Lamberson Butte, Mt Hood

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Koda
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Lamberson Butte, Mt Hood

Post by Koda » February 21st, 2011, 5:14 pm

Beautiful bluebird day for a ski tour to Lamberson Butte. Having skied Newton canyon via Pea Gravel ridge way too many times we took a long scenic tour up to Lamberson Butte, long hike but worth the views. Crossing Newton creek was much easier this time due to a logs bridging the creek someone put in earlier... much obliged. I cant imagine hoofing in logs that far back. Elk Meadows seemed to have a large group of snowshoers in there, what appeared to also be marks of a sled track makes me think they went in for the night or a few days. Also ran into a nice group of snowshoers heading to find any views on Elk Mountain... the one guy insisting it was Elk "Peak" :)
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Jane
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Re: Lamberson Butte, Mt Hood

Post by Jane » February 22nd, 2011, 1:21 pm

Beautiful Koda! Where did you actually start this from, and your route?

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Koda
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Re: Lamberson Butte, Mt Hood

Post by Koda » February 22nd, 2011, 3:03 pm

Yes... my bad, I did leave out our route. We parked at the Nordic center in the HRM lot at Mt Hood Meadows and connected with trail 645 up to the jct with trail 652. At this point in the snow, we broke our own trail and route-finding up the lee side of Gnarl Ridgeline where the views are incredible along the way. Lamberson butte itself offers a great vista into the upper reaches of the Newton drainage... although I would not want to be up there on anything other than a nice bluebird day! We created a loop tour into Newton Canyon via a ski route down a steep chute off Gnarl Ridge, but Lamberson Butte summit would make a great turn around point for those with snowshoes for an out and back option.

A point to mention about parking at the Nordic Center in the HRM lot, even though it requires a snow park permit Meadows can tow your car if it is still there after hours and most certainly will town your car if you camp overnight. Not a good thing if you have an emergency that far back. This happened to my touring partner last winter and as a concern for any tour that finds you returning via headlamp I am thinking of parking at the Clark Creek Snowpark from now on which is what I will recommend.
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cliffside view (and touring partner) into upper Newton from Lamberson
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jimsiff
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Re: Lamberson Butte, Mt Hood

Post by jimsiff » February 22nd, 2011, 4:55 pm

Hey Koda,

A few questions:

1) Are you on AT gear or tele?
2) Did you ski back to the log crossing or cross Newton Creek higher up?
3) How can MHM tow a car with a valid Sno-Park Permit? Does the USFS operation permit forbid overnight parking (except the paid RV parking in the main lot :roll: )? The Nordic lot only gets packed on mid-winter weekends, so it's not as if you are taking up prime parking real estate.
-Jim

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Koda
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Re: Lamberson Butte, Mt Hood

Post by Koda » February 22nd, 2011, 5:41 pm

I use AT gear for all my ski tours. We crossed Newton creek at our high point in the canyon just below our entrance chute. Regarding MHM towing I should clarify it happened to my friend when he legally parked there (Nordic lot, next to the nordic hut) on an overnight snow camping trip to Elk Meadows last year. One concern after that event is if one had an emergency and returned after hours needing help only to find an empty lot and their car missing... anyways I don't know how they can do it but they did and so I thought I'd mention this since MHM does not post signage or anything on their website regarding the subject.
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smorris793
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Re: Lamberson Butte, Mt Hood

Post by smorris793 » February 25th, 2011, 10:39 am

Glad the bridge was used-I led a group of high school students from Catlin Gabel on an overnight in the Meadow. Chilly but gorgeous night. Probably heading up again this weekend with skis instead of snowshoes so I can really enjoy the white fluffy stuff.

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Koda
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Re: Lamberson Butte, Mt Hood

Post by Koda » February 25th, 2011, 5:36 pm

smorris793 wrote:...heading up again this weekend with skis instead of snowshoes so I can really enjoy the white fluffy stuff.
if your looking for turns be careful this weekend of the high avalanche warning. Check the NWAC website. I will be going, but the NWAC warning has altered our destination/route.
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