White and black dog

Flat and Lazy in Alaska

I had to go to Anchorage for work. I did manage to do a couple hikes and get a little sightseeing in while I was there.

After finishing up most of my site visits for the day I headed to the Mt. Si of Anchorage, Flattop Mountain. I thought I might stay for sunset, but the quicker than expected ascent, very windy conditions on the summit, a later than Seattle area sunset and my increasing hunger forced me down to civilization. Next time I may head further east along the ridge to a couple higher points that don’t see nearly as much traffic as the main Flattop.

After satisfying my hunger I took a short drive down Turnagain Arm to Beluga Point before retreating back to the hotel and a little sleep.

The next morning I headed north to Wasilla and Palmer for some more site visits, then took on a little more challenging trail up Lazy Mountain. I had the summit to myself and got a look at Matanuska Peak, four miles to the east. Another time perhaps.

Not satisfied with my hiking exploits, I tackled Bodenburg Butte, or simply, “The Butte”. I started up froma trailhead on the south side. 18 minutes later I was on the top. It was a short and steep trail. While on top I noticed a trail heading in the other direction. Remembering a trail junction down below I naturally assumed that this was some sort of loop. You know what they say about assumptions…

I descended all the way to the West Side trailhead, and rather than head back up and over thought it might be quicker to walk the road around. After a couple miles of that I realized that the Bodenburg Loop road was a lot longer than just a simple loop around the butte. Luckily I saw a power line corridor and followed it up and over a small ridge, through a short stand of blackberries and to a horse trail a couple hundred feet above the road. Eventually I made it back to the road about 200 feet from the trailhead. I was done with hiking for the day and headed back to Anchorage for dinner and beers.

Flattop Mountain photos

Turnagain Arm photos

Lazy Mountain & Bodenburg Butte photos

Windy and Windier

A few months ago I was looking at maps with snowshoe destinations in mind and I spotted Windy Mountain (5,386) near Stevens Pass. A few days later Carla and Yana made an ascent of it and I thought I might follow in their footsteps soon. Other trips happened and I figured it might be too late in the year to mount a reasonably brush free ascent. Then I saw Matt, Eric and Eric’s trip report and decided to follow in their footsteps the following weekend.

With Jasper in the lead, we headed up from the caboose. We had much better weather than the other groups and managed to find an only moderately annoying route through the brush and hit snow about 3,600′. Matt, Eric and Eric’s tracks were still visible most of the way and we made relatively good time to the top of Windy Mountain. We had sun but little to no wind. Lunches were eaten and Jasper took a short nap while I collected photographic evidence of our summit.

A point to the north-northeast labeled Pt. 5,383 on the map actually looked higher and with good weather and a relatively easy ridge walk ahead of us we made an ascent of it. The final bit kept going but eventually we topped out on a point that was definitely higher than Windy Mountain. Looking back at the GPS track we actually went past Pt. 5,383 to a point inside the 5,400 foot contour. Bonus summit!

The descent was mostly uneventful. We headed slightly east on the Iron Goat trail to the Windy Point overlook before heading back to the trailhead caboose and then back home.

Photographic documentation: Windy Mountain and Pt. 5,383; May 20, 2011

Angels Rest and Devils Rest

Jasper and I had been to Angels Rest several time over the past few years. It’s only 35 minutes from Dani’s mom’s house and the hike while short has some steep spots and pretty decent views of the lower Columbia Gorge. We never had the time to continue on to Devils Rest. Until this time.

Dani was helping her mom with the neighborhood garage sale, and I was told to hike longer as I would be “bored out of my mind” sitting around at a garage sale. I didn’t need to be told twice to take a longer hike, so early Saturday morning we left, with a stop for coffee first. Where there is coffee, there is life. Or at least a better life.

