Everyday Life

Sorry, sometimes I just can't think of a creative post title. 'Everyday Life' lately has consisted of some hiking, berry-picking, climbing (or, chasing toddlers at the crag), and riding bikes on the driveway.

Not sure what the face is but it's kinda cute.

Yes, of course tractors go berry picking.

K and buddy in the muck.

K hiking down the Snow Lake trail.

Isabel and Isaac, climbing.

Kye bouldering.

Life in a Good Spot

We live in a beautiful place, with lots of fun to be had close to home. Before we left on a recent trip, we got into a fun rhythm at home. Hiking the local trails, swimming at Rattlesnake Lake or Lake Kacheelus (a short jog from home), berry picking, and even some climbing as a birthday treat for Heather.

Rattlesnake Lake

Walking around Gold Creek Pond with Auntie Carly

Lake Kacheelus

 Berry picking with Callum

4th of July hike to Snow Lake with Dawn & Anne

and the neighborhood 4th of July party

snack time at stump lake (Kacheelus)

walking around the ski hill

view down from Killer Bob's route

Watson Traverse

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to complete the Watson Traverse on skis in the North Cascades.  When I first received the email invitation from Lowell Skoog I was hesitant, I had just put away my ski gear for the next season, and the warm weather already had me in Summer mode, thinking of riding bikes etc.  When Lowell told me it was the 75th Anniversary of the first traverse and that he wanted to shoot some film to recreate the film that Dwight Watson had taken on the original trip, I knew I couldn't pass this up.

For those that don't know, Lowell Skoog has quietly established himself in the history of the Cascades as a ski mountaineering pioneer, especially in the North Cascades.  Any trip with Lowell is an opportunity not only for good company but also a lesson in efficient mountain travel, ski technique and history.

On the history side of this story, the brief version is that the Watson Traverse was originally done in 1939, completed by Dwight Watson, Andy Hennig, and Erick Larson in a single day.  At the time, they called it the Mt. Baker traverse because the traverse was from Mt. Baker to Artist Point near the Mt. Baker ski area.  Lowell, being the historian that he is, decided that it was only fitting to name the traverse after Dwight Watson who is credited with planning the first traverse.  Dwight Watson was an amazing individual, establishing many of the first ski descents around the Cascades.  An interesting tidbit of info on Dwight is that he was the first person to take Fred Becky climbing.  The story goes that Fred's dad knew Dwight was a responsible, religious man and thought that he could teach Fred and keep him from killing himself in the mountains!  For more interesting reading check out Lowell's site here: LINK, and the video link to Dwight's film: LINK (the film is halfway down the page on right side).

Fast forward 75 years, and another group of skiers -myself, Lowell, Ross, Crispin, and Dwayne- started out to complete the Watson Traverse, leaving from the Heliotrope Ridge trailhead at 4:30 AM.  We started hiking on dirt in comfortable temps under clear skies, perfect weather.  The day was long and somewhat uneventful; we enjoyed excellent skinning conditions, only donning ski crampons for a couple areas.  Ropes were not needed as the glacier was still filled in.  We periodically stopped at key points so Lowell could shoot some film to recreate scenes from Dwight's film, so the pace was nice and comfortable.  On the summit we found warm temps and no wind whatsoever, really nice!  There were multiple descents, on which we found surprisingly good 'corn' conditions despite the warm temps.

Oddly enough, there was another party (large group of 12 people) on the same route this day.  The fact that we were on the same route is where our similarities ended.  These were a bunch of "bro-bras" with baggy pants, trucker hats, huge rocker skis, and music playing loud from their packs as they skied along, very interesting.  They also had a somewhat careless approach to how they skied the Park Headwall.  We chose a conservative descent, skiing down to the Cockscomb, then traversing onto the headwall at a lower and less exposed area.  The bro-bras just dropped onto the big open face above a gaping bergschrund, taking huge fast turns down the face and then jumping the schrund at the bottom!  Guess some people's idea of risk assessment is a bit different.

Despite the shenanigans of the big group we were able to enjoy the route first, and to ourselves as we moved a bit faster.  Which was good as listening to their bro-bra talk and loud music took away from the mountain experience a bit.  We arrived at the Mt. Baker ski area around 5 pm, and headed down the mountain to retrieve our cars and enjoy a delicious dinner at Milanos in Glacier.  I was back home and in bed by midnight, almost 24 hrs later!

Lowell and company heading out

Sunrise over the Coleman Glacier

Amazing!

Lowell below Colfax 

L-R Dwayne, Lowell, Crispin, me and Ross

Crispin dropping onto the Park Glacier below the Cockscomb

Lowell styling the Park Glacier

All tracked out

Crispin

Clouds building

Dwayne with the Portals in the background

Almost Perfect

This weekend was literally almost perfect. The only thing that would've made it better was if B and I were together a bit more. Well, actually, what would make it perfect is if it wouldn't end...my summer break is soooo close!!!

