2015 Trips
Hyak Mountain - Summit East Ski
3.5 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
Had a pow fest up on Summit East today. Most of the runs at Snoqualmie opened today, but we found no lift lines at Summit East !!! We toured around the whole mountain and took 3 laps as the snow continued to pile up. Today was my buddy Tyson's 1st time out with his back country gear. He held his own and hung in there like a champ. The last run of the day was a blast and we got some amazing turns in up high. Trying to talk myself into going again tomorrow =)
December 12, 2015
#1st_Turns_of_da_Season
1 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •
Finally got out and got rid of my itch to ski !!! I tried to get out over Thanksgiving weekend, but had some plans fall through with another buddy of mine and decided to just be lazy. I spent all week in Southern California and all they kept talking about on the news was how Big Bear was open and operational. I saw it as we were flying in and wondered how much snow they have to be making to keep that mountain open. All the other surrounding peaks barely had a dusting, but yet Big Bear was covered. Then I started checking forecasts back home and saw that a big storm was heading our way for the weekend. I kept my fingers crossed and reached out to a few people to see if they would like to get out. My buddy Tyson was originally going to join me and we were planning on going to Baker. Late last night he bailed on me and I quickly checked the conditions at Snoqualmie. Everything looked promising, but I wasn't going to commit unless it was snowing on the web cams when I got up. Sure enough the stars aligned and I was on my way. It was snowing hard when I arrived and the coverage looked great. Just after my 1st lap the snow turned rain and everything got heavy quick. Decided to call it an early day and head home. Felt good to get some turns though !!!!!!! Heres to a promising start to a questionable season ~
December 6, 2015
Clark Lake Training Runs
10 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •
I am going to use this entry to log my training runs around Clark Lake. This park is just down the street from my house and offers a nice trail system around swamp lands as well as a local lake. It is a dog friendly park and provides a great chance for Mindy to get some exercise as well !!! I have figured out a complex loop that will provide 3.25 miles of hiking / running and 250' of elevation gain. My goal will be to do this loop at least twice a week this winter.
11/21 - No official time, but it took me about 1 hour. It was a clear frosty morning and the trail conditions were good. I only ran up the hill portions, but the next time out I will time my loop.
11/28 - Estimated time was 52 minutes. Stop watch malfunctioned, but I happened to check the clock before I left the car. Another cold and clear morning at Clark Lake, it felt great to burn off some of that Turkey and Stuffing !!!!
12/13 - Time was 58:30. I went out with my buddy Simon and we made a soggy trip around Clark Lake. It wasn't as muddy as I thought it would be, but the bridges were extremely slick. Felt good to stretch my legs after a hard day of skiing yesterday. I need to get back on schedule with doing this multiple times a week.
November 21, 2015
1
Yakima Peak - North Gully
2 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
Had a great day out with my buddy Simon. It was his 1st winter summit and he rocked it !!!! ....looking forward to many more with him this season.
The only thing that could have made this trip better would have been snow instead of RAIN !!! I brought my skis because there was a video on TAY of some people who got out on Thursday the 12th and had 6" of Pow on a good base. However when we arrived it was a Slurpee and pissing rain. Good thing I brought my mountaineering boots just in case. Overall there is still good coverage up high and with the snow level droping early next week.... it should be good to go again. Not sure when they plan on closing the road for the season, but hopefully I can get some turns in before they do.
November 14, 2015
1
Mount Daniel - SE Ridge
14 miles of hiking • 4750' elevation gain • 1 night
I was trying to make late October an annual trip up to the Enchantments, but plans fell through and I still had the time off from work. After looking at many places, I landed on Mount Daniel. It is one of those mountains that I see from Snoqualmie Pass all the time, but often wonder....... What is that large peak covered in snow off to the east. I always check after we get home and it ends up being Mount Daniel. Hopefully this spring I will get to ski up there, so I figured what the heck.....lets go check it out. This was going to be my first solo backpacking in a long time, so I figured what better company than Mindy. We packed up and hit the road...... The weather was supposed to remain calm until Sunday, but there was going to be some cloud cover on Saturday with a slight chance of snow Sunday morning. Little did I know, we would get caught in a white out and snowstorm on Saturday afternoon. We got started early and the clouds looked high with no precip.....then just as we gained the ridge, I caught wind of a familiar scent. Growing up in Colorado I could sometimes smell the snow in the air just before they sky opened up. All of a sudden some low clouds rolled in from the west and snow started falling. It was peaceful and quite beautiful at first, then as the higher we got the wind started whipping and snow began blowing sideways. It was starting to stick and within minutes the scree field and exposed ridge line was covered in white goodness !! Mindy was a trooper, but she reached her braking point.... she was slipping around on snow covered slabs of rock and it was just a little too exposed to risk going any further with her. No summit this time, but we will be back this spring. Such an amazing mountain and I look forward to exploring it more. Cathedral Peak looks like a really great scramble as well.
