White and black dog

Three Brothers makes 200

I led dad and some of his other 2-legger friends (and Gus) up to the top of Three Brothers in the Teanaway a little over a week ago. Apparently this was my 200th different summit in my hiking life. That may not sound impressive, but when you do the K9 to 2-Legger conversion it’s more like 1,400 summits, and that’s a lot of summits!

David B. write up a Trip Report on NWHikers, so I won’t bore you with the details. Dad thought it would be neat to make my 200th summit one that was pretty close to my first summit, Miller Peak. We only caught a brief glimpse of Miller through the clouds, but it looked the same as before. The others in the group also wanted to summit something else on the way out so we headed for the top of Navaho Peak, which was my 41st summit acording to dad’s spreadsheet. Gus and I tried to take naps up there, but the 2-leggers were making such a ruckus, then they started down the mountain before I could get any decent shut eye.

We all made it back to the trailhead, and even though I had just made a milestone they still put me in back with Gus. At least we both got some good ZZZ’s on the drive home. I wonder what the next summit will be…

Me on summit #1  (May 22, 2005)        Me on Summit #200 (June 20, 2010)

All of dad’s photos can be found here: Three Brothers and Navaho Peak

Peeling off an Old Scab

When I first started going to Dani’s family cabin in 1998, I noticed that one of the Green Trails maps for the area was named Old Scab Mountain, after the 6,608′ peak left center on the map. The name of the peak sounded interesting, so I decided that I would head for the top sometime soon.

Over the years there were a few failed attempts, if you can even call them attempts:

September 1998: Dani, Brigitte (K9) and I started up the Soda Springs trail from the Bumping River Road. It was a very hot day, and we started at the crack of noon. After a couple miles we decided to stop as we were all getting pretty toasty and we hadn’t brought enough water for the dog.

September 1999: Dani, Brigitte and I headed towards Old Scab again, but this time drove the forest roads to the backside and the trailhead near Flat Iron Lake. We had Dani’s parents exchange student Roberta with us all the way from Italy. We lost the trail in a swampy area near Flat Iron Lake. Not wanting to create an international incident, we decided to head back and drive up to the top of Little Bald Mountain for some views instead.

I had almost forgotten about Old Scab until a couple years ago when I realized that I was a little tired of going up Mt. Aix, Goat Peak or hiking the Naches Peak loop while at the cabin, and wanted to do something different. So naturally I waited until the following year to do something about it.

Memorial Day Weekend 2009: I had grand plans of heading up Old Scab. Unfortunately my hiking plans went in the toilet. Literally. I helped build a new outhouse for the cabin, and that took all weekend. It is a nice outhouse though.

August 2009: Dani, Jasper and I decided to head to Old Scab via the backway. Unfortunately we had driven the Honda Civic and the rutted road was too much for it to handle, so we turned around and settled for another trip up Edgar Rock.

Which brings us to last weekend. Dani, Jasper and I took her Uncles John and John to Edgar Rock on Saturday. While it is a nice little hike only 15 minutes from the cabin, I needed something a bit more challenging for Sunday. I begged off the great morel hunt part 2 to take Jasper up Old Scab Mountain via the Soda Springs trail. If I was going to summit Old Scab, it would be from the lower trailhead. Besides, the forest roads were still snow covered on the backside anyway, and it is a well known fact that I am a wimpy 4×4 driver. Just ask Tisha and Jeremy.

After crossing the river on a stout footbridge, we took the shorter but steeper Soda Springs ‘Horse’ trail. The trails rejoined after about a mile at 3,700′. We hit small snow patches ~4,200′ and mostly snow at 4,800′ before leaving the trail at a switchback at 5,250′. From here it was a relatively painless ascent up the ridges to the final summit ridge which had surprisingly large cornices on the north side. The southern side was mostly snow free, and so Jasper and I stayed on that side to the huge summit cairn and matching large summit register (4-inch diameter PVC!). I felt a bit lethargic all day, probably from not hiking or working out for 2 weeks combined with excessive food and alcohol consumption Friday and Saturday nights at the cabin. Hey, what’s a weekend at the cabin without drinking lots of beer, wine and whatever else is up there?

