Mountains Galleries

Columbia Peak, 10-10-2009 : A nice fall day in one of the most stunning nooks of the Cascades - the Monte Cristo Range. And a big thanks to Gretchen who took Sebastian for the whole day while I went out to play! Thanks hon!

Columbia Peak, 10-10-2009

Spring Skiing East Cascades 4-09 : I have no idea what peak we were on, but great view into the Enchantments, and some good runs up top

Spring Skiing East Cascades 4-09

I have no idea what peak we were on, but great view into the Enchantme ...

Updated: May 01, 2009 9:45pm PST

Mt Margaret Ski 3/8/09 :

Mt Margaret Ski 3/8/09

Updated: Mar 12, 2009 6:25am PST

Flooding in Carnation and Snohomish, 1/9/09 : After getting an unusual snow dump in December, the weather flipped to warm temperatures, and continued to dump huge amounts of moisture, now just in the form of rain. This creates ideal conditions for creating a very large set for "Water World", although rather short on the sunshine. I got Gerry (one of my flight students) to modify his lesson a bit to take some pictures of the Carnation valley and Snohomish area.

Flooding in Carnation and Snohomish, 1/9/09

After getting an unusual snow dump in December, the weather flipped to ...

Updated: Jan 09, 2009 10:05pm PST

10-26-08 Gothic Basin : Yet another amazingly nice October day in 2008. Haven't been up to Gothic basin for around 10 years now so figured it would be worth another trip. It's been so dry I expected pretty much no snow, but somehow the mountains in the area had managed to accumulate maybe 10-15cm at higher elevations. Just enough to make the footing tricky. The lower lake was already frozen, and Foggy Lake was starting to freeze, so no swimming today. We reached the summit of Gothic peak right at our turn-around time and enjoyed the usual views although Rainier was just a ghost in the haze.

10-26-08 Gothic Basin

Yet another amazingly nice October day in 2008. Haven't been up to Go ...

Updated: Oct 28, 2008 11:38am PST

10-19-08 Cascades Flight with Fall Colors : I borrowed N777C, a Stinson 108-3 from the Lerums and headed for the central cascades to check out the fall colors. Pictures start somewhere in the region of Snoqualmie Pass, but focus on Mt. Daniel, The Enchantments, and the Chelan Range with Mt. Maude and 7 Fingered Jack. And of course, Mt. Glacier. The Stinson is a fun plane to fly, but not the best camera platform since the windows don't open. However, I had an advantage this flight in that I was right seat with a student, and recent student taking turns in the left seat so I didn't have to fly and shoot at the same time.

10-19-08 Cascades Flight with Fall Colors

I borrowed N777C, a Stinson 108-3 from the Lerums and headed for the c ...

Updated: Oct 23, 2008 10:33pm PST

10-11-08 Enchantment Larch Run : It's a long day to run through the Enchantments, and the high lakes are only 3 miles of the 17, but up high, on a gorgeous day, with the Larches in full color, it's just worth being alive. We hit the timing just about perfect this year, fantastic weather, on a Saturday no less, and the larches were peak at the upper lakes. No shortage of other folks doing the same thing, although most of them went from Colchuck to Snow Lake TH while we left bikes at Colchuck and hiked from Snow Lake.

10-11-08 Enchantment Larch Run

It's a long day to run through the Enchantments, and the high lakes ar ...

Updated: Oct 19, 2008 7:27am PST

9-28-08 Forgotton Peak : An exquisite late September day was the excuse to finally tag Forgotton Peak in the Mount Glacier / Monte Cristo / Darrington loop area of the Cascades. Two previous attempts had been derailed by weather, not unusual as this is the far east dumping grounds of the convergence zone. Today there was not a chance of a cloud, and the views were spectacular. We had the place to ourselves on the way up at least, met the crowds on the way back down. Apparently Forgotten isn't so forgotten after all.

9-28-08 Forgotton Peak

An exquisite late September day was the excuse to finally tag Forgotto ...

Updated: Oct 03, 2008 9:13am PST

Wandering around the Blanca Basin, 9-7-08 :

Wandering around the Blanca Basin, 9-7-08

Updated: Sep 14, 2008 8:04pm PST

Argonaut Bushwack, Labor Day Weekend 2008 : We've been trying to get up East Cascade peaks such as Eldorado all summer, but weather and schedules haven't worked, and this weekend was no exception. With the East Side forecast to be socked-in all weekend, we headed for the Teanaway and an attempt on Argonaut, 2 peaks down from Mt. Stuart. Stopping in Cle Elum for the bakery we were surprised to be greeted by a strong, cold wind. Labor day, and Fall is HERE. The bakery was mighty fine, but it was already late, time to hike. Actually we just had an approach hike on day 1, and the weather was gorgeous. Over the first pass between Teanaway and Iron Mountain we went up iron and got our first look at Stuart and friends. The clouds were visible to the east, but we were in the clear, and that's how the weather stayed for the weekend.