October 23 – October 24, 2015
1
Rampart Ridge
5.5 miles of hiking • 3250' elevation gain •
Had a great fall outing with my buddy Simon and Mindy. We went up and explored the upper rampart lakes region and tagged the high point on Rampart Ridge. Looks like we missed the fall colors down low by about 2 weeks..... but I was pleasantly surprised with the colors in the higher alpine meadows. We took the back door approach via the Rocky Run Trail. On our way down from Rampart Ridge, we explored the backside of Lake Lillian and found this awesome cave. There were also some very nice secluded campsites along the far side of the lake.
October 11, 2015
Ingalls Peak - South Ridge
8 miles of hiking • 3000' elevation gain • 1 night
Camped at the trail head and got a nice early start around 6:00 am. The approach to Ingalls Pass went quick and we were up at the lake in no time. The Ingalls Pass area would be a great place to camp and spend a few days relaxing in the wilderness. There are plenty of climbing routes on Ingalls and it would make for some nice alpine climbing from camp. Can't wait to head back there next spring and get some skiing in as well.
September 13 – September 14, 2015
Annual Scramble up that Peak Named Guye
3.5 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Did my annual scramble up the cream of some young guye. Took my buddy Tyson up the South Rib Route. We had a great time and enjoyed the last real hot day of summer. Afterwards we drove to Teanaway and car camped at Esmeralda trail head. The next day we climbed up to Ingalls Peak. This was a nice slam to end the summer season. Looking forward to some fall climbing and winter snow !!
September 12, 2015
1
Park Lakes - Labor Day Weekend
13.5 miles of hiking • 3750' elevation gain • 2 nights
After going to Michele's Cabin the last 2 years for Labor Day, we decided it was time to get back to our roots and hit the trail for our annual Family Backpacking Trip. We had a great time up at Park Lakes near Salmon La Sac. The cast and crew consisted of the usual suspects.
September 5 – September 7, 2015
Windy Pass on Cashmere Mountain
14 miles of hiking • 5000' elevation gain •
Saturday was a perfect day for this climb. It was sunny with a nice cool breeze at our backs. The trail was dry and bug free. We hit all 4 lakes on the way up and had some incredible views high up on the ridge. We had the summit of Cashmere in our sights and could have pressed on, but it would have been an additional (4) hours to our trip and we had a turn around time of 3:00 p.m. Next time we will plan to drive up the night before and get an earlier start. Still haven't hit a WA 100 peak this year. I am hoping that will change in the coming months !!!!
August 15, 2015
McClellan Butte
6 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
Got a quick climb in after work on Friday night. Simon and Keetaan joined me. We hit the summit at just the right time and were able to catch the last bits of sun before the rain sets in this weekend. We took the short cut and used Forest Road 9020 as our access point. This worked out great and proved to be the perfect after work hike and excellent way to end any work week !!
August 7, 2015
Clark Lake Stroll
2.5 miles of hiking • 250' elevation gain •
Went out for a nice stroll with Mayumi yesterday. She has been sick and had a bad case of Cabin Fever. It was really nice to just get out and stretch our legs.
August 2, 2015
Cable Line on Tiger
4 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Hit up the Cable Line Route on Tiger Mountain after work. No record setting time, but it was about 1:20 up and 45 min Down. Went with Simon and Randy from my work. Feels good to be getting back into shape. Slow start to the season, but with this weather...... we should have another few months of great climbing !!!
