It's the weekend!!

After many days of anxious waiting, the weekend is here! I started my new job this week, and I like it a lot. My coworkers here are much more supportive and esaier to work with. I like being away from the company headquarters and being where things are happening. Unfortunately, the weather has been hot, but at least its been clear. I'm now off until the 5th of July, 5 days in a row. Sometime this weekend I'll find my way outdoors. Even though I love my new job, I'm praying that I will be able to get into an even better one, and I will work more towards that next week.

It's Even Cooler At Night...

Even as far north as Washington, I'm not a summer person. As I learn more about mountaineering and winter travel, I become even less of a summer person. Sure, I like the clear skies and warm weather, but it starts to get annoying above 70 degrees, and I hate sunscreen and sunburns. It's even worse on glaciers and in the high country. It's too hot already, and then all the sun reflects back off the snow to make it miserably hot up high in the day time. So, Josh and I decided to climb to camp Muir at night. We also wanted a good taste of what a real summit attempt would be like, because all summit attempts should start at night.

We got to Paradise at about 6:30pm, geared up and headed out. We ran into a few people coming down, but no one else was going up. The snow was firm, but it was very rough. It was like walking on a beach, but sometimes the bumps in the snow would give, and sometimes they wouldn't. After about a mile we came to a long steep slope the led up to panorama point, and stopped to put on our crampons so that we could have better traction going. It was a long steep slope, but little did I know it was to be one of the easiest hills I climbed that night. Once at the top, we stopped at panorama point to take some picture and take off our crampons. Then we followed the dirt trail to pebble creek and stopped to fill our water bottles. The pure glacier melt water tasted a lot better than Lakewood tap water.

We started up the mountain again and up the never ending slope towards Camp Muir. I started out too fast, and soon my thighs started burning. After a while we stopped to rest at some rocks. A few minutes later we met a climbing ranger who was on his way down. He stopped to talk to us for a few minutes and I asked him what the conditions were like. He had an altimeter and told us that we were at about 8,000ft and so we have 2,100 feet about two hours to go. It was a little after 10pm. I stretched, drank some water and had a snack, and took some pictures and was ready to go again. After what seemed like half an hour Josh pointed out a ridge running across our path and said that once we go to the top of it, we would be able to see Camp Muir. This was encouraging because My thighs were really starting to hurt. Josh started to lead and kick steps, which helped and gave my thighs a chance to rest and recover.

I didn't bring a watch on the trip, so I had little sense of time, but occasionally I asked Josh about the time. The sunset was beautiful and since we were so high up, there was light on the western sky even until 11pm or after. From Panorama point until it was completely dark every time I turned around, I could see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt Hood and every mountain in between. It was an awesome sight to see the sunset cast shadows and leave a reddish orange hue around these mountains. At one point I turned around to see that the sun had set but was still shining at the top of Mt. Adams, which lit up the summit compared to the surrounding area.

Once it was completely dark we stopped to put on our headlamps as we passed a party in the tents off to our right. They had camped a good distance below Muir and were up and about melting snow. I don’t know where they went because we never saw their headlamps coming up after us. I was again encouraged because I knew that people camping meant we were getting close to our destination. I was feeling ok, but starting to feel the 9,000 ft elevation. The slope seemed to just go on forever. Sometimes it was not so steep, but we were always going uphill. We could only the dark outline of the mountain and the small circle of snow lit up by our headlamps. It reminded me of documentaries I have watched about exploring the ocean floor. At about midnight I could see lights in the distance and wasn’t sure if they were at Muir or further up, but I knew we were close. I kept trudging forward, concentrating on my breathing my steps, and then a while later I looked up and I could see lights coming from the windows of the shelter and headlamps moving around. I picked up the pace and soon I could smell the outhouse, and then were there; Camp Muir, 10,188 ft. I put on some warm clothes and ate part of an MRE. We sat for about 15 minutes and watched the RMI groups getting ready to go. We both wished we could go with them, because it would be a perfect day to summit. Someday I’ll climb Rainier.

