From North to South

Much more exciting than it seems. PC JDStylos

These past few days we have gone from high desert, cold starry nights to high altitude summit passes with snow covered roads and have now found our way to southern Utah in the outdoor mecca of Moab.

We left City of Rocks and found our way to Tremonton, Utah where we borrowed some electricity and wifi from outside the local library and soon found ourselves in the middle of no where to find a place to sleep. We awoke and went on down to The Golden Spike National Monument (you can find more about Golden Spike HERE) where we arrived an hour before it opened so we enjoyed a walk around the outside of the sight before heading inside to the museum. It was cold and we had heard rumors of it not actually being anything very exciting but after all was said and done we both really enjoyed our time and its quite a cool part of history. Plus right before we left the rangers told us about the tour that takes you to go see the trains. So we hopped in the car and headed to the facility where they work on the maintenance of the trains for about 6 months each year. The trains are replicas of the ones used for the actual ceremony but were very impressive and I was taken aback by some of the facts about the trains!


We left to Logan, Utah where we ended up finding a great campsite and waiting out the bad weather

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for a couple of days for climbing in the canyon. Needless to say Logan Canyon was a bit of a bust for climbing as by the time we actually got a chance to climb it was still so cold that on the one route we ended up doing we froze our butts off. It was called "Lost Bolt" a 5.7 sport route on the First Practice wall when you first enter the canyon. The route itself would've been awesome if we weren't so cold, but with smooth limestone and numb fingers you couldn't exactly feel how good our holds were. After a cold one climb for each of us we decided to pack it up and move it out.

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Joe had looked at the map and saw some great back highways that would take us through the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest where we hoped to get some snow and maybe some good photos. So we hopped on highway 89 where we eventually went through the corner of Wyoming (where gas is insanely cheep!) and merged onto highway 150 that took us into the national forest. Basically the moment we hit the forest a mother moose popped out of the woods with a young calf behind her. Was SO exciting to see as I don't ever remember seeing a wild moose before. We passed quite a few empty camp spots then opted to turn around for the night as it was getting late and the snow was really starting to come down. We stopped at Butterfly Lake to get some quick photos then made our way to a camp spot right by the river. It was crazy cold. So after some hot cocoa and Annies we quickly hopped into bed and started listening to the second book of Harry Potter on tape and hit the rack. The next morning we awoke to clear skies and fresh snow and hopped in the car and drove through the rest of the pass. Not without stopping for a couple more pictures and seeing another massive moose along the way, of course!

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We had a long day of driving ahead of us and now were headed for Moab. We did make a couple of pit stops, one being at an old abandoned cabin and the other at a library in Duchesne, Utah. The best pit stop was at the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum where we enjoyed a break of driving and some super cool history on dinosaurs and archaeology from around the Utah area.

Once again we hit the road and finally arrived in Moab. What a difference from waking up in snow to watching the sun set against the red canyon walls.

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Waking up in Moab the next day we did a bit of research for some climbing at the local library and headed out to a popular climbing place in Hunter Canyon called "Ice Cream Parlor" (a big slab). We found it and much to our disappointment a guide service was there and had top roped all the routes. Though we didn't get the chance to climb we did stop and get to do a small bit of hiking in the canyon and came back to the Suzuki that happened to not start. Long story short, the gear was in between 4WD and 2WD and after some fidgeting around and problem solving she started up no problem! WHEW...

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We spent the rest of the day in Arches National Park where we scoped out some great night photography spots and hiking along the way and seeing the arches. You can see why it would be so popular as there is not many words to describe natures way of carving such landscapes!

Today we tried once again to climb at Ice Cream Parlor and with much more success. Heading to the canyon early we arrived to be the only ones there. We were stoked and started climbing! We both climbed 5 routes. All rated a 5.7 (which we both lead) except one route that was a 5.9 that we set up a top rope for as it was harder than both of our outside climbing comfort levels are. Plus the top rope sets quite the peace of mind for the both of us. Joe climbed its twice and climbed really well where as I on the other hand was very glad to be on top rope as I fell a couple of times at the beginning and the crux at the end. Overall though we both got to lead some routes and practice anchor setting along with rappelling. Was basically exactly what we were looking for in today's venture.

Finally a photo of Joe!