I digress. The views at the top were limited due to cloudcover, so we did not linger long. Plus, I had told my mother in law that we would be back at 4:00, and it was already 2:00. I was able to semi glissade parts of the descent before running out of snow. Somehow we made it back to the cabin at 4:03 (it’s only a 7-minute drive from the trailhead), so SAR hadn’t been called out yet.

I finally peeled off the Old Scab, and Jasper got his 199th different summit. Not that he cares, although he seemed to enjoy this one a lot.

My photos

Warmer than a Welldigger’s Ass

The expression is really Colder than a Welldigger’s Ass, but Scott and I enjoyed a pleasant day (read “warm”) snowshoeing up to the top of Pt. 5,273 east of Stevens Pass, affectionately known as Welldigger’s Ass.

A couple weeks prior we had done a loop of Cowboy and Big Chief Mountains, and I had entertained thoughts of running the ridge from Big Chief to Welldigger’s Ass and back, but the weather was less than ideal that day, and Scott had to save some energy for his Mt. St. Helens climb the following day. After seeing the ridge connecting to Big Chief, it might not have been the best idea anyway.

We parked at the Yodelin lodge a little east of Stevens Pass, and followed a series of older boot prints and skin tracks to the saddle between Welldigger’s Ass and pt. 5,023. From there it was a simple ridgewalk to the flat, somewhat treed summit. We encountered three other people (all on skis) and a handsome husky dog also named Jasper. My Jasper barked his disapproval while the T-Labs simply wagged their tails. Yes, both T-Labs. Zeus was back in action and seemed to really enjoy himself.

Even with the trees on the summit we were afforded some views of the surrounding area, including glimpse of Jim Hill Mountain, Arrowhead Mountain and a stormy looking Middle Chiwaukum. Jove Peak and Labyrinth Mountain were visible at times to the north, and I even caught a brief view of Glacier Peak.

The descent went quickly and without injury, and we found ourselves back at the house waiting for the wimmen folk (Dani, Josie and Ingunn) who had ventured further east in search of flowers on Sauer Mountain.

Another summit for Jasper (#196), another backcourt peak for me (don’t worry, I’m not in danger of finishing that list anytime soon), and another day of enjoying some of the fine mountain scenery this state has to offer.

~4 miles and 1,700 feet of gain. This seems like a good place to get some quick backcountry turns in. I’ll probably be back with the skis instead of snowshoes in the future.

My flickr photo set
Scott’s flickr photo set
After hike(s) dawgz in the backyard

Countdown to 200

No, not pounds. 200 summits. For Jasper. You know, our stout dog. Yes, he is getting close to having walked (sometimes run) to the top of 200 different summits. Some mountains, some peaks, a few buttes, a couple points and several unnamed bumps of various elevations. Unlike some of you, he doesn’t adhere to a strict 400 foot prominence rule, but since he is only a foot and a half tall I think we can let this one slide. And yes, it has already been well established that I am a dork for keeping track of these things.

Last weekend I was locked in to ski with Dani on Sunday, so I decided to head out with Jasper on Saturday, even though the weather report was not ideal. Tisha and the whippets joined us for a couple close by summits: Dirty Harry’s Peak and Web Mountain. Her desire to get out and hike must have trumped her good sense to stay inside on such a crappy day. Well, it wasn’t that bad. Both were new summits for Jasper, #’s 190 and 191.

My Flickr photo set
Tisha’s photos (someday)

This past weekend my 4-legged buddy and I ventured out again, this time to Stevens Pass and a loop of Cowboy Mountain and Big Chief Mountain. Scott joined us, without the labs though. The weather was again less than ideal, but it was good enough to plod along and make it to the top of both peaks, #’s 192 and 193 for Jasper. Scott stayed a little behind me much of the day, obviously saving some energy for his climb of Mt. St. Helens the following day. And probably taking advantage of my stoutness as a windbreak.

