Video Clip from the Other Weekend

The other weekend when we were up on Baker we saw some lines coming off of Goat mountain.  Turns out it was these guys.  What a ride!

Two Days in a row in the mountains!

Saturday  (all pictures here)

Saturday was the first field trip for my back country ski class.  Ross and I were up at 5am (ughhh) and on the road by 5:30 with coffee in hand.  We met up with the whole class up at the Stevens Pass parking lot about 8:00 and after breaking into groups we headed out.  The day started really cloudy and snowy so I did not have high hopes but the group was great and we were on the snow so I was psyched.  Well about 30 minutes out of the parking lot the sky cleared and soon the sun was shining.  It turned into an amazing blue-bird day!


Our group consisted mainly of splitboarders which was pretty cool.  We spent most of the day going over basics and exploring the back country.  It was not anything with amazing runs or huge vertical drops but it was a good tour and gave me a great base knowledge of the area so I would feel comfortable getting back out with with one or two other people and getting some good turns in.

We met some great people and I am really looking forward to the next trip we have scheduled the first weekend of February up at Baker.  I will have my fingers and toes crossed that the weather cooperates.

Sunday

Sunday we met up with the recently expanded couples hiking group of Mike, Katy, Dan, Laura, Natalie, and myself for a little snowshoe exploratory mission.  I have been reading a bit about people skiing and snowshoeing in the commonwealth basin just past Snoqualmie Pass and thought it would be a fun trip for everyone to wander around a bit.  We arrived to a very full parking lot and had a great hike up the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail).  We did not get any real views because it was pretty foggy but it was great getting together with everyone.  We all caught up and got some exercise.  What more could you want?  We ended up hiking about 6 miles which was about perfect.  After the snowshoe we all loaded up and headed for Snoqualmie Brewery to gorge ourselves on beer and pizza.  Always one of the best parts of the trip.  Thanks guys it was a great time!!

Amazing Weekend in Mt Baker Back Country

All the pics here

Well my neighbor Ross and I have been taking an AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Training Course for the last few months and this weekend was the final round of training.  Up until now everything has been in the classroom but this weekend we headed up to Mt Baker to see the terrain first hand.

Saturday we stayed pretty close in to the parking lot and did work searching for beacons of "buried victims" to help us learn how to use our avalanche beacons and feel confident that we could find and dig someone out if we had to.  I hope I never have to use those skills but it sure is nice to have them.  So Saturday was spent digging pits to observe snow layers and playing hid and go seek with buried beacons.  It was pretty chilly since we were not moving too much but a great day to be outside.  

Saturday after spending the day in the field we went back to the cabin and met as a group to plan our travel plan for the next day.  We chose to head up to the artist point area which I have been to before and is the place I tried to take Natalie a few weeks ago.

Working our way up

Sunday we woke up at 6:00am to clear skies and cold temps.  The whole day ended up being blue skies and cold.  Perfect!!  We left the parking lot at 9:00am and returned at 4:00pm.  The day flew buy.  We moved around a bunch, made a lot of observations about the snow conditions and even got in a few amazing powder turns.

The pictures say it all I think.  Beautiful weekend and I can't wait to get out again.  Hopefully the weekend will be nice so a group of us can get out into the snow again.

Some days mother nature just cannot be beaten.

Natalie and I had a great Christmas weekend.  We spent Friday and Saturday laying around watching movies and just being lazy.  It is so nice to not have anything that we need to do.

Sunday we were getting a little stir crazy so we headed up to Mt Baker.  Before we left I knew that a big front was supposed to come in Sunday night and drop a bunch of snow but the weather was clear as we headed up the mountain.  As soon as we pulled into the parking lot the snow started really flying.  We geared up and headed out and the weather just kept getting worse.  As we left the resort gates and headed out of bounds we knew the storm had showed up early and it was going to be a short trip.  

We made it 300 yards outside of the ski area boundary before the wind and snow cranked it up the final notch.  So we tucked our tails between our legs, admitted we had been beaten and headed back to the car.  It was a rough ride back but we made it after not too long.  

Days like that make the sunny ones so nice.  You win some and you lose some.  The beer at Boundary Bay Brewery coming back home was tasty as always though.

