2012 Trips
Jefferson Park Via Jeff Ridge
14 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain • 1 night
First time to Jeff Park. It only took 5 years.. The lakes were cool and trout filled (4 small ones - 3 eastern brook, 1 rainbow), but also people filled. Detoured on Sunday to around the base of Jefferson and scrambled up a bit following some flagging on the North Slope. Also scrambled around Park Ridge.
full moon was a nice touch. first time solo camping, which struck me as odd for all the trips i've taken.
September 29 – September 30, 2012
2
Assiniboine
37.5 miles of hiking • 8500' elevation gain • 3 nights
-=Second half of our British Columbia trip=-
caveat - long winded
After hiking 6.7miles out from Floe Lake at the Southern Terminus of the Kootenay Nat'l Park Rockwall Trail we went into Radium Hot Springs and Invermere for an afternoon of errands, hot springs, authentic German food, and pre-packing for the next leg of our trip. We contemplated staying at Redstreak Campground but opted for a motel. The room at the Crescent Motel It had a full mini-kitchen that was fully stocked with cooking utensils, and a fridge that included a freezer big enough to refreeze my two one-gallon water containers that I use in our cooler. Okay, thats my plug for them, really impressed though for $90 the accommodations were great--clean, nice layout, supremely comfortable bed, large flat screen on a swivel arm..free pass to the Hot Springs.
The Rockwall Trail is easy to find information about. There is an entire specialized map for it, it is one of the most popular trails in the Canadian Rockies... The same is somewhat true for Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park—However the typical Western access routes (from the Kootenay Nat'l Park side were closed due to the Octopus Mountain Fire (thankfully almost out)), and Eastern access routes involve driving an extra 1hr-1.5hr to Banff or Canmore and hiking 27km, paying for a shuttle, or opting for $150 per person/ per way, helicopter ride. However I did find information on a less common way to the core Mt. Assiniboine area--going up Aurora Creek to Marvel Pass, down to Marvel Lake, then up a more traditional route to Wonder Pass and finally the Lake Magog area (destination).
The general approach is more often used as a route to do a Southside ascent of Mt. Assiniboine, however there is a previously official trail that goes up from this same area and links to trail which enter Mt. Assiniboine Park.
I found a TR on clubtread.com that was less than 3 weeks old which really seemed to make the route seem straight-forward and relatively easy. Heck, they had pictures of a gal in a bikini top posing next to a waterfall, so, it couldn't be that harry of a wicked un-official bushwack through prime bear habitat at the peak of berry foraging, right? Well getting info from the Mt. Assiniboine Lodge where the helicopter flies into, or any government source proved to be impossible, with only vague indications that the route was feasible, even though it was shown on a few different maps. Needless to say I had great trepidations (though vague) about this approach. When it comes to the outdoors, I am very sequential in my pursuits--leaning conservative with my choices until I feel comfortable with an area or activity. I just wanted it to workout, and not be epic.
Being that it was after Canadian Labor day (Same as in the US) the brunt of the tourism season is finished. Reserving a spot for two at the Naiset Huts was quite easy. At $25/person/day it is exceedingly reasonable. A comfortable mattress in a hut. Access to a very nicely furnished cooking 'hut', with solar lighting, unlimited propane, bear boxes, etc. And if one wanted, camp spots were available on the other side of Magog Lake for $20/night. Staying in the lodge proper is $150/person/day...steep!
Day 1) This approach starts with ~40km of driving on a road actively used by the Baymag. It looks like a grader runs the 40km daily. The haul trucks from the magnesite mine talk on CB radio and run full bore down this road. It is unnaturally white with a thick layer of dust from the ore they carry out. But the road is in absolutely great shape - aside from the dust, you can blaze down it at a good speed (40mph for a lot of it). The scenery is amazing..
Then you turn off onto a true Canadian Forest Service road which was near the margin of my vehicle as far as the vegetation growing in the median between tire ruts. Two wooden bridges in disrepair (with boards missing and all) must be driven over. Then a rock-slide prevents further access except for 4wd/high clearance vehicles (confirmed by me bottoming out on a large rock which I had to use a trekking pole to get the car free to back up off the slide). But this only adds about half a mile extra of walking.
