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Peak(s):  Bald Mountain  -  13,703 feet
Boreas Mountain  -  13,083 feet
Clinton Peak  -  13,866 feet
Date Posted:  06/19/2013
Date Climbed:   06/16/2013
Author:  bergsteigen
Additional Members:   B[3], SnowAlien
 Don't Panic!   

Don't Panic! There will be enough snow to ski Bald Mountain!


Just be sure to have a towel and a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster!


Life, the Universe and Everything


Bald Mountain A
Mileage: 8.85
Elevation Gain: 3,230'
Trailhead: French Gulch
Route: French Pass to NE gully
Partners: Natalie & Eli

Arriving at the trailhead Friday night, we settled down to let Deep Thought calculate the question to the Ultimate Answer of Life, the Universe and Everything. But the answer confused us, so another bigger computer had to be built to find out what the question was. And so we set off bright and early that morning to find the question with our new tag-a-long friend Eli!


Stream crossing - Photo Credit: Natalie
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Sunrise

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Slope up to ridge

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Nearing the summit - Photo Credit: Natalie


At the summit, we hung out for a while, until it became apparent that the Vogons were going to destroy Earth, and so we got ready to ski down and away before the meaning of life was lost forever!

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Prepping to ski

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Our line

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Natalie skiing
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Natalie shredding

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Eli boarding


Eli Shredding - Photo Credit: Natalie


Me skiing - Photo Credit: Natalie

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Natalie skiing

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Eli boarding with a smile

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Natalie skiing the lower section


Skiing the lower section - Photo Credit: Natalie

At the base, we were quite content to know we had found the meaning of life, the universe and everything, and hiked back out to our awaiting spaceships.

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Base of snow

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Our turns



Mostly Harmless


Boreas Mountain
Mileage: 2.88
Elevation Gain: 1,587'
Trailhead: Boreas Pass
Route: Up, then butt ski down snow
Partner: solo

Being done with Bald early in the day, and the clouds being non-threatening it was time to consult The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and find some guidance. It pointed to advice, which in turn pointed to guidance. Hmmm I think I'll just wander up from Boreas Pass, and butt ski down the snow. Simple.

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Boreas Pass

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Bald & Guyot

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Boreas

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Butt ski



Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy


Traver Peak, McNamee Peak, Clinton Peak
Mileage: 9.97
Elevation Gain: 3,249'
Trailhead: Montgomery Reservoir
Route: Ridge Loop with East Chutes descent
Partner: Bethany

I had planned on driving the Wheeler Lake 4x4 road. Then I viewed the route on traildamage.com and realized that unless I had a Babel fish installed, I wasn't going to be able to safely drive it without an experienced spotter. The Vogon's are notoriously bad-tempered! So instead of being tormented with Vogon poetry, we decided to walk the extra miles up the road. No one with an Infinite Improbability Drive to hitchhike from either! Where's Zaphod Beeblebrox when you need him? Darn.

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Dawn light on road

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Democrat alpenglow

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Wheeler

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Bethany, a great pace setter


Once in the upper drainage I spied the handy work of Slartibartfast, who loved making crinkly edges. Won an award, you know. I knew what line I was skiing!

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42


Walked up Traver, traversed to McNamee and then we saw it, the Glory Hole (ie Deep Thought). I went to ask it the question to Life, the Universe and Everything. It said it needed to think about it.

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Remaining route

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Bartlett Peak - As pointless as Arthur Dent lying down in front of the bulldozer

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The Glory Hole was too big for my wide angle...


Once on Clinton (Margrathea), the inappropriate jokes continued unabated by all courtesies to taste. Soon it became apparent that storm clouds (missiles) were aimed directly at us, so a speedy descent to lower elevation became warranted.

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Storms' a brewing, time to drop

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My tracks


Once below, the clouds (ie missiles) abated for a short while, turning into a bowl of petunias and a surprised whale. At least there was some water to ski in!

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Water skiing! Photo - Credit: Bethany


Then the planet became hostile again, and sent graupel and a lightning bolt to hurry us on our way back down the road. It was time to grab a bite to eat at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe!

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Wheeler Lake and Northstar Mtn

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Skis off


If you are confused by the commentary within this TR, I suggest picking up a copy of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and grabbing a pint of Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster!

My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):




Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Comments or Questions
GerryRigged
User
You just keep knockin them out
6/20/2013 3:11am
Nice work girls!
I too am looking for the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything I'm pretty sure its up in those mountains somewhere.
And the Hitchhiker's Guide is a great book.


MonGoose
User
Wait a minute...
6/20/2013 3:53am
Are those Black Diamond Joules you're skiing? I thought they were men's skis.


Breckskier
User
Wheeler Lake Trail
6/20/2013 8:25pm
About how far up did you run into snow on the trail? Is it clear all the way to the lake yet?


TomPierce
Babel Fish...
6/20/2013 11:21pm
As usual an entertaining report, Otina. Too funny, I looked up Babel Fish on Wikipedia, thinking it must be an obscure 4WD spotting tool. I don't speak Hitchhiker-ese but your report was a good primer!
-Tom


bergsteigen
User
Thanks!
6/21/2013 5:50pm
Natalie - Yup, a great ski season! 19 14ers and 15 other peaks skied May next season be even better!

GerryRigged - Thankfully I have found my meaning this year, considering I have never been happier than I am now!

Nick - No the Joules are not men's skis. Wish they were, maybe they wouldn't be weak noodles! Nothing like my aggressive in-bounds men's skis that I ride.

Breckskier - We ran into snow at 12K, around the stream crossing (well the road was a stream...) More photos on my webpage

Tom - Hitchhiker's is a great book. Well worth the read, if only to understand why so many of us reference it

I couldn't help myself, after having to txt Natalie on Friday night ”Don't Panic!”


SnowAlien
User
Superlative!
4/2/2015 7:45pm
Congrats on a fantastic ski season! Well picked lines, carefully timed descents, elegant creek crossings, no faceplants and beautifully layed out turns. Here's to the next one!

p.s. And for the record, I did panic when I first saw Bald. Way to stay the course, Captain ;) It turns out Grizzly A didn't look any better...



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