Great day in the mountains Sunday

This past weekend Natalie, Ross, and I headed up into the mountains for a little splitboard/AT adventure.  Ross just got a new splitboard (snowboard that turns into skis for the trip up), and I had rented Natalie some AT ski gear from the shop just down the street.  I had never really seen an AT (alpine telemark) ski setup so I had no idea what to expect but Natalie clicked in her boots and off we went.

It was a beautiful day and the snow was great.  By the end of the day we had skied 8 miles.  It was Natalie's first taste of back country skiing and I think I have her hooked.  We already have plans to go out to Mt Baker next weekend and head up to the Artist point area (I camped up there last year http://www.sunguilt.com/2010/02/sun-poisoning-in-seattle.html).  I was playing around with various routes last night on the gps and have a tentative plan.  Cross your fingers that we get sun because it is a really pretty place when it is clear.

Thats all for now.  Hope everyone has a great holiday season!!

Wedding post at long last

All the pictures here (click me)


I have lost track of the number of times I have started and stopped this post since the wedding.  Every time I start I just cannot capture how much fun we had in words.  I have tried and tried but just cannot do it.  We had the time of our lives visiting with our friends and family that we do not get to see enough.  Every aspect of the wedding was perfect.  If I were to do things over again I would not change a thing.  Even the weather decided to cooperate.  We were out with friends from the Tuesday before the wedding until the Tuesday following and loved every second of it.

I am really lost for words when I try to describe the wedding.  Seeing Natalie walk down the isle is something the makes me smile every time I think about it.

Normally my posts go on and on but I am truly at a loss for words.  Thank you to all of our friends and family that made the wedding such a perfect day, or I should say a perfect week.  It is really amazing to have such great support from our parents, friends, and extended family.

High Divide Loop in Olympic National Park

All the pics (here)

Well this past weekend we got out for what will probably be the last backpacking trip of the year before the snow really starts rolling in.

I had to work the previous weekend which was a bummer but the bright side was that I took Friday off as a comp day and so we headed out first thing Friday morning.

After a ferry ride and a bit of driving we had picked up our permit, bear canister for our food, and were on the trail.  The first day was a steady climb up from 2000ft to where we camped at just under 5000 ft over almost 8 miles.  We setup camp just as dusk was changing into full on darkness.  As soon as the sun dropped it started getting really cold.  We inhaled our food and sacked out fairly quickly.

Saturday we took our time rolling out of the nice warm sleeping bags and ate a leisurely breakfast.  By the time we headed up the trail it was probably 10:30 or 11.  This is a vacation right?  We also mixed in a little time spotting animals on the neighboring mountain.  We saw about 18 elk and a lone mountain goat way up on the peak.

The game plan was to explore a spur trail that eventually became a trail that the park service no longer maintains.  The ranger had promised us great views and was he ever right.  Most of the hike we were looking out over the Hoh river valley to Mt Olympus with glaciers hanging off in every direction.  The fall color on the trail was beautiful and we had a great time checking out the scenery.  We went out about 3-4 miles, had some lunch and then had a great hike back.

We made it back into camp before the sun started dropping and learning from our mistake the day before and we made sure to have dinner ready before the sun dropped.  We finished off a bottle of port, cleaned up and hit the sack pretty early saturday before the temps could drop too far.  I would say we were asleep before 9:30.  Ahhhh.....

Sunday we completed the loop back to the car by hiking up the ridge over the 7 lakes basin.  This was a beautiful trail that had some amazing ridge top walking.  On the right was a beautiful basin full of lakes and on the left was Mt Olympus with it's blindingly white glaciers.  The fields all around us were covered in brilliant red and yellows of what I think were blueberry bushes changing colors before going dormant for the winter.  This was the hardest day because we were walking downhill for around 4 hours but it was by far the most scenic.

We had left camp pretty early so we made it back to the car around 2:30.  The treat at the end of the day was Sol Duc hot springs that was just down the road.  We tossed our packs into the car and headed down the road eagerly anticipating our soak in the natural hot springs.  They may smell like sulpher but man do they ever feel good on sore legs.  We soaked in the tubs for about 45 minutes, then showered off and headed back to reality.

An awesome weekend with my beautiful wife.  So glad we were able to get that last trip in this weekend.