Porter Fork Trail

Trying to avoid the "Considerable" risk on the UAC avalanch rose but still needing to do 3,000 feet+ elevation gain and wanting to bring the dogs, I went to Main Porter Fork in Mill Creek. You start at the trail head at 5,960 feet and you end up at a bit below 9,300 on north facing terrain that, in regards to avy risk, is "steep enough". Incidentally here is what the UAC avalanch rose looked like this morning:

As you can see the limit of "Considerable" on north facing terrain is 9,500 feet so this tour was kind of OK if all you want is to limit yourself to "Moderate" risk.

In any case Mill Creek was as delightful as always. The temperature was 9 degrees F at the start of the tour but no wind so not too cold. It was a bit more overcast than the weather forecast led us to believe but still more than pleasant enough.

Here are the pictures (click to enlarge):

Jana working her way up

Your's truly with Skadi in the foreground and Loki behind me.

The originator of this impressive slide path seems to thankfully be purging
as the storms come and go.

Looking north a little below Main Porter.

A backcountry dog's life... Skadi got just in front of my tips in the powder
on Main Porter. She ended up at the vet getting stitches and is now
"grounded" for 14 days. She is going to hate beeing left behind
when Loki gets to go skiing.