Last Updated: February 4, 2012
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Saturday, February 4, 2012

Dolomites, Winter 2011/2012

Overlooking Passo San Pelegrino from somewhere below Col Margherita.



Off to Italy again for our biennial holiday in the Dolomites. Thankfully no travel drama this time although high winds in Amsterdam did cause delays and threatened to make us miss the AMS – SEA connection on our return. Fortunately it wasn’t anything a panicked sprint through the terminal couldn’t fix and best of all, our bags made it as well!

As in years past, Agata and I again had to content ourselves with 10 days riding groomers comprised almost entirely of man-made snow. Suffice to say that we’ve had our fill of icy slopes and are looking forward to some deep days in 2012. Not that I’m complaining or anything-10 consecutive days out on the slopes regardless of who or what created it certainly beats most alternatives. And like it or not, the fact that the operator managed to get virtually all of the ~750 miles of runs skiable before Christmas, despite mother nature’s lack of cooperation is nothing short of astounding.

more....

Friday, January 13, 2012

Xanadu MTB, October 2011

At risk of posting a mostly irrelevant blog update, considering the change of season since the Xanadu ride, I present to you a few snaps from a late October day on the singletrack out near Peshastin, WA. On Eric’s suggestion, we made our way east for what would be a shakeout ride for me and my new (but used) Remedy 8. Although rain showers caught up with us as we began the descent on our second lap, the vibrant autumn colors and classic eastside ridge-run made for a fine day of mountain biking. Like some of the other mtb-specific trails in the area, this one is steep, fast and well maintained with banked turns, numerous jumps and a couple mandatory drops that’ll likely leave a stain or two in the shorts.

View from the ride up to the drop-in point with Stuart Range in distance. Beginning the descent. Eric rides through the old burn.
Classic ridge-top trail. A steep slab section towards the middle of the ride.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Olympic Outings - Various, July/Sept/Oct 2011

When not out gallivanting in the mountains, many a summer weekend this year was spent relaxing at Michelle’s lovely cabin on Mats Mats Bay near Port Ludlow. With a strategic base camp such as this on The Peninsula, Agata and I seized the opportunity to explore some of the more scenic coastal areas of Puget Sound and the northern Olympic Coast. After all, summer in the Northwest isn’t truly complete without the heart-stopping slap of 50-degree saltwater across the face, sun-baked seaweed caught between the toes or the sounds of the Pacific crashing against a wild and desolate coastline.

Mats-Mats Bay and vicinity:
Puget Sound from a beach south of the mouth of Mats Mats Bay. The local wildlife kept a watchful eye on us. Paddling into Mats Mats. Setting sun through clouds over the bay.
Lumber Mill near Port Townsend as seen from Fort Flagler. End of the road at Marrowstone Island's Mystery Bay.


Shi Shi Beach:
Lush forest on the way to Shi Shi Beach. First Glimpse of Shi Shi from the trail. A perfect summer day on the Olympic Coast.
The only thing missing is a nice cutback on the left-peeling lip. Point of Arches at the south end of the beach. Final look back at WA's finest(?) beach.


Dungeness Spit:
Stormy conditions out near the SW end of Dungeness Spit. Still waters within the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. Approaching the Dungeness Lighthouse.
Landfall at the end of the spit. Crystal Clear water in Dungeness Bay. View to NE from Dungeness Lighthouse.
Panorama of Dungeness Bay and Olympic Mountains beyond. A herd of seals escorted us back to the refuge. Surrounded by low flying gulls.


Ozette Triangle:
Hiking along the North Sand Point Trail on a chilly October morning. View north from the beach at Sand Point. Weaving through gaps in seaside cliffs. Passage made possible thanks to low tide.
Looking towards northern half of the beach hike. Cannon hole near Wedding Rocks. We looked for the infamous petroglyphs but this is all we could find.
There was a lot of deadfall like this which we had to climb over. 4-cylinder engine block rusting away on the beach. Looking south from near Cape Alava.
This one made me think of the Jagermeister deer logo. Beautiful forest on hike out via Cape Alava Trail. Lake Ozette panorama.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Dragontail Peak - Serpentine Arete, September 2011

Dragontail Peak as seen from the north end of Colchuk Lake.

