The North Ridge of Mt Baker (10,781 ft) June 29th- July 1st 2017

PC: JDStylos

I remember turning around on Mt Baker last year quite well. Joe and I were around 8000 ft, and we had a long ways to go before we even remotely got close to the ice wall that was ahead. That climb last year was so much more than going for a summit but more like just opening a door for me to a new type of climbing and experiencing what “could” be. In hindsight, there was no way I was going to make it to the top of Mt Baker via the North Ridge last year, but from that climb I did learn what I would need to do to make a solid attempt at it this year.

After our Mt Hood climb just a week ago, I expected to feel more of the fear that I had felt from last years climb, but the majority, if not all of my time on Hood was complete excitement and enjoyment. So when the weather opened up for another climb on either Mt Rainier or Mt Baker, we decided to choose our main objective for this summer, and that would be the North Ridge on Baker.

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There's a few things the North Ridge has that our last route does not. The fact that that summit day is more than double the elevation gain is just one of the major differences, but the biggest obstacle that we were going to face would be the the ice cliff that is about 1000ft below the summit. A single pitch of alpine ice (AI) that lies between you and your summit objective, ranging from a difficult AI4 all the way to the nice grade of AI2.

So once the decision was made to give last year's climb another try, we quickly packed up our gear, read as many trip reports as we could and tried not to get our hopes up. I would be lying if I said I thought there was a good chance we were going to get to the summit. Between my fitness, climbing ability, and the fact that this would be only my third attempt at any sort of glaciated mountain and the unknown of how I would respond to the exposure of this climb all made for the perfect mixture for a failed summit attempt. So it came down to having the goal of just giving this climb the best that I could, and most of all taking what I can out of it for next time.

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So on the evening on Wednesday the 28th, we drove the four hours north to the Heliotrope trailhead at the base of Mt Baker. We arrived as the sun was setting and we set up the car and climbed into bed and fell asleep. We both slept so well that our 4:00am wake up time moved to 7:30 am. After finally getting out of bed and eating some breakfast we hit the trail with incredibly heavy packs. 45lbs on your back makes for slow moving, but we hiked through the trees,  and across the streams until we broke into the alpine zone. A marmot greeted us along the ridgeline trail that took you to the Hogsback camp. We passed empty tents as climbers scattered the mountain all going for their summit attempts. Last year we had camped at the Hogsback along with all of the other climbers, but knowing what was to come from last years climb we decided we would hike up onto the Coleman-Demming. In an attempt to avoid the crowds and give ourselves a head start for the next day.

Doing the Dishes PC: JDStylos

After climbing up and finding old tent spots from past North Ridge climbers, we set up camp to a neighboring tent. Joe and I spent the afternoon setting up camp, melting water, going over crevasse rescue and trying to break trail for tomorrow's summit attempt. We were outside our tent when our neighbors returned from their climb. We picked their brains on where they went and what they thought of the climb. They were ecstatic, and their success and excitement fueled my fire and was making tomorrow feel more welcome, and almost possible.

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We set the alarm for 2:00am with hopes to be out of camp in an hour. We were in bed by six o'clock that evening and we both tried to sleep the best we could. We did wake up to take a quick photo shoot with the mountain and the sunset around nine. After trying to get sleep and with some success, the alarm felt like it came quickly. Before I knew it we were putting our headlamps, crampons, and helmets on, and tied into the rope. The best part was that both Joe and I were feeling great, and excited. With a solid plan, boot path and partnership in hand we left camp seven minutes after three.

We crossed the glacier in a swift and quiet metronome. The sun felt like it came quickly and before we knew it we clicked off our headlamps and were crossing the glacier in the morning glow.

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Our first real question of the day came a couple of hours into our climb. Last year, we attempted to gain the ridge by taking the long way around and didn't ever end up getting to the top. So with this years high snow pack, we felt good with taking the short way around and gaining the ridge by climbing the steep 50 degree snow slope. This was the part of the climb that I was most nervous about. Even from our camp it looked steep, and exposed. So when we started to climb up, it quickly steepened and the exposure started to intensify. I was expecting my nerves to get the better of me but they never seemed to come. Taking a deep breath and truly never looking down, Joe and I simul-climbed up across the snow bridge with a gaping hole below that could swallow most small houses. Joe and I gained the ridge, with sunshine finally hitting our faces, our smiles stretched wide across them. It was a relief to have that part of the climb behind us. I looked at Joe and said “well there's no way we’re not summiting today because I am NOT downclimbing that!”

