Unsuccessful camping attempt outside Salmon-la-sac

My neighbor Ross and I have been trying to get out backpacking for quite a while now.  This weekend we were making it happen.  We rolled out of Seattle at 7:30am on the dot (early for us) and after a quick coffee stop we were headed out I90 to the mountains.  The destination was Waptus lake outside Salmon-la-sac area.

I have never hiked in this area that is loaded with alpine lakes and was really excited to get out in the woods, fish a little, and put in some miles with my backpack on.

The trail did not disappoint.  We walked along the Waptus river for most of the trail enjoying the cool air and silence of the woods.  We were making great time until about the 6.5 mile mark where we dropped down into a valley that had about 5 feet of snow covering everywhere.  The trail disappeared completely but as long as we kept between the river and the foot of the mountains we knew we were headed the right way.  It was hard work making it across the snowfields with a full pack and no snowshoes or gaiters.  Every once in a while you would be walking along and suddenly post hole in the snow to have to wriggle out like a beached whale.  It was slow going but we were enjoying the exercise.  

The big question mark in this trip from the beginning was a river crossing we knew we were going to have to make.  About a half mile from our intended campsite the bridge had washed out and we knew we were going to have to ford the river.  Being 2 feet deep in snowmelt water sounded a bit painful but it was a warm day and we knew it would not take long.  As long as the river was as I had read we would be fine crossing but you never can be sure this time of year.  

Well we never found out about that river crossing because about 8.5 miles into the trail, 1/2 a mile from the river crossing, I managed to have a medical mishap.  I was crossing a log much like the 15,000 logs I have crossed over the years when this particular one happened to break as I put all of my weight on it.  I fell through said log and involuntarily grabbed onto a small tree below it to stop myself from falling.  Well the tree I grabbed happened to be a pine with a large spike sticking out of it that did a pretty good job out cutting most of the way through my hand.  ouch!!  I was actually a bit more angry that the trip was over than I was in pain.  Ross and I managed to clean out the hole with ice cold water and got the bleeding stopped.  After thinking it over for a few minutes we made the correct choice and headed back to the car.  8.5 miles back to the car....

It was a good hike and I am amazed how great we felt for a 17 mile day.  I was happy that my feet and legs held up well this early in the season but it was a bummer to have to head out.

We got back to the car and headed back to Seattle.  My hand was not hurting much when we got back so I put off the trip to the emergency clinic until Sunday morning.  I spent a few hours of my sunday waiting to be seen by a doc.  Got a tetanus shot which I was wayyyyy over due for and was told my hand looked ok and to just let it heal on its own.

So boys and girls, what did we learn on this little adventure?  Well I learned that things happen and Ross and I were perfectly prepared.  I also learned that I am in better hiking shape than I thought.

I am hoping my hand will close up before this weekend so I can head out with Dan and Laura for a little backpacking trip. 


Here is a little end of post humor to offset the awful picture at the beginning.  

Catching up after a long break from blogging

I just looked back at my posting history and it looks like 4/12 is the last post I made. I admit I have fallen off of the blog wagon a bit but things have been very busy.

We had Natalie's dad come out for a great visit. We took him around the normal full circuit of Seattle sites that we all know well (pike place market, kerry park, golden gardens, chittenden locks, etc) and added in a few side visits to a few of our favorite bars. I think Phil appreciated St Andrews pub the most as he could get his soccer and scotch fix all in one place. We ate great food and had a really good time touring the city and catching up. We even managed to get in a cookout with all of our neighbors and friends. It was a really fun visit and we can't wait to see him, and everyone, in September for the wedding.

A few weeks later I headed to Vegas for my bachelor party. The old Banner Elk gang (Matt, Nick, Sean, Palmer) was all there, Atlanta was represented by my buddy Mason, and Ross was our Seattle representative. It was a really good time having everyone out. I had not seen Nick or Matt since I moved so it was really great catching up and seeing how everyone is doing. The funny thing is that even though most of us had not seen each other in years it felt like it had only been a few weeks. Everybody just kind of picked up where we left off. Great friends. More pics and writeup can be found on Nicks site here. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone at the end of the trip but great knowing I will see everyone again out in Seattle in September. Thanks again guys for a great trip.