We spent a good hour prepping the car for porcupine protection. Sure I had laughed plenty at previous mention of people chicken-wiring their vehicles in the Bugaboos before climbs.. but when you're 45km up a backroad in the Canadian Rockies, the idea of returning to a vehicle with chewed brake/fuel/radiator lines or tires flat... no thanks! We also had to duct-tape our rubbermaid bin shut to hopefully keep the mice out of it.
The day started clear but rain was predicted for the afternoon. While I had some basic things on my GPS.. the maps in Canada are 1:50,000...half the resolution of our 7.5' quads, I believe. And I didn't have anything like a track from someone else, just what I mapped out from some maps that showed a 'piece' of trail here or there. Anyways this really ended up being extremely clear and straight forward. There was a gross amount of flagging for the first few miles of trail, then it was just very clear where you're going. I think it is about 500-600m up to the pass (just guessing here) Eventually there was a sign at the top of Aurora Pass giving us some distances. Along with a warning about entering prime grizzle foraging habitat and that others had been injured and killed here. Lovely.. The clouds had been thickening and around the time we ate lunch it started drizzling.
By the time we got going it was quite wet on all the vegetation and the light rain continued. Even with full rain gear on, in short order our trail-runner feet were soaked. I had a brand new shell jacket for Bucket in the car which she took for this leg of our trip and it did make a huge difference for her.
Going down from Marvel Pass to Marvel Lake was more or less down a streambed and full of blowdown. Again for about 500m? (guessing) It was a major hassle. Lots of the stuff where you really have to clamor over it, or awkwardly crawl or limbo under. Not the easy step-across type. At the bottom near the lake the trail was very ripped up and a total mess, along with a few streams going through the area.. we ate a snack and figured which way to go.. and the rain really started coming down hard--making us have to raise our voice to speak, due to the rain and the stream noise. Eventually we found a route through without fording then we were slowly going up towards Wonder Pass (Something like 700m or 800m above us?). Still more blowdown. I took one good fall but didnt really hurt myself much. The rain continued. Then we were going straight up, a slope that was a serious 1:1..going a foot up for every foot forward. The rain lessened. We finally hit a more official trail and the grade turned excellent with plenty of switchbacks. We had a few under-the-cloud views even, our spirits raised. We knew we had a hut to arrive at which really helped us mentally. Then as we neared the treeline, still about a mile or more from the top of the pass, the rain returned and turned to snow. Our hands and feet were soaked, but we were doing okay. We decided to push on as we had no stove and no tent being as we were staying at the hut. It definitely felt more on the cusp of risk than I normally push it. It was 34 degrees out, the snow was accumulating on us. I took Bucket's poles so she could keep her hands protected...we stayed in constant communication encouraging one another..everything is fine until it isn't--you know, someone falls and breaks an ankle..and maybe it is 2-3hrs before help can come--and suddenly the situation is serious. I wanted to keep abreast if either of us was sliding into a mental state due to the cold where we would make a mistake that could harm us. The terrain was safe, except we were still going up hill while the snow accumulated on us. This snow would end up sticking around on the mountains for 3 days after, under full sun. We each had about 2inches of snow on our packs, hat brims, etc, by the time we crested Wonder Pass.
From there the weather moderated greatly and we descended into a fantastic stand of larches and had just 2km to get to the huts. We did the entire gear explosion thing, got into dry clothes, had a fire in the woodstove (they sell a compressed wood 'log' that burns for 3 hours, warms the hut up plenty, and costs $7), and hung out in the cooking hut (very large). Our bunk mates were a father and daughter, and later that night, 3 college gals who were planning on camping but in light of the weather opted to pay $5 more each and stay under a solid roof.
The sun even came out briefly that evening, illuminating lots of fresh snow on the mountains.
Day 2) Sun Sun Sun! We slept in and enjoyed ourselves. Bucket was feeling like she was going to take it really easy and just hang around the hut for the morning. So that she did, while I went and explored Lake Magog, did some fishing and photography for a few hours then came back to see Bucket. We rounded out the evening with a walk around the lake and socializing in the hut. Almost everyone there with a few exceptions was from Calgary or elsewhere in Alberta. The lake level has increased in the years and was higher than normal so the usual 'foot path' around it was entirely under water in places, requiring us to do some very very light 'bushwacking' around to do a full circling of it. The landscape and scenery was just amazing.
