Ingrid, Sara, my parents and I went to Opal Creek for a long weekend. We had one good day of sunshine and another good day of rain.

Timelapse

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Sara and I hiked through the Enchantments in Washington. We were told to get to the top of Asgard Pass by noon, otherwise it'd be a long hike out in the dark. So we camped at Snow Lake trailhead and got a 4:30am shuttle to the Stuart Lake trailhead, getting us a 5am start. This got us to Colchuck Lake by the time the sun was hitting the peaks around us. We started the hike up the infamous Asgard Pass at 8:30 and topped out at 10, taking our time to enjoy the views as the hike up was actually pleasant.

We ate and drank near the top of the pass and enjoyed all of the views. The scenary is seriously underrated, even with all the hype. As we had all day and it was all downhill from here, we went slow and kept taking in the views and taking photos of the lakes and peaks. As we made it further down the trail we saw more campers and goats (one goat followed us until we screamed at it for a long while). It just got prettier and prettier.

We stopped a few times to eat our modern day lembas and filter water. At one lake crossing we soaked our feet in the 33 degree water and took a quick nap before heading on. We continued on following the myriad cairns and made it back down to the car an hour before sunset and in time to chow down on chinese pork and sandwiches.

Next time a camping trip would be in order, it would be great to stay a few nights and have more time to enjoy the lakes and not hassle with hiking it all in one day.

Panoramic Photos

Cairns

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I've been wanting to do an overnight camping trip on the motorcycle for a while now so I bailed on work and went out towards Condon with my moto loaded up with cameras and tent. It was quite cold and windy in the Gorge, with some rain that turned to fire on the other side of Hood River. I took the old twisty highway from Mosier to the Dalles, which was a nice switch from the highway. From there it's awesome smooth roads down to Condon where I grabbed breakfast and a Dan Brown book for camp.I found a campsite on a river close to a store where I got 2 beer, candy and a gallon of water which about topped out the carrying capacity of the Triumph. I played around with camera settings for night shots and after an hour of fiddling got everything set up so I could sack out in the tent.
I had the idea of getting up early and going to the Painted Hills for sunrise photos, but it was too cold so I slept in until the sun was up. This turned out for the best as it was still a cold ride over towards the Fossil Beds. I stopped in Mitchell to get gas at the station that would open near 10am. The closest gas station was around 40 miles away, which was about the range I had left in my tank. So I went over to the Painted Hills to eat breakfast and read.
After getting gas back in Mitchell, I headed East to more great roads that would eventually lead back towards Maupin and home. I went through more burnt valleys and firefighting staging areas. Whole hill sides were scorched and black. Then it was back to the clouds and cold once I hit the cascades and went over Mt. Hood.

Panoramic Photo

Panoramic of gorge

Video

Sky near Condon

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Day trip out to Trout Lake via Goldendale and Glenwood. Awesome roads.

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Ascent

Ingrid and I went over to Bend for the weekend to get up South Sister. We got a mellow alpine start, meaning getting to the trailhead at 9:30 along with a hundred other people. I was surprised by the utter lack of snow on the South side. Pictures from a few weeks ago showed snow all the way up, but now there was a faint line of the trail all the way to the summit.
A contrast between now and two months ago:

August

June

The trail up was quite pretty as it went up next to a small stream up to the plateau. We stopped a few times to tend to our heels with duct tape and GORP. There were tons of people on the trail, wearing everything from jeans to sweats from the 80s. By the time we got to the summit crater most people seemed to disappear. I think a lot stop at the South rim and call it good, which was nice so we could get the summit proper more or less to ourselves.

Descent

We ate our squished sandwiches and put more duct tape while enjoying the views that stretched North to Mt. Adams and South to Mt. Shasta. A cloud formed over us, providing nice shade and a little cooling. Under the cover of the cloud we bombed down the cinder dust.

Thoughts

It was good to get Ingrid up the South Sister as it seems to be a rite of passage, everyone talks about going up it. It was a beautiful day and it's always nice to be up in the air with views.