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PC: JDStylos

We climbed up the ridge with a steady step until the ice cliff started to take shape and fill our view. As we arrived near her base we scoped out which side looked most climbable for our level. With this being our first alpine ice climb, we made our way right to a shorter section of ice.  Once we climbed up the steep snow to the very base of the ice cliff, we weren't in exactly the best place. The overhanging ice above our heads creaked in the warming sun and as we set up a belay we increasingly felt the need to move through this section of the climb as quickly as we could. I belayed Joe till he was just out of sight. I followed him up through some mixed climbing and arrived to a much safer belay station. Joe racked up and led out a full rope length up AI2 climbing. He was long out of sight, so much so that we knew our voices would fly into oblivion. So after coming up with a rope tug communication system before we started our climb, I waited to feel the three strong tugs that indicated I was on belay.

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The three tugs came without question and I started to climb. My first ice climbing since this previous winter and it felt so good to be back plunging my tools into ice and kicking my way up the ice step. The air below my feet seemed to float away for miles and my adrenaline made for what felt like quick climbing. The grade gradually got less steep and before I knew it, I was back in the sun and at the next belay station. Joe and I smiled, kissed, and felt pretty ecstatic to be passed that section of the climb. We had beyond achieved our goal of getting farther than the year prior. With plenty of go still left in our tanks, I belayed him out and we used running pro until we gained the rest of the ridge. We cleaned up our rope system and started making our way to the summit. With only a couple few hundred vertical feet to go, the summit felt so close but the summit of Mt Baker is also a forever walk away across her summit plateau. But, to gain the plateau we still had to walk around massive crevasses, and  over snow bridges that required you to walk with one foot directly in front of the other. It felt like we were on a different planet. With the hard climbing behind us, this last section of the climb felt surreal, it was as if we were walking across the moon..

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Before we knew it, we were making our way across the flat summit plateau with Bakers highest point just a couple hundred yards away. We passed climbers taking a rest after making it to the top, and Joe let me take the lead to the 10,781ft summit.

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The smile that came across my face was undeniably huge, I hollered out into the air and raised my ice tools with success filling every part of my being. The summit of Mt Baker was not expected, and the feeling of accomplishment caused me to fight back tears. We took our time getting pictures, enjoying the view and celebrated with hot tamales and Milky Way bars. After stepping down from the top to re organize gear we roped up once again and started our way down.

We took the Coleman-Demming for the descent, the much more common way up for most climbers. The climb down was much simpler than the way we came up and it was quite enjoyable to see the other side of the mountain. By the time we made it back to camp our legs were tired but we both felt surprisingly good. Whether we were just fitter than expected or the high from our summit fueled us all the way back to camp- I'm not really sure.

PC: JDStylos

After 12 hours of climbing, we decided to stay at camp, and enjoy one more night on the mountain. We took off our shoes and laid in the tent and relished in the wonderful feeling of success. We celebrated by eating a fancy dinner of Mountain House chili mac and even sneaked some of the next day's food into our evening meal.

Sleep came early for the both of us and gifted us with an incomparable night's rest.  In the early morning hours we listened to other climbers climb past our tent, attempting the North Ridge. I was feeling lucky to have climbed the day before, as we had the entire climb to ourselves. When I opened the tent door after the sun rose, and while I enjoyed my breakfast,  I watched them climb up the mountain like little ants tied together, slowly making their way through the glacier and up the ridge. I couldn't believe that those little ants were Joe and myself just yesterday.

