Lots going on since the last blog, but no time to write much. So here goes…
The Tahoe Rim 100 is in just 10 days. Yikes! I’m feeling well trained, but not well rested. Hopefully I can rest up well in a hurry! I think I’ve done all I can training wise, between the Mac Forest 50k in May and today: I’ve gotten in long runs of 45, 35, 54, and 42 miles, I’ve been up Mt Hood and Mt Baker for some good, high altitude, long night/day cross training, I’ve squeezed in some speed work during the week, I’ve had some big (for me) weekly mile totals, and lately even some good heat training. And I managed to not hurt myself in the process, too. So I feel like I did what I could… not we’ll see what happens.
I climbed Mt Baker last Sunday/Monday (June 29-30) with Vic (http://vchav.blogspot.com/). We had hoped to try the North
Ridge, which looks like a seriously “fun” climb with a long approach, lots of “fresh air”, and some steep ice. But the weather was seriously warm – nothing froze while we were there, and a steep snow/ice route pretty much warrants a good hard freeze for safe climbing. Also, the forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms. So we instead opted for the popular Coleman/Deming glacier route, which made for a fine climb in its own right, without the excitement level offered by a more technical route.
We hiked in Sunday afternoon, skipping the lower camp, and instead camping along Heliotrope ridge. There were lots of campsites at the base of the ridge, sheltered by the crumbly basalt cliffs. We opted instead to climb up 150 feet or so to the ridge crest, since the weather was warm and calm, and the views from the ridge crest were spectacular. We had views stretching from Vancouver, BC, to the San Juan Islands, to the city lights of Bellingham, and the Cascades to the South.
We also had zillions of glacier worms in and on the ice surrounding our rocky little campsite. They made for some extra work, trying to obtain “worm free” snow to melt for drinking and cooking. I’m not sure how many worms we ended up ingesting, but I’m happy to report no ill effects.
After a poor night’s sleep, we were up at 1:30, and on our way by about 2:30. We dropped back down off the ridge, then re-gained the boot path that led the way up the glacier, through occasional crevasses. It was still quite warm – I climbed in just a short sleeve shirt, shorts, and wind pants. For the most part the glacier was still well buried by this years snow, and not many crevasse detours were required. We quickly moved ahead of the one party near us, and had the mountain to ourselves. The snow was quite soft, and even with the previous days boot tracks to follow, we post-holed quite a bit. Early on I saw a couple flashes of lightning off to the east, which was unnerving. As the sky slowly lit up, we could see some spooky clouds over the mountain. At one point it even sprinkled on us, just a bit. But the summit stayed clear, and any real weather troubles held off.
By 6:30 or so we reached the summit crater. A wide, flat snowy sheet, with the true summit being nothing more than a 30 foot bump on its far end. It took 10 minutes or so to walk over and up. At the top was the only time we got cold, as the wind was blowing from the North and it was quite exposed. We bundled up, had a good rest and some food, and waited until the sun finally came out from behind the clouds. After that it cleared up nicely, and the weather stayed warm and pleasant.
The descent was easy, plunge stepping, practically running, down the warm soft snow on the "Roman Wall". We passed several groups coming up as we were heading down. It was sort of comical at one point, as a rope team of 4 or 5 was hammering pickets into the snow for protection, clinging to the slope, as Vic and I came literally running downhill, heading down the 30 degree slope in giant, soft, plunge steps.
We got back to our ridgeline campsite by 8:30 am or so, and had a good lunch. Or breakfast maybe. We had planned to spend another night out, maybe do some ice climbing. But it was so early, and the warm conditions were ill suited for ice climbing, so we decided to head home. By 1:30 or so we were back at the car, and by 9:00 pm I was back at home.
The Tahoe Rim 100 is in just 10 days. Yikes! I’m feeling well trained, but not well rested. Hopefully I can rest up well in a hurry! I think I’ve done all I can training wise, between the Mac Forest 50k in May and today: I’ve gotten in long runs of 45, 35, 54, and 42 miles, I’ve been up Mt Hood and Mt Baker for some good, high altitude, long night/day cross training, I’ve squeezed in some speed work during the week, I’ve had some big (for me) weekly mile totals, and lately even some good heat training. And I managed to not hurt myself in the process, too. So I feel like I did what I could… not we’ll see what happens.
I climbed Mt Baker last Sunday/Monday (June 29-30) with Vic (http://vchav.blogspot.com/). We had hoped to try the North
Ridge, which looks like a seriously “fun” climb with a long approach, lots of “fresh air”, and some steep ice. But the weather was seriously warm – nothing froze while we were there, and a steep snow/ice route pretty much warrants a good hard freeze for safe climbing. Also, the forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms. So we instead opted for the popular Coleman/Deming glacier route, which made for a fine climb in its own right, without the excitement level offered by a more technical route.
