November 21, 2010 – Hoodoo Butte & the South Santiam River

After an epic fall storm in late October, I was finding it a bit difficult to locate some good November turns without driving to Mt Hood.  The snow gauge at the Hoodoo weather station, however, was reading 15 inches – all fresh snow from the recent storm, as the 28 inches from late October had completely melted out a few weeks prior. I met Todd in the parking lot at 7:30 am and we shouldered the packs and started skinning. For the first 30 minutes or so, the weather was nice and the sun’s soft rays were shining on the upper mountain. Three Fingered Jack to the north flirted with the clouds…..

Three Fingered Jack from Hoodoo

Soon, the fog moved in and visibility became poorer. The skin up went smoothly,and in places the powder was pretty deep due to wind transport. Since the front side of the mountain had been hit hard the day before, we ventured out to the backside and made some tracks in the Crater Bowl where nobody had been. The first run down was nice – the snow was light and I didn’t hit bottom.

Todd dropping a knee
Skiing in the backseat due to the poor visibility

The lighting was pretty poor and didn’t work well for snapping photos, but I did my best. After about 500 feet of nice turns, we stopped due to the dense salal brush…

Coverage not exactly deep…

After trying to skin across the mountain, we re-routed back up the crater bowl due to ease of skinning. Skinning up through the trees was peaceful and serene, with the fresh snow, light winds and cold temps. It was a good feeling to be back out in winter again. Here’s a couple pics from our skin track…

Heading back up
Skin track to the top…

Back at the top, we strapped in and made one more run down through the trees. The feeling of the fresh snow on my face turn after turn was great! Once at the bottom of the treeline, we again threw on the skins and headed back to the top. Visibility was pretty bad as we descended the ridge to the left of the main bowl. The snow was quite good in spite of the minimal base, and we made powder turns all the way back to the pickup. Once back in the parking lot, it was time for some food and an IPA. After finishing our beers, Todd and I bid each other farewell and I thought about visiting Tombstone Pass on the way home. The snow had been good, but I was looking for a bit more, given we didn’t get many good pictures because of the fog. The snow at Tombstone was only about 12 inches, so I decided to head down the road and stopped to take a few photos of the South Santiam River….

A lovely Fall day on the South Santiam

The climb down the bank was near vertical and pretty slippery, but well worth it once I made it. I’d left my tripod at home, so I did the best I could with a ski pole and a rock. The water was very pretty, and coupled with the nice shade of green from the moss I got a few good photos of the frothy water.

Log jam

While wallowing around in the brush trying to find a different angle to shoot the cascading water, I stumbled across this log that I thought made an interesting photograph…..

Log w/Fall colors

I ended up being more stoked on the shots I got of the river than the splitboarding earlier in the morning! As I worked my way back up to the truck, I thought to myself that the day did indeed turn out great and would be one that I’d remember for some time to come.

November 5, 2008 – Cinder Cone, Mt Bachelor

Early season snow had been piling up on the Bachelor webcam for the past few days, and knowing rain and warm temps were coming, Todd and I were able get the day off work on short notice and headed east. A quick stop at the Willamette Pass Pass parking lot revealed a limited amount of snow, so we continued on towards Mt. Bachelor hoping to find more favorable conditions. Pulling into the Bachelor parking lot around 9:45, we were a little surprised to see about 20 other cars in the lot. With about 25 inches in the lot, the decision to grap the splitboard and ditch the snowshoes was an easy one. We skinned up to the Cone in short order, and were riding waist deep powder by 10:30. There was a bit of wind transported snow, but no avalanche danger to speak of since all the snow fell with the recent storm cycle. The depth was a surprising 3 feet, and even with all the cars in the parking lot, there were fresh lines to be had all day long as most people were playing lower down on the hill around the lifts.

November pow turns

It snowed hard all day, and we headed back up to the top after face shots on the first run. Once back at the top, we brewed a pot of Jet Boil coffee before dropping in for run two.