Day 3) This day we planned to go up to The Nub, or the Nib, or the Nublette...meh a bunch of different designations for a very gentle rolling hill that provides one with a spectacular birds-eye view of the entire Assiniboine area and beyond. I started the day with waking up before Bucket and high-tailing it down to the lake for some incredible sunrise shots with the bounty of beauty from a hard frost lacing everything at hand.
Bucket ended up joining me after I took pictures for a good hour. I didn't even go fishing as planned that morning. We headed off to the Nub or Nib or whatever.. We stopped at a very broad portion, above which the trail increases in steepness, though really it just continues and is not 'risky' in good conditions. We hung out here for a while and then I continued on to the top. This was a very rewarding bit of extra elevation gain. The views were incredible and really for the first time after having taken 2 separate trips to the Canadian Rockies I was getting the 'fullon' mountain views that are famous. Looking at Magog, Cerulean, and Sunburst lake below Mt. Assiniboine was spectacular.
We descended and I fished in Cerulean Lake (one real nice cut throat), Sunburst (two decent Rainbows), and then Bucket headed back to the hut and I fished at the end of Magog Lake right below Mt. Assiniboine for a few hours, catching huge cut throat after huge cut throat..with a rainbow thrown in. It was absolutely phenomenal fishing & catching..the setting, the fish, the beauty and weather, all quite perfect.
Day 4) Hiked out around 8am, after a guy in the cook hut provided me with a great IPA for the trail. Having hiked about 60 miles over the previous 5-6 days, and eaten almost all of our food, and not having a stove or tent or sleeping pads..our packs were very light and we powered on out of there, sad to leave, but still under a brilliantly clear sky. It was great to see Wonder Pass without snow.. The larch there must be unreal during the peak of their colors. Looking down at the intense blue of Marvel lake was fascinating. We still dreaded the blowdowns we'd deal with, especially going up hill, but with light packs and sun it wasn't a big concern.. Needless to say when we got to the area around the lake we found fresh cuts and lots of sawdust.. it ended up that the entire damn route and every single piece of blowdown we cross from Marvel Pass down to Marvel Lake had been cut!!! I guess you really appreciate some serious trail maintenance once you've dealt with a trail that sure could use some! They even clipped vegetation in areas to make the trail clearer! Had to be over 100 log cuts.
We stopped at Marvel Lake and I fished briefly...so beautiful! Then it was up to Marvel Pass, and finally drinking the IPA, where all the ground cover was already in a beautiful red-stage.. Though the larch trees had not yet begun to turn. We hung out here and had lunch, making lots of noise in the brush to be 'bear aware' before continuing down Aurora Ck back to the car.
The car was all in one piece. No porcupine activity nor any mice venturing into it. What a relief. I had another beer... :) we drank some soda and decompressed. Then it was back to Radium Hot Springs, another night in the same room at the Crescent Motel, some more time soaking in the Hot Springs, and some authentic Austrian Food!
And Sunday we drove home.. with a fun stop not 2 seconds into Idaho from the Idaho St. Patrol. I blew past two 'crime scene management' type trucks of theirs that I could not tell was LE. They pulled me over 50ft past.. gave me a warning, but said 'Hey you going to down through Coeur D'alene on the way to Oregon?? (2hr drive) I said yes.. they said "well tell you what, we're going there too, so we'll be following you and if you go a mile above the speed limit you will get a ticket. Ohhhh shit let me tell you how difficult it was to actually maintain going 60mph or under..even cruise control, with curves and hills it was a task. Thankfully there was a passing lane about 25 minutes later and they passed me.... and we pulled off to let them get plenty ahead.
September 27 – September 30, 2012
1
Kootenay Rockwall Trail
35 miles of hiking • 6500' elevation gain • 3 nights
All summer Bucket and I shared vague talk of going to the Sawtooths or White Cloud mountains of Idaho as our 'big backpacking trip' of the summer. 4 days before our departure date I stumbled onto the summitpost page for the Kootenay Rockwall Trail. I showed Bucket a picture and she said it looked great.. the pressure was now on to figure out a smorgasbord of trip logistics: permits, trail info/mileages, lodging, and weather.
