White and black dog

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.

Loomis Mountain looming overhead

While Dani is enjoying herself on Maui, I managed to move all the pizza boxes and dirty laundry out of the way and find the computer.

Let’s talk about last weekend’s little hike up Loomis Mountain. I signed on with a very strong group of people for a snowshoe trip (well, some people had snowshoes) up Loomis Mountain near Mt. Baker. Did I mention it was a strong group? I had actually hiked with most of them at least once before, and was quite confident in my ability to maintain a position near the back of the pack. Jasper had delusions of leading the way, but he has 4 legs to my 2.

At our meeting at the Park & Ride I saw that our friend Lisa was on the trip. We hadn’t hiked together on a few years and I wondered why. There was that little incident where Jasper peed on her dog…Nah, that couldn’t be it.

Anyhoo, we packed ourselves into fewer vehicles and started the drive north. After bypassing the turnoff for Park Butte and the Railroad Grade, we started to encounter a little snow on the road. Then more snow covered by a thin layer of ice. My truck managed fine but somehow two smaller cars punched through and had to be dug out. After watching others dig and push the cars back on the track, we found a place to park just before the sign stating “No Wheeled Vehicles Beyond This Point”. Soapy however drove right past the sign. Typical.

We followed the snow covered road for a little while, then turned off on what appeared to be an older, abandoned road. After navigating the maze of alder (ok, it was only a few small alder patches) and a couple big washouts, we reached the end of the road there we stopped to regroup. Well, I stopped to regroup. Up to this point I had kept pretty close to the pack. It’s amazing how quickly one can fall behind simply stopping to take a couple photos and dispose of a Jasper cache. Somewhat surprisingly the skies were a nice shade of blue with the sun shining on the snow covered slopes. This was much better than the forecast had led us to believe. Of course, it was about this time that I realized I had forgotten my sunglasses. At least they wouldn’t get lost or broken on this trip.

The route got steeper and there was a delightful crust. Upon reaching a very icy gully, it was determined that Jasper would not safely make it across, so I took him back and below the gully. Lisa and Yana joined me as they claimed not to have liked the looks of the gully either. I think they were just being nice.

The three of us (well, four) aimed for the saddle below the final slopes of Loomis. I was having difficulties with the snow as the crust was strong enough to support Yana and Jasper, but not me. Lisa was also having difficulty as she had been talked into leaving her snowshoes in the car. As we ascended though the crust gave way to somewhat fluffy snow, which presented another set of problems. There were only three of us to break trail, and only two pairs of snowshoes!

Eventually we came across the sidewalk that the other people had left. Oh, did I mention it was a strong group? We looked carefully at their tracks to see if they had already been to the top and passed this spot on their descent. Thankfully it appeared that they were still above us. It was about this time that we noticed the sky had taken on a familiar shade of gray. Clouds had rolled in, the wind had picked up and it actually started snowing lightly. There was still a mountain to be climbed, so up we went.

At ~5,100′ we ran into Tom S. and Fay, descending from the summit. Then a few others. We talked for a bit and assessed our situation with respect to the time. It was still mid January and the sun sets a little early in mid January. Yana had pulled away from me at this point and was making a beeline for the summit. I noticed a little cramping in my left quad muscle, and stopped long enough to drink and eat a little, something that I had not been doing enough of all day. I was going to stop and wait for Yana to return, but Lisa caught up to me and convinced me to continue. So, continue I did, up to ~5,300′ where we encountered Matt on his descent from the summit. Just above Matt my leg started cramping badly again, and while I was only 200 feet shy of the summit, I decided to call it a day. Jasper was a bit above me at this point, and he likely would have followed Yana to the top, but I called him back.

Lisa continued to the summit while I descended the short distance to Matt, ate and drank a bunch and stretched out my leg the best I could. Jasper took a keen interest in Matt’s sandwich. Eventually Yana then Lisa descended to us and we began out retreat to the cars. As usual, the descent went much quicker than the ascent, and we arrived on the old road well before we needed headlamps. The headlamps were needed on the final road though, but the walk was actually somewhat pleasant. I chatted with Don about backcountry skiing and almost fell over while gawking at the stars (Orion was especially nice).

Arriving safely at the cars, we formulated a refueling plan that involved dinner and beverages at the Skagit River Brewing Company. While I had enjoyed their beer previously, I had never eaten in the restaurant. The waiter was even kind enough to put us on separate checks, although Tom S. and I were the last to order food with his method. Yana managed a first (and last) ascent of Lil Nacho Mountain while I consumed my bacon cheddar cheeseburger without incident. Lisa even gave me the last bites of her burger to give to Jasper.

Obviously I am disappointed to have not made the summit, but everyone else in the group did. Getting within a couple hundred feet of a summit has been a recurring theme this past year. Luckily I have managed to return to two of the mountains and make it to the top on the next try. Hopefully this will be the case with Loomis.

Tom S. wrote this trip report on NWHikers.

For my photo set, click on the photo below:

An avalanche of instruction

Whoa, my website is still up. Apparently it takes more than a week of neglect for these things to go away. And I guess I did pay for an entire year too…

Anyhoo, with all the new snow we’re getting in the mountains the avalanche danger could be increasing.

