22 miles / 6,750 feet gained / 3 nights
I was fortunate to be invited on this climb by a friend who won the lottery. It's a darn long approach for a 5 pitch rock climb. But it sure is beautiful there. We were worried about the smoke as we drove up through Yakima, but it cleared as we started hiking. Climb day was bluebird. We stayed at Snow Lake, and had some delightful swimming! Saw goats and mar...
11.5 miles / 1,500 feet gained
Anniversary weekend with my beloved partner of 30 years! We did a little hike every day. It was cool in the morning, got quite hot in the afternoons. We look forward to returning to explore more in a cooler month. 1) Aspen Peak 4.5 miles, 750 gain. Got a late start, so we drove up to the ski area to avoid the heat. Huge groves of aspen up here. Nothing bu...
6 miles / 1,500 feet gained
As you drive south on 26/97 from Madras to Terrebonne, look east, just north of Smith. You will see several ridgetop pinnacles. This area is referred to as Mendenhall Ridge on Mountain Project. The biggest horn shaped tower has an offensive name, but I call it Picnic Rock. The precarious pinnacle with a narrow base has been called both Hanging Rock and the P...
6.5 miles / 2,750 feet gained
Quick sprint up the Dog. Balsamroot is done, but other flowers are out to enjoy,
6.5 miles / 4,000 feet gained / 1 night
Hiked to the top of Palmer via the east side climbers trail and down the west side with our daughter & her boyfriend and both dogs. We drove to Mt. Hood Brewing in Government Camp, then back to Timberline and down the PCT a bit to spend the night. Woke up at 1am to see the Milky Way and enjoy the Summer Solstice.
25 miles / 5,500 feet gained / 3 nights
I had 3 days to get to Lake Tahoe for a climbing trip, so I decide to explore some desert peaks and look for petroglyphs in the Great Basin. 1) Diablo Peak. This is northeast of Summer Lake OR. Crossed a sand flat, then wandered up to the Diablo Rim. Stopped at Picture Rock pass to find a panel. 9 miles 1700 feet. 2) Warner Peak at Hart Mountain National Ant...
12 miles / 5,000 feet gained
Fun trip with the Mazamas up the standard south side route. Original plan was to camp at Green Lakes, then circle around to the north side, and ascend via Prouty Glacier, but the weather came in on Saturday, so we bumped it to a one day climb on Sunday. Weather was perfect!
14.5 miles / 900 feet gained
Ran the Timberline half-marathon, a quite pleasant jog with 300 close friends around the lake, starting and finishing at Clackamas Lake. Would recommend as a hike or run from early-May through mid-June.
5 miles / 750 feet gained
Nice little leg stretcher in the woods. Rhodies and beargrass are in bloom
9.5 miles / 3,500 feet gained / 1 night
Started at White River, camped in freezing cold above Barlow on the PCT and continued on up to 73,000'.
12 miles / 5,500 feet gained / 1 night
First Mazama lead of 2026. Steamboat Prow (9700 ft) is a peak on the east side of Mt Rainier near Camp Sherman. We hiked in to the Glacier Basin back country camp and had the place to ourselves. What a pleasant evening watching the marmots frolic in the nearby meadow and the clouds roaming around the mountaintop. Woke up to goats grazing on the hillside, and...
8.5 miles / 3,000 feet gained / 1 night
So, so, so windy. We expected some wind, but a few gusts knocked us off our feet.
9 miles / 3,250 feet gained
Started from Bonneville Hot Springs. Trails are in great condition with lots of signs. Views and flowers were delightful, but the buggies are very active above 2000 ft. Had to keep moving.
10 miles / 3,500 feet gained
I was recruited by a friend to help place some acoustic monitoring devices for songbird data collection. The trails in this area have been abandoned, and hit by the Holiday Farm fire of 2020. Although we didnt cover many miles or eg, it was strenuos bushwacking for all four placements. Slightly ridiculous but also fun in a type 2 way.
8 miles / 2,500 feet gained / 1 night
Trying to get in shape for the summer.
4.5 miles / 750 feet gained
5 miles / 750 feet gained
Attempted to go up Ruckel Ridge, but the PO is pretty bad after Buck Point so I turned around. There is a large landslide (likely from the December river of atmosphere event) onto the paved gorge trail just west of Ruckel Creek, but there is a well worn workaround footpath. The Ruckel Creek trail is still closed with a piece of fence and do not enter sign at...