Argonaut Bushwack, Labor Day Weekend 2008

We've been trying to get up East Cascade peaks such as Eldorado all su ...

Updated: Sep 09, 2008 9:38pm PST

8-01-08 Mt Maude and 7 Finger Jack : We had planned to hit Eldorado in a 3 day weekend (taking Friday off), but the weather had other plans so we fled to the eastern Cascades and the Spider Meadows approach to Maude and 7 Finger Jack. The weather was pretty dang good to us; the partly-mostly cloudy but no rain kept temperatures very reasonable (heck there was FROST on the tent Saturday morning!), and, to our amazement, there was hardly a bug! Having been chased out of the same area by mosquitoes a month prior, this was a great relief. Gorgeous area! wild flowers were in full bloom, lakes are finally thawed although didn't bother swimming. Lots of marmots and pikas, and a few deer, but no sheep this trip. There's also a LOT of larches; will have to come back to this area in October some year. The only hitch to the trip was my camera (Canon D20) decided it didn't feel like being a camera for the weekend, and would take one, maybe two pictures, or sometimes none at all before blanking out with the generic "Err 99" and quitting. major frustration. I did get some good pics, but was unable to fine tune exposure compensation etc. since the 2nd or 3rd pic would just die and I gave up after a while.

8-01-08 Mt Maude and 7 Finger Jack

We had planned to hit Eldorado in a 3 day weekend (taking Friday off), ...

Updated: Aug 05, 2008 6:25am PST

2008-7-20 Mt Daniel and related scrambling : Mt. Daniel is a massive set of peaks tucked into the middle of the central cascades. Access is usually from Tucquala Meadows, north of Roslyn. We hiked in Friday afternoon heading for Peggy's Pond on the west side of Cathedral Rock. This is the year of lots of snow, and late snow melt so Peggy's was still half frozen, and there were but two camp sites without snow cover. We had grand plans to hit at least 3 of the peaks of Mt. Daniel, and from there over to Mt. Hinman and back. But we were relying on the Becky guide (use with caution), and the Green Trails Topo (use only for on-trail travel... I should have gotten a USGS topo). Starting not-overly-early on Saturday we made short work of the east peak and were feeling pretty good, and that's when the fun began. To get to the true summit (west peak), one needs to get down to the saddle in between. We had decided to leave the rope and stay off glaciers, so that ruled out the "go around the peak to the north" route and left very steep ugly scree scrambling. After a couple false starts, we found a short rock descent to the snow and the rest was easy. Reaching Daniel West, we found ourselves standing on a very dramatic pinnacle, looking at the NW Daniel peak, and Mt. Hinman, well beyond. Oh. So much for a quick ridge run to Hinman and back. Did I mention needing to bring a topo next time? The only decent route would have been down Lynch glacier to the lake at the bottom, around, and up the massive, but very gentle slopes of Hinman. But with the rope sitting safely in the car, and a huge, ugly bergschrund at the top of the glacier, with who-knows-what further down, we had to drop this plan. Instead we dropped to Venus lake, first with some very steep, awesome glisading, and then with some very steep scree and meadow running. Looking back at our route, I never would have guessed we could have come down it.... Around the lake, including a manky 4th class traverse across a little ledge system to bypass the rotting ice and cold cold water below, and then back up and over to Circle Lake, chasing the mountain sheep all the way. Finally back to camp, a good 12 hour day, and well deserved hot cocoa.

2008-7-20 Mt Daniel and related scrambling

Mt. Daniel is a massive set of peaks tucked into the middle of the cen ...

Updated: Jul 24, 2008 8:14am PST

Late spring ski on Vesper Peak, 6-22-08 : The extra late snowpack meant "spring skiing" into these first days of summer. Russ, Zach, Gretchen and I headed up to Vesper. Zach had been up the week before, and there had already been a lot more melt-out; we had to hike, not ski the road, but oh well. The first excitement was a stream crossing on the remains of a bridge which had flipped over leaving the two beams, no flat spots, and the whole thing slick as snot. From there we headed up the valley and marveled at the massive amount of avalanche debris, even at a point so far down the valley from a release zone that none of us would ever have thought of avalanche danger. Snow was patchy for a bit, some bushwacking was done, and eventually some good skiing. But first there was some super steep, hard snow skiing and a much-too-exciting slide by Zach which fortunately ended with nothing broken. Weather was pretty closed in all day, pictures were taken in Black & White since it didn't make much difference. Very end of the day it cleared up a bit (of course). Probably last ski this "spring" unless we decide to hit the volcanoes.