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Ascent

After a year of intervals and other painful training, I wanted to see how fast I could make it up a mountain. After going up the last few mountains with camping gear and lots of weight I decided to go as light as I could. I knew it was going to be warm and non technical, so I took a pullover, thin shell, rain pants, thin gloves, my new neck cover, hat and light hiking shoes with screws in the bottom for gription. In my pack I had 5 quarts of water, a pound or so of food, a small first aid kit, extra batteries, headlamp, SPOT and a camera. I didn't weigh it, but I'm guessing 15 pounds with water, 5 without.

I drove through the Gorge Wednesday night with beautiful light and sunset. I parked at the trailhead this time, not so many people during the week. I stood under the stars for a bit before sleep and was treated to a meteor leaving a puff of debris in the sky, backlit by the moon. That made the trip right there. I slept in until 2:30 and woke up to see others already on the way up. I forced down a bowl of cereal dotted by M-Ms that had lept into the wrong bag the previous day. By 3am I was on the way up the trail.

I tried to move as fast as possible without resorting to running. It was much nicer to go with a light pack and shoes than all of the gear from just two weeks ago. Light is right. I caught up to the previous group by the time we hit the snowfields. The snow had already melted out on the trail, quite a change from before. I got off route a bit by 7000' and ended up on the side of a scree field and had to downclimb/downslide the scree back to the snow. It's much more difficult to navigate in the dark. I passed another group putting on their crampons. It was cool to see a large group of blue headlamps on a ridge with all the stars shining.

I made it to our previous camp site by 5:15am. My slow math skills showed it took me a bit over 2 hours to make it all the way to Lunch Counter. I was really pleased with that speed. I had been unable to maintain a rhythm and still made good time. I stopped to put on my pullover as it was finally under 50 degrees.

I saw no one was above me on the hill up to Pikers Peak and held the hope I could be first on the summit, which would make 2 of my climbs such. I climbed as quickly as possible as I saw a few people getting ready from their camps to head up as well. My shoe/sheet metal screw combination worked pretty well until about 11,000 where they didn't gain much purchase in the icy snow. At the top Pikers Peak I looked at my watch and saw it had only taken an hour to do that section. Last year with Dan it took me over 2 hours, with comparable weight in the pack and a good nights rest. It was great to see training has paid off, halving my ascent time was awesome.

I paused to put on my rain pants and shell as the wind had picked up and the temperature dropped to under 40. I hustled over to the summit proper and went up as fast as my lungs would allow. I kept checking behind me to make sure no one was catching up, if anything they were further behind than before. I went up the last slope and saw I had the plateau all to myself. I looked at my watch and my climb clocked in at 4 hours 15 minutes from the car. I whooped at the wind and jumped around like a crazy person. It was awesome to make such a fast time (for me) and still feel strong.

Descent

I put on my go-pro for the pending excitment of glisadding. The first glisade was pretty tame but fun at over twelve thousand feet. I ran into the next group and chatted for a while before sitting down in the next chute. It was still early and quite icy and I found out my shoes were no good at stopping or slowing me down in the chutes. I prided myself in being able to stop easily with my boots, but the shoes would not dig for anything. So I got out of the glisade and walked back down to the false summit.

I sat on the false summit for a half hour, waiting for the snow to soften, eating a few sandwiches and drinking more water. It was quite chilly and windy, putting my light clothing to the test. The couple behind me stopped there for a bit as well, before heading down the first chute. Seeing them cruise down I went to the other chute and got in it, it's really like the hydro tubes in water parks. My shoes were no match for the snow and I resorted to using the axe to slow down. I ended up walking down a few sections as I was out of my comfort level being unable to stop with my shoes, unlike with boots that stop me quickly and easily.

Once at Lunch Counter I put away the axe and jogged over to the other slopes to get in more managable glisading. I made it back down to the dirt trail in about an hour, enjoying more fun slides. Once at the end of the snow line I saw if I made it back to the car in 40 minutes, it would have been an 8 1/2 hour round trip. So I tightened everything down and jogged back to the trail head, getting to the car 8 hours 5 minutes after leaving in the dark. Taking into account the hour of hanging out at the summits, it was about 7 hours roundtrip.

