Hiking with a side of Skiing

The Brothers is an iconic peak on the Olympic skyline, easily visible from Seattle. It was one of the first mountains I knew, but I never got around to climbing it. This year, Logan suggested the idea of skiing the south gully, a route that is popular amongst peak baggers but uncommon for skiers. While it was a longer approach that I typically do with skis, I figured that I might as well ski it.

This spring has feature dry weather, creating a great corn cycle. Unfortunately, the nice weather has always been during the week, with weekends consistently worse. A storm was pushing through the area on Saturday, but it looked like it might clear Sunday, especially in the Olympics. We decided to make an attempt on the Brothers.

Jack, Logan, and I drove around Puget Sound to the Lena Lake Trailhead. Annoying the bathroom was locked, despite the fact this trailhead is accessible year round. Unsurprisingly, the area behind the bathroom was full of toilet paper and shit. Can we please stop locking bathrooms?

The trailhead elevation was around 700 ft, the lowest I have ever began for a ski trip. The trail to Lena Lake was nice and easy. The outhouse here was also closed.

Our first challenge was to cross Lena Creek. There are multiple downed logs and people have taken the time to cut notches and attach a hand line in one of them. This route is pretty popular amongst mountaineers, and we all appreciate the effort some have put into maintenance!

Past Lena Creek, we entered the fabled “Valley of the Silent Men.” Trip reports raved about this valley, so I expected to be let down. However, it actually was gorgeous – a beautiful combination of old growth trees, a creek, and fluorescent moss.

An adventure like this is not about maximizing turns to effort. It’s about going for a walk in a beautiful place with friends. Hiking with a side of skiing.

I would say about 90% of the trail is in good shape. It’s not just a climber’s trail, but a real trail with bridges, switchbacks, etc. However, there were a few sections that were schwacky or hard to follow. It’s probably easier in low flow periods because then you can just walk in the creek bed.

Around 2900 ft, we started to run into patchy snow. The climber’s camp was still largely snow covered, although the trail was once again snow free as we climbed above it.

At 3500 ft, we emerged into the open, finally reaching more consistent snow coverage. It had taken us over 3 hours to cover the 7 miles to this point – definitely one of the longest approaches I’ve done to skiable terrain.

We changed into our ski boots and started booting up the snow. Clouds had formed, creating very mysterious vibes. We climbed slowly, hoping the weather would improve.

We tried to follow the direct route up “the Hourglass”, but some sketchy moat turned us back. Instead, we followed the summer route to the right, up, and then back left into the gully.

Climbing through thick fog was disorienting at times. I felt like I was losing my balance. Right as we neared the summit block, we started to see flashes of sunlight and broke out of the clouds.

We dropped our skis about 100 ft below the summit and eagerly ascended into the sunshine.

The summit was warm, calm, and in a bizarre hole in the clouds. Clouds were forming around us on three sides, but the summit remained consistently in the sun. The NW side of the mountain sat in the glorious sun, but unfortunately the south side was socked in. We decided to take our boots off and wait for an hour, hoping it would become clearer.

We texted Wyatt from the summit, asking him when it was going to clear. The “mostly sunny” forecast for National Weather Service had unfortunately failed to deliver, and he doubted it was going to clear anytime soon. So around 3 PM, we decided to just ski down.

The inch or so of fresh snow had burned down in the bright fog, making for really nice, smooth corn. Unfortunately, we could barely see 20 ft in front of us through the upper gully.

Once we dropped below 5500 ft, we got beneath the clouds and had great views of Hood Canal.

Due to the clouds an mild ambient temperatures, we enjoyed near perfect corn for the entire 3,000 ft run. This was Jack and Logan’s second great “cloud corn” experience of the season.

On our long hike out, we had plenty of time to develop the theory of “cloud corn”, and other forms of “dark corn”.

Although the weather did not work out, the Brothers was a great adventure with Logan and Jack. The south gully makes for an excellent ski descent, and the approach is beautiful. With the right attitude, skiing in the Olympics can be quite a good time!

Notes:

• Climbing the Brothers was 7300 ft gain, more than the elevation of the peak!
• I think we nailed the seasonal timing. If we had gone much earlier, there would have been an annoying amount of hiking on snow, and the forest would not be very amendable to skiing. If we had gone later, the bottom skiing section would have been less consistent.
• The gully is decently steep, probably 45 degrees, but not too narrow. It’s a nice moderate ski line.