It was raining when we got up and raining when we met Mark at the Park n Ride and raining when we got to the parking lot at Mt. Baker. So why did we ski? We all wanted some exercise and Randy had had his ski boots stretched previously in the week so wanted to try them out on a tour before we set off on an overnight adventure.
The rain wasn't bad when we got out of the car and it was warm. By the time we started up the hill to Austin Pass it was dry enough to shed outer rain gear. By the time we got into Swift Creek it was downright sunny and time to apply sunscreen.
Snow still covered the creek well enough to safely ski over the water but a few holes were showing through. There was evidence of a recent avalanche cycle but nothing else at our elevation was coming down. We could hear massive avalanches coming down the flanks of Shuksan as we approached the saddle dividing Swift Creek and Lake Ann but nothing was coming our way.
With all the avalanche debris and cornices lining our route we doubted that our objective was possible but we kept going, picking our way to safe lines and checking in with each other to make sure we were all okay with the route. We weren't sure how we were going to navigate the cornices to get over the saddle to Lake Ann but we found a nifty little notch between cornices and snuck through. From there we skinned up the ridge well on the safe side of the cornice line.
By the time we got to the top the clouds came in and started snowing. We hunkered under a tree, ate a quick lunch and pondered skiing down to the lake before skiing back up to the notch and skiing out. We decided that the snow quality (7-11 slush quality) wasn't worth the trouble so we skied back down the notch and into Swift Creek. By then the sky cleared and we took off jackets again.
It felt like a long slog back out of Swift Creek but generally the weather was nice until we started the serious climb out of Swift Creek back up to Austin Pass. To add insult to the uphill climb the rain began in earnest. At the top of the Pass we ripped skins off our skis and skied the slush down to the parking lot where a serious downpour got us. Boots and skis and wet jackets came off quickly and into the car we piled. Off to warm food and refreshing beverages!
The tour was fun in spite of our misgivings the entire way out there and we'd gladly do it again. Randy's boots passed the test and we got in a fair amount of exercise. Conservatively the elevation gain was 3500' in approximately 8 1/2 miles roundtrip. We saw terrain we hadn't seen before and would like to explore more. It was a day to get both sunburned and drenched. Here are the pictures.