Below camp Muir, the snow was hard and mostly frozen. It was difficult to go down because it was too bumpy it most places to glissade, but the snow was so hard that I couldn’t really get my heels to bite into it. As we descended, the snow softened up, and we made excellent time downhill. Whenever we needed to check to make sure we were still on route, we would turn off our headlamps, and the starlight was bright enough to illuminate most of the terrain features.

At one point about halfway down the Muir snowfield we Josh stopped, turned off his headlamp and sat down. I did the same and we spent some time relaxing and looking around. Never before in my life have I seen such a breath taking display of stars. There were a few lights at Paradise, and across the valley I could see the starlight reflecting off the snow off the Tattoosh range. In the distance I could see the outline of High Rock, there was a dark shadow were Mt. Adams was, and I could see light on the horizon from Portland or Kelso. Behind us there I could glowing lines where groups of climbers were halfway to the summit. It was indescribably peaceful, and I think that even more than actually reaching the Camp, this was my favorite part of the trip.

An hour later we were back in the parking lot at paradise after 8 hours on the mountain. We packed up and headed home, and I stopped at the first gas station to buy some Hot Tamales to keep me awake. By the time we were home it was 5:30am and completely light outside. I went to sleep and woke up a 11am, have no memory at all of Ariele’s alarm going off and her leaving for church.

It was a painful and awesome experience. My legs will be sore for a few days, but they will be stronger because of it. I enjoyed the hike and am glad that Josh kept me going up. Now I want to see Muir in the day light. I can’t until until my next trip to the mountains. July 7-8 I will be summiting Mt. Baker, 10,778 ft with my climbing class. Two weeks later, Mt Adams, 12,276 ft. Someday I will climb Mt. Rainier.

News

I got a transfer to a new and better job. Effective on monday! more to follow. I'm excited.

I need a day off...

I need a nap...




It's been a long week....and its only Tuesday. I need a new job. At least I have class tonight. It's an escape for a few hours.

Mountain Training

It's been a while since I've been able to write much, so I'll have ot combine this weekend and last weekend in one. On June 3rd, my climbing class did our self arrest field trip at Mt. Rainier. We spent most of the day at on the mountain learning to travel roped, identify avalanche hazards and self arrest with an ice ax. The weather was horrible and completely sunny. I didn't get sunburned because I lathered on sunscreen every hour almost. I also had a lot of fun glissading. On the drive up to Paradise I saw a red fox on the road, which I've never seen before and may never see again. On June 7, was the classroom portion of the crevasse rescue training. It was a great experience to climb up the inside of the college snack bar. This is what college shold be all about. On June 10, we headed back to paradise for the field training in crevasse rescue. It was the longest day trip I've ever spent in the mountains, since we spent 12 hours on the mountain and I was away from home from 0500 to 2230. Despite being tiring, I had a great time. I love every minute that I spend in this class and these field trips are no exception. We spent some more time practicing basic climbing techniques and then we roped up and headed out on the Nisqually glacier to find a crevasse. The snow was thick, so it took us some time to find even a small one. It was 1200 by the time we got to it and started the main event for the day. For the next 4 hours, the students took turns roping up and dropping into the small crevasse and thing climbing out on prussik slings. Both of the times that I've done this training, I've been nervous at the start because I'm afraid of heights. When my turn came I tied in, hesitated for a moment and then swung out and started to climb.

After I climbed a few feet, and instructor told me that I had started in the wrong spot and need to restart a few feet to my left. So with some trouble I untied and moved a few feet to the left so that I would be on two anchors and then restarted. The overhanging edge of the crevasse was very difficult to climb up because the rope was tight against the ice wall and I could not get the rope away from the wall enough to move the knots on the prussic slings up the rope. The instructor offered me another sling to help me climb up the final five feet, but I wanted to try to do it on my own first. I tried to clip in a carabiner to the rope at about chest level to use as a handhold, but that didn’t help me much. After sitting back in my harness for several minutes and thinking, I finally had the idea to take my ski cap, fold it up and put it under the rope to get it off the ice and enable me to move the knots up. By doing this a few times, I was able to get up another 2 feet and from there I just clawed my way up the last 5 feet to the top. I was proud of doing it by my own resources, but sad that the best part of the day was over. I walked back down to the rest of the class, dug myself a hole in the snow, lay down on my pack and went to sleep. Later on a few of us played hide and seek with the avalanche beacons. The weather was beautiful all day. It was warm, but not horribly so, and there was scattered cloud cover that made it beautiful. I’m climbing Mt Baker with the class in 4 weeks and I can’t wait.