My Flickr photo set
Scott’s Flickr photo set

On Sunday Dani and I headed across Snoqualmie Pass and a hike up to Kachess Beacon. We made a loop of it by taking the ’scramble’ route up and the (snow covered) trails back down. Summit #194 for Jasper. Unfortunately I forgot to bring a camera. Somehow as I was debating whether to bring the DSLR or the point and shoot, I managed to forget to bring either one entirely. Still, it was a very pleasant hike with my two favorite hiking partners. And Dani brought sandwiches!

Post hike Flickr photo set of Jasper in the yard

So, 194 down, 6 to go. Dani says, “He would be just as happy in the backyard playing frisbee all day.” That may be true, but the views from the backyard aren’t always as nice.

Revenge of the Pooperine on Middle Chiwaukum

Some of you may recall our first encounter with the Pooperine at the Table Mountain A-Frame back in January. The Pooperine returned last month on Sasse Ridge. When would we see him again?

Jasper and I had turned our backs to the wind on Middle Chiwaukum a couple weeks ago (Soapy claims to have continued on to the summit), and were itching for a return trip. I managed to recruit a few more dogs and people for another stab at the Mighty Middle C: The Alti-Family (Tisha, Jermey and the Cool Whips), Team Yellow Dog (minus Josie) and some guy wearing a yellow fleece. What is his name again?

Somehow we all managed to fit in the Green Machine* and arrived at the trailhead in one piece. I remembered from my visit a couple weeks ago almost stepping on a couple piles of poop in the trees near the parking area, and tried to keep an eye on Jasper. Unfortunately he got out of my sight while I was putting my gaiters on and got attacked by the Pooperine. Luckily this time he escaped with only minimal staining, and we all started up the snow covered road to the summer trailhead.

We headed uphill directly from the summer trailhead at 2,800′, and found the snow conditions to be annoying. Conditions improved over 5,000′, and by 6,000′ feet we were breaking new trail again. Well, mostly Scott and that guy in yellow were breaking trail. There was a very slight breeze, but nothing like the hurricane (possibly a slight exaggeration) I hiked through a couple weeks ago. We eventually all arrived at the top of North Chiwaukum (Pt. 7,132), and took a food and liquid break before heading to the saddle then up Middle Chiwaukum.

As we started up from the saddle we encountered a couple telemark skiers who had booted the last few hundred feet of Middle C. Jasper voiced his disapproval of their method of descent. He obviously prefers randonee skiing to telemarking. We decided to switch snowshoes for crampons, and leashed the dogs up as one side of the final ridge was fairly corniced and would make for a swift descent if one fell off the edge. Scott and Z & A led the way, with the rest of us close behind. Soon we were all huddled on the top of Middle Chiwaukum, careful not to fall over the edge. Well, except for Soapy who hopped right over to the brink and demanded that I set up a rappel for him.

Another food, liquid and photography break was taken, but all too soon we began the descent. We tried to make to upper part of the descent fun as the snow was nice up high and we knew it would be a little less nice down lower. Somehow we got a little off track on our descent, but managed to hit the WHitepine Trail only a couple hundred yards away from the summer trailhead. The others blame me, and they’re probably right, but I just wanted to take the scenic route down.

The road had gotten several miles longer since the morning, but we did make it back to the car without needing headlamps. Unfortunately Jeremy took a fall right at the last icy spot, but appeared unbroken so I kept my Vicodin in my pack. The drive home was quieter than the drive over as all the dogs were snoozing.

Another good day in the mountains with some friends, and another monkey lifted off my back.

*My car in high school was nicknamed the Green Machine. This one is much nicer.

My full flickr photo set

Blown away by Middle Chiwaukum

Work was a little slow last week, and since I was supposed to be in Patagonia I figured taking one day off midweek wouldn’t hurt. Especially with the run of nice weather we had.

Inspired by a couple recent NWHikers Trip Reports and the current calendar photo above my desk (thanks a lot Todd and Andrea!), I decided to head east and try to get to the top of Middle Chiwaukum (7,423′). I put out a couple feelers for partners, but in the end only Jasper and Soapy were daring (foolish?) enough to join me.