After a few hours and some very tired muscles we made our way back to the car. The sun had finally hit the wall and it was getting hot so we were glad to make our way into town where we stopped at the "Lazy Lizard" hostel to grab a shower and headed to the local park. Its been about 10 days since packing and the car already needed a reorganization so we pulled almost everything out and found everything a new place which is much more accessible and made way more sense. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a regular thing throughout the trip as we get more savvy at packing and just living out of a small SUV.

The evening plans are to celebrate our first successful climbing day in Utah with some dinner at "Milts" then head to Arches National Park to hopefully get some good night photography.

We have so much more climbing we want to do here in Moab, including going back to Ice Cream Parlor so I wouldn't be surprised if we stayed another week here. Its such a cool place and we're both really enjoying our time here! Fingers crossed for some equally as good climbing in the coming days!

Officially on the Road

So we have officially hit the road and are currently using the Wifi from a closed library. Sitting in a pavilion and using the outlets to charge our computers in Tremonton, Utah.

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We packed everything up and are now definitely on our road trip. We left the evening of the 13th after laying everything out in front of the car and seeing how much stuff we actually had. Which we
weren't actually sure if it was all going to fit but needless to say it fits fairly comfortably. After my mom gave us an unreal amount of food (amazing!) we were a little short on space but luckily overtime that stock pile will soon dwindle and everything will soon fit in its perfect place.

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So that evening we hit the road to my grandparents house in Twin Falls, Idaho. We arrived and was welcomed by wonderful smiling faces and hugs.  This was the first time my grandmother had gotten the chance to meet Joe and needless to say I think everyone is a fan:) We spent a wonderful evening catching up, laughing and eating some wonderful homemade cooking by
the best grandmother in the world. Got to sleep in a warm bed for the last time for who knows how long it will be. The next morning got the chance to eat some breakfast and said our goodbyes and went on our way.

Our first stop once we hit the road was Shoshone Falls on the Snake River. Which by the way is taller than Niagara Falls! I was initially worried that we would have to pay the $2 entry fee but once we arrived we quickly realized that it is so late in the season not only do you not have to pay but there is also barely a trickle of water going over the falls. But even so, was cool to see and show Joe!

So with that we headed on our way to City of Rocks. We took some back roads that drove along true farm country and was quite the sight. Fun to see what I feel like a lot of the world doesn't get to see anymore.

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As we were driving we passed a couple of historical sights and one that just so happened to be talking about City of Rocks. But the best thing about this historical sight is the fact that it was right on the
edge of a potato field that had already been harvested. The one thing about potato harvests is that when they pick up the potatoes they leave all the smaller ones behind. So we happened to pick up a few for future home fries that could be on the menu.

So we drove along and ended up going in the opposite way into City of Rocks than the previous time I had been there so I didn't actually recognize it at first but it was fun to see a completely different side of the City. From a distance I saw Jackson's Thumb and that was the direction we drove.

The smaller peak to the left is Jackson's Thumb
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Jackson's Thumb is a 5.7, 4 pitch, sport climb located in City of Rocks Idaho. I had climbed it before
but Joe had not. It was my first multi pitch climb and the only one I have done thus far. But needless to say it is perfect for your first multi-pitch climb and I was looking forward to climbing it with Joe.

So we arrived and chose not to take a designated camp spot and chose the free parking lot instead. We parked the car with a view of the climb. Weather wasn't ideal but we saw a break and decided to go hike up to the base of the climb. The hike is about 30-40 minutes long and a fairly good uphill climb. Still being slightly sore from Thompson it was good to get out and stretch our legs.You can only see about half of the first pitch from the base but was rewarded with a wonderful view of The City.

Once we got back to the car the predicted rain and wind started to roll in and we spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the first book of Harry Potter on tape and writing in our journals.

Since it was quite nasty outside we enjoyed our first real MRE (meal ready to eat) provided by my father who is in the military who donated 2 full boxes to the road trip. Pork sausage and gravy sounded better than it actually was but even so a semi warm meal and some toaster pastry for dessert wasn't the worst thing in the world for dinner. We ended our evening with Joe editing some photos and me coloring in my post card book.

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PC JDStylos

We woke up this morning to a fogged in valley but after a few hours we saw our weather window and headed up towards Jackson's Thumb. The weather wasn't ideal, mostly cloudy with some intermittent sprinkling but even so we took advantage and left the car around 9:45AM.

