Hiking

Thursday marked the day for our Half Dome hike up the popular cables route in Yosemite National Park. The cables were just installed the day before, as conditions were finally safe enough for hikers on the subdome. This 14-16 mile round-trip hike begins at the Happy Isles trailhead and gains roughly 4,800 feet of elevation to the summit of Half Dome. Currently only 400 hikers are permitted up the cables per day via a permit system (new in 2010). We were fortunate enough to be able to reserve permits months in advance.

On Wednesday we went on a loop hike to Sentinel Dome, then Taft Point along the Pohono trail, and back to the starting point. This roughly 5 mile loop begins and ends off the Glacier Point Road. Sentinel Dome and Taft Point lie on the South wall of Yosemite Valley. There was once a famously photographed Jeffery Pine tree that grew atop Sentinel Dome until it died during a drought in the 1970's. Taft Point offers similar views as Glacier Point (but without the crowds) and is know for its giant fissures that open up to the valley below.

My bother-in-law Scott and I headed out early (3:15 am) Tuesday morning toward the Tioga Lake overlook on CA SR-120 (Tioga Pass Rd) just outside Yosemite National Park. We wanted to get an early start climbing Mount Dana (second tallest peak in Yosemite at 13,053 feet) via the prominent Dana Couloir (YDS class 3-4). Our original goal was to then climb neighboring Mount Gibbs (12,773 feet) and hike back along CA SR-120 to form an 11 mile loop. We ended up only climbing Mount Dana and heading back along the NW ridge (6.1 mile round-trip).

For Katie's hiking debut in Yosemite, we planned on Clouds Rest from the Sunrise Lakes trailhead (SW side of Tenaya Lake). This was also going to be my first time on this hike despite decades of yearly trips to Yosemite growing up. This 14 mile round-trip (class 1) hike is known as the Northeast ridge route. The trailhead is on CA SR-120 (aka Tioga Pass Road, the highest highway pass in California) at an elevation of approximately 8,160'. This route gains almost 1,800 feet in elevation to the summit of Clouds Rest at 9,926 feet.

On our way to Yosemite National Park, Katie and I camped Sunday night at Yosemite Lakes Resort, so that I could fly fish the South Fork Tuolumne River for trout. This area is only about 5 miles from the West gate entrance (Big Oak Flat) to Yosemite. This river supports a population of wild brown and rainbow trout in addition to thousands of rainbows stocked annually.

Although we had been eyeing a climb on Mount Saint Helens all winter, a good weather window didn’t present itself. Just in time for summer, we got a much-needed break in the weather this week. We were able to find two permits to climb on Sunday. Mount Saint Helens (50 miles NE of Portland, Oregon), an active stratovolcano, is most famous for its eruption on May 18, 1980. Now only 8,364 feet tall, the mountain previously stood at 9,677 feet tall.

Katie, John, and I decided it would be fun to go on a day hike while we were camping along Barlow Creek on Saturday. We set off for Catalpa Lake from Barlow Creek campground following Bonney Meadows trail #471. This trail intersects Catalpa Lake trail #535 just before it ends at FS road 250. The hike is approximately 5 miles round-trip with 1,000 feet of elevation gain.

Despite a forecasted that included rain showers, we decided to go backpacking with our friends in the Badger Creek Wilderness over Memorial Day weekend. We had originally planned on a three day/two-night trip, but the weather Saturday was not favorable. We instead opted to leave Sunday morning for an overnight backpacking trip. Badger Creek trail #479 begins near Bonney Crossing Campground off FS road 2710 (about 2.5 miles North of Rock Creek Reservoir as the crow flies). The trail closely follows Badger Creek for approximately 11 miles to Badger Lake and then continues another 1.5 miles around the lake and up to FS road 4860.

My climbing partner Matt and I set off to climb Mount Mitchell (about 11 miles South of Mount Saint Helens) early Saturday morning. The normal route is a 2.5 mile (one-way) walk-up hike around the back of the mountain (South side) on a marked trail. But Matt and I wanted to be more adventurous and climb the snowy couloirs on the Northwest side of Mount Mitchell. We came prepared with full mountaineering gear (ice axes, helmets, crampons, rope, snow pickets, etc.) as we didn't know what we might encounter.

Finally, the long-anticipated nice weather came to Mount Hood on Friday morning. My friends Matt, Al, and I were able to get the day off to climb the mountain. This was Al and my first summit attempt of Mount Hood (I had previously been as high as the hogsback earlier this year). Matt is veteran mountaineer with six or seven successful Mount Hood climbs under his belt. We all met in Portland around 11:30 PM Thursday night to carpool to Timberline Lodge. We were going to climb the popular South route through the old chute to the summit.

On Sunday we took advantage of the promising weather forecast and planned a hike with our friends Kara and Matt to Table Mountain. Located across the river from Bonneville Power Plant, Table Mountain is one of the tallest landmarks in the Columbia River Gorge. Though not overly technical, this eight-mile round-trip hike is difficult due to its length and steep (3,300 feet elevation gain), rocky terrain.

On Saturday, Matt, his friend Al, and I went on a climb (non-technical) to Lookout Mountain. At 6,525 feet, Lookout Mountain is second in elevation only to Mount Hood within the Mt. Hood National Forest. The trailhead is about 4.5 miles Northeast of the Mount Hood Meadows turnoff on Hwy 35. The weather forecast was a mixed bag with rain showers predicted and a freezing level of around 6,000 feet. As it was still early spring, our 7.4 mile round-trip route was different from the normal trail due to the amount of snow above 4,500 feet elevation.

On Sunday we decided to take advantage of the sunny spring weather and ventured out for our first hike in Washington State. Our new friends Kara and Matt suggested we all hike Coyote Wall in the Columbia River Gorge. Located approximately 4.5 miles East of Hood River on the Washington side, Coyote Wall rises high above the river and offers spectacular views of the Gorge from its rim. The trail head is relatively easy to find, located on Courtney Road off SR 14.

I was able to go into work early on Wednesday in order to get off at 3 PM to drive to Neels Gap where the Southern Appalachian Trail crosses US Highway 19/129. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from Chatsworth, Georgia. Neels Gap is about 13 miles South of Blairsville. My plan was to park in the Walasi-Yi parking lot (with permission) and hike 2 steep miles along the Appalachian Trail to the summit of Blood Mountain and back. The 4 mile round-trip gains 1,400 feet of elevation on the way to the summit at 4,458 feet.

My job took me to Georgia this week where our carpet fabrication facility is. On Tuesday evening after work, I was able to drive up to Fort Mountain State Park for a short hike. The park is only about a 20 minute drive East of Chatsworth. The road quickly winds up into the mountains leaving the city far below. I went on a short easy mile loop hike to the summit of Fort Mountain and back. The conditions were calm with overcast skies and a temperature around 50°F.