Butler Gulch 052111

A foot and a half of powder made for a fine day of Mayuary skiing.

Cathy gathered the troops at 8 at Woolly Mammoth HH, including Cheryl, Sandy, Judi, Fred, and Bob A.  After a brief stop at Downieville we made our way towards Henderson mine.  It was raining at Empire, but the rain turned to snow as we gained altitude.  At the trailhead we were thrilled to find 6 - 8" of powder with light snow or flurries all day.  As we skinned up, we ran into some dawn patrollers who had already finished their runs.  They relayed the news about the good conditions to come to those who climb.


As we split off from the Jones Pass Rd to take the Butler Gulch trail, the familiar gate blocking motorized vehicles was replaced with a sign post.  The massive amount of snow had buried the gate, leaving only a bit exposed at the edge of the gully.

Steph points out the sign post replacing the buried gate.

The edge of the gate pokes out of the accumulated snowpack.

At the "Y" above the switchbacks (also known as the "V"), we split into two groups, with Cathy taking some of the group towards the ridge and I took some of the group into the runs on climber's right of the uptrack.  The powder was heavy and a bit of a challenge, but we managed to find a good line through the untracked powder.  

Cheryl and Sandy are all smiles getting ready for the first run.

For the second run we went way to the climber's left at the "Y", following a snowshoe track into one of the gullies in the trees.  There we briefly ran into the rest of the group.  They continued down as we climbed a bit higher, then dropped into the popular run.  The tracks made for some nice grooming, but the slow going through the untracked powder made us wary of our turns.  

At the bottom of the gully we hit the uptrack, where we ran into Steph P and Rob.  My group was ready to head back to the cars, so Steph and Rob graciously adopted me for the next climb.  We headed up towards the ridge, stopping at a knoll that we hoped would carry us to the skiers left above an untracked run above the "Y".  Rob stayed high and cleared the hollow, but Steph and I ran into a vertical wall of a cross-loaded cornice.  After breaking through to the other side, we traversed to the run and enjoyed some excellent conditions above the "Y".  With each turn, we sunk into the powder, only to pop back up at the completion of the turn.  

At the "Y" we ran into Bob and Fred, supposedly looking for me, or was it to make a third run?  Perhaps a little of both.  They continued on up, while we made our way down the trail.  

Tom descends the gully below the ""Y".
Photo by Steph.

After a suitable period of quad burning, we glided into the parking lot, where we met up with many of the same people that we had started with.  Judi proudly showed the marks from her battle with some unruly branches.

Mere branches cannot deter this woman.

Jenny's was closed in the morning and afternoon, which clinched our apres ski decision to stop at Tommyknockers.

3 runs / 5 miles / 2000' elevation.

Topo and air photo with track detail.