Fred Burr Creek, Burr point 8,469

Castle Crag from a high perch in Fred Burr Creek.

Ten years ago, the last time I was in Fred Burr, conditions were so I icy I barely used skins and ran around from sunrise to sunset exploring.  The skiing was actually pretty good, so with adequate low elevation snow coverage this year, it seemed fitting to return for a second round.  I struck out on partners, so headed out alone by headlamp, excited to explore.  I walked and jogged the first three miles before there was enough light to see and snow to skin.  From the reservoir inlet, I slowly made my way up the trail another mile, successfully navigating the stream crossings.  In retrospect, I wonder if one could just fight it on the North side of the creek.

Crossing #1: The Sketchy Log. What could possibly go wrong?

Crossing #2: The Sketchy Boulder Hop.  What could possibly go wrong?

Crossing #3: The Sketchy Ice, Bridged with Skis.  What could possibly go wrong?

Crossing #4: Not pictured. I walked through the creek and soaked my boots, but was on the way out so it was OK.

It is a little tricky to ascertain the correct place to leave the trail, and I overshot by a bit, but a minor course correction put me back on track.  Aside from a water stop, I put my head down and climbed straight to the summit of Burr Point (my informal name), Point 8,469.  The upper headwall of the peak looked like splendid skiing, so I spun a long low angle powder run down toward Bear creek.  The skiing was quite good.  Another good push put me back on top again.

First run off Burr point.

More of the first run.  Sky Pilot in view on the left skyline.

I had hoped to ski the excellent southeast bowl, but general stability was not as bomber as I had hoped for, and I was concerned about South facing snow warming up too much. So I headed for my main objective for the day, a steep couloir dropping peak to creek off the southeast shoulder of Burr point.  To my delight, it was easy to skirt slabs on the upper headwall, and the ensuing run was excellent, with good corn snow and much better coverage than I had feared.

Looking down the second run.

I skied the obvious sunlight couloir.  Burr point is directly behind it.  My ascent route was in the shaded bowl looker's right.  

I had originally planned to ski several steeper lines, but wasn't super excited to do another dance around wind slabs, so I bushwacked across the creek and made a 3,000 foot climb up low angle terrain in the Castle crag basin.  I had hoped the run would be mellow powder, but it was pretty wind hammered and unforgettable.  I also faded a lot on the climb. Not sure why.

The third run was down the rolling sunlit slopes looker's right of Castle crag.

I rounded out the day by climbing to the top of a series of North facing peak to creek gullies which drop back to Fred Burr creek just above the reservoir.  The skinning was trickier than I would have liked given my fatigued state, but I hammered away at it, eventually topping out.  The run took a great line, but the snow was again wind hammered, so the skiing was just OK.

The gully I skied on the last run.  Photo taken from Burr point.

At the bottom of the last run.  It was about as interesting as it looks. Classic Bitterroot boulder hopping.

From the trail, the exit took 90 minutes, and was full of great drama including wading through the creek, tricky high speed downhill skiing with kicker skins, a striking sunset, and about two miles of jogging in running shoes back to the car. 10,300 vertical feet, done in 11 hours, 38 minutes car to car. Kind of slow, but I took the pace nice and easy most of the day.

Thoughts
It was good to go back to Fred Burr/  On a gear related note, this was the first day using a new Black Diamond Cirque 30 pack, purchased at the gamlber sale at the Trailhead.  As long as it is durable, I am quite impressed with the pack.  So Fred Burr requires quite a bit of low elevation snow to make anything happen on skis, but once things fill in there is quite a bit of good skiing, and the drive to the trailhead is safe.  I think Burr point is the best place to start, since it is just high enough in the drainage to have good coverage, and there is a lot to ski as long as the avalanche danger is on the low end of Considerable or lower.

I would like to return with a lot of snow and ski some of the more accessible North facing terrain above the reservoir.  I would also like to return and ski more of the North facing terrain on the northwest shoulder of Castle Crag.  It is getting way up the drainage, but there are also a bunch of nice South facing runs below Totem peak in the upper corner of the drainage that look excellent.  On a bigger but doable note, it would be quite fun to do a mini traverse from Sheafman to Fredd Burr, skiing something out of the head of Sheafman, then skiing one of the North facing runs in to Fred Burr from the northwest shoulder of the Castle Crag massif.  On a little more out there note, It would be rad to do a traverse from Fred Burr to Bear or Gash creeks, skiing Totem and the striking unnamed peak at the head of Bear creek, and maybe Sky Pilot.  Hmmm....