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One last time we roped up after packing up camp and made our way down to the Hogsback. Tents were scattered all around and teams of climbers were flooding in. The holiday weekend and good weather brought in the most climbers I had ever seen on any mountain. After we untied and were back on the main trail and we were stopped by plenty of people that were on their way up, asking us about the conditions and our climb. We started to take bets on how many cars there might be in the parking lot. We crossed the streams and over the last bridge until we stepped foot out onto the pavement. Over 100 cars littered the road, we were dumbfounded with the fact that when we arrived there was only eight of us! We changed our clothes and ate a snack before finally hitting the road. With a Mt Baker summit via the North Ridge in the bag, the drive seemed to fly by. That night we enjoyed resting at a hotel and filling our bellies with delicious pizza.

PC: JDStylos

It's hard not to think that this climb was all a dream, honestly everything went exactly how it was supposed to. Looking back on where I was last year as a climber and seeing where I am at now, I’ve grown so much. The difficulty of this climb opens up so many other possible routes that Joe and I have put off because of technicality. Truly, this climb was such an amazing experience, and getting to the top was just the finish. Every part of this climb kept us on our toes and that's what made it so much fun for me.

The Coleman Demming PC: JDStylos

With only ten days left here in Washington before I leave to Montana for a couple of weeks then back to Idaho, I am so glad I have been able to fit two such wonderful climbs in. Fingers crossed that we will have one more adventure together before Joe and I go off on our own adventures for a month and a half!

PC: JDStylos

The Ice Cliff PC: JDStylos

Mt Hood, via The Sunshine Route - June 2017 - 11,250ft

Stepping out of the car on Monday at the Tilly Jane Trailhead, the sun beat down on us with intense heat. A smile crept across my face. Finally the hours of running and hiking up and down hills around Boise was hopefully going to pay off this week. I wondered if I was going to be fit enough, if the last few weeks of sinus infections and trying to heal set me back. Would we would be defeated before we even set foot on the mountain?

We picked Melissa up at the Portland airport in a hurry surrounded by a million cars. Not even one week ago did she know she was going to be coming out to the pacific northwest to come and climb with her brother and myself. Melissa sat down in the car and asked us, “so where are we headed?!”.

Mt Hood is 11,250ft and one of the family members of the Cascade Volcanoes. She stands out from her neighboring beasts not from size but from her shape. Unlike her football field crater neighbors, her summit is steep and holds its triangular shape.  She ranks as one of the most climbed and skied mountains in the lower 48 and though her reputation may be known as an easy up and down on her south side, her North Side is labeled as “treacherous” and is highly unclimbed compared to her ski lift, activity filled south side.

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The Sunshine Route was appealing in a few ways. The fact that the route was an easier route that lies on her north side, with glacier travel and some crevasse crossings, with a ridge climb finish was appealing by itself. More importantly we had high hopes we wouldn't see many other climbers on the route.

We arrived just after 4pm at the Tilly Jane trailhead. Only two other cars were parked in the parking lot and with about 1900 ft of elevation to climb ahead of us, we quickly packed our gear, smothered sunscreen on all exposed skin, threw our packs over our shoulders and stepped foot onto the trail.

The trail climbs between big trees and soon you step out into the remains of the Gnarl Fire that scoured the land a few years back. The skeletons of the trees line the trail, but with their lack of needles, it opened up a window to our objective. She towered above the horizon in the most symmetrical triangular shape.

With summer light on our side, we hiked through the warm evening light until the remains of the Gnarl Fire were behind us and we were soon walking through cool air the was coming off the snow patches that suddenly started to appear. With the snow, also came our camp area. The Tilly Jane camp ground has been a place to overnight and a place of refuge for climbers and skiers alike. I am sure many other climbers bypass this camp spot, but since we had started so late we took the opportunity to lie our gear out on a picnic table and enjoy our previously purchased sandwiches. We watched to sun dip below the horizon, and huddled into the tent with the first true day of climbing just a sunrise away.

Scouting. PC JDSTYLOS

Our first early morning arrived, and we all felt well rested and ready for the day ahead. We quickly packed the gear and immediately switched our hiking shoes for mountaineering boots as the snowline was just ahead on the trail. The trees became smaller and smaller and eventually we emerged passed the treeline to our first marker of the climb. The stone hut marks the point where you either continue straight ahead and climb the more difficult, and direct line to the summit called “The Cooper Spur” or you start to trek right towards The Snow Dome, which is was our objective.

