Crater Lake Backcountry

sublime...can you say sublime?

It might just have been the best day out in the backcountry that I have experienced.  On the surface, it should not have shaped up that way at all.  I met Toad down at the lower lodge for a day trip.
The plan was to get out and do some recon on gaining the ridge that leads up to Garfield Peak.  The proudest line goes from Garfield Peak down the steep side and heads back to the main lodge area.  This was not in our plans as we were really just getting out and getting a lay of the land.
That particular line will have to wait for a day when the snow conditions are uber stable since that particular line is an avie line that goes EVERY year...maybe in the spring when the snow is more stable...

back to the day trip.  We parked at the lower lodge and started to follow the cross country path/road until we found what we deemed a suitable place to start trying the climb to gain the ridge.  We crossed a bridge and were very pleasantly surprised at the recent snowfall.  It had been raining in Bend and Ashland where we had both come from and our hopes for weather at Crater were along the lines of frozen rain.
It had snowed about 2-3 inches overnight and 3-4 inches the prior day so the snow conditions were really quite good.

We slipped into the trees and the angle increased and the snow in the trees had sloughed off on the downhill side to create an icy surface.  Our skins were starting to become useless so we took our splits off and boot-packed about a 100 ft higher until the slope backed down again.

It was a relatively mellow skin and we kept trying to poke at the snow and pay attention to what the snow was telling us relative to safety.  We took the cruiser ridge up until it opened up to the backside and for a brief moment, the clouds parted and we had phenomenal views of Garfield and Applegate Peaks.  The snow looked like a nice fluffy blanket with absolutely zero tracks anywhere you looked...it was nice and peaceful.

The weather rolled in and out and the clouds remained pretty constant.  We saw Garfield Peak and decided to skin up to the top and ride down the backside that was lower angle and low avie danger.  While at the top, we ran into a couple of other BC enthusiasts who were contemplating the prized cherry line heading back down to the lodge.  They dug a snow pit and we went over to see what we could learn from the pit.  Regardless, we were going back down the mellow way since we wanted to traverse over to Applegate Peak and check that descent out too.  The results from the pit were enough to deter our fellow snow chasers that today was not the day to head down.  We felt better about our initial assessments and plans relative to that prize.

We went into ride mode and had a quick descent back into the saddle where we went back into skin mode,

I had just installed the skin tail adaptors and ohh what a wise decision that was.  Toad's skins start to slip n slide...we tried the duct tape fix and that lasted for a little while until bob went into boot-pack mode.  Fortunately we were sorta kinda close to the peak and the arduous work of post holing in the snow did not last too long.

We decided to take our time and try to wait for an opening in the weather where it cleared up so we could take some pictures.  Our location would have been prime for some great pictures if the clouds would have allowed...but it was not to be.  We decided to get back into ride mode and start heading downhill.  Bob headed down and I watched eagerly as he floated down the beauty S curves in virgin snow...can you say ear to ear grin?

I started downhill and had that soulful ride downhill carving nice generous turns into the hill while a lazily cruised from bend to bend.  We knew we would have to go back into ride mode since Applegate Peak dropped but then went back uphill to gain the top of the ridge that would take us back to the car.  We found a little gully where we were able to squeeze every last inch of momentum...as we stopped, we looked at each other and did not have to say a word...mmmm mmmm sweet nectar

It was time to look back up-hill and see our turns....We quickly went back into skin mode and scoped out possible lines of descent from Applegate as we worked our way over to the ridge.  The skinning turned to ride mode quickly enough and we found a great little shortie descent that provided about 5-6 turns of bliss until we darted back into the trees.

Soon enough we reached the spot where we had to boot up on the way up...we rode carefully through the trees and watched as the slough raced ahead of us due to the angle.

All too soon, we were back in skin mode and heading back to the car....6 1/2 hours of adventuring in the backcountry turned into a phenomenal day of therapy for the soul.

and a good time was had by all.....