds, that began to spit fat snowflakes.  Halfway down the snow began to fall in earnest.  At the bottom of the Palmer, I looked back up slope, and discovered visibility was deteriorating.  I could only see about halfway up the lift now.  I'd enjoyed a sunny trip up and sunshine while on top - my timing had been good.

I reached the Timberline Lodge with tired legs, but a smiling face.  I'd successfully completed a trip up the Palmer all by myself!  A huge confidence booster for sure.

Now to go home and ice that cranky hamstring.....

Blossoms and Rhodies

While Mt. Hood is still wintry white, down in Portland spring has arrived with full force.  The plants in my yard, sporting green leaves most of the year, have erupted into blossoms of lovely color.  Last week after work, I grabbed my camera and captured some of the beauty.


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My little rhododendron plant is one of the first to bloom.  I just love it's delicate pink flowers.

There's a flowering pear tree in our front yard.  Usually it doesn't bloom until later in April.  But last week it was covered in frilly white blossoms.

Gettin' up close and personal with my little rhody bush.

Our next door neighbors have the most amazing yard.  It's landscaped with many varieties of flowering trees and shrubs.  This tulip tree towers over the fence between our backyards.  Which is wonderful - I can see it out my kitchen window.  Such a pretty sight!

Some just-opened blossoms on one of our backyard cherry trees.

And, once again, here's my favorite rhody.

None of these flowers last very long.  Already, a week later, most of the blossoms have blown off our pear tree.  And the flowers on my little pink rhody bush are starting to wilt.  I'm thankful for my photography hobby which allows me to preserve these wonderful sights before they're gone until next year.


Linking to:  Sunny Simple Sunday.

Second Day of Spring?

Flowers and trees might be be blooming down in Portland, but up on Mt. Hood the second day of spring brought a giant snowstorm.  Can you say powder day?


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Dumping snow

Lucky me, the storm just happened to coincide with my last ski bus Thursday.  An entire day of fresh tracks on new fallen snow?  I was so happy I could hardly stand it. 

There was even a lift line on Thursday!

This season on Hood, powder days have been few and far between.  So a huge snowstorm brought the snowriders out in droves.  We actually had lift lines on a weekday!  That never happens.

Kathy makin' powder turns

But the snow dumped and the wind blew all day, assuring fresh tracks for everyone.  I teamed up with my friend Kathy.  She skied the blue runs, while I ducked down every bowl off of Express.  And then went back for seconds.  And then thirds.  Oh it was awesome!

A shot of Four Bowl for my friend Dean

Kathy's husband Dean, a good ski buddy of mine, was stuck at work.  The best run of the day was found at Four Bowl, our favorite trail.  To be sure he didn't totally miss out, I took a photo of the trail sign.  I later emailed it to Dean, telling him "Four Bowl missed you today."  (I'm such a brat!)

Frosty smiles

Ahhh.....charging down steep slopes of dry, fluffy snow with powder spraying my face.  There's no better way to celebrate spring.


(I'm sharing today's post with the 52 Photos Project.  This week's subject - my favorite place.  You can no doubt guess where my favorite place is - up on the mountain skiing in fresh pow!) 

St. Patty's Weekend at Mt. Bachelor

As you can tell by this post's title, I'm waaayyy behind in my blogging!  Yes, I'm still back at St. Patrick's Day....... Hopefully no one minds revisiting the past.

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Everyone's ready to ski!

My good friend Kim owns a vacation home in Sunriver, a resort town just south of Bend.  She was nice enough to invite me to stay with her family for some skiing over St. Patrick's Day weekend.  Yep - if it involves skiing, I'm there!

Friday morning, I drove solo from Portland, planning to head straight to Mt. Bachelor.  My goal was to get up really early and complete the 4 hour drive in time for the 9 am lift opening.  Well....I overslept and missed that by about an hour and a half.  But after crossing over the mountains, the clouds and rain disappeared.  On the road just west of Bend, I glimpsed snow-capped mountains rising up to a clear blue sky.  Sunny day on the mountain?  Yippee!  Excited to ski in the sun, I put the hammer down.  (Good thing there weren't any cops around!)

Frost-tinged trees

I arrived to a beautiful sunshiny day on Mt. Bachelor.  Excited, I grabbed my telemark skis and headed for the lift.  My arrival was timed perfectly - the sun's rays had just begun to soften the icy snow.

It was a blissful day.  The snow was soft and silky smooth.  The sun warm and bright.  I made dozens of perfect tele turns as I traveled down the mountain.  Ahhh....my edges cut the snow like butter.  On the lift rides up I chilled out, enjoying the warmth and beautiful scenery.  I made the mistake of leaving my camera in the car, so there are no photos to document this wonderful day.  But sometimes it's nice to just concentrate on skiing.

Kim comes flying down the slope!

I skied through lunch and well into the afternoon, before my legs finally let me know they'd had enough.  So I packed up and headed down the mountain to Kim's fabulous house.  After a hot shower, and good dinner with lots of wine, I drug my tired body into bed and slept like a rock.

Deschutes Brewery had an interesting vehicle

What a difference a day makes!  The weather report predicted changes in store for Saturday.  A big storm was heading in, dropping both temperatures and precip.  After a warm blue-sky Friday, it was a huge shock to arrive back at Bachelor to overcast skies and cold wind.

Kim dancin' to the music

Kim and I were joined by Tamie (aka "the Unknown Celebrity Skier") and her husband John.  We donned our skis and bundled up against the chilly weather.  The wind was roaring as we rode the lift to the top.

Yesterday's wonderful soft snow was now frozen hard as a rock.  Although we stuck to the groomers, it didn't take long for the snow to be skied off, revealing slippery ice below. 

