Jul 28 2010
Trekking Buddies
I was playing with the Movie Maker in Picasa (friends gave me the idea). This is the tear jerker that was quickly produced. My friends and I did our own stunts. Click the link here… Trekking Buddies.
Archive for the 'Mountaineering' Category
Aug 23 2008
Matterhorn Peak – Bridgeport, CA
Handy and I were hiking on Donner Pass the week before, and I realized I haven’t been to the eastern Sierra’s this summer (my favorite place after Southern Utah). I called my friend, Cory, from Reno and asked him if he wanted to do a 22 miler in Yosemite or climb the Matterhorn Peak (in California, not Switzerland). He chose the Matterhorn. We started our day hike at Twin Lakes at 7100 feet, crossed the divide between Horse and Spiller creeks at 10,750 feet, and scaled a Class II route up the southeast face of Matterhorn Peak at 12,276 feet. In all, it was a fine hike with 5,000 feet elevation gain in 5 miles one way. We finished the day by stopping at one of the good burger joints in Bridgeport.
May 10 2008
Mt. Shasta
This was my 4th climb (3rd 1-day) and 4th summit on Shasta (elev 14,162 ft.). The climb entails approx 7200 vertical feet in 7 miles (one way). I’ll post a few pictures once my climbing buddy sends them to me.
On May 9, I met Cory Sobrio at Mt. Shasta City at 7 pm. We filled up on pizza and then drove to Bunny Flat trailhead (elev approx 6800 ft.). We started climbing at 9:40 pm. The weather was clear and cold. There was a lot of snow at Bunny Flat, but the mountain was a mixture of bare ground/snow. I understand the wind this winter blew the snow off the mountain leaving late spring and summer (July) climbing conditions.
I climbed strong to elev 12,500 ft +/-; the pizza paid off here. Above this point to the summit, I struggled.
I was on the summit at 5:14 am (gained about 1000 ft/hr, on average) and saw the sunrise. It was cold in the wind, but barely OK behind rocks in a windbreak. Water in Nalgene bottles froze almost solid in 30 minutes if left out of the pack. I had a little frostnip on my left ring finger; the little bugger stung for about 30 minutes.
Cory and I had the top to ourselves. After 1.5 hours, we started our decent.
There wasn’t any rockfall during our climb, although there were signs of rockfall all around. One benefit of climbing at night!
We couldn’t glissade on the decent because the snow was still too icy. All the down stepping left my legs a little sore.
We made it back to Bunny Flat at 11:10 am on May 10 and made it home for a solid night’s sleep.
Jul 10 2007
Mt. Rainier – Success Couloir
July 9 – 10, 2007
Climbed Success Glacier (East) Couloir from Paradise. Descended via Dissapointment Cleaver. Total climb time, car to car, was 23 hours – a real adrenaline push. This was my 2nd climb and 2nd 1-day summit on Mt. Rainier. My climbing partners were Terry McClain (lead) and Marek Wencel. Approx 10,000’ vertical in 12 miles (one way).
Terry posted a trip report and photos on Mike Gauthier’s website/blog (Mike is the lead climbing ranger on Mt. Rainier). And Marek posted comments at Northwest Hikers. Be sure to see the rest of our Mt. Rainier trip photos. Continue Reading »
Jul 08 2007
Mt. Adams, WA and Portland, OR
July 2 – 4, 2007
Camped at tree line with Don and Kandy on July 2, 2007. We hung around and took it easy on July 3. Climbed the South Spur and summited solo at 3 a.m. on July 4. Enjoyed Portland, Oregon for a few days following the climb. View my Mt. Adams and Portland pictures by clicking the link. Continue Reading »
