Enchantments winter snow

View from Aasgard Pass.  Whoa...  WINDY trip up, we froze near the top.

The first snow of the season happened on the trip = 3 season tents = ill-equipped.

Fun time, last trip of the season. 

Mt. Shuksan - take 2

Base camp in the sky.   We were the only team in the high camp.  We didn't make it to the top of the summit pyramid.  Nonetheless, beautiful.  

Mount Rainier summit

Summit, finally!  The inspiration for this blog manifested last July.

Sun, a view!

View from my tent at base camp.  It took us over an hour to build a ledge wide and long enough for our four tents. 

Tatoosh - Castle and Pinnacle

Devil's Basin

Snow camping outing with Boe Alps team, the Morteneers.  We hiked in to Devil's Basin, our base camp for the weekend.  Left our cars at the trailhead at 6:45 AM (just south of Verlot Ranger Station, off the Mountain Loop Highway) and arrived to camp at 12:30 PM.

After setting up camp and eating a bit, we geared up and headed towards our summit objective for the day, Devil's Thumb.  The first part of the climb was a flat traverse through a short valley.  While we were kicking steps, a couple of mini avalanches fell just behind us where we had walked.  We continued towards a gully, where we headed more or less straight up to the summit.  We reached the top of one very steep and exposed section.  I was in the lead at that section, and ended up nearly cresting a cornice.  The reality of my error terrified me, and I took a pause and waited on the slope for the rest of the team to catch up and pass me.  I ended up feeling more panicked and shaky than I initially realized, and asked my instructors to help me get to where the rest of the team reached.  My lead instructor tied a rope around my waist, somewhat of a makeshift belay, and pulled me forwards until I reached everyone else.

From that vantage point, the instructors set up several fixed lines, and half of our team made the summit.  Three of us stayed behind.  After my scare I was mentally and emotionally exhausted and decided it would be unsafe for me to continue.  When I considered continuing, I felt my eyes well with tears and my breathing became rapid and shallow.  I had had enough.    Two of my teammates were concerned about daylight (we reached the ridge at 3:45, and by 6:15 there were still four team members to go).  The three of us, plus one instructor headed back to base camp around 7:15 PM, and hit the valley just after the sun set.  The entire team made it back to camp by 9:45 PM.  We sat around our kitchen carved out of snow for a couple of hours and boiled water for dinner and the next day.

On Sunday morning, we woke up around 7:15 AM.  The instructors taught us how to set up a Z pulley system for crevasse rescue.  Each student had the opportunity to practice the skills.  Then one of our instructors gave us a demonstration of how to dig avalanche pits and evaluate the snow layers for avalanche risk.  We broke down camp and headed towards the trailhead at 1:35.  We made it to the cars at 4:35 PM.  Overall, a fun weekend.  I found limits I wasn't aware I had, and felt deeply humbled by the patience and responsiveness of my team when I reached out for help.  Our team felt cohesive throughout the trip, and we created more memories together.

Chuckanut Drive - Fragrance Lake

Coast shots near Larrabee State Park on the Whatcom/Skagit County border en route to Bellingham.  Fragrance Lake, 3.6 mile hike up and off of the Interurban Trail between Bellingham and Mt. Vernon.

Baring Mountain

No summit today.  We reached the base of the summit and were 2-3 hours away from the top at our turn around time of 2 PM.  Primarily due to safety concerns with daylight and the snow, we decided to call it a day after 7.5 hours.  A LOT of snow.  Fun day.  Steep, steep trail.  

Big Climb

69 flights of stairs.  I did it!  Time was 13 minutes and 12 seconds.   My lungs were burning by the time I reached the top.  I coughed for about a week after the race.  Apparently, intense cardiovascular activity (notably of the vertical kind) may induce coughing, known amongst athletes as 'track hack.'   Yep, I got the hack.   Aside from the atypical physical exertion that day, I felt incredibly touched during the event by the people who showed up in t-shirts with loved ones' faces, cancer afflicted and survivors.  Over three thousand people participated in the climb.  The energy in the crowd was a mixture between excitement, duty, joy, and purpose.  I plan to do it again next year.

Kendall Peak

Boe Alps team outing #2, experience climb.  Start time from Snoqualmie Pass was 6:45 AM.  Hit the summit at 3:00 PM.  Returned to parking lot at 6:15 PM.

Big Chief Mountain

BOE Alps outing #3 at Steven's Pass, Saturday March 17.  We kicked steps in the snow, creating a trail for ourselves up the mountain to the ridge, approximately 1,800 feet.  The snow was deep.  At times, when I was first in line, the snow came up to my head. And it was my task to clear it enough to be able to lift my legs and 'step'.  What it actually felt like was knocking down and wading through a snow wall.  The second and third persons in line cleaned up and more clearly defined the steps for the rest of the group (12 in our team).  The first person took 10-30 steps, then stepped out of line and hopped back in the end.  We rotated like this for five hours.
  Once we made it to the ridge, we practice two kinds of belays.   Usage would commonly be to provide extra security and comfort to team members who want added protection for sketchy crossings. The boot-axe belay and the axe-biner belay.  Next was practice with self-arrest using our ice axes.  We simulated falling down a slope, and practiced stopping our fall from four positions: sliding feet first on our stomach, feet first from the back/butt, head first on the stomach, and the 'oh shit' position of head first from the back.
Our last skill learned was making anchors in the snow for emergency rappel situations.  We used pickets, the snow itself, ice axes, and miscellaneous items (a stuff sack filled with snow) to create 'dead man' anchors which held 1-3 person('s) body weight.  Our next task was to complete the journey with a short trip to the summit.  We shared 'summit treats' at the top - today's selection included chips and salsa, brownies, grapes, juice.  On the descent, we practiced plunge stepping in to the snow.  I mostly practiced controlled sliding down a steep slope.  Though did get a bit better at shifting my weight forward (counter intuitively) while stepping down, which actually does help keep the center of gravity balanced enough to stay on the feet.  We left Seattle at 4:45 AM.  All four teams left the parking lot at 7 AM, and returned around 6:30 PM.

Artist Point snow camping

Mt. Baker, Glacier, WA.  February 4 and 5, 2012.  

'the' stairs

the 'Eastlake' stairs.  My workout buddy.  The stairs are divided into two sections intersected by Broadway East.  The pictures show the view from the top, middle, and bottom (in that order).  I love these stairs.  I hate these stairs.  I think there are 282 total steps.  I registered to participate in the 'Big Climb' fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society- in part to motivate me to run stairs more consistently than I currently do.  And because it seems like a lot of fun.   The event will be held at the Columbia Tower in Seattle, WA on Sunday, March 25.  788 feet of vertical gain with 69 flights of stairs and 1,311 steps. 

Mt. Teneriffe

New favorite I-90 hike!  Close to the Mt. Si trailhead.  Cal, KG, Leigh, me.  Snow + biting cold at the top.  Steep.  Dramatic drop-off from the summit.  Mixed trail; forest walking, ridge climbing, rock scrambling, scree stumbling, kick stepping.  Exceptionally fun day.   30-35 pounds in pack.  First official training hike for the 2012 season.  Felt ok - was tired and mentally whining with about 700/1,000 ft to go.  Teneriffe falls pictured below, 1 mile from the trailhead.