Permits ended up being easy to get for this--though permit availability on the Saturday we started dictated we begin our trip going North to South even though most go S to N. Going South saves the 'best' scenery for last keeps you from doing a trudging uphill on your first day from the car so it has its merits. The National Parks in Canada are somewhat ridiculous. While paying $9.80 per person, per night to camp along the trail, we were also paying $19.75/day for our car to be Parked at the trailhead. Fairly steep in my opinion but getting the annual pass didn't help us at all either. The trail is not a loop so either 13km of road walking, two vehicles, a shuttle, or hitch-hiking is required. You only camp in designated spots that you have the permit for. All camps have leveled tent pads, a privy (or two), cooking area with benches/tables, and a set of metal bear-boxes which are set on a nice concrete slab.
Day 1 - Saturday Sept 1st
Left Bonner's Ferry around 8-9am that morning. By the time we took care of things in Radium Hot Springs (Just outside Kootenay Park) it was 3pm when we parked at Floe Lake Trailhead then tried for 20 minutes to hitchhike north on Hwy 93. No luck...plenty of empty cars passed though. We walked back to the car thinking we'd have have to drive to the North Trailhead (Marble Canyon) and worry about getting back to the car when we finished (we really didn't want to do that!). Anyways there were some day hikers who had returned to their vehicles so we solicited a single guy and managed to finagle a ride. People have a real difficult time telling you NO when they have to look at you.
Left Marble Canyon TH at 4:45 or so with 16.2km of trail to get to Helmet Falls Campground. This was a lot of miles, late in the day, with full packs..we had hoped to get crackin around 2pm..The weather was overcast and had been spitting bits of drizzle. Well we quickly encountered lots of wet brush lining the trail, a theme we became intimately familiar with in 2009 on the North Boundary Trail by Mt. Robson. Then the rain started.. and it slowly got dark. we made it to camp around 7:30 or so, completely drenched. Bucket's ancient PreCip rain coat performed as you'd expect--like wearing a nylon windbreaker. My core was dry with my newer shell jacket. Some sweet souls from Alberta had a fire going which helped her warm up and there was a 'ranger's cabin' with a covered porch we huddled under to cook dinner. The rain stopped in the night and the moon was out briefly.
Day 2 - Sunday Sept 2
Awoke to overcast sky. Donned rain gear and rain pants to deal with wet brush. Slow to leave camp. Dread to put on wet trail runners. We see Helmet Falls, which cascades maybe 1000ft off a glacier above the rockwall. A mile from camp we climb to our first pass, Rock Pass..where there is a few inches of snow everywhere on the alpine flowers and larch trees. The rest of this day managed to stay dry. Windy, Cloudy at times, clear at others. We got some great views and mostly stayed high on the trail. Had a nice break to dry the tent and eat lunch. Got to Tumbling Creek Camp which has a beautiful view of the Tumbling Glacier from the cooking and eating area. We managed another dry night with the moon out even.
Day 3 - Monday Sept 3rd
We awoke to more clouds and within an hour of hiking--more rain. This was bitter to me. Our last full day on the trail and we've yet to get any blue-sky big views. This day would have us going over Tumbling and Numa Pass, the high point of the trip. It was suppose to be the scenic day that we come down to majestic Floe Lake. We made it over Tumbling Pass and into Numa Camp and ate a bit. We were soaked, again. The rain was intermittent. We didn't see a lot of people but all we saw seemed 'fine' with the rain like it is normal. But almost every single person we talked with was from Calgary or Edmonton.. a few hour drive away. As Oregonians we have a real problem hiking in the rain in August and September--in fact year around I simply do not hike in the rain. Ever. Snow a plenty, yes. Caught in rain freak incident, yes, but actively going on a hike when rain is predicted-nope. Anyways opted to continue on instead of bailing out (could have done this)..decided it would shortchange ourselves by quitting, even though we both were not having fun-we just didn't want to deal with the hassle of being in a tourist town spending money. So on we went, the rain eventually stopped but it stayed heavy overcast. Slight distant views from Numa Pass, and then some visibility down into Floe Lake with the big limestone rockwall behind it. Lots of Western Pasque Flowers. We descended to Floe Lake Camp.
Camp was fine--I don't think we even cooked dinner, nope, we didn't. I went to sleep at 7pm or something ridiculous, in a pretty bad mood, but not a total meltdown of negativity.