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The hike to the climb with all of the gear was much more difficult, and once we arrived to the base of the climb we were both breathing pretty heavily. Once we caught our breath we put on all of the gear, did our safety checks and I started to lead the first pitch.

Both Joe and I climbed really well but our calves were so sore after even the first pitch from our past excursion on Thompson. We leaped frog the pitches, meaning I led the first pitch, Joe led the second pitch, while I did the third and he finished on the last and hit the summit first.

The summit was windy and cold and with that we didn't get any actual summit pictures to commemorate the accomplishment but we were ready to get down. It was a two pitch rappel and once we had gotten it done and over with we were both pretty pooped. Not to mention we lost our trail and ended up breaking ground to the car.

We arrived back at the car around 2:00 PM and were both pretty stoked, We celebrated with some canned chili mixed with Annies Mac n' Cheese. Which I might add was incredibly delectable.

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After that we packed up the car and hit the road with not a real destination in mind. I did some research before we left and read that Logan Canyon offers over 400 sport climbs but the weather is not looking to great for the next few days. We pulled out the map and decided to stop in Tremonton Utah to fuel up and plan to head over to The Golden Spike National historic sight. Which happens to now be closed but the map is showing that we're not to far from The Great Salt Lake which I have never seen. So possibly camp there tonight and head over to The Golden Spike tomorrow.

If you have any recommendations of things to do in Northeast Utah until Tuesday we would love to hear them!:)

Thompson Peak (10,751ft) Sawtooth Wilderness October 10th-11th 2016

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What a better way to kick off the road trip then to start it off with a big hike and an overnight in one of the most beautiful places in Idaho, the Sawtooths!

Funny enough though, not only have I never actually spent any time in the Sawtooths, its also wicked late in the season to be climbing and attempting the highest summit in the range.

Of course that doesn't stop Joe and I though! So after plenty of research and trip planning we packed up the mobile humble abode and headed out. We left around 7:30 in the morning and left the car and hit the trail around 11:00. After a short uphill start through a forest of aspen trees the trail hits about a 3 mile walk along a ridge line through the wilderness boundary before you get to a fork in the trail. Up until this point it had been easy walking and a great warm up for what was to come. We headed left at the fork and it went immediately uphill. The trail was still apparent but was definitely starting to dwindle as we headed closer and closer to the lake.

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You make your way through an alpine meadow and this is where the trail pretty much ends. Luckily you can see your destination straight ahead, Thompson peak and below that is supposedly an unnamed Alpine lake that is just beyond the next ridge line. So straight ahead we went and this is where we realized that the rest of our hiking was going to be crossing rock fields. We made it to the lake around 2:45 and once we gained the ridge line I was in complete awe of the lake. Such clear water and the backdrop of Thompson was breathtaking. Both Joe and I took pictures and set up camp and enjoyed watching the fish catch their afternoon snacks.

Thompson Peak being lit by the morning sun.
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That evening the wind started to pick up and the weather forecast was calling for high winds and snow so we were ready for a long night. Neither of us slept super great as the the combination of howling wind, snow and altitude was a recipe for a restless night.

We both awoke with doubt of getting to summit that day but we climbed outside the tent to about an inch of snow and some wind but it was clear. So we made the decision to wait it out and see if the wind would die down. I'm glad we decided to wait because the wind did die down and we headed out around 10:30 that morning to make our way to Thompson.

It was constant rock hopping. With the snow from the night before we were worried about stepping in the snow and not knowing how deep it would be beneath so with that thought in the back of our

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minds it made for long and tedious hiking. We did some class 3 scrambling up to the top of the saddle to see quite the sight of a huge rock valley and luckily, not as much wind as we were expecting.

The longer we went the more the rock hopping got more difficult. But we trudged along and made it to the base of the rock fall on Thompson and up we went. This was probably the most difficult part of the climb, as the combination of loose rock, snow and ice made for a long and frustrating upward climb. Every 6 inches you gained you would fall 3.  After about halfway up we decided on the middle gully between the three options and made it to what we were hoping to be the summit but would soon realize after some more class 3 scrambling that we were some class 5 scrambling and 20 vertical feet short of the true summit. With high winds and some intense exposure we decided to call it and head down. We were SO close and it took Joe a few more attempts of route finding for us to officially give up and start making our way back down.

