Sledding!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvtiYhe71dc

Adventure Toddler!

When my daughter Amelia was born a little over 3 years ago I knew that it was going to be a dramatic lifestyle change. I was used to being able to go hike and climb pretty much whenever I wanted to. My wife works as a retail manager and is required to work long hours and many weekends. I began to wonder what I was going to do and how was I  going to stay sane. Luckily I have learned that if you are creative and determined there are a lot of outdoor sports that you can do with a toddler.

From newborn and 6 months I was pretty much limited to jogging or walking with the stroller or baby Bjorn.This was fun but with the Bjorn we were limited to fairly short hikes because it is pretty uncomfortable after a while. The stroller was ok but going in circles around Green lake is not that exciting.

However when she turned 6 month and we got a baby backpack it opened up a whole new world to us. Before she was even a year old we had climbed up several challenging hikes including Tiger Mountain and Granite Mountain near I-90 in the Washington Cascades. (See Granite Mountain with Piper 8/09)

Our next sport that we got to do together was bicycling. We have had many fun rides in her i-Bert bike seat. I had to have some modifications done to make it work on this bike but it was well worth it. It is such a cool thing to be able to see your child  and interact while riding.I cannot recommend this seat enough.   Unfortunately she is almost too big for this now and we may have done our last ride in it. The good new is we have a trailer too and luckily she enjoys riding it.While the trailer works and we can go for longer rides in weather that is less than perfect we will miss the days of the i-Bert.

In addition to lots of hikes and bike rides we have gone sledding , skating and swimming a number of times. The point is just because you have a baby it doesn't mean that you are stuck sitting around the house. It does require that you are determined and patient however. To be able to get all of your and her gear, food and water packed and ready to go and get a well fed and rested toddler to the start of the destination is no easy task. Then you have to be willing and ready to turn back and go home after 10 minutes because this is just not her day. But the failures while difficult at the time certainly pale to the victories we shared together.  

SITFAGR!

I mentioned in my last post that I ran my first half marathon in November. This is part of  a new direction for me from training strictly to meet mountaineering goals to doing endurance sports. I would love to just climb, hike and snowboard all of the time but it is just not an option for someone who has to work and be part of a family. So in order to be able to participate in sports on a consistent and regular basis I have chosen sports that I can fit into my schedule and offer a challenge. After swearing off running when I got out of the Army I started running to get in shape for mountain climbing. Now I am running for running sake more and am finding it very enjoyable. It does help me to have a goal in mind such as I had for the half marathon. I have set some goals for the upcoming year. Some athletic and some mountain sports goals. It is a rather ambitious list but It helps me to have goals. Just remember to stay in the fight and get results!

2012  Goals

*Athletic

Run the Vancouver Marathon

Ride the Seattle to Portland bike ride

Hike the Pacific Crest trail from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass

Compete in a Sprint Triathalon

Swim in the Green Lake open water race

Swim in a Lake Washington open water event

*Snowboard

Board at Snoqualmie  Pass East

Board at Stevens Pass

Board at Crystal Mountain

Board  St. Hellens

Board Mt. Adams

*Mountaineering

Climb Little Tahoma

Climb Mt. Jefferson

Climb Mount Olympus

Winter Climb of Mt. Hood

Climb Mt Baker

Climb Mount Rainier

Lead 5.9 sport

Lead 5.8 trad

Climb the Tooth South FAce

Climb the South Face of North Ingalls Peak

2011 Update

It seems I have lost interest in writing posts for this blog. Some of the reasons include being really busy and feeling like it needs to be perfectly written. I am going to attempt to start posting more updates with more emphases on sharing what I am up to and less on how well it is presented.
I had a great time climbing this year with repeat ascents of Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier. It was fun to be a part of the leadership and instructors for helping new climbers reach their goals. I also got to do some really fun private trips with my friends. One of the most memorable trips was an ascent of a Silver Star mountain with my best climbing buddies K-Unit, Montana and the MVP. It is really a joy to climb with friends who compliment each others approach and style to ther challenges of the mountains. I also saw ascents of Maude and Seven Fingered Jack on two separate and very fun trips. I had my first attempt at climbing Mount Jefferson this year and while we fell short of the summit I learned some valuable lessons and had a great time being with friends.
I had some great family camping trips this year as well. We has a fantastic time at Pacific Beach at the Washington coast. It was so warm that I let Amelia get in the water and she just loved it! We also had fun at the annual OSAT car camp. I got to do some rock climbing during the weekend and that was really fun.
The last big thing adventure wise this year was completing my first half marathon run. It was a great confidence builder for me to be able to train for and complete a half marathon. I am hoping to do a full marathon next year.

What the hell is a Siger?

A Siger is what happens when you combine two very popular training hikes in one day. A masochists dream with over 5,000 feet of elevation gain in a day it is also my favorite animal!

Mt Si is a very popular hike just East of Seattle and has been used as a training hike for climbers who want to get into or stay in shape for climbing big mountains for years. In the summer the trail heads are packed with hikers of of all sizes and shapes who trudge to the top of this roughly 4,000 foot mountain.