Day 4 - Tues Sept. 4
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Awake to mostly clear skis. Moon was out in the night. Having gone to sleep so early I awake before first light in order to capture the photographic magnificence of this most wonderful location. There is just 2 or 3 other groups at this very large campground. We make breakfast alone in the cook area as the sun illuminates the barren rock. It is a cold morning but at least it is sunny. We spend a little while, me getting to revel in photographic bliss, before we pack camp and hike back to the car.
The hike out is downhill nearly without pause. We go through an old burn area (2003) and see the most fireweed I've ever seen. We're treated to the best clear sky Canadian Rocky Mountain views we've seen yet. We get to our car, find a mouse has gotten into a large rubbermaid bin and chewed a few items--the hassle and nerve! I drink a beer.
We go into Radium Hotsprings around 2pm and get a Motel (plug for the Crescent Inn Motel -- very nice!!!). We do some grocery shopping and errands for the next leg of our trip which we wills tart the next day (Mt. Assiniboine). Then we visit the hotsprings proper and soak for about 2-3 hours before having a nice dinner at a traditional German restaurant. Gear up then at the motel before bed. Now thats the way to spend a day.
September 1 – September 4, 2012
Alpine Lakes Wilderness Fishing Venture
7 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain • 2 nights
Special trip for me. I grew up fishing with my dad in the midwest, mostly on Lake Erie. But occasionally doing other things. It wasn't until I was 22 and met my one day wife that I actually got into backpacking. That said my cousin showed an interest in fishing pretty early on and joined my dad and I on a lot of trips. Over the years my interest in fishing waned in intensity but my cousin got all the more focused as he didn't get to do it as often as I did.
That said hes been traveling to SEA for a while now and we casually talked about doing something. I think he got the ball rolling with dates but I took it and ran with it. Folks at NWhikers helped me out greatly with recommending a good spot. I didn't want us to get skunked on the fish-front and was a bit overwhelmed with all of the WA alpine lakes to choose from.
I took the train for the first time in my life (woohoo) which I really enjoyed and met up with my cousin in Seattle on Friday night. I also met a really nice guy from Dominica who runs a dive shop there. If I make it to the Caribbean I will have to visit.
-Sat we drove out, hiked in and fished. We were off trail and getting beyond where the 'fisherman's path' peters out so we had some challenging 'shwacks' on a few hillsides. Had a great camp spot at the lake. Didnt see a soul there. Caught fish! cooked fish! Clear day, really comfortable and beautiful out.
-Sun - started our day with a breakfast trout! hell yes.. then hiked around the lake fishing more. We had fairly good luck, catching a new trout every 5-10 casts as we hit new water. Had lunch at camp then went for a more serious off-trail pursuit up to a high alpine tarn. This was a ton of work and involved some of the steepest bushwacking i've ever done. We were glad we just had tiny day-packs. My cousin proved to be basically as nimble as I am which was a very welcome surprise--a lot of my partners are much less agile. He said "I grew up loving stuff like this" - of course we didn't have Alpine scrambles back in Ohio and Michigan.. but we did have huge boulders set along the lake shore and occasional places on Lake Huron and Superior where we could clamber around.
Monday - Awoke to a glorious clear day but upped and packed on out. Found a dead kid goat on the way out. real weird.
lotta good memories, good jokes, good drink, good views, good fishing.. we gotta do it again!
August 25 – August 27, 2012
3
Mt. Shuksan
11.5 miles of hiking • 4750' elevation gain • 1 night
cross posted from cascadeclimbers.com First saw this climb in 2008 before I'd done anything more than stuff on the AT or a few Oregon scrambles. Needless to say it stood in my mind as a beacon of climbing aspiration. Having done it I'm sure it was well within my abilities a while ago but it still feels spectacular to accomplish something I'd kind of dreamt about for a while.
Plans last year fell through due to weather. I managed to come across so many reports of train-wrecks on the chimneys or the approach that I studied it fiercely and got ample feedback from a handful of CC'ers (thanks much)
Uncas and Hawkeye joined me (Chingachgook) in this pursuit. We stayed at a motel in sedro-woolley on friday night. Self-issued permits in Glacier.
Managed to run across a guy Ryan from DC who was actually in the planning for 2011 that fell through. Since then Ryan has stayed with me in PDX and attempted hood. So seeing him by coincidence on the route was fun.