Enjoying a break up top

Run two was just as good and we had numerous face shots in the cold smoke. Below is a number of stills I pulled out from the video we shot from throughout the day…

Various shots from the day

Several more laps followed before our legs got a bit tired and we called it a day, heading down to the truck. On the way down to the parking lot, we passed some people sledding and other snowboarders riding a rail they had brought up to the hill. I love this time of year when the snow starts to fall and the season holds the promise of turning into an excellent year.

Once back down to the truck, we enjoyed the obligatory IPA in the falling snow before making the 3-hour drive home. I wouldn’t have traded the day for most anything, and the best part was this makes 36 consecutive months of snowboarding for me.

Todd enjoying some early season pow

White River Glacier

Originating in the crater of Mt Hood, the White River Glacier sits on the mountains south side, covering an elevation from 7,300 to 10,000 feet.  It is the source of the White River, and lies between the Newton Clark Glacier to the east and the Palmer Glacier to the west. The approximate volume of the White River Glacier is 7000 acre-ft, and it covers an area of nearly 135 acres. During the winter, large amounts of snow from the south side of the mountain are transported onto the glacier from heavy winds, feeding it and somewhat hastening it’s retreat.

White River Glacier - July 2007 - Photo by Todd Singleton
White River Glacier – July 2007 – Photo by Todd Singleton

The White River was likely the first glacier on Mt Hood that was seen up close and personal by white settlers. In 1845, Joel Palmer and Sam Barlow followed their way up the White River to timberline while looking for a suitable route for wagon passage to the Willamette Valley. At the time, the only way to the Willamette Valley from The Dalles was to float down the Columbia River via two small boats that charged more for the ferry ride than the wagons were worth. Palmer and Barlow ultimately found a suitable route that passed near present day Government Camp, and Barlow later built the famed “Barlow Toll Road” to allow passage for other settlers.

The glacier was first photographed in late 1800’s, and several photographs exist from around the turn of the century. The following photograph was taken circa 1873 by Joesph Buchtel, and was refinished and provided courtesy of Old Oregon.

White River Glacier – 1873 – Courtesy of Old Oregon

Sometime after the turn of the century, it is speculated that fumaroles opened up higher on the mountain in locations that contributed to the retreat of the glacier. The below photo offers a comparison of the glacier over a 108 year time period. The photo on the left was taken by William Langille in 1902. I snapped the photo on the right in October of 2010. It is estimated that the glacier has lost 60% of it’s areas since the turn of the century.

White River Glacier 1902/2010
White River Glacier 1902/2010

The following photo, taken by L.J. Bailey in 1935, is courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology, and shows the White River from a different perspective. Note the Salmon River Glacier (now the Palmer Glacier) in the upper left of the photo.

Bailey, L.J. 1935 White River Glacier: From the Glacier Photograph Collection. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology. Digital media.

The upper White River Glacier has good skiing and snowboarding opportunity nearly year-round, but crevasse hazard does exist and caution is advised for any travel on or near the glacier outside the Timberline Ski Area. The lower portion of the glacier contains numerous crevasses and is a good place for crevasse rescue practice in the summer. Beware however, rockfall from the westerly ridge above routinely rains down on the ice and snow below. The below photo contains the following: upper left – skinning up the White River Glacier in September, 2010. Upper right – crevasse rescue practice. Lower left – crevasse rescue practice. Lower right, hiking the glacier for summer turns in September 2006.

Various shots on the White River Glacier
Various shots on the White River Glacier

The crevasses on the White River glacier really open during the later summer months and into fall, exposing the blue ice deeper down. The exploring opportunities are endless, and the area makes for some interesting photography, but as mentioned previously, rockfall danger is very apparent, especially on the west side of the glacier.

