Monthly Archives: August 2022

Aug29

A glacial ascent in the heat of summer – Middle Sister!

Posted on by
Standard

Friday through Sunday, 12-Aug-2022 through 14-Aug-2022

Vital Statistics:
Day 1 = 6 miles, ~2,000ft elevation from Obsidian Trailhead to Arrowhead Lake campsite. ~5 hours total.
Day 2 = 6 miles round trip, ~3,100ft elevation to Middle Sister Summit via the Renfrew Glacier. ~11hrs total.
Day 3 = 7 miles, ~2,000ft elevation loss, via Obsidian falls. ~4 hours total.

Talking with the rest of my team, I realized something interesting. This trip is pretty close to the 16th anniversary of my first backpacking trip! Not to the day, I don’t think… but the Perseid meteor shower is this weekend, and that was the starter for my first backpacking trip, so…

Hey! Happy 16th anniversary of backpacking to me!

Not only that, but Middle Sister is the tallest glaciated peak that I’ve summitted! Standing proud at just over 10,000ft above sea level, it beats my previous summit of The Matterhorn (no, not the one in Europe, the smaller one in Oregon…) which stands at 9,845ft.

An anniversary and a personal record, all in one weekend… not so bad, right?


There’s another first to add to the list too – My first official Mazama’s climb! Since BCEP, I haven’t had occasion to do a full and official climb with the group who I spent so many weekends hiking alongside. I’d signed up for the Mt. Hood climb, of course, as is tradition for graduating BCEP students… but unfortunately that trip fell through due to a series of increasingly unlikely and exceptionally ridiculous issues.


I got an email a week or two prior from the BCEP group I was a part of. There were a few extra spots on a Middle Sister ascent team, and applications were open if any of us were interested. I’d already made plans for that weekend to go backpacking in the North Cascades with a friend of mine, but since those plans were pretty tentative at best (and, let’s be candid here, I gave them a 50% chance of falling through) I pivoted toward Middle Sister pretty quickly.

Plans were crystalized, times confirmed, and gear packed. An earlier-than-normal morning was followed by a stressful drive, where I was convinced that I was going to be a full 30min late to meet the team… until I realized that the longer-than-expected ETA was because my GPS was planning on having me take 15mph forest service roads to the trailhead… instead of the 60mph highway that leads right to it. I arrived almost exactly on time, in the end, though I’m pretty sure I overdosed on stress hormones before I realized that tomfoolery.

One there, with the whole group assembled, we held a solid team meeting at the trailhead. Went over plans, routes, gear, and all the fun things that a new team of adventurers cover with each other. Then, we shouldered our packs and headed in.


The hiking was, truthfully, a bit rough for me. I’d like to think that I’m in shape, and I know that in comparison to the majority of the population I am, but compared to the team I was with… I wasn’t the strongest member. We had seasoned mountaineers, a firefighter, and exceptionally strong hikers. Our route wasn’t particularly tough (see the above vital statistics) but I was definitely lagging behind by the time we started into our final push to the lake-side campsite.

Thankfully, our campsite was singularly gorgeous, and we’d arrived with easily enough time to spare for a quick nap, some good relaxation, and even some crevasse rescue practice… not that we expected any major crevasses on the glacier, but they’re one of those things that you always plan around… the penalty for failure being as simple as it is catastrophic.

We rested, we ate, we hydrated, and we watched a perfect sunset drop below the horizon before heading to bed, with dreams of an early morning start in the forefront of our thoughts.




The following day, on the push for the summit, I was feeling the elevation. Or the gain, or… I don’t know, but it was definitely a challenging. The morning started beautifully cold, and I embraced the change of pace from the boiling heat of Wilsonville with gusto. My jacket stayed in the pack, and my tee-shirt let me appreciate the full brunt of the alpine morning.

As we steadily ascended, the sun lit up and we took some time to stop for photos of the sunrise illuminating the line of Cascade Volcanoes stretching off into the Northern distance. We continued on, though we did take fairly regular breaks… to my extreme appreciation. Route-finding wasn’t particularly easy, since the glacier has receded quite a bit in recent years, but soon enough we found the foot of the Renfrew Glacier and headed up.

I dragged.

It was tough going for Ben, I freely admit. I was tired, my pack felt heavy, and the terrain was steep.

I persisted though, and with some help from the rest of the team we all made it up, and I was able to summit my newest glaciated peak!




The rest of the day was better than the ascent. The descent went smoothly, with my knees thankfully playing well with the braces and glacier and not even hurting that much. The glacial descent itself was lovely – a bit challenging in spots where the snowfield got steep, but we had rope teams and crampons and axes, so even in the two instances where I lost footing I was able to very quickly self-arrest and stop my slide within a foot or three.