We had an open bivy on a rock outcropping with 360degree views right at the edge of the Upper Curtis Glacier. Up there by 2:30 or 3 and took a nap for a while. Wonderful spot to be watching the Perseids meteor shower. Running water from the glacier was luxurious to have. views from camp:
Uncas and Hawkeye supplied some fine firewaters (whiskey and wine) for the group
The rest of the trip was uneventful. approximate times: Left camp at 5:00am, summit and down by 9? back at camp at 10:30? ate and relaxed a bit. Car at 5:30? Home before midnight back in Portland.Contrary to all other climbs I've done, I was so focused on not screwing up the approach or chimneys that I had no idea what the total gain was, elevation of camp, how high Shuksan was, or what the mileage was. Humorously caught me off guard since I normally have these things committed.
Climb was in great shape, had a blast. Escaped from the Huron. Hawkeye killed some bad folks. Had a brush with Magua at the base of the summit pyramid. Rapped 2 short spots on the chimneys more out of fun and being safe than feeling like it was required.
First time climbing in the North Cascades, blown away by the beauty!
We also managed a video that should be seen far and wide. LOTM Edition Fisher Chimneys Cross-posted by user MajorMajor as TR here as well.
Gear Notes: 30m rope 1 ax (brought 2nd tools but did not need) 1 picket each crampons trail runners with strap-on crampons woulda been nice
Approach Notes: just pay attention. do your research ahead of time. Don't do it in the dark if you've never been there.
August 11 – August 12, 2012
6
July 22 – July 23, 2012
Adams - SW Chutes Ski
12 miles of hiking • 6750' elevation gain •
Finally managed to Ski the SW Chutes. Next time will go earlier in the year. Thousands of feet of vert on nice corn snow. Pics later.
July 15, 2012
Ski Adams Attempt
10 miles of hiking • 5000' elevation gain •
meh weather got us again. nice down low generally. then cloudy midway. at lunch counter we were in fog at times but very still..then clear and roasting with solar radiation. higher up we entered the cloud deck. that evening it opened up for a short spell but we'd already turned tail about at pikers peak.
there was a fresh 4-6inches of snow (end of June!!!) but it was on top of a very hard icy layer. This made the skiing a bit nifty...That and a total lack of depth perception and general visibility for the first 1,500ft down. One partner was unable to ski it, the other removed skis for about 600ft of it, though i managed quite well. we all skiied once we got lower beyond the clouds (LC and down). Going off the lip of the crescent glacier was pretty damn choice.
this entire approach area (cold springs) and more has burned now...crazy
June 29, 2012
South Sister Ski
12 miles of hiking • 5000' elevation gain •
xposted from cc.com
Date: 6/17/2012
Trip Report: figured I'd throw my hat in the TR contest: my usual suspects had other plans this weekend. So I ended up wrangling a plan with two folks via cc.com that I hadn't met before. One local and the other on an extended rock/snow/ski/paddling adventure of cali/bc/or/wa/ and now AK before school in the fall.
Based on the fact none of us knew each other we opted for something mellow and fun—South Sister dog route is just that. two of us skied and the other on slowshoes, but was entirely the opposite of slow. We started skinning right from the car. snow was firm but not crusty, just got slushier as the day went.
day started with cloud fuzz and drizzle but you could tell the deck was thin. It was totally clear in bend at 5am and there were hints of blue when we got to devils lake.
by the time we got to lewis tarn it was clearing, but the wind kicked up. stashed skis about 300ft higher or something. wind was really gusting but thats all, otherwise not even cold out. even more wind at the summit, but ok, not cold. nice not to have any haze tho, been a while since I had a haze free view:
i'm new to skiing in general, the snow kinda of sucked by the time we were going down, quite wet and grabby. still nice to ski. Having to don the skins for the flats before the trees on the way back to the car was less than thrilling. Though I had a ball on the final mile or two through the woods. the many canned micros fully chilled in the roadside snow were primo.
no pics of any skiing since my lines are nothing I want recorded right now. whistle
Gear Notes: foot deep snow atop beer by car will completely melt in 8hrs. fortunately locals put a rubber spider next to them to know they were found, but protected.
axe didnt use pons, but, depending on if it was crusty or you were going up earlier, traction may be needed.