We hiked in Sunday afternoon, skipping the lower camp, and instead camping along Heliotrope ridge. There were lots of campsites at the base of the ridge, sheltered by the crumbly basalt cliffs. We opted instead to climb up 150 feet or so to the ridge crest, since the weather was warm and calm, and the views from the ridge crest were spectacular. We had views stretching from Vancouver, BC, to the San Juan Islands, to the city lights of Bellingham, and the Cascades to the South.
We also had zillions of glacier worms in and on the ice surrounding our rocky little campsite. They made for some extra work, trying to obtain “worm free” snow to melt for drinking and cooking. I’m not sure how many worms we ended up ingesting, but I’m happy to report no ill effects.
After a poor night’s sleep, we were up at 1:30, and on our way by about 2:30. We dropped back down off the ridge, then re-gained the boot path that led the way up the glacier, through occasional crevasses. It was still quite warm – I climbed in just a short sleeve shirt, shorts, and wind pants. For the most part the glacier was still well buried by this years snow, and not many crevasse detours were required. We quickly moved ahead of the one party near us, and had the mountain to ourselves. The snow was quite soft, and even with the previous days boot tracks to follow, we post-holed quite a bit. Early on I saw a couple flashes of lightning off to the east, which was unnerving. As the sky slowly lit up, we could see some spooky clouds over the mountain. At one point it even sprinkled on us, just a bit. But the summit stayed clear, and any real weather troubles held off.
By 6:30 or so we reached the summit crater. A wide, flat snowy sheet, with the true summit being nothing more than a 30 foot bump on its far end. It took 10 minutes or so to walk over and up. At the top was the only time we got cold, as the wind was blowing from the North and it was quite exposed. We bundled up, had a good rest and some food, and waited until the sun finally came out from behind the clouds. After that it cleared up nicely, and the weather stayed warm and pleasant.The descent was easy, plunge stepping, practically running, down the warm soft snow on the "Roman Wall". We passed several groups coming up as we were heading down. It was sort of comical at one point, as a rope team of 4 or 5 was hammering pickets into the snow for protection, clinging to the slope, as Vic and I came literally running downhill, heading down the 30 degree slope in giant, soft, plunge steps.
We got back to our ridgeline campsite by 8:30 am or so, and had a good lunch. Or breakfast maybe. We had planned to spend another night out, maybe do some ice climbing. But it was so early, and the warm conditions were ill suited for ice climbing, so we decided to head home. By 1:30 or so we were back at the car, and by 9:00 pm I was back at home.
Vic's pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/search/show/?q=Mt+Baker&w=29368917%40N00.
My pictures Here:http://picasaweb.google.com/mtnahorniak/MtBaker
Avery and I climbed a mountain as well this past weekend. We hiked up Mt June, located about 45 minutes east of Eugene. The trail climbs about 900 feet in ~1.4 miles, and has a beautiful view from it’s rocky summit. 
Avery and I climbed a mountain as well this past weekend. We hiked up Mt June, located about 45 minutes east of Eugene. The trail climbs about 900 feet in ~1.4 miles, and has a beautiful view from it’s rocky summit. 
On the drive up, maybe ½ mile from the trailhead, we saw two bears (or maybe the same bear twice) cross the road in front of us. That was pretty cool – I’d never seen a bear in Oregon before. The first bear only offered us a quick glance, but the 2nd bear hopped onto the road, and ran casually up the road ahead of us for maybe 100 feet while we stopped and watched it.
I also saw 4 slugs along the trail. Avery saw five. It was very important to her to mention this.
The hike to the summit was tough, but Avery was willing to let me take a few breaks along the way. It took us about 70 minutes from car to summit, then, after a nice long lunch beak, about 30 minutes to get back down. Avery demonstrated her speed hiking skills on the way back down. She's super quick. She's been giving me power-hiking lessons to get me ready for Tahoe. :-)
The hike to the summit was tough, but Avery was willing to let me take a few breaks along the way. It took us about 70 minutes from car to summit, then, after a nice long lunch beak, about 30 minutes to get back down. Avery demonstrated her speed hiking skills on the way back down. She's super quick. She's been giving me power-hiking lessons to get me ready for Tahoe. :-)
4 comments:
great fun reading about the latest climb/hike---Avery is an amazing 5 year old! (of course, I am her grandma)
Matt, all the best at tahoe for you!
Matt, you're well prepared for Tahoe. Good luck!
Matt,
Awesome, awesome, awesome performance at Tahoe! I'm very proud of you, my friend. Top-10 at the National Championships...pretty darn impressive. Take a well deserved break.
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