2013 Trips
December 30, 2013
October 13, 2013
Tillamook Head Fail
6 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
Gorgeous Day for hiking Tillamook Head, but we turned back at about 3 miles in, due to a spectacular simultaneous double boot sole delamination.
October 5, 2013
Jefferson Park - Gordy's first Backpacking Trip
12 miles of hiking • 1750' elevation gain • 1 night
Gorgeous last backpack before the start of fall, and the first backpacking trip for my mutt, Gordy.
Spent the evening camped by Bays Lake with friends. Our campsite was surrounded by ripe huckleberries.
Lots of backpackers, but no mosquitos.
September 14 – September 15, 2013
MSH Summit
10 miles of hiking • 4500' elevation gain •
Agreed to lead the usual suspects up to the summit of MSH. Camped at the Climbers' Bivouac the night before. It was difficult to find a spot to due to a large group of Boy Scouts, who had taken over about 75% of the established campsites.
September 8, 2013
North and Middle Sister Loop from Obsidian TH
44 miles of hiking • 7000' elevation gain • 3 nights
Circumnavigation of North and Middle Sister starting at the Obsidian TH. Side trips to Desmaris Lakes and North Matthieu Lake.
August 30 – September 2, 2013
August 18, 2013
Obsidian, Thunderstorms & a Little Trail Magic
25 miles of hiking • 3750' elevation gain • 2 nights
We had decided back in January that the Obsidian Limited Entry area would be on our list of hikes for this year. April rolled around, and we got overnight permits for the weekend.
Four of us, including two on their first ever backcountry trip, headed out on Friday. We stopped to check weather at the McKenzie Ranger Station. 70% chance of thunderstorms today, 50% tomorrow... Reasonable some might say. As we found out later, we there were severe weather warnings for the area, shortly after we were out of cell coverage range.
We got to the trailhead a little after 3pm and were greeted by the sound of thunder and showers. After a lot of debating at the car, we strapped on our packs and started heading up the trail. The first mile or so was a lot of hike, stop, discuss the weather, continue. At a mile in, we hit a microburst with hail. We almost turned around and headed back to the car, but then it stopped; so we decided to continue on to our camp. No turning back. While all this was happening, there was a steady stream of hikers heading OUT. Many mentioned thunderstorms, wind, horrendous hail...but it was 3pm. It had to pass soon, right?
By the time we made it to our planned campsite, at the junction of the Obsidian Trail and PCT, the skies had cleared to make way for a clear evening.
The next morning we woke up to clear skies. Our plan for the day was a hike to Chambers Lakes. As we headed south, we kept an eye out for PCT thru-hikers, with the hopes of being able to perform a few acts of backcountry trail magic. Between the Obsidian Limited Entry area boundary and Separation Creek, we were able to chat and share fresh fruit and coffee with five PCT thru hikers and one woman section hiking Oregon. We also kept an eye on the skies...
By 10:30am clouds started appearing over North, Middle, and South Sister. We stopped for lunch just north of Separation Creek. By 1pm, South Sister was almost completely obscured. We decided heading up to Chambers Lakes would be unsafe, so we started making our way back to camp.
About a mile into our return hike, we heard thunder, followed by hail. Followed by LOTS of hail.
The storms finally passed by 6pm. After a quick dinner of dehydrated stuff, we went for an evening hike on the PCT within the Obsidian limited entry area. We spent time exploring the falls, the obsidian fields, and searching for the memorial plaques that are on the topo maps. We were able to find Branaugh and Prouty, but not Montague.
Sunday morning, we woke up to more gorgeousness and hiked out to sunshine.
It wasn't until we were back on the road home that we realized how severe the weekend storms had been. There were several places on Old McKenzie Pass where gravel and rock had washed onto the road.
Despite the weather, it was still a fun, although somewhat wet weekend.
August 9 – August 11, 2013
SEKI - Heather, Aster, and Emerald Lakes
10 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
Decided to squeeze in one more Central CA hike before heading home to Oregon. This time, from the west side of Sequoia NP.