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After a quick break at the hut, we once again put our packs on and climbed down through the skree of the ridge and emerged onto the Eliot glacier. We placed crampons on our feet, harnesses around our waists and helmets on our heads. We all tied in, did partner checks and before we knew it Melissa was leading the way to The Snow Dome.

Mountaineering is still such a new thing to me, but this moment of finally getting to rope up has been such a goal for the last few months, that the nerves of what lay ahead slipped away and only excitement filled me up.

Our objective for the day was to get to our high camp on top of the Snow Dome. The large obvious snow field that lied in the middle of the mountain. We set off and with warm temperatures looming we thought we would have a more active mountain on our hands but with only one large crash of ice off the headwall, we were pleasantly surprised to be climbing on a very peaceful day.  I’m thankful we had such a quiet mountain, between the lack of recent training and illnesses  proved to affect our climbing and our 3500ft day was slow moving. Granted, we had all the time in the world but our fast and light goal was feeling slow and heavy.

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The  day moved along and after leaving the Tilly Jane camp at 5:45am we arrived at the top of the Snow Dome around 12:00pm. Joe probed out our camp spot on the glacier and drew lines in the snow where our camp was not to be crossed unless roped up. Melissa started to dig a flat spot in the slope to place our tent while Joe and myself removed the trash bags from our packs. We strategically placed them in the snow to melt water for our empty bottles. With no clouds in sight, we quickly filled all six water bottles, the cook pot, and the food cups.

50 degree slope with Anderson rock to the left.
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A couple hours of labor was soon admired by the three of us as we rested in the tent. The backdrop of Adams, Rainier and St. Helens was mesmerizing. Just above our camp was the “crux” of our route. The crevasses that are under Anderson and Horseshoe rocks looked passable, but without getting up close and personal no one truly knew what was ahead.

With plenty of daylight still to come, Joe and Melissa roped up and set off to break a trail through the crux. A day of climbing with my head in a funny position left my neck throbbing so I opted to stay behind and make more melt water and rest while they spent a couple of hours climbing.

The route goes! Melissa and Joe
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I watched as they climbed on, to the right side of Anderson rock, over the bergschrund until they were out of sight. A couple hours passed and though I couldn't see them, the wind carried their voices from 1000 vertical feet above me back down to camp. When they arrived back to camp the wind had picked up and was throwing gusts of ice into the tent. That didn't deter the smile that was on both of their faces as they had broken a solid trail to the ridge for the next morning.

By this time we were all tired, Joe made dinner and we climbed into the tent to enjoy spanish rice, and sharp cheddar cheese all wrapped up in a tortilla. When the elevation isn't affecting your appetite, it's no secret that all food tastes significantly better after a day of hard work. We snuggled into our sleeping bags and attempted to get some sleep.

Tent life
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Sleep never came. With gusts of cold, mountain wind hitting the tent, drowned out any quiet, peaceful sleep we had hoped for. The night dragged on, when we had hoped the wind would stop, it only picked up. The alarm came at 4:10am and with the wind trying to blow our tent back to the trailhead, we hunkered in and waited it out. With an extra day in hand, time was on our side. We knew if we had to, we could wait an entire extra day to go for our summit push and with a trail already stepped out by Joe and Melissa from the prior day, we weren't in too much of a hurry.

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The biggest benefit to staying and waiting out the wind was the fact that we finally were able to fall asleep. Even just a few hours made the world of a difference. Once we finally stepped out of the tent the wind had died down enough that we all looked at each other, and decided to go for it. So at 9:00am we got our climbing gear on and stepped out onto the route an hour later. With the wind whipping down onto our camp, we just assumed that the moment we passed the bergschrunds and climbed onto the ridge, the wind would be so intense we would have to turn around.

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We stepped out of camp and started to climb. Over Anderson rock and back onto the snow, it got steep, and it got steep fast. Around 50 degrees we stepped into yesterdays trail and made good time up to yesterday's turn around point.. The wind had yet to even show a smidge of a breeze, so we kept on going. With Joe in the lead, an ice axe in one hand and a tool in the other, he pressed on and stepped across the crevasse under Horseshoe rock. We placed a couple pickets here for protection. When my turn arrived to cross, my foot plunged through the snow into the crevasse below, my heart took a leap out of my chest but after taking a deep breath I climbed on and before we knew it we had gained the ridge.

