Alpine Scramble - Foss Peak

After meeting at Longmire and consolidating cars, we drove up to Canyon Y and parked.  We walked the road to Reflection Lakes, spotting a marmot (first of the season for all of us).  From there, we were on snow for the remainder of the trip, and glad that conditions were nicely firm in the morning.  We followed a mix of booter and skier tracks, first up to Snack Ledge where the view of The Castle and Pinnacle were notable, and then through the upper basin to Castle Bump.  

From Castle Bump, we spotted climbers on the Castle, and spotted our route over to Foss.  First down, threading between trees and cornices.  We found the snow in the trees to be firm enough for microspikes, but snow on the sun exposed south slopes to be sloppy and slick.  In fact, the snow right around that small tarn (still frozen over, but did not try it out) was quite soft and tedious due to post holing.  Once climbing back up the final slopes, students took turns kicking steps in firmer snow, with one short spot of needing to self belay over a lip in the terrain just below the summit.  Summit is still mostly snowed in with just some tips of rocks visible.  Just north of the summit near that lip, there is one notably big cornice that got all our attention.

Weather was quickly coming in while we are at the summit, getting some light snow flurries, so we beat a quick retreat back down to the lake for a second lunch.  From there, we donned snowshoes to climb back up to Castle Bump, and to begin the descent down to Snack Ledge.  From there, the gully crossing necessitated removing snowshoes, so we booted the final way back down to the road.  It was snowing heavily when back there, but it only lasted a bit.  It was nice to walk the road side by side, debriefing about the trip, and savoring the benefits of a women’s scramble trip with thoughtful discussion.  Hopefully, there will be more posted.