Arriving to a packed trailhead parking lot I realized that I had only been here during winter or midweek, never on a decent late spring weekend. I figured most of the crowds would only go as far as Angels Rest, so we started up the trail. We made good time up to Angels Rest, and for the first time continued on the trail past the ’summit’ and into the woods. I decided to do a loop trip by using the Foxglove Trail, Devils Rest Trail, Wahkeena Trail and finally returning to Angels Rest via the Angels Rest Trail. Everything went smoothly. Almost.

At what looked like a trail junction I kept going straight ahead as the route description said. Never mind that there was no sign indicating that this was actually a junction. And pay no attention to the sticks laid across the path I chose. Or Jasper following his nose down the proper trail. No, I am an experienced hiker and I knew where I was going. Except I really didn’t. After several hours (ok, 15 minutes) of walking on the trail/abandoned road I realized that I was not on the path to Devils Rest, so I turned around and headed back to my not a trail junction.

Well, not so fast. Before I got back to the Foxglove Trail I spotted another faint path heading in the general direction of Devils Rest. So naturally I took it. Another 10 minutes of aimless wandering led me to a dead end. I considered going cross-country to intercept the proper trail, but after finding myself ankle deep in a bog holding on to some devils club, I decided to admit defeat and head back to the real trail. I swear I heard Jasper laughing at me, but he vehemently denies it.

Finally back on the real trail we made it to the top of Devils Rest in less than 20 minutes. The views were underwhelming from this treed summit, but a few minutes east along the loop there was a nice viewpoint with a sheer drop to the valley below. Jasper stayed back from the edge. Good dog.

The rest of the loop went as well as could be expected from such an experienced hiker. I managed to not get misplaced this time and eventually we found the car back at the trailhead. What was supposed to be 10.9 miles with 2,800 feet of gain ended up being ~12.5 miles with ~3,300 feet of gain. I never denied padding my stats. Or miscalculating my ascent times. Or just being a goofball.

We made it back to the garage sale in time to save nephew Jackson from being sold for 50 cents, but niece Taylor and her friends had closed down their lemonade stand. I settled for a beer from the fridge. Jasper sat in the shade and kept a watch on Jackson.

More photos here: Angels Rest & Devils Rest; May 14, 2011

South Bessemer Versification

A rainy Saturday and what should I do?
Another trip up the Middle Fork I had planned.
Team Yellow Dog minus Jo decided to join me,
On top of South Bessemer and Moolock we would stand.

On the road walk Athena tried some cluvert ops,
Pretending to ignore her dad yelling “No, no, no!”
Jasper growled his displeasure at her,
But got real playful at the first patch of snow.

Thick clouds obscured any views we might have had,
And the rain turned to snow as we made our ascent.
Upward and onward we continued to climb,
Reaching the summit a little snow would not prevent.

A short stay on top was all we could do,
As the wind and the snow made us feel unwelcome.
Down lower for rest and luch we all went,
Treats for the dogs, oh yeah, they they all got some.

Back at the saddle we considered Moolock Peak,
Scott said to me “I don’t think I should”
With the effort expended to get us this far,
I thought to myself “I don’t think I could”

We slogged down the road so boring and long,
Athena inspected every culvert once more.
The snow turned to rain as we descended,
And when the rain stopped it started to pour.

We all made it safely back to the waiting cars,
Two pairs of boots and twelve little paws.
Why do we go hiking in weather like this?
The only answer that suffices is “because”

Oh, and it’s better than shopping.

A few photos here: South Bessemer Mountain; May 7, 2011

Sweet on Sauer

We celebrated Mother’s Day by taking a drive to the dry side and hiking up Sauer’s Mountain near Leavenworth. The balsamroot were plentiful, as were the smiles on our faces. There was enough sun to keep us in short sleeves, but enough clouds to cool us down when needed.

We both called our mom from the summit while Jasper drank some water and ate a snack. While the ascent was uncrowded, we ran into lots of other hikers heading up while we descended. It was a great day for a walk.