PC JDSTYLOS

I stood up, expecting the wind to blow me back down. Only to quiet mountain air swept across my face. With another small water and snack break we pushed on. We knew there would be a couple of false summits but the ridge (compared to the climbed we had just finished) seemed easy and smooth. My crampons gripped to cold wind scoured snow with a comforting tension. You could feel the air coming into your lungs getting slightly thinner but time just seemed to slip away without notice. We arrived to another crevasse crossing and stepped passed without issue. Just above this the snow seemed to run out into oblivion. As Joe crested what looked like the top, he stopped and looked ahead. With me below him, and Melissa below myself, I called out and asked what he could see. The line to the summit was a ridge that truly makes Mt Hood different from her sisters. He hollered back to tell us it was the summit ridgeline.  We climbed on, and for the first time in two days we saw another person. Below to our right, little ants swept across the mountainside, passing the ski lifts, while climbers headed down from the summit trudging along through the wet snow.

Summit Ridge PC JDSTYLOS

Looking at pictures of the finish line to the summit online made me nervous. When it stood in front of me at 11,200 ft in the air my nerves slipped away and I took a deep breath and the entire time I climbed those last few feet to the summit, the smile on my face only grew and my breathing was short, not from altitude but from excitement.

We stepped onto the summit of Mt hood threw with high fives all around, a whoop and a holler in celebration of  bagging our first summit of the mountain. For me, this climb marked my first summit of any glaciated mountain. We took pictures of our ice axes in the air and smile across our faces.

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Melissa lead the way down around 2:00pm. The snow on the way up was hard and icy but in the afternoon heat it started to soften. The crevasse crossings were fairly straightforward, and even though the thought of climbing down them made me nervous, we had ended up having no problems. We arrived back to camp and we laid in the tent, where the wind still blew.

Our rest was short lived, as we quickly packed up gear,  tied in one more time and headed down. The weight of my pack pressed against my aching neck and made each step into the wet snow excruciating. I was having a hard time seeing where to place my feet from the pain in my back and by the time we finally made it off the glacier, I threw my pack on a rock at the top of the ridge and fought off tears. We hiked down through evening light to the stone hut where Joe found us a place to sleep out of the wind. We climbed into the stone hut and turned on the stove and celebrated our summit with an Annie's Mac n Cheese dinner. To top off the day, I had saved my Milky Way for dessert and my first bite into the chocolatey goodness was the perfect way to finish off an amazing day.

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We climbed into our sleeping bags, while the wind tried to still blow us away. I fell asleep that night with my wind guard tied tightly around my neck and goggles over my eyes.

Morning light peeked over the horizon and we all stepped out of our bags to watch the morning sun set a beautiful light onto the mountain we had just climbed. Our footprints had created a line that the naked eye could see all the way to the ridge. I looked at the mountain, almost in disbelief that not even 18 hours ago I had stepped foot ono the top of the Pyramid that stood in front of me.

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The snow was hard and slippery and made for a tricky hike back down to the main trail without crampons on. The rest of the hike down was quick and enjoyable. Leftover climbing butterflies fueled my legs until we stepped out of the forest around 9:00am and packed up the car and drove back into town.

The Sunshine Route
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Melissa was to fly out the next day and with an entre 24 hours to kill we opted to celebrate our climb by getting a cheap hotel and enjoy laying in bed and watching TV. We arrived at the Motel 6 in Troutdale and by the time we had got settled into our room,  poor Melissa had deteriorated and climbed into bed with a fever and shakes. Luckily, with the help of ibuprofen and liquids. her fever broke and was feeling a lot better by the time dinner rolled around. We ordered Dominos pizza and indulged on its cheesy goodness that neither Joe nor I had had in months. As a result it didn't take long for the cheesy goodness to make my stomach upset, but even so- It was well worth it!!!

The next morning we made a quick stop in Portland before taking Melissa to PDX and saying our goodbyes. It's so hard to believe that just a few days ago we had picked her up with only hopes that we would get to climb something. Now here we were, saying our goodbyes with a summit of Mt. Hood in the bag!!

