Medicine Bow Peak

Gerry, Penelope and I climbed Medicine Bow Peak in the Snowy range one final time before the snow came. At 12,013 ft. it was too high for Gerry who'd just arrived from the east coast two days before. The day we climbed there were exceptionally high winds and I didn't expect that we would make it. Penelope and I pushed on after Gerry turned back and were both blown down more than once (I would guess we had gusts to 60 mph or so.) Once we gained the upper third of the climb we were protected from the wind by the mountain itself and it was much easier. All around the summit there were maybe fifty ravens that were diving and playing in the high winds.

Hiking on the Oregon Coast

Penelope and I hiked the Pacific Crest trail north out of Cannon Beach OR. The trail winds up from Ecola State Park over Tillamook Head and then over a high point of 1130 ft. and then down into Seaside OR. We hiked a bit more than four miles, a bit past the high point; rather than loosing all that elevation only to have to regain it again on the way back, we turned around and walked back to Ecola State Park the way we'd come. We'd hoped to find a camping spot with a view of the Pacific, or even a path down to the beach. We carried a small tent, sleeping bags, some food, water and a stove; but the approved camping area was in dark dank forest far from the open views. We'd hoped to find a more suitable (if illegal) site further north but did not. Somehow I relished the thought of a night of illegal camping; subversive activity.


Coming from the arid Rocky Mountain west, the dripping dense forests of the Oregon coast seem more foreign than they might have fifteen years ago when we lived in Ithaca. The trail follows the crest of the cliff face which drops off 800 ft and more to the ocean below but the thickness of the growth only very rarely affords even a partial glimpse of the ocean beyond. It felt odd to us to be so close to the edge of such a precipice and to never have a view beyond. Climbing to the rim, only yards from the trail for much of its length here, the drop off was staggering in that it is near vertical and yet is thick with lush overgrowth; ferns, alders and other plants I do not know, and there were even huge Sitka spruce clinging to that absurdly vegetated cliff.



Beyond Tillamook Head we heard a colony of seals frantically barking far below, we never saw them. I could not help but think that one of the great white sharks recently sighted just a mile north in Seaside had stirred the seals into such frenzy.

City of Rocks II

Before we left the next day Jasper, Penelope and I hiked up a rocky hill east of the Twin Sisters and Jasper and I climbed up to the rocky summit. The photos below are of Jasper on the summit of that hill.





Penelope in the sagebrush near camp.

City of Rocks

On our way to Portland OR we stopped in City of Rocks, ID for a day. We pulled in late at night and had some trouble finding a camp site. In the light of the full moon we found one and set up camp. We woke up the next morning to discover we were camped under the Twin Sisters formations. The photo above shows the tents nestled behind a rock in the sagebrush.

Tom climbed up to the base of the formation to check out the routes. We later discovered this formation is closed to climbing to preserve the view for tourists exploring the California Trial who might be offended by climbers. Outrageous as far as I am concerned.



We did some climbs on Bath Rock. We started with a few lines easier lines on the front to get warmed up. The photo below shows Jasper climbing the Cowgirl Route (5.5).




We moved around to the back in the afternoon and Tom started off by leading Colossus (5.10C) [picture below]. I tried leading a bolted face route (5.8/5.9) to the left of Private Idaho (5.9) which I backed off of a bit more than half way up. Tom completed it so we could all try it on a top-rope. He then put a rope on the corner/crack route Private Idaho. Clea did all three routes, Jasper and I did the face and Private Idaho which was a bear.



It turned out out be a fun day of climbing in an area I first climbed in 17 years ago with David Pearson.

Mt Zirkel Wilderness & Steamboat Springs

P, Erdos and I drove up to Buffalo Pass on the continental divide at the southern edge of the Mt. Zirkel wilderness area. The wildflowers were magnificent.

We hiked north up the continental divide about 4 miles toward north Mt. Ethel and then back along the same trail. The photo shows Erdos and I on a rocky point where we turned back toward the car. It is impressive country. On the hike out, Erdos pointed two blue grouse (grouse season opens in WY on September 1st.)