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The wind was picking up more and by this time our muscles were dead tired from being constantly flexed for perfect foot steps onto the tops of the rocks. By the time we had made it back to camp at the lake it was about 4:30 and we packed up and headed out pretty quick. Though we knew we had 5 1/2 miles of hiking still ahead it was nice to think that once we hit the fork in the trail it was smooth sailing back to the car.

We made it back to the car around 6:30 and without a true summit of Thompson peak. We did put in a solid effort and get DANG close though. Looking at the peak from the bottom it sure looks like we got to the top... but we will be good people and tell the truth;)

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We hopped in the car and headed out to Kirkham hot springs to hopefully soak away some of the pain of extremely tired limbs and hurt egos. We headed out to go find a free camp spot and test out the car bed for the first time. Oh man, the mobile humble abode is quite the success! We are going to be sleeping good these next few months!

This morning we opted to just head back to the McKinstry household and unpack the garb the spend the afternoon getting everything for the road trip all separated into piles and ready to load into the car tomorrow. We will hit the road tomorrow and head to Twin Falls to see my grandparents and enjoy a warm meal before heading out to The City of Rocks on Friday!

Thompson Summit... so close but so far
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Almost Departure Time

Its been a couple of weeks and the vegging is in full swing.

I've been busy honing in on my climbing knowledge and learning some of the essentials for the road trip while Joe has been away in Virginia working for a couple more weeks. But now he has returned and needless to say we are taking full advantage of the amenities provided by the McKinstry household.

While Joe was gone I was able to do a couple of things for the car that didn't require any carpentry skills. So I put my creative thinking cap on and figured out how to make the curtains. I ended up measuring the windows and cutting a square piece for each window then deciding that the best way to attach them would be by using Velcro. Though its not ideal if I ever want to take the Velcro off, but it

Rocket Box has been added

honestly made the most sense for the windows themselves. So the Velcro is on the outer edge of each window and makes it so you can still open and close the door while the curtains are up. The other side of the Velcro is on the fabric itself and sewed on. I ended up hand stitching one curtain and after 4 hours and much frustration I came to the conclusion that letting a professional use their magic on them might be the better way to go. After the Velcro was sewn on I ended up cutting the fabric to fit the window shape. But in the end the curtains are awesome, they're subtle and do their job.

Now that Joe is back we were able to finally finish the car. Not that there was much to do on it but we still ended up having to pull out the jigsaw and cut the last piece of wood for when the car is in sleep mode on the drivers side. We ran out of plywood in Washington so we finished the last piece using chip board. Though it doesn't match, it works. Especially because while Joe was gone working I found some 3in camping foam that is now our car mattress and it covers up that mismatch chip board wonderfully! After we had finished the last piece of wood we threw in the foam and used a bread knife to cut along the edges to have it fit perfectly into the car.

With that the car is officially finished. Now the packing is in full swing. Both Joe and I have created our own personal packing list for the car and have a shared packing list for cooking and other car garb that we will be sharing throughout the trip. The packing is turning into being a multiple day project but when your going to be traveling across the country and going into winter its important to make sure you have everything you need! As of right now the lists are coming along quite nicely and having the car with the extra rocket box storage is making our lives much easier.

Calorie counting and food packing for the Sawtooths

Official departure date is definitely looming but until then we have decided to semi start the road trip in the Sawtooths. I say semi start because we will be returning to my parents house on Wednesday the 12th to finish packing. As of right now Joe and I plan to head out the morning on Monday the 10th to go climb Thompson Peak. The highest peak in the Sawtooths at 10,751ft. I love the Sawtooths but haven't gotten the chance to spend anytime at all in them. Plus what better way for Joe to see a super great piece of Idaho?! We plan to hike in Monday and camp that night, hopefully summit on Tuesday and then hike out. Maybe stop at a hot springs on the way home and camp at one of those. We will get home on Wednesday, pack all the rest of the garb for the road trip and head out to City of Rocks that weekend to meet up with a couple of our friends to climb some great stuff out there. After that we aren't exactly sure where were headed but that is the great part about this trip, the possibilities are endless!

Suzuki Modification Commences

Here we go, onto the next adventure.

I'm back into the wonderful state of Idaho and have said my goodbyes to the Aspen Farm family. My time as a working student has come to a close after three years with some of the best people, it was not easy to do but luckily for me I am always welcome back and I'm sure I will find my way back to Washington before I know it.

