Hemlock and Melakwa Lake

It was raining, cloudy and overall not a great day to be out ski touring. But sometimes in the Northwest, you just have to ignore the rain and get out. We toured from the top of Chair 2 and decided to make our way into Great Scott Bowl, past Pineapple Pass, down towards Melawka Lake with the option of skiing out via Bryant Couloir. I had skied down to Melwakwa Lake a number of years ago by coming up Bryant Couloir, but never approached Bryant from the backside.

With the thick fog, we were unable to find our way up to Bryant Couloir, and spent a couple of hours poking around Hemlock and Bryant Peak. Finally, we followed our tracks back around and skied out via Great Scott Bowl. Right in my backyard, and I couldn't find a couloir I have skied a number of times! We didn't have a map, which proved our downfall. Even in familiar terrain, a map is a must.