Saint Helens Lake Snowshoe, 8-Mar-2013

[DannyH]

Great pictures!

The stump at the top of the report is a "tail-hold." Cables go out from the yarder in several directions and get wrapped around stumps and pulled tight. The tension from all directions keeps the yarder tower upright while it pulls logs up a hill. Dragging cables through the woods and notching stumps to set up those lines is without a doubt the hardest job I've ever had, it was great motivation every summer to go back to college though!

[kepPNW]

Travel in this area in winter requires basic mountaineering skills: There are cornice and avalanche dangers, and furthermore the navigation is complex, especially if you do a loop.

I really must learn to curb my enthusiasm long enough to include stuff like that. Thanks, Peder!

What an amazing day you two! Beautiful photos and TR. Wished I could have joined you, but my dad and I enjoyed our own adventure with a great loop on Archer. Glad the weather was clear all day. We experienced a couple drops of rain and cloud buildup in the middle of our hike, but the day was mostly sunny overall. Hopefully, next time I can join you both and test my skills on an intermediate snowshoe!

Yeah, sure would've been nice if you could've joined us! But I have no doubt you had a great time too. Archer's a place that's still on my "must see" list! We did see the clouds building to our south; they just never crept up over the mountain. I think we had 10 minutes of shade, but not until after we'd returned to the highway.

It really was an amazing day. Spectacular in every bit the same manner as our peak experience a couple weeks ago, minus the peak of course. Heh... Just endless and untouched beauty in all directions. (And at one point, Peder told me - I think in an effort to boost my sagging energy - that he felt the effort was every bit as much, if not more. Jury's still out on that one. )

Stunning scenery! Wow, that's a lot of mileage to cover in a day with snowshoes and the tough terrain and immense danger you skirted. Love, love, love the great photos
~~ especially the talking elk.

It's could be a cliché here, but it's almost impossible to take 300 photos in a place like that and not get a few keepers! Heh, much appreciated, though.

We're just a couple of beginning snowshoers, trying to get the feel of it. (I felt it this time!)

Sheesh you two, go get jobs! Some of us actually have to work on Fridays!

Rank has its privileges...

Great pictures!

The stump at the top of the report is a "tail-hold." Cables go out from the yarder in several directions and get wrapped around stumps and pulled tight. The tension from all directions keeps the yarder tower upright while it pulls logs up a hill. Dragging cables through the woods and notching stumps to set up those lines is without a doubt the hardest job I've ever had, it was great motivation every summer to go back to college though!

Wow, that's great info, Danny! I can totally envision how that'd all go together. And the yarder wasn't very far at all away from where were ran into those stumps. Didn't get a good photo of it this time, but from our last trip up there:

• 
  February 9, 2013 trip report

Sounds like arduous work! I worked awhile in a plastic pipe factory, straight out of high school, and that job provided me with exactly that same motivation! Life doesn't have to be that hard.

[Peder]

The stump at the top of the report is a "tail-hold." Cables go out from the yarder in several directions and get wrapped around stumps and pulled tight. The tension from all directions keeps the yarder tower upright while it pulls logs up a hill. Dragging cables through the woods and notching stumps to set up those lines is without a doubt the hardest job I've ever had, it was great motivation every summer to go back to college though!

Wow, that's great info, Danny! I can totally envision how that'd all go together.

Karl - A great place to start is Camp 18 on Hwy 26, their exhibits are very instructive.

[drm]

Another WOW from me.

Given how far away I am in the Gorge, I've never started from that side of MSH.

Seems like your route or some variation of it might provide a great backcountry ski route with a telemark return on a sunny spring day. Would like to do so when Saint Helens Lake shows blue reflection on water with snow still around it. Doing it as a ski tour would make for a shorter day as well.

[Peder]

Seems like your route or some variation of it might provide a great backcountry ski route with a telemark return on a sunny spring day. Would like to do so when Saint Helens Lake shows blue reflection on water with snow still around it. Doing it as a ski tour would make for a shorter day as well.

Dean - It is certainly a good place for backcountry skiing. A few years ago Roy made a link to this video:

Check this out might answer some back country questions.http://youtu.be/eUd7MOTdDqM

As far as I can tell, they (like us) go up the South Coldwater Ridge and camp in the bowl to the SW of the Rock Arch Saddle. Most of the skiing (sorry, telemarking!) is above the St Helens Lake. In my opinion, the most logic (day) route, would be to come up the South Coldwater Ridge and the ski down to SR-504 and follow the road back to the car.

[kepPNW]

As far as I can tell, they (like us) go up the South Coldwater Ridge and camp in the bowl to the SW of the Rock Arch Saddle. Most of the skiing (sorry, telemarking!) is above the St Helens Lake. In my opinion, the most logic (day) route, would be to come up the South Coldwater Ridge and the ski down to SR-504 and follow the road back to the car.

Looking at the map again, we definitely picked the least steep descent route back to the highway! There were some very sharp alternatives, had we chosen to try sooner than we did.

great place to start is Camp 18 on Hwy 26, their exhibits are very instructive.

Appreciated! We've driven by that place countless times, and never found the time to stop. Gotta make a point of that, thanks!

[potato]

Looks like a gorgeous day. Nice work

[drm]

That video is more than a bit beyond what I'm looking for. I think some time in late April / early May might be good for a day of spring skiing up there.

[mcds]

Peder and kepPNW - stunning and inspiring

[kepPNW]

Looks like a gorgeous day. Nice work

Peder and kepPNW - stunning and inspiring

Appreciated, guys! It really was a joy to be there!

That video is more than a bit beyond what I'm looking for. I think some time in late April / early May might be good for a day of spring skiing up there.

The snow on the lower ridges wasn't very thick, anymore. Even up at 5000', it was certainly less than 3' deep in many areas. (Using the sign and trail posts to judge.) Sheltered areas were deeper than windswept areas, of course.

That video was just awesome, though! It really conveys the feel of the environment up there better than the photos we posted to begin this thread. I was thinking it ought to be embedded here, rather than just linked, so it stands out more. They followed the same route up that we did, camped in a basin we traversed, and then played all around our little lunch spot.