One weekend was spent selling Palmer's motorcycle that had been sitting in my garage since we rode the Trans America Trail together last year. Funny how as soon as the sun comes out everyone wants to buy a bike. I had about 5 people scheduled to come look at the bike on Saturday alone and the first guy ended up buying it. Sad to see it go but I believe it will pay for a new roof for Palmer's house. Not quite as much fun but thats life. Being grown up is pretty lame sometimes.

Add in some working and working and a month and a half really disappears.

Great weekend of birthday, splitboarding and wedding planning

I don't think we could have packed in anything else this weekend if we tried.  When I got home from work on Friday Natalie told me to be ready to head out for something at 7:30.  Birthday surprise!

We headed downtown and I was psyched when we walked up to my favorite sushi place.  The surprise was just beginning.  We were a few minutes early so we grabbed a drink at the bar before heading into the reserved seating area that I had always wanted to check out.  There are pillow on the floor in front of a very short table.  I always thought it was really cool but it must hurt to crouch down like that while you eat.  Turns out that under the table it is cut out so you can stretch out like normal.  This was pretty key when everyone started showing up and in our group of friends we had one pregnant and one that just got knee surgery.  One by one all of our best friends from Seattle showed up.  It was great to be surrounded by all my favorite people in Seattle, great sushi, and some tasty beers.  We all had a great time eating way too much and chatting away.  Before we knew it 11pm had arrived and it was time to head out.  Thanks again to everyone, it was a great time!!

We got home with plans to catch up for one last drink but I was heading out early in the morning to go up into the mountains with Ross and decided it was a good idea to call it a night.

All the snowboarding pics here (click me)

Saturday morning I rolled out of bed, met up with Ross, threw the last of my gear in the car, and we headed out of Seattle.  We headed back into the mountains after the snow gods had blessed us with 3-5 feet of new snow, depending on where you went.  We pulled up into the Hyak snowpark parking lot (same place as last week) at about 9:30.  The plan was to take the same route up but then branch off and head over to the Kendall clearcut.  This is a mountain just next to Kendall Peak (sort of) that was clearcut years ago and has trees coming back in but is still open enough that it is a fun place to ski.

We made pretty good time getting up to the top of the road and then headed out into new territory.  It looks pretty straight forward getting over to the road that we planned to take to the top of the clear cut.  Once we got close though we realized we were going to have to get across a crevasse about 10 feet down.  The creek that runs through the valley had managed to keep this gap open all winter.  We had to move quite a ways up the mountain before we found a snow bridge that was substantial enough for us to cross on.  After this little adventure we decided to take a nice long lunch/coffee break.

After lunch we kept heading up and discovered that there were going to be several snow bridges we were going to cross before we made it to the main part of the road.  Things turned out great and we managed to work our way over to the road and head up.  and up....  and up some more....  That mountain was a lot taller than it looked.  We set a turn around time of 2:30 and as soon as 15-20 minutes were left we kicked it in to high gear and surprised ourselves as we crested the top of the mountain.  We took a few minutes to catch our breath but the high winds had us strapping on the boards for the ride down pretty quickly.

It was not a long ride but we got some great turns in.  We even scouted a much better run for next time.  Funny how you don't see the routes until you are looking back at where you came.  The snow was amazing and worth every inch of the climb.

I am getting better on the splitboard but still have a bit to learn.  These past few weekends have been a great way to get out and figure out what I am doing.

Saturday night the neighbors all got together for a mexican dinner out over in Greenwood.  After that we took it easy over at Jake and Kays until about midnight when I headed back home.

Sunday arrived early and Natalie and I hit the road/ferry to Bainbridge Island for an open house at the resort where we are having the rehearsal dinner and are having guests stay for the wedding.  It was a beautiful day and we knocked out several big items on our to do list as well as tasting all of the choices for the rehearsal dinner.  Luckily there was enough time to squeeze in a good sun break out on the back lawn of the hotel overlooking the water.  Not bad...

After the open house we headed over to the Farm Kitchen (where we are getting married) to meet a potential florist.  We got there a early and soaked up a little more sun before meeting with Amy (the florist).  She was great and we gave her a deposit before packing up and heading to dinner at a little restaurant on the water looking back at Seattle.

