St. Helens Easter Day Corn Harvest

The "new" lava dome and the Mt. Margaret Backcountry from the crater rim

Last weekend saw unseasonably warm weather with a ridge of high pressure locked in over the region. Fresh off an incredible week of powder skiing, I figured it was time to go harvest some spring corn.  After climbing at Ozone in perfect weather on Saturday, I drove up to Marble Mount trailhead with some friends and crashed out in the parking lot.  Up at 3:30 and on the trail by 4:15 or so, we topped out around 9 am to clear skies, calm winds and the promise of a buttery corn cycle on the descent.  Enjoy the pics.

Fairy Meadow Brain Dump

Bohle dropping the pow

On those cold, early mornings, standing above a face of untouched fluff, a chemical reaction inside my head starts to etch a permanent image of that moment in my memory.  I can recall those times when everything falls perfectly into place and I drop into bottomless, blower pow (or even coastal cement), as if it happened just last week.  Like a rolodex, I can flip back through 35 years of history, pulling out cards on individual runs, complete with notations on snow conditions, mental state, and partners.  The human brain works in mysterious ways . . . especially on powder days.