Approach Notes: very straight forward. follow tracks and go uphill. top out on the flats then continue to the mnt.
park on side of road, plenty of room. probably a week left of skiing car to car.
June 17, 2012
Middle Sister Ski Tour
11 miles of hiking • 4500' elevation gain • 1 night
turned back shy on account of poor weather. but a good first ski tour, well, other than walking 2 miles+ with skis on my pack and ski boots on my feet. that blew. odd cause a year earlier it would have been a car2car on skis trip.. oh well..will be interesting with the huge pole creek burn to do in the future (on snow or otherwise).
May 20 – May 21, 2012
1
smith rocks misery ridge
2 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
hot and crowded. Bucket's first time to smith rocks tho. Her and my dad uber enjoyed the cliff'y`ness of the environ.
April 22, 2012
tumalo with pops
3.5 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
bucket and I did this quickie snowshoe with my pops. started midday so snow was shot and goopy, but wonderful views up top. neat perspective on the area. definitely a short bang-for-the-buck touron level adventure. maybe good for an easy winter overnighter/practice ice axe place.
April 21, 2012
Mt. Hood Cooper Spur
9 miles of hiking • 7500' elevation gain •
Finally had some success on Hood. Best sunrise I've seen in a long while.
April 15, 2012
Leuths Attempt Hood
5.5 miles of hiking • 4750' elevation gain •
Went over to iLL saddle but a solo climber came over just as we got there, said he heard and saw a huge crack on the snow.. twas enough to change our plans for going that way. Went up and hung out at the hogsback as a cloud-cap had parked itself on the summit by and large. Never really seemed to clear while we were up there so we headed down.
April 14, 2012
5
Maxwell Butte Snow Camping
8 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain • 1 night
Left town around 9am. Started hiking at 11:30am Snowshoes not needed first mile maybe, but, eventually flotation is desired.
Many dead trees had blown down during the middle stretch. They likely came down the day before as there was little snow melt around them and no old or new snow atop them, including bits of debris from the break. They all had fallen in a West to NW direction which indicates the strong E/SE wind they were exposed to. I was a little sketched a few places actually seeing so many fresh blowdown.
We left the trail around the 5600' mark and headed up the SW ridge of Maxwell Butte. This was a little hairy but not too bad. The butte itself is steeper than one may anticipate. The site of the old lookout is phenomenal. Just west of the lookout is a large basin/table (half a football field?) which is protected on all sides but the west. It would be an excellent spot to camp with a group. It was too windy at the tip-top to tent for Kara plus she had concerns about going down the ridge, let alone if it got a bit icy overnight, so we decided to take some photos and a break at the top before going down to some open areas with views on the SW ridge where it was more undulating instead of steep steps.
Had a great camp here and probably shoveled 1000lbs of snow to make a large snow wall, dig a fire pit with steps down to it from the tent door. Great sunset, stars, views of 3 sisters, the brother, broken top, diamond peak off in the distance.
Trip speaks for itself. Would love to go back for any type of adventure here-exceedingly accessible! Intrepid company could test their mettle, gear, and shelter options atop the old lookout spots with views spanning from Hood down to Diamond.
February 4 – February 5, 2012
1
Reno Secret Cabin
18 miles of hiking • 3250' elevation gain • 1 night
Uber athlete long distance trail acquaintance from AT07/the internets graciously offered to 'show us the mountains' around Reno after Bucket and I scored some cheap tickets ($70rt) from PDX-RNO.
Fortunately we didn't need snowshoes the whole way, but it was definitely a strenuous hike at 9miles one way. Snow conditions were good though, powdery as opposed to the super wet stuff that fell later in the day after we got back to the car on Sunday.
Wonderful time, want to go back and explore more around this area--seems that there is a ton of different types of environs to get into.
January 21 – January 22, 2012
3
Mt Hood Southside
6 miles of hiking • 5250' elevation gain •
Southside up Hood with some new folk. I accidentally drove to Sandy the night before at 3am when there was a communication snafu about our departure time. That kind of sucked, I had to drive back home and then do the same thing the NEXT night.. oh joy! Anyways this was a great day up. Way later than normal, think I was on the summit sometime around 10:30am? Waited forever for one party member to get back to the hogsback. Overall nice snow conditions, tons of people out on the mountain.
January 8, 2012
