Koppen Mountain 10/26/10

I had a great trip up Koppen mountain in the Teanaway region of the Cascade mountains with Mike, Rick and Rachel. The original plan was to climb up Esmeralda Peak but since the area had just got a dumping of fresh snow and the weather forecast was for high winds and snow we decided on Koppen instead. It is a little shorter trip than Esmeralda and has a trail to the top when it isn't covered in snow so this seemed like a better choice.

As we drove over the pass it looked like we were in for a wet and stormy day, but as we continued to drive East the rain shadow began to work it's magic.

We started hiking with a light dusting of snow on the ground that got increasingly deeper as we continued to climb. We were able to follow the trail as far as the saddle at 5040 but from there we had to navigate cross country. Because the mountains in this tend to be open with very little brush we were able to make our way without much difficulty. We followed the ridge South and with the use of Mike's GPS  were able to stay on route when it flattened out and became less clear which way we should go.

Near the summit the snow was a foot and a half to two feet deep of light fluffy powder. The sun began to peek out and we were treated to some patches of blue sky. I was surprised how pleasant it was at the summit especially considering I was expecting a pretty stormy day. We took some photos and signed the summit register before heading down a little lower to take a rest break and eat.



Kumar The Tiger Climbs Vesper Peak

Nearing the summit in the fog.

Kumar  the Tiger is hungry!

I hear that the view from the summit of Vesper Peak is spectacular. I climbed this last Sunday with my friends from OSAT on a cool and foggy day. Even though we didn't get the great views we all had had a great time! I will have to go back sometime and hopefully climb Sperry too.

OMG Kathy made homemade backpacker apple pie!

Snag in the fog

Idaho...More Than Just Potatoes!

I had the bright idea that it might be fun to climb the highest peak in Idaho Borah Peak. Somehow I talked my friend Kent in joining me on this adventure. So to start with Borah Peak is a hell of a long way from anywhere. I flew into Boise on a Saturday afternoon and spent the day hanging out with my Sister and her family that live nearby. Kent picked me up at her house Sunday morning and we were on our way. We decided to visit City of Rocks while we were at it because it was sort of on the way and we thought it would be cool to get to do some rock climbing as well.

On the way to Borah we passed Craters of the Moon National Monument and decided it was worth spending a little time to check out. We drove through the park and stopped briefly at the visitor center and did a very short hike near the spatter cones.

 We arrived at the trail head for Borah in the late afternoon. It has a nice little camp ground and the price (free) is right. We immediately noticed the altitude here, about 7,000 feet above sea level. We enjoyed a healthy and nutritious dinner of brats and Stove Top stuffing and settled in for some rest.

On the trail to Borah Peak I was struck by the stark rugged beauty of the Lost River Range. It is very different to any area I have climbed before and has sort of a wild west feel. We passed some amazing trees that had been burned in a fire and were left in a bizarre twisted and discolored state.

So when we got to the section of the route where it gets steep called chicken out ridge we did. It was much more difficult than I had anticipated and Kent who was feeling the affects of the altitude wasn't feeling entirely comfortable about the exposure. We didn't make the summit but we still had an amazing experience. I will bring a rope and some safety gear when I return.

Since we were on a pretty limited schedule we decided to drive to City of Rocks. It was a long drive after getting up early and hiking all day but we really wanted to be in a position to be able to get some climbing in before we had to be back. We stopped in Twin Falls to pick up a propane bottle and decided to eat dinner out. Starving and exhausted we stopped at Shari's and ate some greasy grub.We still had a lot of driving left but somehow managed to make it to the City and find a camp site about 11:00 pm. We had a full moon and could tell even at night that this was an amazing place.

In the morning we were not disappointed by the scenery. We took our time getting ready and had a hearty breakfast of pancakes from a can. I had a chance to scramble up some nearby rocks and do some chi kung exercises and meditate. We were in an area away from the bulk of the climbing and had the area to ourselves. Even if there would of been other campers it would have felt like you had it to yourself  because there were only 4 campsites in this area and they were all spread out from each other.

We climbed to the summit of lookout rock by an easy 2 pitch 5.5 route.The rock climbing was fun and we had a great adventure, especially trying to figure out how to get back down! That was all we really had time and energy to climb, but it was worth it to visit such a cool place and get to climb.



Leavenworth Car Camp 9/10-9/12/2010

I went camping with my daughter Amelia who was not yet 2 years old! I was worried that she would not sleep and she would cry all night, but she was a real trooper and slept through the night and was overall a very good girl. It was an OSAT car camping trip and we hung out with friends part of the time, but had our own campsite and got to spend a lot of time just her and I hanging out. On Saturday we got to go for a very fun hike up to Eight Mile lake with our friends Rick and Ann. This was an unforgettable experience for me and one that I will treasure always!