Camp Muir Backcountry Skiing Eric December 2-4, 2017 I was trying to acclimate for an upcoming mountaineering trip to South America, and Camp Muir, on the slopes of Mt Rainier, is one of the best places to do this in the wintertime. The road to the trailhead is plowed every… Continue reading
Cowboy Mountain (5,853 ft) Eric and Greg November 26, 2017 A string of warm, rainy days had caused most of the ski resorts in the cascades to temporarily close, and Sunday was supposed to be more of the same weather. But Greg and I wanted to get in our first… Continue reading
The Pinnacles, Indian Fort Mountain, and Eagle’s Nest Eric and Keith November 23, 2017 We did a classic hike near Berea, Kentucky, one I’ve probably done at least 100 times, but it’s still always fun. We hiked and scrambled up to the West Pinnacle for a great view of town,… Continue reading
Kentucky Peakbagging – Robe Mountain (1,527ft) and Joe Lick Knob (1,483ft) Eric and Keith November 22, 2017 We hiked into the woods near Blue Lick Creek, and up to the side of Basin Mountain until it started getting really steep. Then we traversed on an old logging road grade, and… Continue reading
Snoqualmie Pass Overnight Matthew and Eric November 18-19, 2017 Matthew flew up for the weekend, and on Saturday morning we started hiking out of Snoqualmie Pass. There was a lot of snow, but luckily the trail was broken for the first few miles. Eventually, however, whoever had broken trail had… Continue reading
Olympic Coast and Cape Alava (Westernmost point in continental US) Eric and Katie Nov 10-12, 2017 We headed west out of Seattle on Friday morning and tried to stop off at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, but snow had already closed the road. We continued west and reached Cape… Continue reading
Pratt Lake Eric, Ethan, Cleo, Annajoy, Eric November 7, 2017 A group of 5 former MITOCers joined up Tuesday morning for a snowy hike up to Pratt Lake. Ethan and I broke trail in snowshoes through a surprising amount of snow, to the edge of Pratt Lake, about 5 miles… Continue reading
Thompson Point (5,124ft) Eric Gilbertson November 5, 2017 I drove out into the mountains on a rainy, snowy Sunday morning, aiming to get up a below-treeline mountain. Thompson point is very close to Seattle, only 45 minutes away, and I started up the trail at 9am. It was raining at… Continue reading
Clark Mountain (8,602ft) and Luahna Peak (8,400ft) Eric Gilbertson October 28-29, 2017 I had attempted these mountains on Tuesday with Duncan, but had to turn back at the edge of treeline because our progress was too slow in the deep crusty snow. Luckily there was another weather window during the… Continue reading
Clark Mountain (8,602ft) Attempt to 5,000ft Eric and Duncan October 24, 2017 The Tuesday weather forecast was warm and sunny, so Duncan and I drove out of town Monday night to the White River trailhead. The previous weekend was extremely wet, with 5-10″ of water equivalent, which translated to up… Continue reading