I managed to drive to the Cascade Meadows Baptist Camp and found ample space to park the truck. It was cool as Jasper and I booted (and pawed) up the road to the summer trailhead, but the skies were clear and I was optimistic about my chances to get some good views. Through a gap in the trees I did get a glimpse of one of the higher ridges and noticed a plume of windblown snow. The area is known for wind, so that wasn’t too surprising. I hoped it would die down a bit by the time I ascended that far.

We eventually reached the summer trailhead and followed some older snowshoe tracks for a while before I decided to head up the slope into the woods. I immediately punched through the crust and had to put snowshoes on while Jasper sat nearby and licked himself. The ascent went well for a while as I once again ran into some older snowshoe (and ski) tracks, and made my way up to ~5,200′ where a combination of new and windblown snow mostly obscured the tracks. The route was easy enough to follow at this point, but I was breaking trail alone and progress was slowed considerably. At ~6,000′ I almost gave up as I hit a real deep snow zone but managed to push on for a bit further before the snow quality returned to an acceptable level.

Point 7,132 (North Chiwaukum) and Middle Chiwaukum came into view, as did the wind. Well, I couldn’t actually see the wind, but I felt it. And heard it. And saw lots of snow being blown by it. But, since we were somewhat on the lee side of the ridge, we kept on ascending towards North Chiwaukum. As we got closer to the top of North Chiwaukum and could see the final ridge to Middle Chiwaukum I came to the realization that we might not make it all the way. The wind was whipping through the sadle between the peaks, and the final ridge had a few cornices that could be problematic for Jasper. Well, Soapy too as he likes to live on the edge.

We managed to attain the top of North Chiwaukum where Soapy proceeded to get caught in a small slab avalanche. My avalanche training came in handy and I was able to extricate him swiftly, without spilling my chai. Our summit stay was cut short by the wind, and I begrudgingly headed back the way we had come up, deciding against continuing to Middle Chiwaukum. Out of the heavy wind, I found a nice lunch spot, and the three of us ate lunch. I had soup and a sandwich, Jasper had assorted dog treats, and Soapy…well, who knows what he eats?

The descent was fun for a while as I was able to shred the gnar on my mega fat snowshoes. They have a super side cut, and make me look like the smoothest of operators. I was a powder technician, waving at the honies as I did Mach 5. I was killin’ it. And no, it’s nothing like snowboarding.

The good snow once again gave way to a hard crust, and made the downhill a little more painful. Somehow I lost my tracks but kept descending straight down the hill, aiming slightly to the right, figuring I would eventually interesct the road. And I did, only a couple hundred feet before the summer trailhead. Jasper and I then returned to the truck and drove home, disappointed at not having reached our main objective, but still satisfied with a little exercise and some great views.

My flickr photo set

Return of the Pooperine on Sasse Ridge

Tisha sent out an email earlier in the week inquiring about hiking this weekend. The weather forecast was less than ideal. Ok, it was atrocious. So naturally I agreed to join her little adventure. Carla and Yana also unwittingly signed on to this trip, and the four of us (plus Jasper) headed east to Salmon la Sac Road. Our goals were twofold. Or threefold. Or possibly fourfold. Sasse Mountain (5,730) was the only officially named summit, but we also managed to go up and over three unofficially named bumps: Howson Creek Point (5,159), Howson Peak (5,440+) and Not so Sasse (~5,500?).

As we were getting geared up at the trailhead Jasper decided to follow Carla into the woods as she, well, you know. Unfortunately for us he found a somewhat recent pile of (human?) poop and proceeded to roll in it. While he has done this on several occasions previously, this one was interesting in that he got brown stains on both sides. A preliminary cleaning was performed using some chunks of ice and off we went on the hike.

We followed the Howson Creek trail to almost the creek crossing at ~2,550 where we headed straight uphill. The snow quantity and quality improved with the increased elevation. Shortly (well, not shortly enough) we found ourselves on the bump unofficially known as Howson Creek Point. Seeking refuge from the wind in the trees we took a snack break. Jasper tried but soon rejected Carla’s wasabi peas.