Other folks were REALLY getting into it!

Such a disappointment!  The snow was lousy, the weather cold and miserable, the visibility nil on the top half of the mountain.  And it that wasn't enough, every lift we got on, seemed to stop at least once.  By early afternoon, and after the chair we were riding stopped for the third time since we'd boarded it, Kim declared she was done.  She was heading to the lodge for some liquid refreshment.  Battling sore quads and general fatigue from yesterday's ski-a-thon, I was easily persuaded to join her.

I meet a leprechaun

In honor of St. Patty's Day, Mt. Bachelor partnered with the Deschutes Brewery to provide patrons an outdoor beer garden.  The brewery had brought up a cute little wooden trailer, shaped like a beer keg.  Loud hip-hop music blared from speakers, and a guy dressed as a leprechaun danced around with some very inebriated young people.  Kim and I clutched our cold beers with ski gloves and huddled around an outdoor fireplace.  Not exactly a great day for enjoying cold beverages outside!

By the end of the day it was dumping snow

By now the predicted snow was dumping down in buckets.   Although the white stuff was beginning to accumulate, after two days of skiing my body was toast.  So I sat back, enjoyed my beer, and watched the snow fall.  All in all, not a bad way to spend St. Patty's Day weekend.

Rainy day at T-Line

Well, the day started out sunny.  For a whole 10 minutes.

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Evidence of early sunshine

Wanting to get back on the wagon after my scary backcountry skiing fall, I convinced friends John and Young to join me for a quick trip up the side of Mt. Hood.  I hoped this non-threatening destination - the cat track paralleling the Magic Mile and Palmer Lifts at Timberline ski area - would restore my confidence.  Although a fairly steep slog, close proximity to the resort made this a safe "backcountry" tour.

Young and John sloggin' up the slope

Gearing up in the parking lot, we were treated to a sunny view of Mt. Hood's lower portions.  But the entire top of the mountain was cloaked in thick clouds.  That should've been our first clue.

Surrounded by a sea of white (photo by Young)

No matter, my companions and I were happy to be doing some climbing on this fine day.  As Young and I began our journey, we both laughed at our fascination with skiing UP mountains.  As Young put it: "all our friends think we're crazy!"

Hooray!  Almost to the top of the Mile!

Although a tiring slog, skiing uphill is a great cardio workout.  Plus, there's always fantastic scenery to take in on the way up.  Way better than a treadmill.

The temperatures were mild that day, and I thought we'd be shedding layers quickly.  However, cresting the first rise, my party was greeted by a strong blast of wind.  Instantly chilled, instead of taking off layers, the jacket hood got pulled over my head in an attempt to stay warm.

Above the Mile, our world turned white

We quickly climbed 1000 feet to the top of the Magic Mile lift.  Although a worthy goal, John wanted to continue another 1800 feet up to the top of the Palmer lift.  But the clouds that had enveloped Hood's summit when we started out had now descended to below the lift's midway point.  I doubted there'd be any visibility in that fog bank.

John is ready to go up again

As suspected, we didn't travel very far before the entire world turned white.  A cloudy mist cloaked everything.  Not being able to see, John made the decision to head back down.



An ever enthusiastic Young


We spent nearly two hours climbing to our turnaround point.  It took all of fifteen minutes to ski back down.  Although a little shaky starting out, I got in a groove, and made some excellent tele turns - with no falls.  It felt good to swoosh down the slopes with confidence!

Nearing noon when we reached bottom, John spotted a perfect lunch spot in a small grove of trees.  Famished, my friends and I took shelter amongst their branches, and inhaled our food.

Getting passed by the snowcat

The day still young, my friends and I contemplated a return trip up the mountain.  (It was too early to hit the bar, after all.)  Although the weather seemed to be worsening, John figured we could at least reach the top of the Mile.  So the climbing skins went back on our skis, and we hit the cat track for another try.

Mist begins to drench us

The wind had definitely picked up.  And the clouds were much lower than before.  It wasn't long before I noticed my gloves were getting wet.  And my goggles....my coat....the top of Young's helmet...all were collecting water droplets.  Ugh!  The clouds were soggy masses of light mist.  And they were leaving their precip on us.

John had high hopes of trying to reach the top of Palmer the second time around.  But we barely got to the Magic Mile's unloading station before deciding to bail.  The wind was howling, and the light mist turning into fat raindrops.

Water droplets collect on Young's helmet

Tearing off our skins in the wind and driving rain was no fun.  And the ski down was miserable.  The windy wet weather required many stops to wipe moisture off our goggles.  Our gloves and outer layers became completely soaked.  I was never so happy to reach John's truck and peel off my wet gear.

But all was forgotten once I reached the bar and had a frosty beer in my hands.  The wet misery was replaced by a glowing feeling of accomplishment.  I'd survived a ski tour without any mishaps.  If nothing else, this quick, rainy trip restored my backcountry skiing mojo.

Tangerine Dreams

I was working on yet another skiing post, when I saw this week's 52 Photos Project meme - "tangerine."  With all the flowering plants popping out here in Portland, I thought this would be an easy assignment.  The skiing post got put on hold in favor of finding a suitable photographic subject.

Well......easier said than done!  My yard is a mass of green budding leaves, pink rhododendrons, and frilly white pear blossoms.  But nothing, no nothing, came close to matching that lovely peachy-orange hue.  Fail?

Then I remembered the tulips in a vase on my table.  I'd purchased a bouquet for my Easter dinner centerpiece.  Still in good shape, there happened to be two tangerine-y colored tulips to choose from.  After much hovering, and at least a zillion shots, I produced this winner.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.


Check out more fabulous tangerine images at the: 52 Photos Project.

Also sharing with Weekly Top Shot.