Mountain #1: Mt. Bailey Ski Ascent
Date: May 29, 2023
Distance: Approximately 10 miles round trip
Elevation gain: Approximately 3100 feet
Start/Finish: ¼ mile from the Mt. Bailey Trailhead
Duration: Approximately 6 hours
Logistics:
In winter/early spring Mt. Bailey can be reached via Three Lakes Sno Park (Sno-Park permit required), located off OR 230. In late spring, if the roads to Diamond Lake are open, the official trailhead located at the base of the Mountain (Trail #1451) (NW Forest Pass needed to park), can be accessed from FS4795 via OR 230 or OR 138. If traveling in winter, note that the trail from the sno-park adds a couple miles up a shared snowmobile road before it branches up the Mountain.
Mt. Bailey:
Having been denied a ski summit in the winter of 2022, I decided that I’d try for a 2023 Spring ski up Mt. Bailey once it stopped raining. Since darkness and icy conditions contributed to the “failed” winter attempt, a spring ski that allowed for extended daylight hours and softer snow in the afternoon seemed to make more sense. It turns out that waiting for the rain to stop in Southern Oregon took most of the Spring, and a sunny day seemed like too much to ask for! The weather window finally looked good around Memorial Day. Having Nordic skied around Diamond Lake on several feet of snowpack just 3 weeks before, I naively thought there would still be good snow coverage all the way to the base of the Mountain! WRONG! I checked out the route from Three Lakes Sno Park when I arrived, but could see bare pavement not too far up the trail. Rather than exploring a little farther, or heading up what I figured would be a patchy at best approach, I decided that I’d check out the official trailhead. There was still a little snow on the last bit of road to the trailhead, but I was able to drive within a ¼ mile of the parking lot. I parked at the boundary where snow travel meets road travel and began my bootpack journey. Since I knew I’d have to walk the first mile or so, I already had my skis A-framed to my pack! As soon as I stepped out of the car I was swarmed with Mosquitoes! Silly me…As I knew there was still FEET of snow just 3 weeks prior and I didn’t possibly think it could melt *that* fast, thus allowing for extreme mosquito levels, I did not bring my bug spray. I know better, but, alas, I continued on to the Trailhead.
Mount Bailey Trailhead
The mosquitoes continued to chow on me for the first 1.5 miles, leaving me with a few dozen bites and an immune reaction that significantly slowed my travel time. But onward I pushed. I eventually put my skis on after the first mile or so and continued uphill. Remembering how poorly the trail was marked once the route crossed FS4795-380 I was still surprised at how much worse it had gotten in just a year and a half. Nearly all the blue diamond markers were missing from the trees, and of those left, 50% were on the ground at the base of the tree they had once been attached to. Because my dogs and I seemed to be the ONLY domesticated beings on the Mountain that entire day, it was very important that I stay on some sort of path that I would be able to track back to my car.
Snacktime!
There were some ski tracks and I had some landmarks, and we generally followed the path up to the ridge that eventually leads to the summit.
Gaining the ridge next to Avalanche Bowl
We made it within a couple hundred feet below the summit where we had stellar views of Avalanche bowl, Diamond Lake, Mt. Thielsen, and a lot of other beautiful scenery.
Taking in Thielsen and Diamond Lake view
However, since my overactive immune response from being the first meal of the season for a couple hundred mosquitoes had slowed my pace even more as we climbed in elevation, I decided it was better to quit while we were ahead and could still enjoy the ride down.
Lunch spot looking down into Avalanche Bowl
Also, not having a good, designated trail, and really no tracks to follow can make it easy to cliff out if one strays too far from the ridge, so I took the most conservative route down I could, riding perfect snow back to within a mile or so of the trailhead, where I took my skis off and slogged back to the car in my boots. Lucky for me, my ski boots are super comfortable and I know a lot of great bootfitters!
Obligatory selfie!
This year’s Fall mission will be to climb Mt. Bailey as many times as I can so that I can be familiar with more winter aspects of the Mountain, as I know there is a LOT more fun to be had on this mountain. I am not maximizing the adventure to its true potential! I know there are other ways down that have more open skiing than what I did, but need to explore those before setting off for a ski ascent again. I pulled over on my drive home to take in one last view of the Mountain we had just played on.
Post climb view
Summit or no summit, Mt. Bailey is still a LOT of fun, with a lot to offer around it! Nearby Diamond Lake offers many XC opportunities, and Mt. Thielsen, which also offers some super fun XC and AT ski opportunities, is pretty much across the street!
Gear:
Black Crows Camox Freebird AT Skis
Pomoca Skins
Dynafit ST Rotation AT bindings
Salomon S/Lab MTN ski boots
BlackStrap Brackish Sun Hoody
Goodr Sunglasses, Sunscreen (SPF 60), hat, lip balm with SPF 30