Now that was a great weekend!

Out in the snow

All the pics here (click me)

I recently picked up a new toy I have been wanting since we moved out here.  REI was having a sweet sale and well, I broke down.  So I am the proud owner of a new Voile Splitboard.  In case you don't know what this brilliant snow toy is it is a snowboard that breaks in half to form two "skiis".  The idea being that you use the ski mode to get into the back country and once you work your way to the top you put it together into a snowboard for the ride back down.

So Ross and I headed up into the mountains this past Sunday to play in the snow.  We went to Kendal Peak which is an area I have been to many times so I knew that route finding would not be an issue.  We got out to the mountain about 10am and started up.  I realized pretty quickly that I need to do this a bit more since I found some muscles I was not sure I had.  We worked our way in, stopped for a quick lunch break, and then headed up to the top.  We explored around a little trying to figure out how we were going to drop down to the road.  We eventually picked a path and made a few great turns back down to the road.  Well, I did take us on one little adventure through the forest but I had to throw in a twist, it could not be sooooo easy...  I need to do some adjustments to the board but overall I am psyched with how things worked.

Hoping to get back out this Saturday to give it another go.  Fingers crossed the snow conditions hold up.

Hawaii

For all the pictures click here (click me)

Disclaimer:  Due to extreme relaxation the timeline of events may not exactly match the post.  In the end we did all the things so lets not worry about the order.

Well I think I have been putting off posting about our trip to Hawaii because once I post about a trip then it is officially over.  I never wanted to come home from this trip.

This was my first trip to Hawaii and I have to say that I completely get why people are in love with the place.  We were in Kauai for 9 days.

We were invited to this amazing paradise by our friends Robyn and Phil.  The offer was presented to us an "engagemoon" which we could never pass up.  It was an amazing time to say the least.

Natalie and I flew in on Friday night and spent the first evening having dinner by the ocean and beginning the unwinding process.  We spent Saturday hanging out on the beach watching the surfers roll by.  We met Robyn and Phil at the airport around 3 and headed to their place in Poipu.  When we got to the timeshare I could not believe how beautiful it was.  We were 100 yards from the water.  We could hear the waves from our room.  Now that was living!!

The whole trip was a great mix of relaxing with friends and getting out to explore the island.  We spent the first few days settling in and then ramped up the adventure.  Natalie and I took an amazing zodiac (inflatable motorboat) ride up the Na Pali coast.  I have seen this area written up in backpacker many times and instantly start to drool.  Seeing this amazing area from the water was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.  You will have to check out the pictures because words cannot do this area justice.  Come to think of it photos cannot really do the area justice either.  This was a 5 hour boat tour with the last hour being a stopover for snorkeling.  At this point I did not think the trip could have gotten better but after throwing on fins and a mask I jumped into a new world.  With your head underwater you could hear the whales calling to each other.  After about 10 minutes in the water a turtle swam by and I had the amazing experience of diving down and swimming along with him about 5 feet away from my mask.  Wow!!

The night after the boat tour we all packed up and headed to a luau.  This turned out to be a bit touristy but was fun as well.  After fighting a bunch of tourists for a table we realized why we loved being on vacation with just 4 people.  The show was good though and we had a great time.

The next day the girls were getting massages so Phil and I picked up some snorkeling gear from the resort and set off to find a place to swim around and see some fish.  After doing a little driving we decided to go check out the area where we had signed up to dive later in the week.  We were not out long but it was great to be in the water checking out the fish and we knew we would be back in a few days.

We headed back to meet the girls and load up in the car for a little tour-de-island.  We drive up to the top of the island with our final destination being the town of Hanalei (where puff the magic dragon lived by the sea).  Along the way we stopped off for a hike/swim in the Queens bath.  This was a really cool tide pool right on the edge of the pacific where waves would keep the water moving as they splashed over the top but for the most part the water was very calm.  We swam and lounged around for a long time before we could bring ourselves to leave.  Near the end of the day we rolled into Hanalei which ended up being one of my favorite towns of the trip.  I am not quite sure why I loved this town but it had a great feel to it.  At this point of the island the mountains come almost directly down into the ocean.  A very very peaceful place to be.