The past few weeks have been pretty busy, working and getting ready for the last event on the farm had left Joe and I with not much time to prepare for a fall adventure. Which (drum roll please) we have decided to do a US road trip that is mostly climbing based. With that being said we decided to take the most trusty steed we know, that is the 1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara with 160,000+ miles on it- my first and only car. The car is solid (knock on wood) great in snow, ice and is reliable. Will be perfect for pot hole filled forest service dirt roads and becoming our mobile humble abode.

Now the Suzuki is no Classic Volkswagen Van but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give her some credit. We've had to get creative (mostly Joe) but the modification process really took hold after the event and taking advantage of the facilities at Aspen we started to build our Mobile Humble Abode.

I really wasn't much help in this whole process, Joe is much more handy than I am but I will try to do my best to explain in the most knowledgeable way I can.
We started in the most logical way and that is ripping out the back seats. We knew that the back of the car wouldn't be long enough for us to sleep in it without the front seats either laying down or going completely forward. Which in the end actually doesn't matter but Joe measured out everything and started by putting in the base and biggest weight bearing part of the frame. Its about 6 inches tall in the back with more as you get close to the front of the car as the floor of the car dips down where the seats use to be.

When ripping out the seats we also happened to take out the compartment over the emergency brake that had the cup holders. Yes, the Suzuki HAD cup holders but one thing she always lacked was an armrest in between the seats. Which the lack of a place to put your arm happens to be more annoying than not having cup holders, so those left and thus an armrest was created that also doubles as a support for the plywood that is just behind the seats for when the car is in sleep mode.









Next was the smaller support that runs across the middle of the car and helps create the two storage bins that will be key for holding our things. Then on the outside of the front seats you will see two supports that will hold the plywood for when the car is in sleep mode. The supports go to the door side of the seats but also have legs that go to the floor of the car.

Here is a great picture, with the greatest carpenter in the world smiling as his work starts to come together after just putting in two side supports that trail to the back of the car, again they will support the plywood that will overlay the top plus these also frame the space for more storage, preferably drawers that will be installed when its all finished.Then to the right the finishing of the supports get installed and the middle storage bins have been closed up on the sides where the doors are at, making access to the storage in the middle only available from the top, where cut outs in the plywood will go. But makes it so nothing in the bin will fall out the sides when the doors are open. You'll also see in the picture on the right the boards that are screwed into the bolts where the seats used to connect. The only actual part of the frame that is "connected" to the car. Simply making it that much more secure that the frame wont move. Though the frame is quite solid even without the bolts, it makes for a piece of mind.

With supports in place and plywood cut the top of the bed is ready to be placed! This part of the frame sits directly behind the two seats, is screwed directly into the wood and wont be moved when the system is in drive mode or sleep mode.







Here the plywood is set and you can see the two openings for the middle storage compartments. Which now have lids that are easily removable. You can see where the drawers will go that are in the back of the car. In the front of the car, the drivers side is in drive mode and the passenger side is in sleep mode. The piece of plywood on the right side is easily moved for quick adjustment from drive mode to sleep mode and vice versa . The seats can either go forward like it is shown in the picture or they can lie completely down underneath the frame, you just have to take the head rests off.

 Rain Guards are also the newest addition to the outside of the Suzuki. It would be a real bummer if the road trip ended with suffocation so the ability to crack the windows while its raining is key and the rain guards provide that peace of mind. Plus they look sharp, win.

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We have just a few more things to add. We ran out of plywood for the driver side for when the car is in sleep mode, so we will finish that when Joe gets back from working on the east coast in a couple of weeks. We are planning on making curtains for the windows and getting some drawers for the back storage spots in the car. Which both of those I can do while Joe is gone. Then we're planning on trying to make a little table on the back door to make cooking a little easier. We got a rocket box for more storage that still needs to be attached but it shouldn't be much work. Last but not least get some sort of foam pad for sleeping on and that should be it! (Hopefully) I am sure the more time rolls around the more we will think of things to add to it.

