Hyak Powder (sort of)

With an empty house post-holidays, Heather and I tried to make the most of the 12" of new snow we got over the past couple of days.  Unfortunately, a couple days before we got a foot or so with a freezing rain incident which created a nice breakable crust under the 12" of very dry new snow, so skiing was a little tricky especially for Heather without mega wide skis.

Heather avoiding the crust

Heather

One Great Day

Brandon, Ed, & I headed out to Kendall Peak for a tour on Monday. While hiking in, we saw a mink in a tree...

this is not our shot...stole it from http://bigoldbear.ezabu.com/ (thanks!)

Our camera was dead that day so, sadly no pics of our fun.

After making the hump in, we dug a pit and decided the avalanche conditions were too risky. A hard call to make as the upper bowl was completely fresh powder with no tracks....but probably the right one as we later saw reports of triggered slides on similar slopes.

So, we headed back into the trees and lapped the tree slopes a few times. Back out to meet up with Ed's wife Julie and another friend, Tiffany, for some lift skiing. We skied fresh stuff all evening until about 9:30pm when the freezing rain began to pelt us and turned our fluffy snow into frosting.

Ended the evening with a hottie tottie -coffee & Kahlua. A fantastic day, in my opinion.

Red Mtn

Adam and I headed up Red Mtn for a quick morning ski, Heather chose to sleep in.  We haven't had any new snow in a week, and the wind has been blowing a lot, so we didn't have high hopes.  Found variable conditions from powder, packed powder, wind affected, wind scoured, refrozen debris and breakable crust.  Good to get out on my first real tour of the season.

Tracks from yesterday on the upper face 

 Adam on the summit

First turns, careful

Better snow at base

Central Pow Session

The day started with lots of new snow, but no base, so Ed and I started apprehensively.  Then Heather got out of school early due to all the snow at low elevations.  We three scooted over to central for some laps with hopes.  As the day went on it snowed, and snowed, and snowed.  How the rest of the day went is pretty self explanatory.

 Heather enters the white room

 Heather

Tele-Ed

 Heather in her fox hole

 Brandon (watch and learn teleguys)

Ed

Going Back to Cali...No, I Don't Think So.

We enjoyed a visit with brother Shawn and sister-in-law Lori in Port Hueneme, California. It was good to see them and their home & life of the past few years...and now they are off to Florida.

Tara, Josh, and 4-year old Pekay were there too. So, of course, we went to Disneyland! It was a first time for Brandon, Josh, and Pekay so it was a ton of fun.

 This little trooper made a full day at Disneyland...she looks a little tired here.

I wish I had the pic of us on Space Mountain...we're all screaming except for Pekay, who appears to be gazing at the stars in calm wonder. When we left that ride, she commented, "I didn't know I could fly!"

We also had to visit Venice Beach to see the interesting people. After walking down the boardwalk, Brandon & I were both grateful that we live where we do...no crowds, no thugs, no need for security to deal with regular fights, etc. Instead, we have isolation, snow, and ski bums...just our style.

 A 9-year old who won a world breakdancing comp the day before

Street entertainers (see dude flipping over the line of bent-over people)

A Swing in the Woods

The snow is falling heavy now...think the long-awaited winter is here. Here are a few pics from home.

Chikamin Peak, from our living room

A couple weeks ago, I came home from work and was so excited to find my world blanketed in snow. I'm still like a little kid about snow...so, I ran inside to change clothes and get out for a walk. I walked in the evening light, watching the small flakes fall past my face and hearing the crunch of the snow beneath my feet.

Along my path, I found a wooden swing hanging from some large trees and swinging out over the cross-country ski trail below. So, of course, I had to stop and swing beneath the snow-laden boughs.

Last of Fall

We headed to Leavenworth for a camping overnighter and some climbing, catching the last of the fall season. It was surprisingly cold but clear and beautiful. You all know already that I'm a bit obsessed with the beauty of trees. And, while we were in Leavenworth, we climbed a fun multi-pitch route called 'The Tree Route'. So, in honor of trees...

