Seymour

March 24, 2013

I got up early, probably about 04:40 and got the stove going at melting snow. The others joined shortly, but Eric, Dianne, and Rob decided that they wanted to sleep more and then just hike out today. Grant, Shaughn, and I ate a quick breakfast and then hit the trail just as the light allowed the headlamps to be switched off. Shaughn did almost all the trail breaking duties up here as Grant and I could barely keep up to him. The trail for the most part was fairly easy to follow as we could see some really faint tracks from before the last storm. As we got higher though, the going got more uncertain, and we had to rely more on the compass than the trail. The last couple hundred meters of ascent we lost the trail entirely at one point and made our own way. Some tricky ledges required a bit of ice axe work, but we surmounted these and then regained the trail after falling in a few spruce traps near the summit. About two and a half hours after leaving camp we attained the summit sign and looked out at the fabulous view of fog. (Where have I seen this before?) A quick lunch in the shelter of the trees here and we made our descent. The going was very fast, as the steep slopes and deep powder let each step carry you down several meters. We also found an easier way down on the real trail where we had lost it on the way up in a couple places. In no less than 30 minutes we arrived back at camp. The others had already packed out, so we took down the last tent and packed up our bags for our departure. Strapped on the skis and glided down the trail in another day of great ski conditions. There were more downhill sections this way and most were a lot of fun without being overly difficult. We caught up with the Blueberry group who were pulling three sleds of gear as they skied slowly along. They had indeed found the summit sign on Seward and said we missed it by about 150 feet. Close enough for my conscience for a treed in peak. We passed them and made a tentative deal of a trade of beer for a tow with their SUV if we got Shaughn's car stuck on the drive out. Arriving at the summit trailhead we found our nicely laid ski tracks from the previous day obliterated on the road by a 4 wheel drive vehicle that had been through. This, coupled with the snow that was now turning to slush in the warming temperatures made the last 5 kilometers of skiing somewhat of a slog. Faster than expected though, the gate appeared and we were done. A white knuckle bit of slippery driving got Shaughn's car through the soft snow back to the plowed road and we drove home.

Shaughn breaking trail up the steep slopes of Seymour.

Grant in good spirits.

We arrive, just in time for second breakfast.

Grant on summit.

All packed up for the ski out.

One of the dozen or so creek crossings.

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