Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Which way is magnetic, again?
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Crampons
I've been trying to find crampons on Craigslist for weeks now. I almost found the right pair, a set of Black Diamond Cyborgs, but thankfully the seller altruistically told me that they wouldn't be the best for Rainier. The frontpoints were modular and he said they tend to cut into snow/glacier ice.
Woah! Speaking like a mountaineer. How'd I figure some of this stuff out? A sweet site put out by the folks down at REI. Thanks!
http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/crampons+snow+ice+climbing.html
The seller said the Black Diamond Sabretooth crampons would be better. Don't think I'll shell out the $170 needed for new ones so back to CL for me...
Woah! Speaking like a mountaineer. How'd I figure some of this stuff out? A sweet site put out by the folks down at REI. Thanks!
http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/crampons+snow+ice+climbing.html
The seller said the Black Diamond Sabretooth crampons would be better. Don't think I'll shell out the $170 needed for new ones so back to CL for me...
Monday, March 5, 2012
Really, Mt. Pilchuck?
Having climbed Mt. Pilchuck numerous times, albeit always during summer months, both Cody and I decided it was time to ascend our hometown peak during the winter. Right.
Employing the patented McCarty start, which is similar to the alpine start but instead of trekking out at midnight we left Lake Stevens at 10am, we arrived at the Heather Lake unscathed - our under-britches only slightly streaked after avoiding a cluster F caused by a Pontiac TransAm trying to do donuts on the road to the trailhead. Not really, but some dude in a Jeep Cherokee almost opened his door into the radiator of Cody's rig. Snow makes people in the PNW demented, I swear.
The forest road up to the MP trailhead was blocked at Heather Lake. It can't be THAT far up to Pilchuck, right? Wrong.
Especially on snow shoes.
Our spirits remained high for the first 4 miles until demoralization sank in at the sight of a cross-country skier (who siddled up behind and scared the living feces out of me, I might add) who benefited from our tracks nearly the entire way up. Although, making fresh prints in the 4-foot-deep snow made me feel like one hell of an American.
A little higher up the demoralization turned to unbridled exhaustion based on a) the fact after 4 hours we hadn't even reached the MP trailhead yet and b) the damn skier was on his way down, coasting past us.
About that time, Cody died. Cause of death: left abductor muscle strain.
I, on the other hand, did not die.
In the end, 10+ miles in 7 hours... capped off by our ubiquitous trip to Ixtapa!
Employing the patented McCarty start, which is similar to the alpine start but instead of trekking out at midnight we left Lake Stevens at 10am, we arrived at the Heather Lake unscathed - our under-britches only slightly streaked after avoiding a cluster F caused by a Pontiac TransAm trying to do donuts on the road to the trailhead. Not really, but some dude in a Jeep Cherokee almost opened his door into the radiator of Cody's rig. Snow makes people in the PNW demented, I swear.
The forest road up to the MP trailhead was blocked at Heather Lake. It can't be THAT far up to Pilchuck, right? Wrong.
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| "How far's this hike again?" - Cody Brooke |
Especially on snow shoes.
Our spirits remained high for the first 4 miles until demoralization sank in at the sight of a cross-country skier (who siddled up behind and scared the living feces out of me, I might add) who benefited from our tracks nearly the entire way up. Although, making fresh prints in the 4-foot-deep snow made me feel like one hell of an American.
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| Fresh tracks up to the MP trailhead |
A little higher up the demoralization turned to unbridled exhaustion based on a) the fact after 4 hours we hadn't even reached the MP trailhead yet and b) the damn skier was on his way down, coasting past us.
About that time, Cody died. Cause of death: left abductor muscle strain.
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| Cody dying |
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| Pat not dying |
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| Ixtapa being awesome |
Delay of Game due to Rain
Pat and I came ready to snow shoe 10 miles up to Lake Kelcema from the bottom of Deer Creek Rd. While making a quick stop at the Verlot Ranger Station, we were enlightened on the fact that there were numerous avalanche spots all along the highway; including the trail we were planning on going up.
We decided to still head that way and just do a shorter length of the trail and turn around right before the avalanche shoots about 2.5 miles (which also was one of the better views along the hike). After we pulled in, geared up and started to walk up to the trail it started (or maybe we finally noticed) that it was raining very hard. A quick conversation led us both to believe that we should probably bag it on the grounds of rain, possible death due to avalanches and the fact that our destination/turn around point was the most dangerous part of the hike.
We decided to still head that way and just do a shorter length of the trail and turn around right before the avalanche shoots about 2.5 miles (which also was one of the better views along the hike). After we pulled in, geared up and started to walk up to the trail it started (or maybe we finally noticed) that it was raining very hard. A quick conversation led us both to believe that we should probably bag it on the grounds of rain, possible death due to avalanches and the fact that our destination/turn around point was the most dangerous part of the hike.
We still wanted to make what we could out of the day so after a quick recharge once getting home, I pulled out all my ropes, prussiks cords, caribeaners and anything else I had in the world of technical rescue. We started to go over and practice figure 8 type knots, basic belay systems and a few other things that would be essential to know before ascending Rainier. Why waste a good Washington winter day?
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| successful knots |
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| Pat ready to climb something |
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| Basic rope stuff from Rescue Tech I manual (copyrighted material) |
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