The next day Robyn and Phil headed to do a little sight seeing while Natalie and I roamed the beaches near the room and did a little exploring.  We discovered a bar down the road that served the best fish tacos I have ever eaten.  The only thing planned for the day was a dive class in the pool where Phil and I would get briefed on how to use our equipment for the dive we had scheduled for Saturday.  Everyone had a great relaxing day and settled in even more.  That afternoon as Phil and I were getting our dive instruction in the pool the girls came down and had a few drinks.  After our class wrapped up we all sat in the sun sipping pineapple drinks until the sun started to dip.  Ahhhhh.....

Friday (so sad that it was Friday already) we explored a beach with Phil.  I wish I remembered the name of the beach because it was the most beautiful one we saw.  To get there we had to push the limits of the rental car a bit but after navigating the ruts and rocks we parked safely and walked the last 100 yards to a beach tucked away by limestone cliffs.  Again, you will have to look at the pictures since words cannot do this place justice.  We made it back to the room in time to walk up the hill and watch the sun set over the surf.

Saturday we got up to watch the sun rise (as we did most mornings we were there) and then Phil and I headed off to meet our dive guide at 8am.  We got a fish briefing of what we would see underwater and the signs our guide would use underwater as well as a quick safety refresher and we were off into the water.  The last time I went diving was in Australia and they motored us about a mile offshore before putting all our gear on us and letting us fall over the side of the boat.  In that little adventure I kind of freaked out but this time we just walked into the water and calmly slipped into a different world.  Within 10 minutes we were seeing turtles, moray eels, angel fish, and coral.  At one point a huge turtle swam up from underneath us and came within 2 feet of me.  It was so amazing to see such a huge animal effortlessly glide by.  We were under water for almost 50 minutes but it passed by like we just blinked.  I could have stayed out all day diving and swimming with all that sea life.

After turning in our dive gear we headed back to the room and took it easy.  It was very sad that we were already to Saturday.  We were looking forward to a great dinner to cap the trip off though.  We sat down to our nearly waterfront table 30 minutes before the sun began to set.  It was great being in a place like that with such good friends.  We snapped a few pictures as the sun settled into the ocean and waved goodbye to it for the last time.

Sunday was a very early wakeup to catch our plane.  I was physically pained to leave the place and cannot wait to go back one day.  I cannot thank Robyn and Phil enough for sharing that amazing place with us.

T minus 2 days

2 days until we land in Hawaii.......  Heading out Saturday and returning the following Sunday.

Mt Baker Cabin Weekend

This past weekend a group of us headed up to a rental cabin by Mount Baker.  Our neighbor Stephanie did all the work and found a great deal on a place that was 10 miles from the mountain.

Our friend Laura met us at our place Friday as I was getting in from work and we all quickly loaded the car and headed out to dinner.  After grabbing a mexican dinner and letting the traffic clear off of I5 we headed up to Baker.  It only took about 2 hours before we were walking in the door.  Ross and Stephanie had gotten out of work around 4 so they were already settled into the cabin.  We unpacked broke open a few drinks and took it easy the rest of the night.

Saturday morning the girls went for a little hike while Ross and I loaded up our snowboards and hit the mountain.  This was the first time I have been snowboarding at Mount Baker and it was a great time.  The sun was shining, there was not a cloud in the sky and life was great.  We rode for a few hours, had a beer and lunch on the deck at the base of the mountain and took in the view.  After relaxing in the sun for about an hour we hit the mountain for a bit longer and then headed back to the cabin.

Saturday night was spent listening to music, sitting in the hot tub, and enjoying the fact that not only did we not have any cell service but we could not pick up a single radio station.

Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast before hitting the road for Seattle.

Once we got back and were unpacked my neighbor Jake and I moved our newest 9310 Stone Brewery beer (a brown ale this time) into secondary fermentation.  It is going to be tasty.

Now I have just enough time to finish the book I am reading and maybe start on another one.

Only two weeks before Natalie and I head out to Hawaii for 9 days!!  What a rough life we lead.  :)