After a few minutes of rest and refueling, we continued on our was to Howson Peak. Yana took a bearing, told me which direction to go, and as the downhill trailbreaker, I started off. Being a boy, I immediately got us off course and was thoroughly admonished by the others. Back on course, we made a fairly direct line to the saddle then uphill towards Howson Peak. Yana took over the lead shortly before the summit, and managed to find a weakness in the summit cornice. We did not linger long on this summit as the wind was really howling. Or maybe that was the Pooperine. Regardless, we started down the ridge towards Sasse Mountain, taking a short break in a small clump of trees.

The ridge between Howson and Sasse was a little more corniced than I had expected, but we found a safe way through certain doom. My thin skull cap was sacrificed to the wind as I lost my grip on it while trying to adjust it. If it had been Jasper, Carla or Tisha (the jury is still out on Yana) I might have gone after them, but a hat wasn’t worth it. Luckily I had brought my balaclava and became a ninja hiker for the rest of the ridgewalk.

The final slopes to the sumit of Sasse Mountain gained an impressive 10 feet per mile, or so it seemed. We were pleased to find that the summit of Sasse was large enough to hold all of us. Another food break was taken and Jasper once again tried the wasabi peas, this time actually keeping one down.

As downhill trailbreaker, I was tasked with leading us to the saddle between Sasse and Not so Sasse, the subpeak to the west. I inadvertently found a couple tree wells, much to the amusement of my hiking partners. Note to self: Find new hiking partners. Since Not so Sasse was only a couple hundred feet above the saddle I continued on leading the way. The ridge was narrow enough at this point even I couldn’t lead us too far off course, and soon enough we were on top of Not so Sasse. Soapy tried to hop off a cornice, but I stopped him before he managed to get himself killed.

The final descent back to the car was filled with a progressive deterioration of the snowpack and the weather. We amused ourselves with setting off a series of pinwheels (balls?) on a fairly low angle slope. Most of Jasper’s brown staining had cleaned off in the snow, but to be safe he stayed in the canopy for the entire drive home, where he was treated to a nice shower and a full cleaning.

Full flickr photo set

Not sure of the exact mileage, but I think it was close to 8. Tisha’s altimeter log said it was ~4,600 feet of total gain. My guess going into the hike was between 4,000 and 4,200, but I had not figured No so Sasse into the mix.

Tisha’s photos

Oakes Peak, all the way this time

Last spring Jasper and I teamed up with Jeremy and Tisha and the whippets for an attempt on Oakes Peak. Oh, yeah that other guy was there too. What’s his name again… We didn’t quite make the top as the snow was the consistency of mashed potatoes (unfortunately it didn’t taste like mashed potatoes), and progress was slowed considerably.

I vowed to return someday as the views were (allegedly) good. A couple weeks ago Yana and Carla went in the middle of the week. Apparently I had been invited, but in my old age I sometimes forget to read the entire email. When Matt B. sent out an email trying to organize a trip and suggested Oakes as a possible destination, I immediately volunteered my services to follow any number of fellow hikers to the top. What, you think I can actually lead the way on these things?

Suzanne wrote a nice Trip Report on NWHikers, so I don’t need to go into much more detail here. Needless to say, we made it to the top and enjoyed the views so much that we stayed on the summit for almost an hour and a half before starting back down.

I happily removed one monkey from my back, but have a couple more still clinging. Ruby or Loomis anyone?

Full flickr photo set

The slopes of Philadelphia

It was Super Bowl Sunday, and at the last minute Dani abandoned me to go skiing. What’s a boy and his dog to do? The weather was not inspiring, but I still wanted to get in a few miles so I decided to hike to Lake Serene. It’s a short drive from home and I hadn’t been there in a couple years. But wait, there’s a summit near the lake. No, not Mt. Index, Philadelphia Mountain. I was saving Philadelphia for a dreary day as the treed summit wouldn’t allow for good views. This was a dreary day, so off we went.

The Lake Serene trailhead was practically empty, much to my delight. Shortly after starting out we ran into some local wildlife, more commonly seen in urban settings. We quietly made our way past the strange creature and continued up the trail. Shortly we saw another one of these creatures. Jasper gave it a quick sniff, but refrained from angering it by barking.