Tod and I teamed-up to take care of some unfinished business and what for me would be the end-of-season finale. Dragontail Peak is a relatively large mountain (by Cascades standards) with good year-round access, better weather and boasting a variety of quality snow, ice and rock routes. As an alpine rock climb, it is the ideal venue for a 1 – 2 day outing particularly when wet weather threatens the west slopes.

Of the two more popular rock climbs on the North Face of Dragontail Peak, Serpentine Aręte is a well-documented and well-traveled route with the harder climbing bookended by longer scrambling sections. The two ~5.8 crux pitches come roughly in the middle of the climb and feature a little bit of everything from crack, dihedral and face climbing. There’s a pitch or two of 5.6 – 5.7 climbing before the cruxes that felt a tad more difficult that I was expecting. We also encountered a few tricky moves in a flaring crack directly up from the belay immediately following the cruxes. Finally, we chose to finish the climb with the optional ~5.7 pitch, which to me surprise-surprise once again felt considerably more difficult than 5.7.

In the end, Tod got the opportunity to hone his guiding skills while I assumed the role of tourist. With a bivy down in the morane the night before the climb, it wound-up being an enjoyably casual outing that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone in search of moderate climbing with short-lived difficulties.

From the top of the lateral moraine, the start of the route into the depression between Serpentine & Backbone ridges goes along the ledges seen here behind Tod. Tod starts up the first 5.6 pitch on the ramp before the pillar. Working the 5.7 crux of the second pitch. Looking up the ~5.8 crack on the first crux pitch. Enjoyable climbing on the second crux pitch (my favorite of the entire route).
Looking back over Colchuk Glacier towards Colchuk Peak. Climbing some low-5th steps above the crux pitches. The sun finally graces Colchuk Lake. Scrambling terrain on the upper part of the route. Looking north from high on the route towards Glacier Peak.
Final bit of scrambling near the end of the route. The optional 5.7 pitch just as the first drops of rain begin to fall. Summit panorama with rain clouds looming to the west. Descending the Snow Creek Glacier on the back side of Dragontail.
Looking back from near Aasgard Pass with Witches Tower at left. Posing for a shot with Colchuk Lake below.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Paisano Pinnacle & Burgundy Spire - West Ridge to North Face, September 2011

Silverstar Massif with Burgundy Spire at left as seen from the North Cascades Highway. Route overlay in red.

(Based on Tom's NWHikers report here)

Of the peaks included in the late Dallas Kloke’s The Difficult Ten (a list comprised of the so-called 10 most difficult major peaks in Washington State to climb by their easiest route), Burgundy Spire is really an outlier of the Silver Star massif situated among the Wine Spires, just S of Burgundy Col. This peak is an anomaly on the list in that it is the only peak with a crag-like approach and it’s also the only peak that requires 5.8 rock climbing to reach its summit. Nevertheless, Burgundy Spire is an important peak, and its inclusion in the Difficult 10 is probably justified. We wanted to add on Paisano Pinnacle to our agenda - supposedly the best long, moderate, alpine rock route at Washington Pass. It wound up being a full, but stellar day of climbing for Tom, Daniel, and I.

Starting up the first pitch. The second pitch leading to the ridge crest. Daniel enjoying the fun (but short) twin cracks on pitch 5. Nearing the top of the 6th pitch on Paisano. Stellar climbing high on Paisano's West Ridge. Working through a boulder problem on the West Ridge. Tom climbs a steep crack near the top of Paisano Pinnacle.
Looking down Paisano's final technical pitch. Looking down the N Face of Burgundy Spire, about two pitches below the summit. Steep and enjoyable climbing on Burgundy's North Face. The giant chockstone tunnel on the traverse. The 6th pitch of the N Face of Burgundy Spire.  This was the 10th pitch of climbing on the day for us between Paisano and Burgundy.
Daniel starts up the penultimate pitch on Burgundy. Fun with the tricky off-width just below the summit. Summit panorama looking west. The view towards Chianti Spire and Silver Moon from the summit of Burgundy Spire.
The first of 5 rappells off of Burgundy Spire.

*Master list of trip reports and photos here: climbing or snowboarding.

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