September 1, 2008 – Palmer Glacier, Mt Hood

I met Todd at 7:30 in the Timberline parking lot and we headed up for some lift served turns. Given all the hiking we’d been doing lately, it was nice to get some lift riding in. It had snowed down to about 6500 feet overnight, and there was a little wind sift on the east side of the Palmer that measured several inches in places. By doing a power slide, I could actually get the fresh stuff up in my face. The cold smoke hitting my warm face was like a dream.

Riding a bit of September fresh!

The snow corned by about 10:00 and fog drifted in about 11:30. Here’s a shot looking down towards the lodge at about 9:00……..

Looking south from the Palmer Snowfield

We climbed out towards the White River Glacier for a rest and some GU, and admired the large ice field complex. It looks good for some climbing, but the seracs are big and most likely unstable. Several more runs followed, and we got several thousand vertical feet of riding in for the day.

September tele turns….

We quit riding around noon, and headed down to the Ratskellar in Government Camp, where the Monkey Face Porter hit the spot. You can ride down to within about 200 yards of the lodge. I’m amazed at the coverage up there still. The Zigzag Glacier looks decent, and might be worth the hike. Get out and enjoy it while it’s good. It won’t be too long now until winter returns!