6 miles / 1,000 feet gained
Lovely Earth Day. Spring coming on strong. Enjoying more of the new trails around Bonneville. Got in some ridiculous bushwacking too, looking for a quarry marked on the map. No trace of the quarry visible, but I did have a wild turkey encounter.
10 miles / 3,950 feet gained
Ski tour lap for a friend's birthday. Snow still had a punch crust and it hurt.
22 miles / 4,500 feet gained
Trip to the Arizona desert. Day 1- visited Perry Mesa in the Agua Fria National Monument. This plateau has 7 or 8 pueblo ruins and many petroglyphs. I visited Pueblo La Plata, then ventured onto rugged roads toward Baby Canyon. Maybe I took the wrong road, because my rental SUV could not handle it. So I stopped and just headed down a side canyon and found so...
5 miles / 750 feet gained
Explored some of the new trails being built in the area. Lower Greenleaf Falls has had some big washouts since the last time I visited, including taking out part of a new trail.
12.5 miles / 1,750 feet gained / 1 night
This was supposed to be a ski trip to the Tilly Jane Cabin. But there was thin cover and rain predicted, so we pivoted to the Deschutes! It's so beautiful here.
3.5 miles / 750 feet gained
8 miles / 3,000 feet gained
Beautiful sunny day. So warm. Lower mountain did not refreeze overnight. We forgot snowshoes. I thought there would be a good bootpack- nope. It was total mashed potatoes, posthole city, exhausting. Very thin coverage on the Worm flows, so we were able to scramble along the rock spine for a bit, but that was slow too. Then I tweaked my knee and became very w...
6 miles / 1,250 feet gained
It was a rainy day so we did a short hike from Bonneville Hot Springs to the Cedar Falls overlook. Since the reopening of the Dick Thomas trail, the whole area has been resigned and well maintained. Look forward to going back and revisiting the trail system that has been hard to access for several years. Soaked at the hot springs afterward ( 25$ for 2 hours)...
4 miles / 500 feet gained / 1 night
Overnight after work because we could. It was gorgeous and makes us forget about the rainy weather we have had for so long.
20 miles / 3,500 feet gained
We had so much fun last year, we came back. While the atmospheric river was blessing the PNW, we were soaking up that lovely Sonoran sunshine. We were able to immerse in desert scenery everyday. The city travel was pretty stress free, and oh the food! Got to visit a few petroglyph sites in the Signal Hill and Picture Rocks drainage. Visited Cochise Stronghol...
3.5 miles / 250 feet gained
Snowy run with dog and Courtney.
15 miles / 2,000 feet gained
Got away to Vegas for the fourth year in a row ! The trip was mostly focused on climbing, but there were some recent rains and we had to wait two days for the sandstone to dry. Fiorst day was a fun trip in Valley of Fire State Park where we climbed Fire Horn Peak, and searched for arches, So fun to scramble around in the red sculptures and slot canyons. Also...
3.5 miles / 750 feet gained
Came up for a sunny day hike on my birthday, but the wind was fierce and I wasn't feeling well, so we turned back and had lunch at the lodge. Was sick for several days afterward.
8 miles / 1,000 feet gained
Came out for a scout out before leading a Mazama hike in the area. Quite a few hunters around, that made things intimidating. Returned on the 11th, to lead a trip through the caves, what fun!
20 miles / 2,500 feet gained
Spent a few days in my beloved desert canyons on the Deschutes and John Day. Stayed in cabins at Maupin and Cottonwood Canyon, relaxing at night and wandering the riversides and bluffs during the day.
18 miles / 2,000 feet gained
Went on two different hikes in Central Oregon. The first was along the Trout Creek trail which extends from Mecca Flat to Trout Creek Campground along the Deschutes River, just north of Warm Springs. We didn't see any other hikers, but lots of fisherfolk, mostly in the river. The second hike was on the north side of Gray Butte. I meant to summit but the wind...
10 miles / 1,000 feet gained
Spent two nights at the Peterson Prairie Guard Station. Wandered all around the area and visited Goose Lake, and Falls Creek Cave. Vine maple in the lava flows were blazing red. Found some mushrooms and had them for dinner!
8.5 miles / 2,250 feet gained / 1 night
First Fall trip of 2025 and glad we switched to our winter bags. Cowboy was a trooper.