What, rain? Lots of it? Well crap. There goes ski season.

Regardless of the form of precipitation currently raining down on us, I managed to complete an AIARE Level 1 avalanche course over the past weekend. My course was through Mountain Madness, a fairly well known local guiding service. Mountain Madness is not alone in teaching these sorts of classes, but I chose them as my friend (enemy?) Yana took the same (well, hers was split over two weekends) course with them last winter, and the lead instructor is a friend of another friend of mine and was highly regarded.

The most hazardous part of the class may very well have been the drive into Seattle on Friday afternoon for the initial lecture at Feathered Friends. I arrived a litle early and decided to browse the selection of gear and clothing. Next time I will arrive just before class so as not to part ways with more of my money.

The next two days were spent at Stevens Pass, first in a meeting room in the lodge then out on the slopes. Well, away from the downhill ski area. Those areas would be subject to an avalanche of kids taking ski lessons. We wanted to check out snow avalanche conditions.

The first field day focused on terrain selection and avalanche avoidance before we started using some of our pricey gear: transceivers, probes and shovels. Simulated single burials were practiced for awhile in groups of two, then we got into larger groups and had some multiple burial scenarios to tackle. Our group of 6 rescued three ‘victims’ in 4, 8 and 11 minutes, with the 11 minute victim not having a transceiver. We felt fairly good about our results, but keep in mind that this was only a simulation and a real avalanche burial could likely be spread out over a larger area with victims buried deeper than in our simulation.

The evening was spent back in the lodge with more lecture and discussion.

The second field day took us to a favorite quick destination of mine, Skyline Lake and the ridge above it. We did not go to the rock garden, but instead headed a bit east to the ridge crest and dipped below the back side to get away from the expected hordes of people at the lake. Here we split up into our groups again and dug some test pits and conducted some snow compression tests. While the snow conditions were similar throughout our test area, it was interesting to note that there were also fairly large differences in the snow conditions over a fairly small ground surface area, even from one end of the pit to the other.

We finished up back in the lodge for a final lecture and discussion session.

Now I am avalanche safe, right? Well, statistically speaking I am probably more likely to die in an avalanche after taking the class than before. Great.

A bit of knowledge is good, but how we apply that knowledge to our backcountry decision making is what will make the difference between a fun outing and a final outing.

Some photos and a short video from the class can be found by clicking on the photo below:

Over the hill and to the lake(s)

Some of you may have heard a rumor that I turned 40 yesterday. It’s true. So far I don’t feel much different than I did at 39, but I fully expect all bodily functions to shut down soon. Hopefully I finish this post before that happens.

Last year on my birthday I met up with Ingunn and JK for a snowshoe trip to Kendall Peak Lakes. This year I thought it would be nice to head back there again. Unfortunately Ingunn was running a fever of 100 (Fahrenheit, not Celsius) and did not join us. Jasper, JK and I were however joined by Tisha (minus Jeremy and the whippets), Steve and Scott with the TLABs in tow.

At the very beginning I thought these ‘friends’ of mine were trying to kill me by setting a swift pace, but eventually I settled in a managed to keep up. We followed some previous tracks to the lower lake and then beyond to the second lake where we came across a snowman guarding a tent.

There were tracks leading from the tent across the lake and up towards the third lake. Since I had never been beyond the second lake I was easily talked into heading up. It was steep, but thankfully short to the upper lake. We all found a spot near the outlet stream and the celebratory beverages were opened.

Fortunately the threats of a mushroom cake and 3-foot long paddle never materialized, and we all stood there watching the skies turn from gray to bluish to almost blue as the sun tried to poke through. Eventually we descended back to the lower lakes, and back to the road. Steve, Tisha, Scott and the labs took a more direct descent down the ridge while I joined JK with trying to ski down the road using his mini-skis from his Norwegian youth. I couldn’t seem to stay in them too well, and eventually took them off and walked/jogged down the road after him, passing him on the few (ok several) times he fell.

We finally reached the parking lot to find the others waiting. The drive back was fine and I arrived home to find Dani finishing up a great Mexican casserole (yum). Jasper ate his dinner then retired to the bed for some much deserved rest.

Thanks to those who joined me for a fun 40th birthday, and if I make it to 41 maybe we’ll do it again.

Full photo set:

JK’s photos
Steve’s photos
Scott’s photos
Tisha’s photos (coming soon)

2009 hiking recap

Now that 2010 is off and running I thought I’d look back on 2009, from a hiking perspective. If this post looks similar to Ingunn’s 2009 recap, that’s because I have no original ideas. Unlike her, I was not able to pick one favorite for each month, but instead chose 2 or 3 (or even 4), depending on my mood.

Anyhoo, on to the Team Stout* highlights for 2009:

January was the first month of 2009. There was a ton of snow remaining from the Christmas 2008 storms, but a warm rain the first week in January washed a lot of it away. Nevertheless, there was still plenty of snow to play in. I had a lot of fun on a snowshoe trip up Pratt Mountain with a group of 2 and 4-legged friends. Who knew that she said so many things? Near the end of the month I attempted Jim Hill Mountain with Carla. We were turned back only 50 feet shy of the summit, but the beautiful blue skies made up for the not quite summit.