The Haystack

In the Winter it is filled with a little more hardcore folks,  Hikers and climbers who take advantage of easy access and safe snow conditions loaded down with packs that sometimes weigh over 40 pounds they work on the fitness they need to climb the big mountains. The old trail is much less traveled in the Summer time, but in the Winter when mostly experienced hikers are out here it seems to get a better share of people on it. It is a little steeper, a little prettier and a little bit less known than the new trail.

Snag along the old Si trail

The Enchanted Valley

Tiger mountain is a series of sub-alpine mountains with a vast network of trails leading to and around it's many summits. The hike to West Tiger 3 is a very popular hike with several trail to it's summit. The cable line is an unmaintained trail that goes virtually straight up the mountain with no switchbacks. A classic training hike where you can knock out 2,000 feet of elevation gain in a short amount of time.

I have been itching to do this for the last few weeks and took advantage of a slow work week to do it last Wednesday. Because I needed to be back in the city before 4:00 pm I opted to start very early at about 5:00 am. I know the trail well so hiking it in the dark with a headlamp was not a problem, but it was a little creepy. I often listen to music when I hike solo but hiking by yourself in the dark and being cut off from your sense of hearing is too weird for me. I kept the tunes off until after the sun came up.

Icy Shrub and Grey Jay Atop Mt. Si

I was treated to rain, snow, hail and a little sun on this trip. All in a days work I suppose. On the hike down I ran into a group of friends hiking up once again proving my happy theory that I am more likely to run into my friends in the mountains than in the city!

Mt. Rainier from Mt Si

The hike up Tiger mountain was nice as the weather had finally settled into a pretty nice day.  I hiked a nice loop up the cable line and back down the West Tiger 3 trail and somehow resisted the urge to hike over to West Tiger 2 and bag another summit.

Winter Wonderland on West Tiger 3

What is next? Mount Si Box Peak? Mount Tennesiger? Mount Si Siger 2&3?

We shall see!

Lau Ga Kuen

I learned these forms about 8 years ago. I haven't practiced them for over two years and I was curious what I still remembered. They look a little rough but I think all of the moves are there and in proper order. I am going to start practicing them again and see what improvements I can make.

Hung Ga Kuen Forms

I learned these forms about 8 years ago. I haven't practiced them for over two years and I was curious what I still remembered. They look a little rough but I think all of the moves are there and in proper order. I am going to start practicing them again and see what improvements I can make.

The Year of the Rabbit

Chinese New Year celebration in Hing Hay park for the year of the rabbit 2011 in Seattle WA

I am NOT the Easter Bunny!

The Dragon

Tall lions

Traditional Chinese Lion

A crowd gathers to watch

Sifi Mak Hin Fai

The lion does a traditional New Years blessing (cai ching) for a local business

The lion says Raaaaahr!

The Lion and the teaser dancing

Green Lion

The lions bow

Kung fu students performing the lion dance

Sifu David F. Leong and his students

Kung Fu students performing Choy La Fut forms

Photos of my life as a window cleaner

               View from the Maritime building

    Merry Christmas

Seattle Ferry

View From the Pioneer Building

Self Portrait with Smith Tower

Getting Ready to Drop

Hanging from the Pioneer Building

Looking South

    View from the Polson Building

Climbing over the parapet

Looking South

View from the Western Building roof

Don't look down!

Picasso at the Seattle Art Musem

                           Portrait of Dora Maar 1937

Seattle has been blessed with a visiting exhibition of works by Pablo Picasso from the Musee National  Picasso Paris. I had the opportunity to see the exhibition twice. The first time was just a quick run through on a children's day at the museum. It was just enough for me to get a taste of it and want to come back. The second time was earlier this week.It was nice to be able to take my time and really look at the art and enjoy it.
I knew very little about Picasso and his art before this exhibit. Not that I am an expert now but I know more than I did. I knew that Picasso was famous for cubism but didn't realize that cubism was just one aspect of his work. I was surprised to find out he was a sculptor as well. My overall impression was that his work is definitely worthy of master status. It found it amazing that so many creative and visionary ideas could come from one mans imagination. Mind blowing.

Mt. Si Appitite Builder 2010

One of the awesome things about being a member of OSAT is it’s cool traditions of hiking up Mt. Si every Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years day. I have been lucky enough to get to participate in the Thanksgiving Day appetite builder hike the last two years. Last year we were treated to almost continuous rainfall all the way up but this year was a little different.

 We had snow on the ground in Seattle and by the time we reached the trailhead in North Bend there was probably about 6 inches on the ground. I had a great time socializing with friends as we hiked up to the top. We passed a few friends on their way down who had started earlier and visited with them a little.

When we got to near the summit we ran into the main contingent and spent some time socializing and drinking coffee and tea in an area in the woods out of the chilling wind at the top. It was a great way to spend the morning and I had absolutely no guilt about eating way too much turkey and fixings when I got home.

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.