Photos here: Sauer’s Mountain; May 8, 2011

It was big and it was snowy

Friday hike ideas were being discussed, and this line from Yana’s email piqued my interest, “Are you interested in a day trip up Big Snow via this route?”

I hastily replied “Yes” before really considering how long of a day it might be, especially since I was still planning on going up Mt. Si with TNAB Thursday night. I considered bailing on TNAB, but the thought of seeing a nice sunset from below the haystack led me to hike up the old trail. There was no sunset, at least not from our vantage point stuck in an April blizzard. But at least there were graham crackers. And lots of dogs. I even considered heading home straight from the hike and forgoing the Pour House, but in the end the call of a Blue Moon and the crispy chicken wrap won out. Thanks Kim for forcing me to have a second Blue Moon.

I managed a little over 4 hours sleep before waking up and stumbling to the coffee machine. Right at 5:00 am Yana arrived, apparently having enjoyed about the same amount of sleep. We could always catch up on sleep during the drive up the Middle Fork Road. Speaking of the Middle Fork Road, somehow I had managed to avoid driving up it before. Ok, so I had been to the Granite Lakes Road once before, but no further. This was to change today.

Yana pointed out several points of interest along the way, and even commented on how the road was actually in pretty good shape, for Middle Fork standards. I could barely hear her over the rattling of my brain inside my head as the truck navigated the potholes. We arrived at the Dingford Creek trailhead and the locked gate 50 minutes after passing the Mailbox Peak trailhead, and were on trail at 6:55 sharp. Or maybe it was 6:56.

The trail gained a few hundred feet rather quickly before easing up and becoming annoyingly flat for what seemed like an eternity. We put our snowshoes on sometime before the junction with the Hester Creek trail, and couldn’t be bothered to remove them for the several small stream crossings or the slightly larger crossing of Dingford Creek. As we kept going onward and barely upward, I noticed that the GPS map indicated a ‘Bog’ ahead of us. Luckily our intended route would avoid this potential calamity. Instead, we turned upslope, our goal still out of sight somewhere above the trees.

At this point I realized that Yana had been leading pretty much the whole time. Well, I actually realized it before, but chivalry dictated that I keep quiet and allow her to lead the way. She very politely asked me to break a little trail, and after replying that I would try to break some trail, I managed to actually break a little trail. Very little. Then Yana resumed her rightful place in front again. We even took the snowshoes off for 5 minutes, which ended up being 4 minutes too many. Luckily we encountered better snow as we ascended, and I was able to actually do close to my share of trailbreaking.

A few hundred feet below the top the trees ended, and we had only the open snow slopes to contend with. Luckily they were fairly low angle and soon enough we found ourselves a few feet below the highest point. Well, with all the snow we might have actually been above the summit. We we wary of a summit cornice, but a little reconnaisance to the west for a look back confirmed that the actual summit snow was not corniced, so we sat on top and relaxed, rehydrated and ate what little food we had. We took a few photos and added a couple layers as a breeze threatened to chill us.

All too quickly we had to depart. Our descent was delayed by shutter delay as the afternoon light on the surrounding peaks was quite nice. Adding this peak to Yana’s Summit Sunset Series was tempting, but I really wanted to get home before Saturday morning, so we headed down the slopes to the flatness that awaited us below. As usual, the trail out had been lengthened considerably since the hike in. We made it back to the truck without incident. Well, Yana was hallucinating the smell of french fries and I slipped on a wet root a couple times, but no permanent damage was done.

The GPS track indicated that we went 13.4 miles and gained a total of 5,400 feet. I’ve done longer days with more gain, but this one left me feeling more exhausted than I have felt in quite some time. It’s a good type of exhaustion though.

Thanks Yana for another good day in the mountains.

Some of my photos and a topo map with our route on it: Big Snow Mountain; April 22, 2011

Stout Devil on Angels Rest

I went to Portland (and Woodburn) for work last week. Jasper volunteered to be my navigator. I thought most navigators stayed awake during the drive, but apparently Jasper was tired from the hike up Granite Mountain the previous night.

