[Gumpie]

After 4-1/2 years of southern skiing I said ADIOS to the south-east, packed my skis, furniture and other belongings and moved back to the Pacific Northwest. We have chosen a little town tucked in right between Mt. Adams in Washington State and Mt. Hood in Oregon. Fortunately I'm able to see both mountains from my backyard weather permitting.

After some hard work schlepping moving boxes first into the moving truck and a week later out of the truck I was ready for some action. The trailhead for Eliot Glacier on the north slopes of Mt. Hood are only a one hour drive from my new home. I got out of bed by 5:00 AM fixed a quick breakfast and 30 minutes later I whispered "see you later" to the sleeping members of the family and was rolling south to Cloud Cap trailhead.

On my way there I recognized what a lucky guy I am since the move across the country. Here in July in the Hood River Valley the fruit trees are carrying a heavy load of cherries, pears and apples and sometimes I see small vine yards inbetween the orchards. A rough forest road shaking me completely awake brings me to the parking lot at the Cloud Cap Inn. Just two other parties are leaving at about the same time as I arrive, with the same goal in mind, skiing the snowdome of the Eliot Glacier.

The elevation at the trailhead is around 6000 feet and the snowdome's elevation aproximately 9000 feet. This should be not a such of a tough tour for my out of shape southern quads which have seen rarely any backcountry this past season.

Finding the trail was easy and within 30 minutes after leaving the car I was on snow. Excellent quality, the surface was softened up only 1 inch deep on a firm base. The timing was good as well, and when I'm not slacking the way up I should be back before the butter turns into slush.

Views north to the 3 volcanoes on the Washington side were spectacular and the dry and clean air contributed to a perfect vision bringing the mountains very close to the viewer.

At about 10:30 the flat spot on the Eliot Glacier, called the Snowdome was reached, and the steep and rugged North Face of Mt. Hood rejected any further ski attempts with lots of seracs, steep loose rock and plenty of deep bergschrund. I was anyway too exhausted to even think about a possibility to get to the 2000 feet higher peak of Hood.

After a short snack with plenty of water I clicked (telebulldogs of course) into the bindings and carved the summer corn. A little bit careful in the second half of the descent to navigate thru some crevasses and a mellow run out to the little trail following the moraine of the glacier. A tireing hike back to the car in the hot summer sun followed by a rough ride down the forest road.

A good hour later I was sitting back at home at the dining table enjoying lunch with the family, fresh locally picked Cherries for dessert. What a great summer skiing day, and more to come. Glad I moved.

Enjoy the pictures.

Mt. Hood's north side in early morning light


The Eliot Glacier, snowdome is right of the crevasses






Do not fall in there


Mt. Adams, still plenty of snow


Mt. St. Helens


All three volcanoes on the Washington side






Snowdome is right below the bergschrund






Adams close-up


Helens close-up


What's for dessert?

[telekinetic]

Very nice read. Thanks for the TR. Welcome back to the PNW.
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[markharf]

This is payoff time in the PNW: little rain, lots of daylight, endless skiing. Welcome.

You might consider the following minor points: first, that's a veritable superhighway compared to your average rough forest road. For example all potholes are 2-wheel-drive negotiable, and passing of oncoming traffic is possible without extensive backing by either party. Second, there's an exit route off Snowdome to skier's left featuring better skiing and an absence of crevasses. The penalty is an extra half hour of easy hiking through brilliant wildflower meadows.

enjoy,

Mark

[Gaper Jeffey]

Nice TR. We were on Snowdome yestereday. Our report is here

BTW, it's easier to cut under Langille crags than to go up the Eliot gl. Also for the descent you should go down the Langille gl to Tline vs going down the Eliot.

[markharf]

[Gumpie]

[Tri-Ungulate]

Welcome back west Gumpie. All the PNW TRs and my recent visit have me thinking that I gotta get out there more often, especially late season.



(edited to add tripreport search term to thread)
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