More pictures to follow in a few days…
And Here they are...
This is me at the training on Thursday June 7. Never had more fun at a college.

Chenuis and Ranger Falls

On June 2nd I had the day off and family in town, so my wife, sister in law and niece and I headed out to the NW corner of Mt. Rainier NP to see the waterfalls. It was a very pretty drive to the Carbon river entrance to the park, mostly through rural backroad. There was a one lane bridge over the carbon river that was fun to cross. The Carbon river road was full of potholes and was a slow ride even in my Xterra. The trail to Chenuis falls was a short but fun trail that had 3 log bridges over the carbon river. There were two small streams, and the main fork of the Carbon river was flowing swiftly and was fun to watch. The falls were beautiful, and my niece and I were able to scramble up to a better viewpoint closer to the falls. By the time we got back to the car it was pouring rain, and so we headed back towards the entrance to the park. As we passed the green lake trailhead, it was clear again and so we decided to go for another hike. We hiked to ranger falls and then turned around. When we got back to the car it was partly sunny, but as we left the park it started to rain the hardest I've even seen in Washington state. By then we were are safe and dry in the car so it was fun to watch. Check back later to read about my adventures on Mt. Rainer this weekend.

Random thoughts

I'm into the second week of my class on climbing volcanoes and I'm enjoying every minute of it. I wish that I could have more than 2.5 hours of class but without losing any more personal time. On saturday we are going to Rainier for some field training and I'm excited. I have almost all of the gear I need, but I'm not sure about the boots. I'm really trying to do this without spending hordes of money, but I have already spent some. On saturday we are going to do self arrest and avalanche awareness training and next saturday we will do crevasse rescue training. I just wish I had more time and hiking partners. At least I will have both with this class for the next few weeks.
I still don't like my job. This afternoon a LT told me that every time he saw me I looked sad. Since every time he sees me I'm at work, that's probably true, but I didn't know it was that obvious. But then, no one that I work with every day has ever said anything, so maybe it's only obvious to those who care to notice. It want to push for a transfer, but I don't want to go to a unit that would interfere with my climbing schedule, so I'm torn.
My dog had surgery today. Poor little guy. The vet said it went well and that they got all of the tumor out. It will be a few weeks before we find out what it was.
I have the most wonderful amazing wife anyone could ask for. Jesus said: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" He really meant it and demonstrated that when he gave me Ariele. She is truly a blessing from God.

Bridal Veil Falls

It was memorial day weekend, and I had planned to go hiking at least and a 2-3 day backpacking trip was what I really wanted, but it was not to be. I wasn't thrilled about going out in the rain, and it rained for a week straight and through the long weekend. I also couldn't find any friends that had time for such a trip. So on Friday and Saturday I just stayed home, rested and spent some time with my amazing wife.



On sunday afternoon I decided to call another friend and see if he was up for hiking. I had planned to climb mt index or mt persis and a check off one of my mountains to climb for the year (see april). Due to time and fitness constraints, we ended up hiking only to Bridal Veil Falls, at the base of Mt. Index. The trailhead was typical of an easy trail close to civilization, and I was most annoyed at the lack of parking and overcrowding of the trail.I had inadvertantly come to a tourist trail. There were even kids on the trail. It was a little muddy on the trail, and there were quite a few stairs for the last 1/3 of a mile of trail. The first mile was very easy. The falls were beautiful, and I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. At one point about 10m downstream from the trail, there was a point where I could walk up alongside the falls, and it was almost as cool as the falls themselves. Since it was spring and had rained for the last week, the falls were roaring and an awesome sight.