Somehow I managed to find all three of my sites and got my work done relatively early, so we headed down the gorge for a familiar hike: Angels Rest. We had hiked this while in Vancouver at Christmas from 2006 through 2009. Last year the family ventured north, so we broke with tradition.

It was windy as we left the trailhead. It’s always windy in the gorge. Unless it gets gusty. I managed to keep my hat on as we headed into the forest, and we made good time up the first bit of trail past Coopey Falls. We saw lots of other people and dogs on their way out, and I hoped to have the summit area for myself. Well, Jasper too. after 60 whole minutes of hiking (with a few photo breaks), we stopped at the summit. Deciding that the wind wasn’t conducive for a break, we descended partway to a sheltered spot where we still had a view looking down the Columbia River. We ate and drank a little as I called Dani to check in.

Eventually we headed back down. I thought we might catch the sunset from near the top, but it wasn’t even 3:30, and sunset was still over an hour away. We did stop by grandma’s house on the way back. Jasper was excited to see her, and I think she was happy to see him too.

Tradition continued, if a few weeks late. A few more photos here: Angels Rest; February 2, 2011

Stouts Soaked while Seeking Solitude at Serene

The weather forecast did not inspire me to great heights. Still, I wanted to get out and Jasper never says no to a hike. Lake Serene was our chosen destination. Well, Jasper chose it and I provided transportation. We hadn’t been since our trip up Philadelphia Mountain last year. It wasn’t raining as we pulled out of the driveway, but by the time we passed Gold Bar there was a light drizzle.

One other vehicle was at the trailhead, but it drove off with it’s people before Jasper and I started our hike. The light drizzle turned to a steady rain as we made our way up the old roadbed. At the junction with the spur to Bridal Veil Falls Jasper started towards the falls. I considered cutting our trip short and merely going to the falls overlook, but I decided to press on and continue to the lake. Besides, I had a surplus of S’s that I needed to use for the report title, and it is almost the end of the month.

Jasper figured out that I wasn’t following him and returned to my side. We ascended slower than a TNAB pace, ducking under, over or around fallen logs. There were patches of snow at the first open slope, but nothing to worry about. Good thing too as I had not brought a transceiver or shovel. As we approached the lake the rain incresed in intensity. It was at this point that I realized that my rain jacket was failing miserably at keeping me dry.

Our say at the lake was brief. I needed to take a photograph or three to document my arrival then we turned around and headed for home. Or at least the trailhead. The descent was moderately wet as the heavy rains were filling up all the depressions in the trail with water. Jasper had fun getting muddy while I tried my best to keep from swimming. Finally with a half mile left to go I gave in and simply walked through the puddles, not caring about the appearance of my boots or pant legs. How cavalier of me.

We got back to the trailhead and installed the outboard motor to the truck so we could drive home. I called Dani to inform her of our impending arrival. Then we made a stop at Zeke’s to refuel.

Not the greatest day in the mountains, but its’s always a pleasure to see Jasper get excited when he spots the first snow patch.

A few photos here: Lake Serene; January 28, 2011

To Helena Handbasket

I had to make a short trip to Helena (and Butte), Montana for work this week. While looking at the map of town I noticed a park named Mt. Helena City Park, and after a little internet sleuthing discovered a network of trails on the peak (el. 5,468′). After landing Tuesday afternoon and finishing my site visit in town I thought I might head up for sunset, but I was a little tired and decided to head back to the hotel and get a little work done. The peak could wait until morning. Early morning.

It was still dark when I pulled into the trailhead above the Last Chance Gulch Mall, and the snow patches on the ground were quite icy. As I started hiking up the trail two other hikers were headed down, both wearing traction devices. My microspikes were safely in my garage back home, and I thought to myself that the descent could be interesting. Regardless, I continued onwards and upwards. The trail was bare in some places, covered in crunchy snow in other places, and in my favoritre places, covered with a sheet of ice.