We started at Wolverton, and then hike the Lakes Trail loop.
Took the Hump trail on the way in, and the Watchtower trail on our return.
July 7, 2013
3
Mt. Whitney Summit
22 miles of hiking • 6250' elevation gain •
We started up the trail from Whitney Portal shortly after 1am, after about 5.5 hours of sleep. We wanted to get an early start since the forecast was calling for a 30% chance of thunderstorms after 11am. It was a warm, clear night and we were some of the first day hikers on the trail. We quickly made it up to the junction to Lone Pine Lake. I was glad that we had hiked the same stretch a couple days earlier, as the start of the trail also had the most boulder hopping and log crossings. As we continued up the trail, we could see the lights from cars, pulling into the TH parking lot and the shining headlamps of hikers behind us.
We were at Outback Camp about two hours into our hike. In the darkness, we only saw a few tents, but there could have easily been many more. Once we passed Outback Camp, we continued following the trail past brush and then some rocky sections. The trail was a little less discernable in some the the rocky areas, but after some inspection, we were quickly on our way. We passed through creekside meadow and Consultation Lake in the darkness.
Daylight started to break just as we were approching Trail Camp. We had travelled about 6.5 miles and gained 3500 ft of elevation in 4 hours. As we were passing though, some of the backpackers were just starting their day. Since there were still a lot of quiet tents, we continued up our way toward the cable section and the infamous "99 switchbacks" to Trail Crest. Btw, I did not count the switchbacks.
We watched the sunrise as we trudged up the switchbacks. We could see Trail Camp starting to come to life in the valley below. We passed several switchbacks that had water running over them from a spring at about mile 6.7 (12,400'). This is the last water source on the trail. We were carrying plenty of water, but had plans to stop at this water source on our return. We used this as a reference for water sources on the trail (http://www.ridgenet.net/~rockwell/Whitneywatertrail.pdf).
We made it to Trail Crest at 7am (mile 9, 13,600'). The sun was just starting to make it over the peaks to the summits and valleys below in Sequoia NP. We continued a short distance to the junction with the JMT, where there was a sign that stated Mt. Whitney - 1.9 miles. At that point, someone in a group of backpackers who had stopped there, told us "It may be only 1.9 miles, but it will be the longest 1.9 miles ever." We continued on. This section, all the way to the summit had areas of boulder fields and loose rock. After working our way past the windows, low points between peaks, that allowed glimpses back toward the Owens Valley we finally got to the final summit push.
At 9am, we finally made it to the top! As I mentioned, it was a warm day. At 14,500', it was a balmy 53F! We signed the register, found multiple USGS markers, took pictures, posted FB updates (yes, most phones get signal at the summit) and took a break for lunch. After 1.5 hours a the summit, we headed back down.
As we were heading back down, we could see dark clouds and rain in the distance to the southwest. Luckily, it stayed mostly sunny for our return trip. It took quite awhile to make our way back to Trail Crest. You would think that heading down from a summit like Mt. Whitney would be well, downhill. Well, this is not the case, as the section of trail between the summit and trail crest has some sections of steeper uphill on the way out. When you're at about 14,000', uphill is just hard. Period. We also had to step to the side of the trail many times, since there were now finding a lot more hikers on their way up to the summit.
Finally, we were on our way down the switchbacks. We encountered a family that had run out of water on their return. Their goal was to make it to Trail Camp to refill. We kept a watchful eye on the group all the way down to the first water source on the switchbacks. It was hot, sunny, and exposed. Perfect conditions for heat related illnesses.
We stopped at the spring on the switchbacks, along with a lot of other hikers, to refill our water. Cold water. :)
Then it was down through Trail Camp, and to the section of trail we hiked in the early morning darkness. As we passed Consultation Lake, we were able to notice a waterfall, we could hear, but not see as we hiked past in the morning. We were also able to enjoy the views of the valley walls, the wildflowers, and meadows that lined parts of the trail. Most of the trail including Trail Camp and Outback Camp is relatively treeless, so we were exposed to full sun almost all the way down. Trail Camp is above tree line. Outback camp has some trees, but shade is sparse.