As I am sitting here in the grass, with magical trees towering above me and a view of Mt Rainier on the horizon, I can't help but chomp at the bit for more. Though the mountains and I have a relatively new relationship, I am quickly learning of their addictive qualities. The way the wind sweeps your face, the massive objective that lies ahead, the mountains humbling qualities but the gift she gives when all the stars align.

Cheers to my first successful mountain summit, and cheers to hopefully many more successful climbs to come!

PC JDSTYLOS

Under the Weather

Here we are, one month from leaving Idaho and still another blog post without a trip report. With the combination of weather, sicknesses, and the event here at Aspen, Joe and I have yet to actually step foot on any of our mountain objectives.

Did I mention Tommy lost his finger in a carpentry accident
and is still considered the best big wall climber in the world?!
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I arrived back here from working in California with my cold in full force, the weather on Rainier raging and show prep on the farm in full operation. After coming to realization that we we weren't going to be able to put an attempt on Rainier until after the event we took some time to drive up to Seattle to go listen to Tommy Caldwell give a talk, and book signing.

Tommy, Joe and Myself

We arrived after enjoying a great meal with Joe’s Uncle and we sat down in a room full of about 70% regular people and 30% climbers. This year has been spent at many talks and presentations from all the ice festivals we attended. The room seems to be always filled with Subaru driving, down coat wearing, scruffy hair growing dirt bags. This was not the case here in Seattle. By the looks of it, Joe and I could only point out a few recognizable climbers and most of everyone else were obvious just local, city dwelling pedestrians here to enjoy listening to someone talk about his art.

Overall the talk was mostly an overview of Tommy’s book THE PUSH, a few details about his life and the evening was wrapped up with viewers asking questions. Both Joe and I agreed that Tommy’s presentation was one of the better ones we have listened to. I enjoyed the talk so much that I might have stole Joe’s book from him before he could start reading it,. As a result, if you are looking for a great autobiography I highly recommend Tommy’s book. I am about halfway through and have been eating it up.

When I climb I hate slopers, When I wash
holds- I love them. PC- JDStylos

The weekend before the show quickly arrived and with that the work party had commenced and I just so happened to pick up a few work hours on and off the farm. I've been spending a few days a week at the local climbing gym trying to keep up with my training. After mentioning working for the gym back home in Boise I soon started picking up a couple hours a week washing holds in exchange for a membership. My last three Sundays have been spent climbing for about an hour then finishing off my evening power washing and sorting holds.

The week prior to the event at Aspen is filled with long days, good food, great people and a whole lot of work. I spent a couple of days working for Christina along with work on the farm and waited for my best friend Lowey to show up at the end of the week.

Lowey (AKA Loui Flaig) and I met a few years back from the horse world in Idaho. We quickly became best friends and the rest is history. We have a quite the long distance relationship as she is from and currently lives in Tampa, Florida but we have never let that come between our friendship. We have made it a tradition every year for us to try to meet up in one way or the other, and the last two years Lowey has made the great journey out west to join us here at the farm for the event.

This year was a bit different in that she was not going to be around quite as long, so after she had flown in on Thursday, she, Joe, and myself hopped in the car and headed towards Mt. Rainier for a hike lower down on the mountain.

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Comet Falls is a moderate hike to one of the largest waterfalls in the park. I have hiked up to the falls this time of year for the past three years and have never had a problem with snow, or bad weather. So when Joe and I packed up our 25 lb packs and he asked me if I thought there would be snow I immediately said “no way, we will be at a low enough elevation that snow won't be an issue!” We arrived to the trailhead late morning and hiked along the wet, and muddy trail. Which soon turned to a snow patch here and there. Then the snow patch turned to snow on the entire trail. Which then we quickly arrived to our first of soon to be many snow bridges. Before we knew it we were three feet above the actual ground, crossing some fairly sketchy bridges. I gave Lowey a trekking pole and when I wasn't sure what to do, Joe hopped in the lead and led us along the trail until we got to the point where we were passing other hikers. Which apparently they just so happened to be aware that there might be snow because all of them had snow spikes for their shoes and seemed well prepared for the conditions, unlike ourselves.

