Castle Peak Backcountry Ski 3.19.16
Spring break!!! To celebrate my brief break from school we ultimately decided to go on a one day adventure to the Tatoosh to get a little backcountry skiing in. We set our sights on heading up towards the saddle by Castle Peak. Neither of us had been up there on skis before, just as a snow climb with the BCC when we instructed. The weather looked pretty decent although a bit on the warm side. We left Seattle just before 7:30am and after a quick stop for breakfast, pulled into the Narada Falls parking lot a little before 10am. It was apparently the time to arrive as several more cars pulled in with skis in roof racks as we got ready. After gearing up, we walked with the skis on our shoulders to the base of the hill that leads up to the road.
Looking up the slope we had to ascend to get from the Narada Falls parking lot to the road above
There was a skin track up the steep slope so Aaron wanted to skin up. It snaked its way up the left side through the trees. After letting everyone get started ahead of me, as my skinning skills still need much improvement and I didn’t want to hold everyone up, we started up. The bottom two-thirds was reasonable but then I needed to make some kick turns which is not my forte. Between the kick turns and random post holes in the skin track I was having a heck of a time and my frustration level peaked. After a group of four passed us while I was struggling with the last kick turn, we finally made it to the road. I took a small break to regroup as another large group made their way onto the road. We started out on the skin track along the road as they grouped up.
[Left] Reached the road, luckily my hardest battle of the day was over. First good view of Lane Peak. [Right] Skinning through the trees along a nice track, which didn't look this nice on the way back
I enjoyed the skin along the road a lot more - apparently I need to try some cross country skiing. Mount Rainier was pretty clouded in but we had a good view of the Tatoosh peaks ahead of us before they were hidden by the trees along the road. The skin track was great, nice and level and solid with no holes. Holes in the skin track always seem to land under foot for me, making it more challenging trying to get enough weighted contact between the snow and my skins. We didn’t have anyone in front or behind us within view for almost our entire trek along the road. Just as we made it to Reflection Lake we saw a pair head up towards Castle, they had started just before us from the parking lot. I wanted a longer break there to rest and get some food and water. Aaron is of course always ready to go so I finally picked myself up and we started up the skin track towards Castle Peak.
Reflection lake, quite a different look than when I was there in August to hike in the Tatoosh
View of Castle Peak (left) and Pinnacle Peak (right). We'd head up to climber's left of Castle Peak, towards the saddle
The skin track up was pretty nice. We followed in through the trees, eventually heading up the ridge. There were minimal kick turns which I appreciated and there were only a few short, steeper sections. I still managed to slip several times but not as bad as that initial slope we skinned up, so I was in better spirits.
Skinning up through the trees, with a few down ski tracks too
Best view of Rainier throughout the day, it was usually hidden by clouds. We were able to spot Camp Muir though
I was getting tired and took several short breaks along the way. My skinning rhythm is a bit faster than my normal hiking rhythm so I kept tiring myself out. We heard some people below us but didn’t see them until we stopped later. Aaron went ahead on one of my breaks as he wanted to crest the immediate ridge and see what was above us. Once I crested the ridge I was treated to some great views of Castle and Pinnacle peaks, and the giant snow fields below them. As we were starting up again we saw a couple guys ski down from the saddle between Castle and Pinnacle, it looked pretty smooth. We were heading up to the saddle east of Castle, where the main skin tracks went.
Aaron checking out what awaited us ahead
View of Pinnacle from our high spot for the day
This part of the snowfield was wind scoured and pretty hard. I was stopping for quick breaks more and more often as my legs were really feeling maxed out. We found a bit of a more level area and decided to call it a day there. We had great views of Castle and Pinnacle and what we could see of lower Mount Rainier. The guys that we had seen ski down were heading back up for another lap, and the group we heard earlier passed us as well. We sat for a while to eat and drink some. Aaron gave me a Propel for my water which I think did help my energy level. We transitioned and were ready for the ski down. Aaron thought I’d really like the top, assuming it’d be like a groomed run so he let me start down first. The top section was really nice with the firmer snow and we got to make fresh tracks on the untouched slope.
Our ski tracks, the first of the day on that slope. By far a wonderful ski, my favorite part of the day
Down closer to the trees the snow turned to mashed potatoes and I resorted more often to the power wedge as I tried to keep my balance as the snow grabbed at me. I had Aaron lead down first to help navigate for me – basically so he could find the good/easier paths down for me. He found a little creek bed to head down but directed me to stick closer to the skin track – the creek bed got pretty narrow and steep. He eventually joined me back near the skin tracks as he wasn’t sure if the creek was good the whole way down. We made our way through the trees, I only half fell once. The trees were pretty nicely spaced so it wasn’t too scary tree skiing. The couple guys caught us right near the bottom, and then we popped out on the road again. Success!
Aaron would go first so he could help me navigate the best possible line, and by best, I mean least scary
Transition so we can skin back out along the road
We transitioned back to skins for the trek back out along the road. We passed a few snowshoers and cross country skiers heading towards the lake. At the top of the hill we made our last transition. Again I asked Aaron to lead down first. I set off a giant pinwheel and the snow was heavy, but otherwise we made it down without too much worry. Besides the skin up the initial hill, it was a pretty good day. Snow was a little heavy but the top part was great. I was a little disappointed to find out we had only done about 1500’ in gain, but I guess that confirmed my suspicions of being very out of shape. Even though I’m sure he really wanted to make it to the saddle, Aaron was understanding and let me stop early. We still enjoyed a fun day out in the mountains.
The Tatoosh Range where we skied for the day. GPS track here
Track up to and along the road
Track up towards Castle, as high as we got for the day before skiing down