July 29, 2015
Poo Poo Training Runs
3.5 miles of hiking • 1750' elevation gain •
This is going to be an ongoing entry that will capture my stats as I try to catch up on my training for fall and winter. It will continue to grow in mileage and elevation gain. It will also include times / dates and a few notes.
The stats for this hike are as follows:
3.8 Miles Round Trip w/ 1,690' of Elevation Gain. This is the Chirico Trail to Poo Poo Point.
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July 22nd - 1st time up Da Poo this year. Went with Randy and Simon from my work and finished in about 2 hours. Felt good to stretch my legs after the brutal trip up Shuksan last weekend. Gotta get back in shape....winter is coming !!!
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July 22, 2015
Camping on Mount Shuksan
7 miles of hiking • 4000' elevation gain • 1 night
So after 3 months of going to track meets, spending time with my family, and working way to hard... !!!! I finally returned to the great outdoors with Jason Cline. We enjoyed a great trip up to Mount Shuksan and spent a night under the stars on the Sulphide Glacier. Just what the mind, body and soul needed !!! Here is a link to the photos.
https://flic.kr/s/aHskgJNAwk
July 18 – July 19, 2015
Little Si
4.5 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
Had a fun day out with my good friend Larry and his daughter. She is almost 3 years old and was a trooper. Dad had to carry her a little bit at the top and just before the car, but she kept on truckin !!!!
May 17, 2015
Camp Muir Ski Tour
5 miles of hiking • 4750' elevation gain •
Had a perfect day of skiing and skinning up to Camp Muir. Went up with my climbing partner Jason and we both got a great preseason work out. The snow was a near perfect corn mash !!!! My legs will need a few days to recover from this one.
May 9, 2015
1
Yakima Peak Ski Tour
1 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
Yesterday was by far the best day I have had in the back country this year. A few weeks ago I got sick right after it had just dumped in the hills. So I was not able to go out, but this weekend the stars aligned and there was plenty of freshies to go around. This was my 1st time heading to the Chinook Pass Area.... so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised and was able to skin and ski car to car. I took 3 laps and soaked up some afternoon sun before heading down. This day made up for the winter that never was !!!!!
April 25, 2015
Silver Peak Ski Tour
2 miles of hiking • 1750' elevation gain •
Last year I did this tour in June and wasn't even able to drive to the end of the road. This year in April, I was able to make it all the way to the end of the road. I wasn't sure how long it was going to be before I could start skinning. Given the conditions around me, it felt like it could be a mile. However I was pleasantly surprised and it ended up only being about 10 min of walking before I hit continuous snow. I think the 12" of snow that fell the week before really helped. The skiing was okay, short runs of spring corn. Definitely won't be skiing this area in June of this year. Get out and get it before it is gone !!!
April 18, 2015
1
Big Four Ice Caves & Sperry Peak
11.5 miles of hiking • 5000' elevation gain • 1 night
Had a great birthday weekend with Keetaan and Jason. All I wanted for my B-Day was a chance to go camping with my son and try to squeeze in a good Alpine Climb. We got to do all that and some sun bathing =) It's crazy how little snow there is, but the Alpine start made for some fun climbing on mixed terrain. We even got a few glissades in on the way down !!!
February 28 – March 1, 2015
Coal Creek Wandering
3 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
Went out with Mayumi and my good friend L-Train and his daughter. She just turned 2 years old and this was her first time hiking all by herself. She made it 1.5 miles and then we had to carry a sack of potatoes back to the car =). She passed out while we were eating lunch and didn't wake back up until we got to the car. Looking forward to some more trips with her and L-Train in the future.
February 22, 2015
Snoqualmie Mountain Attempt
1.5 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
Decided to head out on Sunday to work on my tan line. Just as expected the snow conditions were crap, but what we weren't expecting was mid April temps. The higher we climbed... the warmer it got !!! Overall we were just happy to get out and see the sun. We even took in a nice view before we decided to turn around. In the end the snow was just too soft and the travel was slow going to say the least.
January 25, 2015
Source Lake Circumnavigation
4 miles of hiking • 1750' elevation gain •
Decided to get up off the couch and go see what the conditions were like up near Alpental. The basin has about 4 feet of crappy snow with an icy crust. Lots of avalanche debris and exposed creeks. Everyone needs to pray for snow !!!
January 11, 2015
