A window of good weather finally opened for us to make our winter attempt at Mount St. Helens. We had been waiting around for three days hoping for our timing of this trip to align. It had been snowing here for the previous week and everyone was getting antsy. Summit day would begin with a…
Category: Pacific Northwest
Waiting On a Weather Window
A small group of us from Utah made our way out to Washington state again for another Pacific Northwest volcano. This time was to make a winter ascent of Mount St. Helens. Two from our group tried it last year at this same time but experienced a whiteout and had to turn back within a…
2023 Year In Review
My focus for 2023 was clear! I just declined an invite for Denali at the beginning of the year and knew I had to fill a large gap between where I was (beginner level) and where I want to be (advanced level). That meant a lot more intermediate level experience! So I immediately signed up…
Walking the Planks of Rainier
Trying to get any sleep the night before a big summit day is always a challenge. Am I ready for this? Did I bring the right boots? Should I have brought that jacket instead of this one? It turns out to be a long restless night of going through all the “what ifs” since a…
The Stars Aligned for Rainier
Rainier was the only peak I didn’t have pre-arranged plans for as we rolled into this season of mountaineering. I knew I really needed to get it done this summer if I were to be more prepared for a run at Denali next summer. I just wasn’t exactly sure how that was going to happen….
Consider Always Roping Up on Glaciers
I was talking to a guy that broke through a snow bridge on Glacier Peak the week after we did Baker. The story and pictures he shared makes me take glacier travel way more seriously. “I fell into a crevasse on Glacier Peak last weekend. Had I not been roped up, I would have broken…
Coleman-Deming Route to Mt. Baker
DAY 3 – Roped up for the Summit The night before a big adventure is always a restless one. You go to bed shortly after dinner in preparation for an alpine start. Unfortunately, you just end up laying there thinking about the day to come. Today’s plan was to get up at midnight and start heading…
Heliotrope Ridge Trail to Hogsback Camp
My summer mountaineering tour of the Pacific Northwest continues in Washington with Mt. Baker. We planned for 5 days to bag Baker from the Coleman-Deming Route with a schedule that went like this: DAY 1 – Fly in to Seattle, drive up to Bellingham Most of us chose to fly in for this one because…
Solo Summit of Shasta
After success at Mt. Hood on Wednesday (5/31) and again at South Sister on Saturday (6/3), the group had accomplished their plans and would now be heading home. My plan, however, involved one more stop. My heart was set on continuing just a little further south to knock something off my list that has been…
Sightseeing on South Sister
Time to head down into Central Oregon for some sightseeing on South Sister. This was the second stop in our tour of the Pacific Northwest. I had never been to this area before but was interested in seeing what there was to see through a first-hand experience. Spending the weekend here would also serve as…