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…
‘Tis the season for Mt. Hood
‘Tis the season for Mt. Hood! Seems like everyone is making their way out west to get Oregon’s tallest peak this spring… and I’m no exception. I need this state, and its neighbor to the north, to have all the highpoints west of the 100th Meridian. The opportunity came to me a few months ago…
Everest Ridge Repeat
What an unbelievable winter we’ve had along the Wasatch Front this year. It’s been record-breaking with totals reaching 900″! For many of us, that excitement has transitioned from powder skiing to mountaineering as warmer weather consolidates this incredible snowpack. Conditions couldn’t better right now for local objectives that involve an ice axe and crampons. A…
2022 Year In Review
I’m pretty satisfied with what was accomplished in 2022. I wanted to do a lot, but only did a little. Yet the little that I did, was significant from the list of things I want to do. Here’s a summary of what I was able to get done. STATE HIGHPOINTS As the year started out,…
One-night Stay at Kings Peak
A few weeks ago, my neighbor asked if I would do Kings Peak with him. He had never done it before and wanted his teenage son to experience a character-building backpack outing as well. I am always up for an adventure and gladly accepted the invitation to be their “guide”. The plan was to mimic…
Summitting Gannett
DAY 3 – Tag the Top, Return to Camp 1 Midnight came quickly. The rain had stopped and the sky looked clear in those early morning hours. Headlamps bounced around in the dark as we each got ready to go, silently hoping for the kind of weather needed to safely summit today. 4ish miles each…