We set up camp over the pass at Dry Lake campground, a few miles up the hill from Steamboat Springs. Stopped and soaked at Strawberry Hot Springs on our way to town, had dinner in Steamboat Springs and sat around the campfire for an hour or so before hitting the hay. Drove home in the morning back over Buffalo Pass and up through North Park and Walden. Turns out to be about 70 miles from home.

Encampment River Wilderness

Pen, Erdos, Mary and Warren and I backpacked down the 16 mile Encampment River trail from Hog Park to the BLM campground just outside Encampment. The trail follows the river as it drops through a canyon out into the Platte River valley. We hiked downriver about seven miles the first afternoon, starting out at about 1:30 and arriving at a camp site at around 6:30. The upper section of the trail has a lot of up and down with the trail climbing high up the hillsides above many of the cliffs that plunge down right into the water. Other times, it follows close to the river on a narrow track. We all probably wanted to stop hiking around 5:30, but there was no place to pitch a tent in the steep sided canyon.

Fish was on the menu for dinner and so I broke out the fly rod and managed to catch a beautiful wild brown and a brookie to add to the larder. There is certainly a different aspect to fishing when there are hungry people expecting you to catch dinner. The river up here is fast flowing and not overly rich in aquatic insect life. I did find a few caddis cases under rocks on the river bottom and there were a few recently shed stonefly exoskeletons dried onto rocks above waterline. I managed to catch the fish on a caddis imitation. After trying a few different flies, including watching two fish rise to, follow and then reject a rather large (size 10) caddis imitation, I ended up doing best with a smaller (size 14) tan Goddard caddis.

Mary and Warren did the menu planning and food shopping including wine selection. This included cleaning the trout and cooking them wrapped in foil with butter, salt, pepper and some chopped celery. Trout, risotto, and a couple of liter boxes of French Rabbit Pinot Noir followed by brownies made for an outstanding meal.

Erdos has never been backpacking and I don't believe he's ever slept in a tent before. At one point as darkness fell, he headed up to the trail and back toward the car, stopping to look back and no doubt wondering what the hell we were up to. By the time we got into the tent, he was tired enough that he pretty quickly abandoned his scepticism about the whole thing. He easily runs 4 times the distance we walk and I'm sure that in total this was an eighty mile run for him. He is beat today.

Day 2: After breakfast, we packed and started down canyon. The photo shows us ready to take off on day 2, a bit tired but happy. The nine miles out from the camp site to the end of the trail were harder than I'd expected they'd be. The upper section of the trail is mostly forested with the trail running through the trees. About six or seven miles upstream from the lower end the terrain opens up into steep and rocky sage country with few trees except the cottonwoods, aspens and willows just along the river. The sun was brutal. I don't know how hot it was, but it must have been near ninety if not more. In the last five miles, much of the river itself runs across private land with the trail up on the south bank separated from the river by barbed wire fences. For the last two miles or so the far bank is intermittently clustered with small cabins and trailers.

Sixteen miles later, happy, tired and achy, we got back to the car parked at the camp site just at 1:30. Exactly twentyfour hours after we'd left the top end. Warren and I drove up to get my truck, a drive of about 30 miles, mostly on dirt roads, only to realize I'd left the keys in my pack! Argh. Pen and Mary made the second trip up and back, this time with the keys and actually returning with the truck.

This hike is on a great trail along a beautiful wilderness river. We saw maybe ten other folks the entire time (all but two were fishing), and those were mostly concentrated at either end. Next time, we think we'll take three days to allow more fishing time and to generally allow for a more leisurely trip.

Neahkahnie Mt, Oregon

Hiked up Neahkahnie Mt on the Oregon Coast with P, Clea, Tom, Jasper and baby Zan. It's a bit more than three miles round trip and Jasper (age 6) was a champ. We passed the easiest access to the summit and managed to get up by a bit of scrambling. Great views and a fantastic hike through some Oregon coastal Old Growth forest.