The return to Arrowhead Lake was glorious – we quickly dropped our packs, and our outside clothes, and jumped into the bracing lake. It was freezing at first, but actually quite warm once we became acclimatized to it… the lake was maybe 4ft deep at its deepest, and fairly small, so the sun warmed it up nicely throughout the day. It wasn’t like a hot-tub, by any means, but… more like a mild cryotherapy? Regardless of the exact temperature, the lake was hugely appreciated and undoubtedly contributed to a speedy recovery for my poor tired legs.

Dinner and sunset were lovely, as expected, and sleep claimed me quickly and deeply; a very well earned rest.




The following morning saw us packing up a bit later than we had on Saturday. We didn’t have a summit to try for, and almost our entire trail was downhill… which would speed our pace, and was absolutely critical to my sanity for the morning. I could (and did) survive some uphill… but the lake and some ibuprofen could only do so much, and my poor legs had performed right up to their peak over the two days prior.

We took a detour to visit a small spring at the base of our campsite, maybe 300ft below the lake, and to see the waterfall that it turned into later on. We hiked, chatted, and took semi-frequent breaks to snap pictures of the stunning scenery surrounding us.

That didn’t slow our pace though, and we made excellent time – finding ourselves back at the trailhead far earlier than I would have guessed.




A final group meeting was had, and the climb was officially over.

We did an outbrief, discussed lunch, and made our way to burritos in a small tourist town called Detroit. On the way, I picked up a few hitchhikers from Bangkok who were hiking the PCT, and the whole team had lunch (together with the backpackers) at an excellent pod of food trucks off the side of the highway. We traded stories, learned a bit about their slice of the world (Both were ex-pats, one from the States, the other from London), and finally said our goodbyes for the day.

I drove home, left my gear in the spare room, and drew myself a much-needed Epson salt bath.





P.S. – I just got an email from another team who was on the mountain! They got pictures of us on the summit!

Aug18

Scouting some climbs on the surface of the Sun

Posted on by
Standard

Monday, 25-July-2022


Ohhhhh man I made poor life decisions.

I mean, okay. I started our with a poorly informed decision, but then I made a good decision at the time! That’s got to count for something, right?

Right.

I was walking in the desert, it was 106 Deg.F out, and there was no shade. I’d stopped sweating earlier, even though I’d been drinking quite a bit of water… which was worrying me a bit as I walked back to the car. I’d also worn synthetic fabrics, which isn’t quite the optimal choice for desert conditions… but soaking it in some of my water did absolutely help with keeping me cool.

I’d turned around a bit ago, realizing that the uphill portion of my exploration wasn’t a good idea, so I wasn’t particularly worried. I wasn’t light headed, I was well fed, and I had more than enough water in my pack to keep me for the mile or so that I had left.


Back to the beginning.

I left Bend in the morning. Not crazy early, obviously, because I’m me. But still early enough that the sun hadn’t risen too high in the sky. It was hot, but… not hot hot. In the 90s, probably.

I skipped breakfast and coffee, opting instead to make coffee and the rental and have some of the snacks that I’d packed for myself. Keep it simple, quick, and mobile… ya know? Thanks to that, I was parked at Smith within an hour or so of leaving, and started picking my way toward my first goal of the day.

I’d taken Monday off from work. That meant I didn’t have to drive home super late after the concert, but also gave me a chance to do some exploring that I hadn’t ever done before. Climbing at Ozone had inspired me, and I wanted to check out some other crack climbing areas that I’d heard about, but never had a chance to explore.

The goals of the day? The lower gorge at Smith Rock, and the main area of Trout Creek. Both, thankfully, close together and both on the Northern route to Wilsonville from Bend. It’d be a nice outdoor adventure after the urban adventure of the concert the night before… if a concert in Bend can really be considered urban. You know, hippy town and all.

I had a quick bite of breakfast, did the usual clean-up of the AirBnB, and was on the road… early? Early-ish? Not late, I can say that. In retrospect, early morning before the heat of the afternoon may have been a better idea, but… you know. Vacations and rest days and sleeping in, right?

I drove, parked at Smith, and headed in.

It was gorgeous, hot, and clear. It wasn’t oppressively hot just yet, though I did make a point to park in as much shade as I could find, and I brought in my usual “tons of water” for any desert hike. It did take me a bit of time to find the trailhead, but once I tracked down the descent route, my adventuring went nice and easy.

I’ll admit – I was a bit surprised at how easy it was to get to the lower gorge! After years of climbing at Smith, it’d always seemed like a magical and distant land… learning that perfect crack climbing was literally an easier approach than any other area in the park… well, that was a bit rough on the old mindset, let me tell you. Thankfully, the beauty of the cliffs overwhelmed that sadness… mostly.



I had some lunch by the river, in the best patch of shade that I could find. It wasn’t a lot of shade, but… you know what? In the sun, any patch helps.

By the time I got back to the car, the temperature had climbed to a lovely 102 degrees. I put the top down on the car, cranked the AC, and headed onward to Trout Creek!


