Tag Archives: Rain

Jun9

BCEP – An attempt on Mt. Hood

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Last year, I took the BCEP class with the Mazamas – Basic Climbing Education Program. It was interesting; a great chance to review my well-trained skills, practice some that I hadn’t used in ages, and get to meet some new climbing and outdoors people. It was fun, and ticked all the boxes that I had hoped that it would.

My faith in the outdoors community reinvigorated, I quickly and happily volunteered to help teach BCEP this year. I was expecting to assist with the same group that I’d taken the class with the previous year, since leaders tend to continue teaching year over year, so I was a bit surprised when I was placed with a different group… but it turns out, this new group was just starting out – the first year the leader had led a BCEP team on their own.

The chance to help out with a new group, and to help build a similar culture of excitement and optimism for the outdoors? All while getting to show people the unbridled joy of rock climbing? Of seeing new views off the side of a mountain?

Well. Sign me right the heck up.


Sunday, 23-Apr-2023

Traditionally, the “final climb” of a BCEP team is an ascent of Mt. Hood… or at least, the offer that students can join the group leader on an attempt. As part of preparation for that possibility, our team decided to give it a partial go the day after Snow School – aiming to leave the Mazamas lodge sometime around 4am, and making an attempt on the top of the Palmer Glacier.

We rose (no shining, I’m sorry to report), we packed, and we made our way to the trailhead… arriving just in time for the freezing rain to start.

In the mountains, conditions aren’t always the same as they are in the front-country… and sometimes things are better or worse than you’d expect them to be. Freezing rain isn’t one of those things. It’s bad in the front country, it’s bad in the back country, it’s just not a good time for anyone. Especially for someone working on a FAR too early wake-up, being tired from the day before, and who doesn’t really like sufferfest trudgeshows in the first place.

Me.

That’s describing Ben, right there.

It was horrid. I can’t put it any simpler than that.

I was in a bad place, I freely admit. I was slow – I could try blaming the heavy boots I was wearing (Ed Note: Ben was trying out an ascent in double-plastic technical boots… vaguely twice the weight and half the flexibility) but… in the end, I was the one who chose to wear those boots. I was cranky – I could try blaming the early morning, or the dark, or the rain… but in the end, I was the one who chose to attempt the ascent. I was the last person in line – I could try blaming any number of things, but in the end… I was just a sorry and cranky mess.

I made it up about 1,200 ft vertical before calling it quits. Maybe less, even, since I couldn’t really see anything in the rain and darkness. I’d lost sight of the majority of the team a while ago, not even able to see the headlamps of the spearpoint of the group.

All I saw was two folks ahead of me, and one headlamp coming down toward us…

Jess was along with us, and it turned out that the lamp coming toward us stragglers was her – She was actually having an even rougher time of it than I was, and had hit her limit. Recent injuries gave her a reason to be extra cautious, and she’d made the hard decision to turn around… as an assistant, I was in the position to descend with her and make sure no one was left alone… an opportunity I jumped at.



We descended slowly and carefully, making sure not to leave the path or fall prey to one of the gullies that would cause us to miss the parking lot. We watched as the world grew lighter, shade by shade, never quite reaching daylight. The rain persisted.

Finally, the parking lot appeared and we were able to drop our packs and head down the pavement to the warmth awaiting us. The Timberline lodge reared out of the mist, and we made our way to the main floor, the huge hearths, to let our gear dry while we waited for the breakfast buffet to open.

It was 6am, a full two hours before food was to be had… we’d only been ascending for two hours, though it’d easily felt like half a lifetime in purgatory.

We ate waffles and drank coffee, and slowly became human again.

Drove home, spread the gear out to dry, and appreciated the warmth of my fireplace and the comfort of my couch.

Jun25

The spring sky, and flowers in the rain

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Various times around Saturday 04-June-2022

One of the things I enjoy about Oregon is how interesting the weather can be. Gorgeous clouds, rain, summer heat, everything. It’s always fairly mild, and (in my opinion) almost always leads to really beautiful views and images!

Another awesome part of Oregon? Roses!

Combine the plethora of roses with the interesting weather and lighting… and well…

See for yourself!

Dec22

A visit weekend full of adventures – Hiking Angel’s Rest

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Wednesday, 10-Nov-2021 through Monday, 15-Nov-2021

My friends came to visit!

Two weekends in a row… I’m the most social of all the social butterflies, it seems!

And honestly, I’m so thankful for it. 2021 was, for mas as for everyone, a challenging year. It’d been a year of huge personal growth, and excellent introspection, but at my core I’m still a social creature. Self-reflection is only a part of the growth cycle… sharing those insights, and getting other people’s input, is just as important to someone’s growth.

So when Daniel and Erin asked if they could come to visit the weekend after Dillon and Liz’s wedding… well, I couldn’t say yes fast enough!


Friday, 12-Nov-2021

Daniel and Erin had landed on Wednesday, and then spent Thursday exploring the city while I took the chance to force me to bike into work… which is honestly something that I really want to do more often, but can’t quite get myself out for bed in time to consistently do.

Advantage of friends visiting, yet again 🙂


We ate, chatted, and had an excellent time both evenings… but the real fun came on Friday when I was out from the office for the weekend, and we could all cut loose and escape the city together. The Columbia Gorge was calling to us, and even though the weather was looking a bit ominous we steeled ourselves (and packed rain gear) and headed into the storm.


Angel’s Rest is one of those hikes that I’ve done a few times… but for some reason it’s never really stood out in my memory. It’s definitely a gorge hike – not too long, but with fairly significant elevation gain to be had. And at the top, usually excellent views of the river and opposing cliffsides!

Today… was rainy. A bit rainy. A lot bit rainy.

One could even say that it was actively raining, the same that it had been for a few days beforehand. Strange, I know, but Oregon does sometimes have rain in the fall.




Nevertheless, we persisted though – passing waterfalls and rockfaces, knowing that our efforts would probably come to naught more than some short views from inside the clouds. Daniel had checked flight information ahead of time (dang pilots, and all) and theoretically the cloud layer was above the summit of Angel’s Rest… but this was the Gorge, which tends to funnel clouds into lower altitudes.

As we hiked, the clouds stayed where they were, and we slowly walked into their depths as we hit the summit block.

Oregon can be kind sometimes though, and as we walked to the cliffs edge, the clouds cracked and we got a glorious few views of the ridgeline behind us!

The clouds closed in behind us as we hiked out, and the rain picked up as we got lower and lower toward the gorge floor. Perfect timing, if you ask me, since it just gave us that little extra oomph to finish the hike up a bit more quickly, and to make it out to Little Big burger before it closed… And then home in time to make some excellent Dark and Stormies with the rum from the previous weekend!