B looking contemplative...

B didn't like the chimney pitch

but I thought it was awesome.

 B cramming gear in an under-cling

Midway tree

 This pitch was more of a scramble between trees...

 At the top

Ranger Carly's Last Gig

I spent a night in the woods with my sister last weekend. It was her last weekend in the woods -for the season- as wilderness forest ranger of the Leavenworth forest service district.

We haven't managed to hook up for a weekend in the woods for the past two years so it was great to get out together. I'm sure she agreed, especially b/c I add a certain amount of adventure to any camp-mate's sleeping experience. Apparently, I sat upright and screamed, "Oh MY GOD!" and then settled in back to sleep, while she was left with adrenaline pumping and fear of a hungry bear attack. Good times with Heather...this is pretty typical. ;)

We had one sunny day with great views.

We camped at Tops Lake, near the PCT.

...which leads me to the next topic: the Pacific Crest Trail, many an outdoorsman's life goal. A good friend is talking about trying to do it -the entire thing- this spring. Its not official or for sure yet but I look forward to helping out when she commits to it.

Carly & I ran into a guy, probably in his 50s, who was about to complete the PCT solo. It sounds like a pretty cool experience. Hiking for that long is bound to have an interesting impact on your body, mind, and soul.

Mountains & Desert

I tend to post only about trips so thought I'd post some pics of a typical, great weekend.

While Brandon worked, Melissa & I spent several hours picking huckleberries in the mostly-sunny mountains close to home. This clearly beat the hypothermic, wet conditions we've been picking in this fall. (It turns out that only Melissa & I are crazy enough to be out there in long underwear, fleece pants, and snow pants.)

We each got over a gallon!

Then, Brandon came home for a day so...we headed east for some sun. 

We must've misread the weather report b/c we were prepared for high 60s/low 70s and it turned out to be 81 degrees. I wasn't about to complain though...it's always so nice to note the bank of clouds hanging over Western Washington as you head home after having spent a day in the warm sun.

Sun Valley & the Sawtooth Area

We started our trip in the Ketchum area of Idaho with plans to mountain bike a few of the many singletrack trails there.

After a long drive out there, we rolled into some awesome free camping with creek access, visits from local deer, and tons of privacy.

We had a bit of a debacle involving my rear brake, but after a day of going between all of the local bike-shops, we had a solution and so were able to hit the trail that evening for a short introductory ride.

Leaving directly from our camp, we rode Corral Creek, which is an easy 7-mile trail through sagebrush, aspen, and forest.

 H riding through a burn, which made for pretty wildflowers.

The next day, we ambitiously headed out to connect several loop rides (Greenhorn Gulch to Mahoney Creek to Lodgepole Gulch and down Imperial Creek = 20 miles). It was a great day but I was probably 'done' at the halfway point...this ride was much more physically and technically difficult, and also over twice the distance. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun and very beautiful.

B had lots of time to take pics of me (b/c I was so slow!).

Hmmm...is she pushing her bike up the hill?!?

Why yes, I am.

 When the hill got steep or just wouldn't stop, I'd do some 

idiotic bucking bronco move and end up on the ground...thus, the walking of the bike.

Me again, riding in the aspens.

B at 'the top'...but this ride continued further up another peak.

Finally...going down.

And what a fun & scenic downhill it was!

The next day, we lounged in the sun by the Big Wood river to beat the heat. A bit later in the day, we rode Fox Creek connected to Chocolate Gulch, about 10-12 miles (?).

Amazing views on all of these rides...

just hill after hill that you can ride up & down and around.

The colors in here were marvelous.

Purple flowers against trees burned black, green foliage below, 

and blue skies with white puffy clouds above.

Next, we headed to the Stanley area to ride the classic Fisher Creek trail. The uphill was an old road so it was much easier for me (more room to recover from bucking bronco silliness). 