Late spring ski on Vesper Peak, 6-22-08

The extra late snowpack meant "spring skiing" into these first days of ...

Updated: Jul 17, 2008 7:54am PST

Red Mtn TNAB, 7/10/08 : Despite being mid-July, there was still plenty of snow in Commonwealth Basin on the approach to Red Mountain. Absolutely beautiful evening in the sunny state of Washington as we headed up the old trail, bypassing all the silly switchbacks on the new PCT. Reaching the first stream crossing, we found the usual log bridge had washed out. No one felt like wading, so we continued on the east side of the stream, and after a short distance, simply cut up across the talus to the real PCT. This "hybrid" route between old and new trails worked really well, although the cross-over is probably much less fun when the snow is gone. A short bit of route finding later we're finally on the ridge to Red and up we go. No real snow on the upper slopes, and steep as ever, but fantastically clear views of the neighboring peaks. Interestingly ,the visibility, while very good in the 20-30 mile range, suddenly got a lot more murky in the distance, and Rainier was the only volcano visible. Larry Don and I had all started early, and were up well before turn-around. The rest of the gang came straggling up to summit a little after 8. Not wanting to be on the wrong end of the pinball machine in descent, we made sure to head down a bit before the main group as well.

Red Mtn TNAB, 7/10/08

Despite being mid-July, there was still plenty of snow in Commonwealth ...

Updated: Jul 11, 2008 9:49pm PST

Mosquitoes and Retreat to Lake Serene, 7/4/08 : The plan had been to spend 4 full days around the 4th of July hiking into the Chelan range of mountains, just south of Lake Chelan, but approaching from the Lake Wenatchee side, a much shorter drive. We had figured on better weather and less snow in the eastern Cascades, and this was correct, but what we hadn't figured on was the mosquitoes. The volume of mosquitoes was simply unreal, hovering, buzzing clouds, so thick that breathing could be difficult. Swing your hands and you feel dozens of little impacts, like running your hand through the tips of high grass. It was simply not the place to be. We retreated to the Merit Lake area, but that too was buzzing from all the late snow melt, and so, finally, we gave up, and hiked to Lake Serene on our way back home.

Mosquitoes and Retreat to Lake Serene, 7/4/08

The plan had been to spend 4 full days around the 4th of July hiking i ...

Updated: Jul 11, 2008 9:30pm PST

TNAB Solstice on Snoqualmie Peak 6-19-08 : The annual TNAB solstice hike! And my first in some time. I caught the early-bird Larry shuttle from Redmond, pulling into the Alpental lot at 5pm, ahead of the crowd, but behind Don who was just crossing the first snow field as we pulled up. There's a LOT of avy debris across the first part of the 'trail', and still a lot of snow. Jason and I promptly got separated from Larry, and then, on my expert guidance, missed the trail and took the scenic talus route for the first 500 ft before connecting with trail and Don. From there it was pretty much all snow all the way. Summit in just under 2 hours, despite the occasional picture breaks, and the evening cleared up to be mighty fine. I had brought a couple Belgian ales, a Duvel and a Triple, and a can of "Young's Double Chocolate Stout". Mighty fine! Don arrived with quite the selection of cognac and some Wild Turkey in case cognac wasn't enough. As the crowd started to move in, wed had finished dinner and took a run down the back chute just for fun, and then up the knife edge just for vertigo. Finally, a few drinks and cookies later, it was time for the fun bit - glissade! The snow was a tad soft, but had this really neat quality; as we slid down, we unleashed a very fine layer of icy surface snow ahead of us, in a plume which was thin enough to think that maybe our eyes were playing tricks on us as the ground ahead blurred under this mini-blizzard. Very cool, never seen that before. Great glissading all the way to the valley, pick our way across the waterfall, which was no where near as strong as expected, and back to the car by 9:30, no headlamps required! Good hike!

TNAB Solstice on Snoqualmie Peak 6-19-08

The annual TNAB solstice hike! And my first in some time. I caught t ...

Updated: Jun 20, 2008 9:37am PST

Looking Down; Aerial Photography :

Looking Down; Aerial Photography

Updated: Jun 02, 2008 8:34am PST

Spring Skiing in the N. Cascades 5/08 : The unusually heavy and late snowpack in the Cascades made for some great spring skiing over Memorial Day Weekend. Russ, Gretchen and I spent a couple days, touring first to Lake Anne, and then the Classic Birthday Tour, the full version, not that wimpy shortcut version kids are doing these days.

Spring Skiing in the N. Cascades 5/08

The unusually heavy and late snowpack in the Cascades made for some gr ...

Updated: May 28, 2008 7:31am PST

Mountains in Washington and Colorado :

Mountains in Washington and Colorado

Updated: Feb 09, 2008 8:46am PST