White River Glacier crevasses
White River Glacier crevasses

The White River Glacier is one of my favorite places on Mt Hood, and with close access to Timberline Lodge, makes for an easy approach to view one of Oregon’s more interesting glaciers.

Looking down on the glacier from 9500 ft
Looking down on the glacier from 9500 ft

May 8, 2004 – Broken Top

Climbing up towards the Southwest Ridge of Broken Top in May 2004, following a winter of poor snowfall in the Oregon cascades……

Broken Top – May 2004

My buddy Andrew was back in town visiting from Idaho and we decided to head out towards Broken Top to see what conditions were like even though the winter’s snowpack had been pretty dismal. It was raining when we left the valley, but as soon as we reached Santiam Pass things started improving. Mt Washington was visible to the south, as were the Middle and North Sisters. We made a quick pit stop in Bend for some breakfast around 7:00am, and were able to drive to the Todd Lake Trailhead without crossing snow. It was pretty amazing to see such a poor snowpack, given that the Cascades Lakes Highway usually isn’t even open until Memorial weekend. We quickly loaded our packs and set out along the trail heading north towards Broken Top. The first 30 minutes or so of trail hiking were snow free, but before long we reached the snow. The day was quiet and it was good to be back out in the mountains again.

Andrew climbing the SW ridge

Soon we were hiking along the large flat with the mountain in full view. This part of the climb always goes by pretty slow, and it can get quite hot. The snow heading up the lower pitch of the SW ridge wasn’t too bad, but hadn’t frozen overnight and was a bit mushy. Eventually, we gained the saddle around 8100 feet and stopped for a rest and to admire the views of the Three Sisters to the west and north.

The view from the saddle

From one angle, there was a cool opportunity to “grab” the Middle Sister, so we fooled around a bit and Andrew snapped the below shot of me with the Middle in my hand…..

Matt w/Middle Sister

We continued hiking, briefly down from the point and into the saddle, then back up the SW ridge towards the main point below the SW Ridge summit. The weather started to build between us and Mt. Bachelor and at one point there was significant thunder. We toyed with heading down, but waited for a bit and things improved. Up higher, the wind picked up some and made things a little more pleasant.

Climbing w/Bachelor in the background

We reached what we thought was the high point, only to see that the real summit of the SW ridge was beyond where we were standing and further north. At this point, we were pretty tired but nevertheless continued onward, finally arriving on the summit, which was just big enough for both of us. The drop off the east into the Crater Bowl was pretty gnarly, so paying close attention was necessary. The views were spectacular – we could see Diamond Peak, the Sisters, Mt Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mt Jefferson, Mt Hood, and Mt Adams. Sitting high up on Broken Top definitely gives a unique view of the Oregon Cascades.

Andrew on the SW summit

After hanging out on the summit for a half hour or so, we started down. Since we foolishly left our snow riding gear at home (for some reason we thought we’d just go for a hike), we were forced to downclimb. Not to worry though, we were able to enjoy the great views all the way down the mountain, and do a little glissading as well.

Matt & Sparks Lake – May 2004

Needless to say, by the time we got down to the saddle at 8100 feet, both of us were getting a little tired. However, it was still a beautiful day and great to be out. To the west, we could see the clouds rolling in and covering the west side of the Sisters.

Climbing down w/South Sister in the distance

Finally, we were down off the mountain and slogging out across the flats below. After another hour, we reached the car in one piece and loaded up the gear, drove across the street and set up camp for the night in the horse camp with nobody around. We cracked open a couple of Cinder Cone’s from Deschutes Brewing Co, and drank them with a very nice full view of the actual Cinder Cone a few miles away. Sleep came easy that night, and the next morning we stopped at Mt. Bachelor before heading home. We talked to the only person we saw in the parking lot, who worked for the mountain. He said he couldn’t remember such an early closing and remarked about the poor snowpack. Even though we had a great trip, I had to agree that the snow was pretty thin this year. But, no matter the year, it always pays to get out and enjoy the snow when you can!