While I couldn't be much help with the process of building our humble abode I did spend hours of looking up climbing places around the US. The first thing people ask us when we tell them that we are going on a climbing road trip is "Where are you going". We usually tell them is that the plan is no plan. We are going to go by word of mouth and see where we end up. I wrote down a ton of places I have found from state to state which will be a great reference but the idea is, is to feel no pressure if we decide to stay somewhere longer than originally planned. Just today I was talking to a girl from the climbing gym from New Mexico who told me about 5 different places to climb down south and the more I talk to people and the more research I do the more I see that the possibilities are endless and you could probably spend a lifetime going from place to place. Even though we plan to be on the road for a few months, I doubt we will be able to hit all the places we want to go.

We finished about 85% of the Suzuki modification and then packed her up and made the 9 hour, 386 mile drive south from Yelm Washington to Meridian Idaho. Where we are spending a few days decompressing after a lot of work and long days. Joe heads out for a couple more weeks of work on the east coast while I stay in Idaho and then he will return and we plan to hit the road in the beginning of  October. One thing I realized while I was in Central America last fall was the fact that I literally have never explored my own country and I am so stoked to see it in the best way possible, by hitting the road and getting outdoors and climbing. Whether it be on rock, ice or just sitting around and enjoying the view there is no better way to see new things.

I am hoping to be able to blog along the way and keep everyone updated. But until then, here is a picture of our road trip mascot Jacob, testing out the ropes in her driving spot on the way from Washington to Idaho this last weekend.  If you have any recommendations on places to go and things to see PLEASE share!

The North Ridge of Mount Baker (10,781ft) July 12th-14th 2016

           This trip feels like its been a long time coming and I am so glad we were able to make it happen. Joe and I had talked about doing some sort of mountaineering trip together for what seems like awhile, then he had briefly mentioned the idea of doing the North Ridge of Baker this last winter after I had done some ice climbing for the first time. Then after we had been looking at calendars and trying to find the time to actually make it happen there was a point in time where I wasn't sure if we

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were going to be able to find a window of time to do it, not to mention if the weather was going to cooperate.

Once we had found some days that would work for both of us we started watching the weather. The weather seemed to be giving an opening around the 13th and 14th of July. So the trip was set to leave the afternoon of the 12th and hike up to base camp, stay at camp and go over all the necessary knowledge things on the 13th and head out for the summit on the 14th.

So with that packing and getting gear ready began. Just like anything your new at it can be overwhelming and a bit of struggle to actually get a grasp on what your getting yourself into. Joe started to pull all of the gear out of the closet and I started to realize why weight matters so much and that we were going to be packing all this garb up the mountain. After time spent getting everything together including the rope, gear, packs and food we loaded it up in the car for the next days departure.

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We headed out around one in the afternoon. From the farm to the Heliotrope trail head was about 4 hours. Driving through some rain near the end of the drive we were expecting to be hiking through some solid weather to get to the camp. We arrived and though it was raining it wasn't terrible and we decided to head out. We started on the trail and met up with other climbers who were heading down, most of which had summited but were giving us fair warning of the rain we were about to head into. Though ironically enough the rain had stopped since we had started hiking up the switchbacks and the sun was shining. After multiple warnings we were expecting to be drenched by the time we got to camp (6000ft) but happened to arrive at the Hogsback completely dry and with light to spare.

We set up camp with some view of the mountain, the Coleman Glacier and with a tease of the ice wall we were hoping to tackle in just a couple days. My nerves and stomach at this point were starting to feel the excitement and really the unknowing feeling of what was in store.

That night we had quite the visitor when we both awoke to what sounded like a mouse running around our tent. After moving everything around then eventually taking everything out and with no
luck we thought we were going crazy until the little beedy eyes of our rodent friend peeked up around me. After much persuasion he finally left the tent but needless to say it was quite the entertainment for the evening!

The next morning we woke up to a socked in mountain but I was ready to tackle the day and get started fine tuning the skills Joe had briefly taught me the last few months. We started with self arresting which I had done a little bit of on Mt. Ellinor while glissading down a couple months ago. Then went on to work on Crevasse rescue. Which we had done a little bit of on the farm along with watching some videos but honestly I felt like a deer in the headlights and was glad to be able to go over it a couple of times and be able to problem solve with someone who knows what they are doing. Later that afternoon we ended up roping up and

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climbing to the top of the Hogsback as practice for glacier travel. As we were climbing I lead and happened upon our first crevasse which put my stomach in my throat. Once we got to the top we were able to get a pretty solid look at the climb and decide whether we wanted to tackle the traditional Coleman-Demming route or the harder and more technical North Ridge. With all things considered the traditional route almost guaranteed a summit on a blue bird day, where as The north ridge was ominous but would add technical climbing that would otherwise not be contributed.