See the two ants!? Lowey and myself!
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Once we finally reached the point where you could see the falls, the trail was faint. Joe insisted on Lowey and I hiking towards the base of the falls so he could stay behind and attempt to get some good photos. We carefully made our way as far as we were willing to go before turning around and making our way back to Joe.

I had to give Lowey a pat on the back, because there was plenty of places that could be considered a no fall zone, and she put on her big girl pants and put in a solid effort, even when I was nervous too.

This was nerve racking. PC JDStylos

We made it safely back to the car, with a much more interesting hike than planned behind us. The rest of the weekend went as scheduled and the show ran incredibly smooth. By the end of it we were all beat. We said our goodbyes to Lowey on Sunday and returned back to the farm to almost all of the competitors gone.

We spent the next few days cleaning up and one by one each project was finished and the farm slowly transformed back into its normal, beautiful self.

All the while, I had just finished my round of antibiotics I got from the doc in the box 10 days prior and still had a nasty cough. Three weeks after arriving here in Washington, I was still sick and the weather on each of our mountain objectives in Washington was snowy, rainy, windy and downright terrible.

Joe and I started to give up hope for Rainier, once in awhile she would give us a smidge of a climbing window, then rip it out from under us before we could even start packing our gear. So we shifted our view to our other climbs we had in mind.

Joe’s sister, Melissa comes out every year and they attempt a climb together. We had planned on her coming out sometime in the month of June and trying the Adams Glacier on Mt. Adams. After calling Melissa, we set up for her arrival this Monday. We quickly started doing some research on the conditions, and Joe quickly found out the road was impassable ten miles before the trailhead.

So with that we shifted our eyes to a different state, Oregon. Mt.Hood has recently been on the radar. But with recent warm temps, Joe waking up with a cold the other day and me waking up with conjunctivitis in my left eye I am started to wonder if we'll ever get a climb in this summer.

Melissa rolls in tomorrow, and we are hoping to scheme up a plan to try to at least climb something, whether it be rock, ice or snow, I am not really sure. Between the weather, and sickness, Joe and I have gotten the short end of the stick this mountaineering season thus far!

Back in Washington

In a perfect world, right now I wouldn't be sitting here writing this blog post. I would be rest stepping my way up to base camp, with a heavy pack on the Emmons Glacier. Finally fulfilling the goal we set out for months prior to this. As we all know, life gets in the way and things change. In which case, this past week has been a prime example.

Mt Baker 2016 PC JDStylos

I arrived back to Washington two weeks ago, ran the morning I left and felt great and confident that I had one more week of work then we were to set up our first objective of the summer mountaineering season, Mt Rainier. Truly feeling the most fit and prepared I have ever felt

I pulled into the farm, and the second sentence out of Joe’s mouth was “there’s been a cold floating around the farm and I think I have it!” So, the second day in Washington, I woke up with a small tickle in my throat and here I am two weeks later still coughing and sniffling.

It’s been one of those colds that gives you false hope and you start to feel better, then the next day you wake up feeling worse than you did the day before.

Roasted Chickpea and Broccoli Burritos at the Cabin

Having the cold has been a good excuse to try to “rest”. Which I am honestly not very good at. The week I got here Joe and I took some time to head to a friends Cabin in Grayland, WA. Where we enjoyed quality time together after spending two months apart. We read books, cooked good food and tried to kick our colds. The day after we returned I headed to California for another week of work. It was nice to make some money, but on the flip side, long work days didn't help me get over this head cold and throughout the work week I slowly declined.

Not only is being healthy a huge factor when it comes to climbing but anybody who's anyone knows that it's a lot nicer to be outside on a sunny day rather than a snowy one. So of course we have been watching the weather like hawks. Mountain Forecast shows the weather five days in advance. As our projected climbing days approached, I pulled up the forecast a few times a day. Just like my sickness, the weather slowly declined. But if you don't trust the weather forecast you can always just walk outside and go look in the direction of the mountain. If you see massive, grey clouds engulfing its entire frame is a pretty good indicator that you probably shouldn't bother with trying to climb.