At the top, we clipped in and had the BEST downhill ride ever! It is just miles of perfect dirt, open enough that you could let go of the brakes a bit, and with these built-in creek drainages that slowed you down just enough. I actually hooted & hollered in glee on this ride...Brandon didn't hear it b/c he was long gone doing the same thing further down the hill.

Near the end of the ride, you emerge from the woods to a fantastic view of the Sawtooth mountains.

We had a relaxing lunch at Redfish Lake and freshened up with a swim. Then, with some time to kill before dinner, we headed out for another ride.

Having ridden nearly 20 miles earlier, I wanted to take it easy. We took the Basin Creek trail and then jumped off onto the Kelly Creek trail. The first trail was a bit boring, just a doubletrack with a very small uphill grade. But Kelly Creek turned out to be some fun, complete with multiple interesting stream crossings and cattle guards. 

Back in town, completely muddy and tired, we went to the Bridge Street Grill and had awesome beer & burgers, while listening to live Bluegrass music. A perfect day...but that's not all...

After dinner, we went to the natural hotsprings near our last ride up Basin Creek. We sat in there until we were hot and super relaxed, then headed back to the campground. A super perfect day.

The next day, we hit the road again, heading for Ten Sleep to climb.

Ten Sleep, WY

I will start this post by saying that we MUST climb more. Ten Sleep is an amazing climbing area that would be heaven to a 5.12/5.13 climber...but, this is sadly not us at this point in our lives. As such, we spent much time wandering around from crag to crag (and there are many), looking for more moderate climbs we could do without killing ourselves.

There would be one or two climbs at a crag that were below 5.12, so after doing the two routes we could manage, we'd have to move on. It was a bit frustrating...but we just need to become rad climbers and return.

Ten Sleep was named by the native americans,

b/c it was 'ten sleeps' away from two different camps.

This was the symbol for the village.

Out of the middle of flat farmland comes this lush canyon,

lined with limestone cliffs.

One of many cliff faces along the canyon highway.

You're probably getting a good idea of the amount of rock here by now.

On to some climbing shots...

Of course this looks way slabby.

H leading "Ice Station Zebra", a classic 5.9.

This one received a 'patriotic/military 5-star rating'.

Now, for a lesson on the hilarious rating system.

The levels of the best rating, 5-stars, all described above.

B climbing "Step Right This Way", 

a 5.10 climb receiving the '4-star/porn rating' (see below).

OMG, we absolutely laughed our heads off over these rating descriptions...

but the best is still to come, the '3-star/kitty rating'.

 B starting to get in the groove, 

climbing "Insane Hound Posse".

In our guidebook, this climb was listed as a 5.10b/c. Some other nearby climbers looked it up in their older guidebook and found it listed as a 5.11a/b.

We think the guidebook authors truly cannot tell the difference in difficulty on climbs 5.11 and below. They probably walk up these routes with their eyes closed and in tennis shoes, shrug their shoulders and say, "It's 5.EZ. Call it a 5.10a".

Included so you see something other than a terrible butt-shot.

B at the top of a short, unrated 10c called "Shadow of Crowes".

Its hard to see me but I'm near the top of the rock...

follow the rope and you'll see the blob that is me,

another nice belay butt-shot.

"I Love the Big Top" was an awkward 5.9 receiving the '3-star/kitty' rating (see below).

When I got down from the climb, 

I said to Brandon, "Meow, blah, blah, blah, meow, meow" 

and he knew exactly what I meant.

This entire book is hilarious...but alas, I'm already committing copyright violation by posting these so I will stop now. Next time you are over at our house though, remember to take a look through the book and get a good chuckle.

B in a sugar coma after enjoying his ice cream 

in a homemade waffle cone at Dirty Sally's.

The other issue we were having while at 10-Sleep was the weather. There were thunder showers every afternoon and evening. Fun tent-camping!

When we awoke on our last day of climbing, the thunder and rain had decided to start early. And so, we headed out of town one-day early and on to Montana to visit B's grandparents.