Thoughts

I was really happy that my fitness has progressed and allowed me to make it to the top in 4 hours. I was surprised I went up the 2000+ feet in under an hour, when last year it took over 2 hours. My shoe system was great on the dirt trails, but were to slippy in the snow and horrible in the glisade, which is more sad than anything. It was a great climb up and down, being able to move much faster than with a lot of weight slowing me down. Next year I will try a fast climb of Mt. Hood and see how that goes. Maybe come back to Adams and try to break 4 hours.

Photos

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Dan, Kate, Sylvia and Keevin came into town for a friends wedding. So we all went to Trek In The Park to get in some nerd time before going to our place and BBQing on the porch. It was like the ole days of yore, or 2 years when everyone was in town.

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It was an awesome day so I headed out to the coast on the moto. I made it down to Hebo on some great roads and headed up 101. I stopped in Wheeler for some great fish & chips before going back towards home on the great road 53. It was such a cool road I turned around to do the first part again.

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Ascent

Ingrid and I wanted to go up Mt. Adams so we could experience the awesomeness that is the glisadding of 2000 feet. Sara mentioned an interest, so we coerced her to come along as well. Trey enjoyed Mt. Hood so much he and Mary were down for the slog. Matt, Karen and John also wanted the punishment of carrying tents up 3000 feet to camp.

On the way to the mountain we stopped by the ranger station to get our poo bags and permits, along with over 200 other people. We headed up into the dusty road to the parking lot at Cold Springs. We didn't make it all the way as there were cars on the side of the road for a half mile before the actual trail head. We spent the required 40 minutes packing up our already packed packs and followed the hoards up the mountain.

We took our time going up the mountain, making sure to stop to eat and drink every now and then. We made camp at Lunch Counter at a good hour and had time to set up tents and filter water. Matt and Karen found us a nice spot with good views (are there bad views from a mountain?) right next to a small stream of melt from the snow. The dehydrated food tasted especially good, especially when washed down with a few ounces of whiskey. It was fun to be up high again enjoying the sunset and chocolate bars.

I stayed up late to try out my new lens for some star shots. After reviewing the pictures I think I know what to do now, so I'll have to get out again for another night of photography (ISO 1600 is your friend). I slept in my bivy sack with a few spider buddies while Sara and Ingrid slept in the tent. There is something to be said for sleeping in the open, being able to see all the stars all night, unless it was raining and then bivy sacks aren't too much fun.

We got up early for our assault of the mountain and spent a few hours making breakfast and using the one rock sheltered bathroom, you can't rush nature when in nature. We took our place in line in the hike up to Pikers Peak - the false summit of Mt. Adams. There must have been a hundred people climbing up the boot path. We got smoked by a Junior Olympian Nordic Ski Team, wearing nothing but tights, running shoes and trekking poles. They said they made it from the trailhead to Lunch Counter in two hours.

Descent

Ingrid had been having intense stomach pains in the morning that kept getting worse as we continued up. Mary checked her out a few times and ruled out an appendicitis, which was good. She thought it was lack of blood in the small intestine combined with electrolyte inbalance. After cramp number four (10,500') we called it and got ready to head back down. Trey asked what the protocol was in this situation and I said that on this type of climb it's OK to have them continue up, Ingrid, Mary and I would go back down. If it was a technical climb by any means, our group would have all gone back down. So they headed up into the cloud cap and we put on our rain pants and slid down to the camp.

Once at camp Mary and Ingrid relaxed in the tent, drinking and eating. Ingrid felt much better after more water and some Sin Dawg. I tried to force the hot cocoa on her, but I think we've over done the hot cocoa, until next year! We waited an hour or two for everyone else to come back down, smiling as they came into camp talking about how cool the glisadding was. We planned on leaving camp in an hour so we could get out before it was too late and hot.

On the way down we did as much sliding as possible, using the sleds when it wasn't steep enough to use the chutes. It is a much more enjoyable process than trudging up, plus you stay cool as your butt is cold and wet. We made it out before dark and hit up the burger place in Trout Lake where french fries help offset the GU intake from the previous day.

