My alarm squawks at 5:37 AM and I lethargically peel open my eyes and roll out of the sack. Why didn’t I go to bed at 10 like I had planned. I wish morning me could reach back in time and slap some sense into night me. I slowly get myself ready and head downstairs to some lovely fruit art that Joanne has put together and a ziploc of two peanut butter & jellies. Thanks Jo.
I hit the road at 6:21, a little later than I had hoped but nothing I can do about that now. None of the coffee shops in Kirkland are open yet so I map out a java house in Everett, about half an hour north of here that opens at 6. I pull up to the drive-thru coffee hut at 6:53 and there are boards over the windows. What the hell, the internet says they open at 6 and the internet is never wrong. As I’m about to drive out of the lot I see a gal walk out of the hut & I ask what time they open. 7 she says so I wait a few minutes and snag a coffee and I’m back at it.
It’s about 20 more minutes up I-5 then another hour or so of 2-lane driving. I pass by some neat little towns along the way before reaching a roundabout and heading east towards Mt Baker. It’s still drizzling so I can’t see the peak, which is most certainly lame. I get it Seattle, it rains here. I stop in the tiny little town of Glacier to rent some skis and get set up with some Rossignol Black Ops that the kid at the ski shop should be “rad” on the fresh snow today. It’s only about 20 minutes more to the hill and as I pull into the lot for the ski area the rain turns to snow. Ooooh that’s a bingo!
I get geared up and ready to snag a lift ticket when I realize they didn’t give me poles. Dammit… I bet there’s a rental shop on the mountain and hopefully they can hook me up with a set of spears. I snag a lift ticket and head in to the rental shop, where they inform me to fill out a rental form. For a set of poles? Come on. They claim to need my license plate number so I have to lumber back out to the lot to write that down; it’s a ridiculous amount of paperwork for a set of aluminum sticks.
One absurd rental form and \$11 down the drain I’m finally ready to ski. It’s almost 9:30, definitely later than I had hoped to get out here; hopefully the snow isn’t too carved up already. As I ride the lift up I can see a lot of places that have already been skied out but a few sections with some nice fresh pow. They only got 1” last night but I can’t complain about the first fresh snow of the trip.
Stop, Powder Time
The snow is a bit heavy and it takes a run or two to get my ski legs under me but it’s not long before I’m cruising some freshies. I start out on the Shuksan side then make my way over to Panorama Dome. I pull up to Chair 6 and it reads EXPERTS ONLY. Ok Mt Baker let’s see what you got. I make it to the top and start down the hill. It’s challenging but no worse than anything I’ve skied on this trip, plus the fresh snow makes it a great ride. It looks like the most difficult parts are closed off for the season due to thinning snow. Fine with me, I’m on day 5 of skiing and don’t want to push it too hard on my last day.
I take a few more trips up Chair 6 and the clouds and snow start to lift. I get some great shots of Mt Shuksan just to the east, a majestic craggy prominence that is as photogenic as they come. The bluffs below the main peak look like they would have some great skiing - fresh untouched snow as far as the eye can see. Later on in the day I see a couple snowboarders who hiked over there and had ridiculously awesome lines down the mountain. I may need to come back and see what that’s all about.
As I’m heading up chair 6 I look over to the other side and see some great fresh snow off Chair 4. I need to head over there and give that a whirl. I ski over the base of Chair 4 and when I get to the top I learn to my chagrin that the section I was ogling is closed. I’m not feeling rebellious today so I’ll leave those lines to the outlaws. Would have been super fun though.
I get back down to the bottom and it’s just about lunchtime so I head into the Raven Hut Lodge and order up a Kulshan Kitten Mittens winter ale and a cup of lobster chowder. I find a chair outside and kick my feet up and relax for a few. My phone has no reception, which is actually pretty nice because I’m forced to enjoy the scenery instead of reading reviews of skis trying to convince myself to buy a pair.
I finish up my lunch and head back out there. I find a nice section off Chair 4 that’s relatively fresh so I cruise that line a few times. It’s 2 o’clock and the snow is starting to get a little sticky, I feel like I’m going to fly out of my boots a couple times when the snow hits the brakes on me. I think it’s about time to call it for the day and, unfortunately, the season. I decide I’ll do one maybe two more runs and gobble down the last of Joanne’s PB&J on my way up Chair 4. About halfway down any illusions I had about doing another run are dashed when I almost Bo Jackson my hip out of socket after hitting a patch of snow that has different opinions of Newtons 1st law than I. Yeah it’s definitely time to call it a day.
I gingerly make my way down to the bottom and by this point the snow has turned to rain. I turn in my poles and head out to the car. I strip off my ski gear for the last time until it’s time to strap it back on in the winter. It served me well.
Back to Jet City
I drop off my skis at Glacier and about 30 minutes later stop off at the North Fork Brewery for an après beer and a snack to tide me over till dinner. I order a Washing Machine Hazy IPA and a chicken margherita pizza and hunker down into a wooden booth. The pie arrives shortly after my delicious ale and I eat a couple slices and box up the rest. It should make for some pretty good breakfast tomorrow.
I hit the road and about an hour and a half later I’m back at the homestead. I hop in the shower and by the time I make it back downstairs they have the raclette table heated up and ready to go. I’ve never heard of a raclette table & they explain to me that it’s a Swiss culinary tool consisting of a granite cooktop with a heating coil and trays below the coil for melting cheese, heating sauces, or cooking anything you feel like chucking in the tray. They start off tossing some chunks of marinated steak on the granite along with some broccoli and asparagus. They have an assortment of cheeses and potatoes that they put in the trays and I follow suit. It’s super fun and super delicious, it’s like everyone is their own miniature hibachi chef. I may need to get myself one of these contraptions.
It’s sneaky how full you can get on this because every little bit you eat doesn’t seem like much but it eventually adds up and we all realize too late that we overstuffed ourselves. We sluggishly gather the dishes for Greg to heroically rinse and toss in the dishwasher and I’m absolutely wiped. I slowly make my way up to my room and do the minimal amount of packing before flopping into bed and I’m out like a light.
Tomorrow it’s back to the real world, I don’t think I’m ready for this trip to end.