Soon we passed the turnoff for Bridal Veil Falls and found ourselves at the crossing of Bridal Veil Creek. I was a bit shocked to see how little water was flowing down the rocks. Most other times I had been to Lake Serene there was enough water at this point to make the crossing a little interesting. Not so today as we simply walked on the gravel to the other side, then began the steep ascent to the lake.

There were only a couple very small patches of snow before the lake, not unusual for May. Wait a minute it’s early February. At least the lake was frozen over. Barely. We caught some glimpses of Mt. Index through the clouds. The sounds of avalanches and rockfall off of Mt. Index was impressive, especially since we were safely out of the runouts.

We took a short break to discuss our next move. Jasper seemed to agree with my basic idea for the ascent of Philadelphia, and up we went. Straight into a boulder field. A moss covered boulder field. With some snow patches. And slide alder. Oh, it was lightly raining too. This was shaping up to be a fun ascent. Having just removed one monkey from my back the previous day, I wasn’t about to turn around at this point. Philadelphia would have to do better than a little snowy, mossy, alder overgrown boulder field to stop this stout hiker.

Luckily the boulder field only lasted a couple hundred feet before yielding to forest. Jasper and I avoided the steep cliffs to our right, and kept moving up. The snow patches began to coalesce as we ascended, and soon we were walking on snow. I was even a bit surprised to see fairly recent bootprints. I thought this was an obscure mountain.

The bootprints kept going up, so naturally we followed them. Eventually we found ourselves below a final rise and the summit. Only it wasn’t actually the summit. It was the first in a long series of false alarm summits. There must have been 50,000* of these false summits before we finally reached the eastern edge of the ridge and the official highpoint of Philadelphia Mountain. Jasper celebrated his 179th different summit by leaving a Jasper cache while I managed to snap a summit shot of Soapy. Our summit stay was short, maybe 5 minutes. I wasn’t in a hurry to get back and watch the Super Bowl, but there just wasn’t any reason to linger. The same 50,000** false summits were still there on the descent. It started to snow lightly, but not enough to bury our tracks.

I wasn’t looking forward to descending the boulder field, but luckily we found the bootprints (I had missed the lower set on our way up) and followed them as they skirted the worst parts of the boulder field. We decided to visit the shore of Lake Serene since we were there. Again our stay was short as the weather was gray and damp and Mt. Index was revealing less of herself than before.

We ran into a few more 2 and 4-legged hikers on our descent, including a nice German Shepherd named Phoenix. Jasper seemed to liek him weel wnough, only growling once before doing the customary sniff. The twin Ventix Starbuckus creatures were nowhere to be seen on our way back, probably got scared off by all the activity on the trail.

The truck was still intact when we arrived at the trailhead, but there was a little slip of paper under the wiper blade. A ticket?! No, just a hand written note that said “Kisses” with a little heart next to it. I had a fan club! The handwriting looked familiar. Jasper took a look at it, turned to me and said, “Mom” Aha! It was Dani. She must have finished skiing early and knowing that I was at the Lake Serene trailhead thought she’d leave me a note. How sweet. Of course, when we got home she said the note was for Jasper.

It wasn’t the most spectacular of summits. In fact, it might have been the least spectacular, but it was there. And so was I. And Jasper. Soapy too.

Full flickr photo set

*Possibly a slight exaggeration
**I counted 3. Or possibly 4. But it felt like 50,000

The Streets of Philadelphia

These are some of my least favorite things

(With apologies to Rodgers & Hammerstein)

Roadwalks with alder and devils club patches
Tree-cipitation and low lying fog banks
Snow covered talus fields slick as can be
These are some of my least favorite things

When the rain falls
When the clouds come
When I’m out of food
I simply remember my least favorite things
And then I don’t feel so good

Not all these things happened to me on today’s hike, but needless to say it wasn’t the best day for views. Or staying dry. But, it was better than the alternative of staying home and watching golf on tv. Of course, I could have been harvesting virtually yummy crops on FarmVille, but they’ll keep until later. Like…now!

Back to the hike. Jasper and I went up two somewhat obscure peaks near the increasingly popular Mt. Washington: Change Peak (aka East Washington) and Greenway Mountain. We made it to the top of both and back to the truck safely.