B concocted a plan at the last minute to do a ski tour on Mt. Baker called the Watson Traverse. We'll do a separate post on that. In his absence, K and I enjoyed a trip to the beach in the sunny & 70 degree weather.

Sunday, we met up with several Betties and Babies (toddlers) at a local climbing crag. We got a bit of climbing in, the kiddos played with trucks in the dirt, and a couple of them bouldered a bit. A good time was had by all and we managed to get the kiddos in the packs by nap time.

While K napped, I went for my long training run of the week. I hit the trail at Summit West, thinking I'd run to Rockdale Lake and then up the nordic trails and home. However, I got a bit turned around at Rockdale. Instead of turning onto the nordic trails, I ended up continuing all the way to Silver Peak. By the time I realized my mistake, I decided it would be harder to retrace my steps (there were several fast stream crossings at Rockdale) than it would be to continue on home down the forest service road. So, what was probably going to be 8-9 miles ended up more like 10-12...not sure. It was a beautiful run in the mountains, sunshine, and not a soul to be seen past the first couple of miles.

Being Responsible

We deliberated about going to Moab or Fruita for spring break, but in the end, decided we needed to stay closer to home and save the money we'd spend on fuel. It was the 'responsible' thing to do...we're not really all that into being responsible but figured we should try it.

So, for the first weekend of spring break, we headed to Vantage for some climbing and camping with friends. It was warm and sunny, which was nice. The wind and blowing dirt, however, were not so nice. We arranged to meet with Isabel and her family, and then we invited some other people to join, so it was really cool to have a group of friends together climbing and watching the kiddos.

 [Kye and Isaac throwing dirt on themselves...]

[Aunty Carly reading to Kye at the crag]

[Anne in blue, climbing; Isabel on belay]

The most convenient crag in Washington for climbing with kiddos is the Feathers. While not my favorite (see the crowds above), it was quite easy to climb two or three routes and then head back to camp within a 2-minute walk.

After a couple of days in the desert sun, we packed up and headed for home. A night at home and then we loaded the truck and camper to go to Orcas Island for a few days of camping and biking.

September Came Late

In the Northwest, September is a necessary month of transition, when you prepare yourself for months of cold, dark, and wet. So when it rained for most of September and the fall colors didn't change over, I felt a bit depressed, knowing we were already in the cold, dark, and wet months; we had missed our chance to say 'goodbye' to summer and sun.

Then October came and it has been stunning. I am now ready to embrace winter, having spent the last few weekends hiking, climbing, and playing in the crisp fall weather. Here are some pics from our recent adventures, big & small. First, a trip to the pier in Seattle to visit the Aquarium.

 Kye feeds the seagulls @ Ivar's.

We hiked to Snow Lake with Barb and her dog, Kona. Everyone had a relatively good time. Both Barb and Kye thought the hike a bit too far. ;)

After work, I enjoyed a hike up Little Si with friends Anne, Isabel (with 3-week old Lily), and Dawn. These Betties are awesome and I'm so grateful to have them!

Today, Kye and I met up with Isabel and Lily again, and also Joanne for some climbing.

 Kye studies the route.

 Kye waves a leaf while looking over Baby Lily, content in layers of puffies.

Isabel climbing, Joanne belaying

Chill Time

This summer was jam-packed with activity, but we found ourselves longing for a bit more downtime. So we hatched a plan for a few days of camping and hanging with friends in Leavenworth. We figured we'd throw in the crash pad, in case we found a few moments to boulder, but the goal was to just hang out and relax a bit.

We got to 8-mile campground in the evening, enjoyed dinner, and then we all rolled into bed. Brandon had to work the next day, so he got up at 3am and rode his bike down Icicle Creek Road to meet up with a coworker to carpool into work.

Quite randomly, as we were heading out the door to Leavenworth, my good friend Steph had called to say she and her family were going on a roadtrip and they were wondering if we would be home for a visit. I told her that we were actually going to be in Leavenworth, to which she replied, "That's a perfect middle stopping point for us!" So, after morning nap, I was thrilled to have a visit with Steph & Craig and their four lovely children.

 Eli & Abigail with Kye on the beach

My good friend from summer camp, all those years ago...

 my white-trash camping baby

After Steph and her family left, Hilary and Callum rolled in and set up camp with us. We fed the babies, gave the babies bottles, played with the babies, fed the babies again, changed diapers, and walked around the campground. It was a good day of much-needed relaxing.

the bouldering pad turned out to be a great place for the kiddos to play

Yay for bubbles! 

We did manage a few boulder problems...but it was stinking hot. 

Callum sends a V10