Mt. Richthofen in the Never Summer Range

Mt. Richthofen is the highest peak in the Never Summer Range. It is just south of Cameron pass on Hwy 14. Lake Agnes is a short one mile hike from the parking area and lies at the base of the impressive Nokhu Crags and Mt Richtoffen. We traversed the lake on the south side across the boulder fields shedded from Nokhu crags which tower above. The photo shows P on the traverse around the lake. Higher up, there were some snow fields that made progress easier, but they proved to be a bit scary for P who has not done any snow climbing before. We made it up onto the obvious ridge (above the pines at the end of the lake in the photo) unnecessarily crossing a steep bit of snow. We made it about as high as the base of the rightmost snowfield (that looks a bit like a duck with a hat) before turning back. The rock up the ridge is extremely loose and with Erdos climbing above and knocking the occasional rock down on top of us we decided to retreat.
It was a beautiful day and we plan to return soon to get to the top without the dog.

Sugarloaf

Climbed Sugarloaf below Medicine Bow peak with P and Erdos. It took about an hour to get to the top from the car (parked at the hairpin on 130). Sugarloaf is 11,300 ft. but the climb from the road must be less than 800 ft. Forgot the camera (again) but snarfed this photo off micksmtn. It shows the opposite side of the peak (North), while we scrambled up the South ridge. Lots of big loose rocks and there was still a lot of snow on Medicine Bow.

Clark Peak

Climbed Clark Peak (12,951 ft.) near Cameron Pass in CO with Jeff VanBaalen. Cameron Pass is on HWY 14 south east of Walden CO. It's about an hours drive from our house on 230. We parked Jeff's RAV a short way up the 4WD Ruby Jewel Road and hiked up the road and the Jewel Lake trail to the lake, which was mostly still frozen over.
In the photo above, the trail goes through the meadow at the base of the leftmost peak and then up the grassy ramp into the cirque beyond where the lake is. We climbed up the slopes to the right to the summit of Clark Peak (the third to the right.) This stitched photo makes the actual summit look lower than its neighbours.
We ate some lunch at the lake and from there we headed more or less straight up for the summit. We crossed a boulder/scree field up to some gullies leading out of the cirque and then followed the steep grassy slopes to the top. Jeff, who swims 12 miles a week dashed up while I struggled with the altitude a bit. The views are spectacular. To the north along the same ridge line are South Rawah and North Rawah peaks. To the south the Never Summer Range with Nokhu Crags and Mt. Richthofen looking particulary impressive. In the distance tot he south east, Rocky Mt. National Park with Longs Peak visible. To the west, you look across North Park to the Zirkels. There were patchy cumulus but no thunderheads. We descended down the south ridge and across the face of the next peak (12,433 ft.) along the ridge and then back north to the Jewel Lake trail crossing a small creek in the meadow. All told, it took us about six hours and maybe six miles to the lake and another two up and along the ridge for an eight mile walk. With a higher 4wd vehicle and the fortitude to drive the rough road to the trailhead would have saved three miles of walking.

Vedauwoo again, cracks this time

Garrett and Sarah and I returned to Vedauwoo again today with Penelope and Erdos as well. Garrett led Cornelius (5.5) on the Nautilus and we all followed. This is a short crack climb that I'd compare in difficulty to Baby (5.6) at the Gunks. This was the first time Garrett placed his own pro on lead. After lunch we hiked to the Valley Massif and Garret lead Bill Steal (5.6) on the south side. The photo shows him at a rest a few moves below the crux. This is a very impressive lead and I would compare it to double crack (5.8) at the gunks.

Gray Rock

After a day running errands in Fort Collins, Penelope, Erdos and I hiked to Gray Rock and climbed to the summit. I've been looking at this nice piece of rock for many years driving to Fort Collins CO down Rt 287. We left the truck at about 3:30 and made the six mile hike to the top and back in a bit more than four hours. Thunderheads blew through all afternoon. The trail to the summit winds around but is marked by cairns and some posts the forest service has put up. On reaching the summit plateau we were greeted by a cacophony of peepers. There are two small ponds near the top.
When we did approach the summit, there was another thunderhead bearing down on us, so we made a quick dash, scrambling up to the top and back. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so we have no photos.