The last ski day of the season - one of the best days I’ve ever had in the mountains.

I was hoping we’d ski off the north side of Adams over this weekend but yea there is a good reason we don’t hear much from yonder in May, definitely too early. Thankfully Goat Rocks delivered on some decent corn.

Some weird conditions today, suncuppy at the bottom with little low elevation snowpack but the upper mountain wasn’t quite prime. Still a great day spending time here.

I missed the party last year on this line, so I was super thankful to make it out this year.

When we skied the Fuhrer Finger/Thumb, I noticed that the Wilson Headwall looked to be in pretty good condition so I had to go back for another line.

Having already skied the Fuhrer Finger but still wanting to ski Rainier, I thought the Fuhrer Thumb would be a safe compromise while still getting out with the peeps.

Ah man I don’t love repeating stuff, but I suppose this is probably the best tour from Cascade Pass.

We had one of the worst starts to the seasonal snowpack with heavy atmospheric rivers throughout December (instead of snowfall) and the stoke was pretty low to begin with. However I have never been to this side of the Olympics nor have I seen Mount Olympus so I mustered whatever motivation I had to get out.

Every summer, hordes of people I know will do a “circumnavigation” of Mount Daniel that follows the trail to Marmot and Jake Lakes then up the Lynch Glacier to the summit. Since the Lynch Glacier gets too broken up sometime in July, I’ve been saving this route for just this time of season.

A loop connecting the eastern Necklace Valley trailhead to the West Foss Fork. An insane amount of boulder hopping and slow trails - definitely underestimated this one and feeling whooped, a sensation that I haven’t experienced in a while.

Escaping the heat (or heat training?) by getting high on the mountain loop. Sunset at White Chuck Mountain then Mount Pugh before heading home.

Via the Northern Loop on Mount Rainier. Or rather, cutting the loop by leaving the Wonderland Trail after Mystic Lake for Old Desolate and rejoining the trail on the way to Lake James. Backpacking the full Northern Loop Trail was one of my first outings in Washington State so it was fun to revisit some of those memories!

Trying to pick an outing not focused on running. Rehabbing the ankles was somewhat successful, but man that heat was brutal.

We originally intended to circumnavigate the Baker River but had to reroute with some unexpected weather. Not quite the adventure we hoped for but still glad to check out the Northern Pickets!

A quick trip to the highest point in the Monte Cristo Range.

After gastronomically crashing out in NYC/DC for two weeks, I rallied for one last ski day this season. Some much overdue redemption for an earlier attempt in 2022 although it was one of the worst ski descents in my life quality wise lol. At least it was continuous!

This ski traverse going from Cascade Pass to Hwy 20 has long been on my bucket list so I was happy to get it done on an uncertain weather weekend. Some interesting ski conditions, but the views couldn’t be beat.

We were originally thinking about giving the Shuksan Sulphide route a go, but the guys needed to catch 7pm flight, one of whom needed to make it to a wedding the next day!

An outing I don’t mind repeating because the views are sooo good.

A nice walk essentially tracing the first bit of the Ptarmigan Traverse and looping around Hurry-Up Peak. This was my first time skiing at Cascade River Road not doing Eldorado and boy were the views mindblowing. I definitely need to make it out here more often!