The city lights glowed behind me, but things got darker as I rounded the western side of the peak. Just when I thought I was at the top another bump appeared out of nowhere, at least 1,000* feet higher and 2** miles away. Undaunted, I pushed on and reached the summit several hours*** later. The sun had not risen yet, but the eastern sky was brighter than before. I stayed on top for only a few minutes, surprised at how warm it was and happy with the lack of much wind. I couldn’t stay too long as I had to drive to Butte for another site visit, so I grabbed my pack and headed down the luge course the locals call a trail.

I managed to stay mostly upright on the descent. Due to the conditions it actually took me 5 minutes longer to descend than the ascent had taken. I did stop and take a few photos of the sunrise and morning over Helena along the way. I returned to the trailhead to find another hiker starting out. She also had traction on her feet and poles in her hands.

I went back to the hotel to shower and check out before driving to Butte. I had hoped to visit the Berkely Pit after my site visit, but it took longer than anticipated and I wasn’t sure where exactly the overlook was (as it turns out my site was less than a half mile away, but I didn’t bother to ask anyone on the street).

I got back to Helena in plenty of time to catch the return flight to Seattle.

3.2 miles
1,100 feet of gain
5 slips on the ice (or was it 6?)
2 site visits completed
1 happy dog to see me return

Photos here: Mt. Helena (Montana); January 26, 2011

* Ok, it was only about 100 feet higher
** Maybe it was only 0.1 miles away
*** It might have been several minutes instead of hours

2010 Hiking Favorites

If this looks familiar, think back to last January and our 2009 hiking recap. I won’t recap every hike we did during the past year, but just mention a couple favorites for each of the 12 months. So, sit back, grab some trail mix and a water bottle, and follow along. Or click on something else, anything else, and wonder how you ever got to this site.

January came early again this year, and the tradition of snowshoeing to Kendall Peak Lakes took off as that was the destination for my 40th birthday. Towards the end of the month Dani headed to Maui with Kristine. Who goes to Hawaii and hikes? Well, between mai tais, snorkeling and watching the surfer boys (and chicks), they took a pleasant hike through a bamboo forest to Makahiku Falls. While they were away, I joined some friends for a weekend trip to the Table Mountain A-Frame near Blewett Pass.

February made me shiver, with every storm the weather delivered. High winds on the ridgetop, I couldn’t get to the top. Actually, February wasn’t too bad a month. I started shooting in RAW with my camera on a gorgeous trip to Oakes Peak in the North Cascades, removing one monkey from my back. Now I was able to spend even more time going through photos. Oh joy. Near the end of the month I joined some people on an overnight (yes in the cold of winter!) trip to another part of the North Cascades, Stetattle Ridge and Sourdough Mountain.

March saw me march to the top of Middle Chiwaukum with some 2 and 4-legged friends at the beginning of the month (removing another monkey off my back). I also got to march to the top of Bedal Peak later in the month, getting a good look at a future goal, Sloan Peak.

April once again brought her showers. To celebrate Dani’s **th birthday, we spent the weekend on Orcas Island, where we did a little hiking and a little sitting on the beach. I almost didn’t go on the TNAB to West Granite Mountain, but I was glad I decided to at the last minute. A quick trip up Kachess Beacon with Dani and Jasper was very enjoyable. So much so that I didn’t mind leaving the camera at home. Well, I did mind a little bit.

May saw the TNAB season well underway, and we enjoyed a surprisingly warm and fun trip up Bandera Mountain (yes, that Bandera). I visited the Teanaway again, joining Monty and Bryan for a trip up two summits that had surprisingly good views, Malcolm & Johnson. Dani took the girls for some flower viewing on Sauer’s Mountain.