Thoughts

I was disappointed Ingrid and Mary weren't able to make it up to the top, but happy Ingrid got better and Mary was there to help her out. It's enough of a trial to climb the mountain when you're feeling strong, let alone when in pain. We got in some good vert for glisadding (no pow though), which is the fun part of this climb. The mountain isn't going anywhere. Unless it's Mt. St. Helens, in which case maybe it will disappear.

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Ascent

For the 4th of July weekend Ingrid and I went over to the Three Sisters to climb Middle Sister. We went in through the Pole Creek trailhead and headed up through the dust. In a few miles we crossed a beautiful creek on a log and came into the snow. We followed the boot track and pink ribbons up towards the Middle Sister. Skull and crossbones flags would be more bad ass and forboding than pink, but it might scare the hippies.

We tramped through the snow up to the tree line and looked for a nice camping spot out of the wind. We found a few, but unfortunetly they were filled with tents. We thought it rude to move the tents and all their gear so we found our own spot in the snow. I brewed up some water for our little dehydrated meals as the sun went down and we were treated to nice skies.

I saw the Mazamas were doing the same route as us, so originally planned on us getting up uber early and beating them to the summit. When we got out of the tent at 5am I saw their line of people already near the shoulder of the climb. So much for that. We drank our hot cocoa and granola and headed up into the sun.

The majority of the climb is glacier trudging with great views. We discussed EPO and blood doping as a way to make it more enjoyable but decided the costs and ethical implications outweighed the benefits. We had our harnesses and I broke out the glacier rope in case we wanted to belay any sections of the steep stuff. That and I think the rope looks cool.

We caught up to the group of Mazamas on the steep section. They had a fixed line for about 200 feet of climbing. I had never seen one before so it was pretty interesting to see. We climbed just under the rope to the right as they had the best line already covered. It was fun climbing with a few steeper angled sections that you had to kick steps and what not. I had to throw snowballs at Ingrid to keep her from passing me and showing me up.

We made short work of the wall and ran up to the summit. By ran I mean walked as fast as possible, which is still hard to do at altitude regardless of the hill running on the comparable Mt. Tabor. We joined the throng of people on the summit and ate our munchies and looked at the surrounding mountains.

Descent

The Mazamas headed down and we were lonely so we followed them. Ingrid showed off her downclimbing skills while I tried not to fall off in front of everyone. We boogied past the fixed rope and made it down to the saddle fairly quickly. We drank water and ate more gu and nasty food while shedding layers and putting away gear. Now the sun was for sure fully out and we tried to stay fully covered to not too burnt.

By the time we were at camp I think the group was still messing around near the fixed ropes. Two of them who hadn't summited were hanging out below the saddle waiting for the rest of the group. I imagine it would be frustrating to sit there in the sun for hours on end just waiting.

Ingrid took a nap while I made more water for the trek out. I tried to sleep but it was too hot in the tent for me so I ate more chocolate. After packing everything back into the packs we headed out and got down as quickly as possible, the Cheezits were waiting down at the car.

Thoughts

After carrying up so much weight for South Sister, I tried to have us only bring the minimum on this climb. But our packs were still heavy and full. I'm not sure what we can pare down for the next time. Perhaps our tent is too big, maybe a First Light tent is in order? We only brought a few meals and no real food, though next time a few sandwiches and an extra tasty meal will be in the menu. I don't know the answer for carrying less as I feel we need everything we had with us. I might accost climbers on other trips and go through their packs to see what's what.

Once on the summit I had the familiar pull of needing to get down the mountain. Logically there is no reason to only spend five minutes on top and run back down (in the case of this climb.) So we could stay up there longer and soak in the views and relax more before the downclimb. It might be a combination of not wanting to be in mushy snow or be near other climbers in case they slip up and fall into us (not sure how that'd happen on a fixed line here.)

It was fun to get up another mountain with my partner. Hopefully more are to come, Mt. Adams should be next. The turnaround time for us wanting to climb again was very short. Sometimes while walking off the mountain it's sworn that it will be months until that sort of thing is to be done again. After this climb it was only a few days before the itch set in to get back out there. The planning and scheming has started already.

Panoramic Photos

Video

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