Before I'd ever thought about climbing Dome Peak, the only time I'd ever heard it mentioned was in the stories my friend Chelise told me about this rescue on a Mountaineers trip that took place there. I knew it was pretty far from any road, which is why the incident, in which an ice climber... Continue Reading →
Loowit (Mt. St. Helens) is not made of beautiful rock spires. It is not (in the summer, at least) covered in snow with dramatically windblown icy slopes leading to the summit. Loowit is made of dust. For anyone (like me before moving here) that missed the memo, this is because it is a volcano that... Continue Reading →
If you're not from Seattle, the familiarity of the mailbox is probably lost on you. But when I first hiked it on a visit to Seattle, before the new, less steep trail even existed, it was so steep my sedentary college body felt overheated, and I laid on the floor for a few hours. The... Continue Reading →
This isn't very polished, but I wrote it for the wonderful Ultrapedestrian Wilderness Challenge, which is one of the coolest events I've ever seen. It's embarrassing, but the night before I tried the ultrapedestrian Chinook Pass route, I felt really nervous. Even though no one would be there, I hadn't told many people about my... Continue Reading →
Kulshan is a friendly-looking trapezoid with a smooth snowy appearance from the direction of Seattle. Fittingly, this is the training ground for many beginner mountaineers and is the graduation climb for the largest mountaineering club in the area, The Mountaineers, as well as many others. It's accessible, has a ski lodge, and has tons of... Continue Reading →
I'm writing about 100 mountains in the northwest, big and small. The list so far is here. Tiger Mountain, I will admit, is more of a hill. Its name is confusing because, in addition to being literally tigerless, it really doesn't merit such a fierce name at all with its hospitable, forested slopes that reach... Continue Reading →
Thru-hiking will always impart a heavy sentimentality to my memories. For me, it added a kind of legendary vibe to place names, rumors handed down the trail, real names and occupations no longer relevant. This place in Washington evokes a field where Jiminy Cricket materialized after vanishing from our world for 500 miles. When I... Continue Reading →