So with that, here we are. Officially pushing our climb back a couple of weeks until after the Aspen Event. The unfortunate outcome of all of this is the fact that our friend (who also works with Joe)  we had hoped to climb with won't be able to join us after the event. As this was his only opportunity to climb with us. With work picking up for Joe and Trav here, and me picking up a few days as well, we will all be to busy to try to fit some sort of climb in until a couple of weeks.

Mt Rainier via my dad from the plane just a few days ago.

Of course it's a big bummer, but I try to look on the bright side of things. For example, even if the weather forecast was perfect, I still would not be able to go climb right now, because I am still to sick. In which I still need to remind myself that we have close to two months to fit in another trip up Rainier and our other mountain objectives. More importantly though, this will give me some time to rest and give my body what it needs to heal... Even though I find that incredibly difficult to do. I am looking forward to getting back to my fitness schedule and climbing again, because two weeks feels like ages at this point!

In the meantime, we bought some tickets to go listen to Tommy Caldwell give a talk up in Seattle tomorrow night. Which ended up working out great, because initially we thought that we weren't going to be able to go, but since we aren't climbing we have a little bit of extra time!

View of  Rainier from the farm, AKA old school weather radar.

I did forget to mention the most exciting news of all of this. Even though it feels like we just finished the road trip, a couple of weeks ago Joe and I purchased tickets for our next fall/winter excursion. Another climbing objective filled adventure located in New Zealand! Not without a quick stop to Australia on the way of course:). So to all of our traveler friends out there, if you have been to NZ please give us any information that you think we would find useful.

Hopefully pushing back our climb a couple of weeks will set us up for success when we finally do get to put our feet in our boots, attach our crampons and start trudging up the mountain. Cheers!

Six Weeks in the Gem State

When I start to think back on the time I have spent at home, I start to think about how this is the first time in a really long time that I have truly settled back in. Its has taken a bit,  but the last six weeks have been a time to find my place back to where I am solely focusing on just myself.

The training for the mountaineering season hasn't been intense but it has been something I have tried to take seriously. Thinking back to our Baker attempt last summer and remembering feeling so weak in my fitness, has really lit a fire this time around to try to put myself in a place physically where success can be an option. Granted, there are so many other things that can cause a climb to not unfold the way you would like it to. I figured that there are so many variables that you as a human cannot control, but one you have the possibility to control is your fitness. So if I can build myself up for success, I will.

The fact that I have always been a fairly goal driven person has quite a big roll to play in this as well. In the last six weeks I have been hiking, climbing, running, eating healthy and tossing work on top of all that. All of those things have really helped me feel incredibly productive and have made time fly.

One thing that I have done for myself, is get a second job. After spending between 3-5 days a week at the climbing gym between job weeks, I thought to myself that it wouldn't hurt anyone to apply and with any luck I would start to get paid for my time there. Though, in the back in my head I started to think about my schedule and immediately thought there was no way that I could be hired on with being out of town so much. From working in the horse world, and having such big climbing goals this summer (that will have me out of town from mid May through July) made it really hard to imagine any job would hire me.

I took the leap though and it paid off. After meeting with the manager at Urban Ascent here in Boise, I was hired part time to basically work whenever I was in town. After a week in California working at Twin Rivers, I came home to start working here at Urban.

My first week working at Urban was filled with prepping the gym for "Urban Legends", the climbing competition that was to be held that weekend. For more than half of my life I have been completely involved in the horse world and international competitions and after helping prep for the climbing competition, I soon learned that there turns out to be a lot of similarities between the two but just on a much smaller scale. The week prior everyone pitches in, works long days and the excitement builds and ultimately leads to a day filled with bringing people together to enjoy a killer sport.

It seems like just yesterday I was saying goodbye to Joe. That I was trying to think of all the things I could do to try to fill my time and pass by the days so it would go by quicker and I could get to Washington as fast as I could. Now its six weeks later and I am so busy with running, hiking, climbing, working and just enjoying my time in general that its hard to believe that in two weeks tomorrow I will be driving myself, and every ounce of climbing gear Joe and I own up to Aspen.

So far its been so bittersweet. The feeling of finding my independence and feeling whole but also wishing Joe was here to be sharing this feeling with me. I am looking forward to taking a refreshed me on the next adventure back up to Washington.