June means warmer temperatures (but not that warm) but often lingering snow. Dani and I took some Teanaway Virgins on a favorite loop trip of ours, Mary’s & Judy’s Peaks. It was hard to tell what was brighter, the sun or the smiles on everyone’s faces. While on a visit to Vancouver Dani and I headed up Silver Star Mountain for a very pleasant hike. Jasper got his 200th different summit on Three Brothers (in view of his 1st summit Miller Peak if not for the fog). I joined a rag tag crew for another trip up Mt. Rainier at the end of the month. I was glad to share a tent with JK on this particular trip.

July saw me remove yet another monkey off my back as Scott L. dragged me up Silver Star Mountain (no, the other one). Near the end of the month we headedto Blanca Lake for an afternoon hike and swim with our favourite Canadian and some dogs. Jasper went to stay at the Yellow Dog Inn at the end of the month as Dani and I took our vacation to Switzerland. But, most of the good hiking there was done in August. So…

August happened in Switzerland at roughly the same time as here. Dani and I stayed in the Lauterbrunnen Valley for almost two weeks, hiking and riding trains around the area. All the hikes were good, but the two that stood out were the trip from Schynige Platte to First on our 6th Anniversary followed up with an ascent of the Schwarzhorn a couple days later. The full story can be found here. With an unsettled weather forecast for the end of the month, Jasper and I stayed closer to home and made ascents of Surprise & Spark Plug Mountains, enjoying naps on the summits.

September means no (well, significantly less) bugs, sometimes warm temps and more color in the vegetation. Scott L. and I enjoyed all of that along with a little snow and great views on an ascent of Cashmere Mountain. Keeping with the theme, this was another monkey removed from my back. I was beginning to feel lighter from all these monkeys jumping ship. Towards the end of the month I headed into the Enchantments for 4 days/3 nights. Scott & Josie L. joined me, but unfortunately Dani wasn’t able to get the time off, even with a 6 month notice. Ingunn took her place and we saw lots of goats, larches starting to turn, beautiful sunsets, stunning sunrises, a little snow, a couple summits and lots of stars. Oh, those lakes too.

October = LARCHES! I got my fill of them and then some on a trip to Libby Lake and Hoodoo Peak with Scott and other Scott. We even ran into Colleen and Mazzy at the lake. Dani and Jasper joined some other 4-leggers, little 2-leggers, adults and John up Noble Knob and Mutton Mountain. She acts like she doesn’t like kids, but I think she enjoyed herself on that hike. Just when I thought the larches might be done for the season, Scott O. and I visited Ingalls Lake and enjoyed the bright yellow and orange needles along the way. I even made an ascent of South Ingalls Peak to complete one of the few peakbagging lists I have the ability to complete, The Teanaway 20.

November saw me joining Eric on my first non-TNAB hike with him. Our goal was to make a phone call from the phone booth on Cave Ridge. Wouldn’t you know it, both of us forgot to bring a quarter. Jasper simply marked the booth. We visited the north summit of Guye Peak in the growing darkness on our way out. A few days later I took a Wednesday off to join Lisa L. and her friend Jenny for a hike/snowshoe up Rock Mountain under blue skies.

December began and I hadn’t even started my Christmas shopping. Rather than join the crowds at the mall, I joined Suzanne and David for (another) trip up Smithbrook Road. Our original lofty goals were adjusted somewhat due to conditions, but the views from the Lake Valhalla overlook more than made up for it. Who woulda thunk it that Mailbox Peak made this list? An early start with good people, good dogs and Jasper combined with seeing the sunrise from high on the peak and a surprise deconstruction project made this a very worthwhile trip. Keeping new traditions alive, I joined Ingunn and JK (along with newcomers Scott & Josie and John) for the 2nd Annual Lille Julaften snowshoe trip to Skyline Ridge.

There you have it.

And for the numbers geeks, here’s a statistical summary of the year 2010:
Dani: 47 days on trail, 272.3 miles, 78,450 feet of gain
Tom: 96 days, 689.5 miles, 262,750 feet
Jasper: 78 days, 554.2 miles, 202,350 feet