That drive was rough, man. I didn’t know much about Trout Creek, except that it had good trad routes, but if I can tell you one thing about it… the drive in isn’t easy. It’s rough, and the next days saw me at the tire shop in town getting a nail pulled out of a slowly flattening tire. Frankly, I’m glad that’s the only damage caused… the gravel road wasn’t bad, but something about the ridges and waves… well, the Mustang didn’t appreciate it, tell you what. And the Mustang’s been on roads that look FAR rougher than this one did.

Anyways. I parked, slathered on sunscreen, and headed in.



The hike in was gorgeous.

I mean, look at it. The desert browns, the verdant green by the river, and then the sparkling blue of the river itself. It was stunning, and made me feel like I was in an old western, following the dusty trail along the river to the legendary fort, hidden city, or treasure stash.

The heat really… baked it in… too. (Ed Note: Sorry, readers. I tried to get Ben to avoid puns) But I forged onward, slowly raising dusty footfalls along the trail while staring wistfully at the sun glinting off the cool-looking water. I was never quite close enough to take a dip, and… let’s be honest here. The water at Smith isn’t safe to swim in, thanks to agricultural runoff, so… how much safer could this really be?

Well, that rafters would say that it’s perfectly safe, but… hey. Let’s play it safe, yeah?

Onward and warmer and hotter.


When I reached the climbers trail, I headed up toward the now-visible cliffs. For a short while.

I didn’t go far, though, as I quickly realized just how hot it really was… and just how tired I was becoming. I don’t think I ever actually went into heat stroke, but I will say that I was surprised at how little I was sweating… and in the heat, that’s never a good sign. After maybe 50 or 100ft of elevation, I turned around and headed back to the car.



On the way back, I kept track of my physiology.

It was the desert, the height of the day, the middle of Summer. It was over 100 degrees, and I was in the direct sun. Not a good recipe, I freely admitted to myself.

But as with all events in life, dangers have mitigations. Risk has ways to be tempered. And, thankfully, I’m not going into these wilds unseasoned. As I walked, I kept checking in with myself:

– I wasn’t sweating much… which is an early sign of heat exhaustion.
– I mitigated that by drinking more water… and using some of that water to saturate my shirt. If my body won’t make sweat… I’ll make it for myself.

– I was tired… which is just an early sign of being tired.
– I ate a bit as I walked… but not too much, since digestion warms the body, and lord knows I didn’t need any more of that action.

– The Sun was high, and there wasn’t shade.
– There was nothing to be done about the shade… but sunscreen I had. I reapplied, even stopping to take off my shirt and apply all over my shoulders to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

I kept walking.

I got back to the car, and drank some Gatorade and a protein shake. I kept the top up, this time, and drove out slowly. I turned up the AC… but in stages, so I wouldn’t shock my body.

I got a hot dog from Sonic on the way back.

I was glad to be out of the sun… and glad to know about two new climbing areas!


…


Maybe, in hindsight, two new winter climbing areas.

Aug17

Seeing Rise Against in Bend!!

Posted on by
Standard

Sunday, 24-July-2022

Ohh man… how long has it been since I’ve been to a concert?

Not… huh. Not actually that long, I guess? Looking back at the archives (yay having a searchable diary!), it looks like I went to a punk show back in March. So… four months? That’s not actually that bad, really. Maybe… maybe, just maybe, things are starting to get a little bit better?

We’ll see. But for now, they were excellent. Loud music, beautifully comfortable desert air, and a gorgeous sun setting behind the stage. I could get used to evenings like this, no lie.

I’d driven out to Bend earlier in the day, taking my time to enjoy the drive while listening to music and letting my mind wander. It was great – I’d taken the Southern route to the desert, instead of going North past Mount Hood, so the scenery was a little bit different than normal. The top was down, the AC was on (hey, it was literally 106 degrees, hush), and I had approximately a gallon of sunscreen on.

The drive was lovely.


I arrived at my AirBnB, checked in, took some time to cool off… and headed into town for the show. Easy peasy. Maybe even lemon squeezy, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The concert itself was great – not quite as angry as I was expecting (and hoping for, truth be told) but… we do what we can, you know? The music was great, I had an amazing time, and I’m absolutely ecstatic that I was able to go!



Unfortunately, the show did end a bit earlier than expected… Remember, Rise Against is a political band, sort of like a slightly tamer version of Rage Against the Machine in my mind. Their songs are about issues in the world, and what could be. About respecting people, and breaking down barricades between us.

The mosh pit took that a bit too literally, and broke down the barricade in front of the stage.

Yeah. They took 30min trying to fix it, before giving up and telling us they weren’t allowed to play any more angry songs… not that the previous songs were excessively angry, but… you know. So they played an acoustic song (one of my favorites, actually), and then signed off for the night.

But it was near the end of the set anyways, so not too much music was lost I guess. A bummer, to be sure, but not the worst in the world.



That evening, I lay on the picnic table outside the place I’d rented, and watched the stars. I took a lovely bath in the claw-foot tub, and I took the chance to finish reading my book.

I love the desert.