February again came after January. I got suckered into an unknown (to me) destination in early February. This turned out to be a very enjoyable day with different views of familiar peaks and a partner that I am glad to have gotten to know better this year. Ok, technically last year. Near the end of the month Dani and I took our long awaited (well, since the previous Thanksgiving) trip to Sedona, Arizona. The warm, dry air and the red rocks made for a great change of pace from the often dreary Seattle winter.

March saw us back in Seattle, and me taking up skiing again after a 5 or 6 year hiatus. Most of the month I seemed to venture out during bad weather, including a windy and somewhat cold trip to Red Top Lookout, which is a half mile hike in summer, but why limit yourself to a one mile round trip? Closer to the end of the month, Jasper and I made another unchaperoned trip into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, this time to West Granite Mountain.

April showers supposedly bring May flowers. Sometimes you can cheat and see the flowers early by heading east, and that’s what we did with Ingunn and her Italian greyhounds when we went to Umtanum Canyon. The flowers weren’t as good as I had hoped, but maybe all those really nice photos of flowers I see on NWHikers are all photoshop jobs anyway. (Wink, wink). Earlier in the month I enjoyed another fun snowshoe trip, even without making the intended summit, on Ruby Mountain.

May your trails be winding and your summits be sunny. I used to avoid hiking in May as I didn’t think it would be fun with sloppy snow still left on the ground. Boy was I ever wrong. Our back to back glissade fest on Mt. Ellinor and Earl Peak was a weekend worth remembering. Earlier in the month I got one monkey off my back by going back and finishing Jim Hill Mountain. At the very end of the month, Scott somehow talked me into skiing Eldorado Peak.

Hey June, the weather’s not bad, take the gray skies and make them brighter. Remember to get an earlier start, then you can start to hike much longer. I seemed to like the Leavenworth area in June, with a great day trip up Dragontail and SE Dragontail Peaks. The following weekend Dani and I returned to Leavenworth for a river raft trip with her sister and husband, and her Uncles. The day after the river fun, Dani and I took her Uncles to Colchuck Lake where I admired the more difficult side of Dragontail Peak.

July saw us out hiking every weekend and even some midweek days. The month was bookended by our first visit to the Chelan-Sawtooths over the 4th of July weekend and my dodging lightning bolts on the Neve Glacier during a trip up Snowfield and Pyramid Peaks.

August once again saw Dani and I celebrating our Anniversary (5 years!). This time however, we shortened our intended trip due to a poor weather forecast and revisited the Goat Rocks where we had spent our 1st Anniversary. Scott and I hooked up again in mid August for another North Cascades gem that we had talked about for a long time, Snowking Mountain.

September is considered by many the best hiking month in Washington. The bugs are (mostly) gone, the days are still (usually) warm and the vegetation starts to turn various (yes, various) shades of red, orange and yellow, making for interesting scenery. Almost a year before, Jeremy and Tisha mentioned a plan to summit 9 peaks on 09/09/09. I came up with a reasonable route, and we waited. And waited. It was worth it. Later in the month I finally broke the 20 mile day barrier with a trip up Big Lou and Big Jim Mountains. At the end of the month Dani and I found ourselves dogsitting our friend’s whippets, but that didn’t stop us all from enjoying the color up north on Winchester Mountain and High Pass.

October means larches. We certainly got our fill of them at Lewis & Wing Lakes with a summit of Black Peak. There were no larches on these trips, but there was still nice color on my Mt. Howard-Mt. Mastiff loop hike and a light dusting of snow on Thorp Mountain.

November is usually a transitional month. There is usually not enough snow to ski or snowshoe effectively, but just enough snow, coupled with gloomy weather to make hiking not as pleasant. However, a late October dump of snow had Scott and I dusting off our skis early in search of turns. While the skiing ultimately was disappointing, the views made up for it on our Camp Muir attempt. I managed to tuck in a couple Teanaway peaks with Jasper when we headed to Hawkins Mountain and DeRoux Peak.

December started out with another monkey being lifted off my back as Jasper and I were field assistants for Yana’s research project on Evergreen Mountain. Christmas saw Jasper and I once again at Skyline Lake and Skyline Ridge for some more peakbagging. An added treat was running into JK and Ingunn back at the lake.

Just so all those other hikes don’t feel slighted, here is a comprehensive list of what we did in 2009 with links (still being added) to trip reports and/or photo sets along with the 2009 slideshow video (parts 1 and 2).

2009 by the numbers:
Dani: 48 days on trail, 313.4 miles, 89,800 feet of elevation gain
Jasper: 96 days, 703.1 miles, 247,220 feet
Tom: 115 days, 868.3 miles, 326,720 feet

*Team Stout is a nickname given to us by our hiking friends. It usually only applies to Jasper and me as we are a little, shall we say, larger than ideal around the midsection. Not fat, just stout. Dani just happens to get lumped in with our unfortunate nickname.