After climbing down and making Annies Mac n Cheese (a staple for all outdoor adventures) for dinner we decided on the North Ridge. Quite the thought for my first idea of mountaineering but I think my saving grace was the fact that I really didn't know what I was going to see the next day.

We took some melatonin and set an alarm for 2:30 the morning of the 14th. With hopes to make it to the top of the hogsback at sunrise to see the glacier field. We left around 3:15 and made it to the top in about 50 minutes. The sun came up earlier than initially assumed, around 4:00AM. After making

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great time we headed towards the Coleman Glacier with Joe leading. The Snow was hard and made for great Climbing. It was the first time I had used my Crampons (Petzl Lynx) and they were working great. I was nervous but physically felt quite good for my lack of training prior to the trip. We were stepping over crevasses and I was definitely starting to get a feel of my sea legs. But as the crevasses got larger I tended to not look in them especially the ones that could easily swallow a car. We ended up following some tracks that headed across the Glacier field and came to a fork at a massive crevasse. We went right uphill around and were walking between what seemed like the hole to the bottom of the earth after realizing that we had made the wrong decision we back tracked back down to the the fork and went left. But first Joe had drawn an arrow for future climbers to help them not make the same decision. We started climbing and finally came to the point where we got to the ridge prior to the Ice Wall. You could only see the first steep part and beyond that was behind rock and ice fall. Joe looked
at me and asked how I was feeling, physically great but mentally I was intimidated but ready to go. We got to the first quite steep part which was probably around a 60 degree angle. The snow was great for climbing so it made foot placements pretty solid.

We made it to the top of our first steep hill and could not really tell where to go from here. The ridge was now to our right but the bridge to get there was steep, at an angle and something that I don't think I could mentally undertake at this point in time. We decided to keep going left of the ridge. After walking through old avalanche debris we started up our next grade. This is where it really sank in for me. We traded our trekking poles for an Ice Tool and started up. It was steep, and I didn't look down once. My body at this point was most definitely getting tired and mentally I knew that I was climbing pretty well but it probably wouldn't last for long. Joe had pointed out two other climbers that were now ascending the Ice Wall, and I knew that we had quite a climb to still get there and I was getting tired. We got to the point where we were able to see where the route headed back to the ridge and needed to decide whether or not to keep going. I knew that I could make it to the Ice Wall but what I didn't think I could do was be able to climb it successfully once we were there, and with that we decided to turn around. We made it to about 8500 ft.

PC JDStylos

Going down the grades was no easy feat, Slow moving we made it safely back to camp and I sat down and was completely exhausted. But with the fact that we still had two hours of hiking still ahead of us just to get back to the car in the back of my mind. And honestly the hike back down was probably the most brutal part of the whole trip. Tired and aching feet I had yet to have the feeling of complete absolute muscle pain to the point of tears until this point. By the time I had gotten to the car I had made solid note of not to hike in mountaineering boots and leave them for the climbing of ice and mountains and leave the hiking boots to do the trail walking.

PC JDStylos

Needless to say there are a few things I have learned from this trip.
 One being that fitness matters, not only physically but mentally.
Knowing your strong suits and trusting the person your with.
 I know for a fact there was no way I was going to be able to make it up that Ice Cliff that day but sure as hell doesn't mean I wont ever make it up..
 Taking a deep breath and taking one more step is always a good idea.
Crevasses are fucking huge and not to be messed with.
 And finally Im completely stoked on the sport of mountaineering and trying to better myself at it.

Im relatively new still to the sport of climbing in general. I had climbed for the first time ever the spring of last year, ice climbed for the first time this last winter and just ventured out and did my first trad climbing just a couple of weeks ago, then topping it off with the first mountaineering experience this last week. Needless to say its pretty awesome in a lot of ways, and Im stoked to learn more.

So grateful to my boyfriend Joe, who was beyond patient and willing to let me tag along on this trip. Thanks to him I'm hooked and ready to do it again! Hopefully one day there will be a trip report on The North Ridge with a summit picture!

PC JDStylos