We finally made it back to the TH at 4:45pm, where we quickly dropped our backpacks and boots at the car and then headed into the Whitney Portal Store to grab burgers and beer. Mmm...burgers and beer. Good weather, great hike. Summit accomplished. :)
Additional Notes
Pre-hike details:
Permits - There's really four ways to get permits. We got our permits via option
1) Enter and win the permit lottery (Online - Usually in February)
2) Claim one of the remaining unreserved permits after the permit lottery winners are announced. (Online - Usually April)
3) Claim permits unclaimed by lottery winners (Online - Usually May)
4) First come first served in Lone Pine (In person - the day before your hike)
We got our permits via either option 2 or 3, once we knew there was a high chance the trail would be free of snow in early July.
Acclimation - We spent several days acclimatizing, as we wanted a high chance of success. We spent 3 nights at just under 5000 ft (conveniently, at a family reunion, in the South Sierra) and then two nights in Whitney Portal (8000ft). Campsites in Whitney Portal are difficult to get online. I found ours because I have a habit of incessantly checking recreation.gov. What we learned when we arrived is that there is some first come - first served, and it seemed like there were a lot of no shows and last minute cancellations. Although we were in Whitney Portal the week of July 4th, the campsite next to us was empty the entire time, due to no shows.
July 3, 2013
Lone Pine Lake
5.8 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
Hiked to Lone Pine Lake as our last acclimation hike prior to hiking to the summit of Mt. Whitney on July 3rd.
This hike also allowed us to familiarize ourselves with the first 2.5 miles of the Mt. Whitney Trail. Permits are only required after Lone Pine Lake.
We started up the trail around 3:30pm, returning to Whitney Portal at about 6pm.
July 1, 2013
Larch Mountain
14.5 miles of hiking • 4000' elevation gain •
8am start meant we had Multnomah Falls almost all to ourselves on the way up.
Rhodies are in bloom the last couple miles before the summit.
June 16, 2013
Ruckel Ridge - Benson - Ruckel Creek
13 miles of hiking • 4250' elevation gain •
Hiked up Ruckel Ridge, a loop around Benson Plateau, and then down Ruckel Creek.
June 9, 2013
Trillium Lake w/ Gordy
2 miles of hiking • 0' elevation gain •
Short hike with my loveable mutt, Gordy.
Fantastic sunny day with picture perfect views of Mt. Hood.
June 3, 2013
Ruckel Ridge - Benson Plateau - Eagle Creek Loop
15 miles of hiking • 4250' elevation gain •
Started from the parking lot by the Eagle Creek Suspension Bridge at about 8:30am.
From there we hiked up Ruckel Ridge and across Benson Plateau before dropping back down to Eagle Creek.
Total trail time, including lunch and snack stops, 11 hours.
June 2, 2013
Foggy Doggie
7 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
Got an early start up Dog Mountain. Not too many hikers for a Sunday. Hiked the scenic trail up, Augspurger trail down. The Augsperger trail is very muddy from the top, down to the junction with the spur that goes to Augspurger mountain. Balsamroot is past its prime.
May 26, 2013
Siouxon Creek
7.5 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •
Hiked Siouxon Creek to the creek crossing just before the bridge. The water was running high and fast over smooth rock. Opted not to chance the crossing and headed back.
May 25, 2013
Opal Creek
13 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
So, we might be a little insane.
Arrived at the TH shortly after 9am, to find we were the first to arrive for the morning. We quickly grabbed our running gear and went for an out and back run along the road to Jawbone Flats. (6 miles)
After arriving back at the car, we changed into hiking gear grabbed our packs and the dog. Then we hiked the loop through Opal Pool and Jawbone Flats. (7 miles)
So, 6 mile trail run + 7 mile hike = how to get 13 miles along Opal Creek.
March 30, 2013
