Adventures

Katie and I both had the day off Friday, so we drove South with our tent trailer to Cultus Lake campground on Thursday night. We woke up early Friday morning to hike to the top of South Sister (also known by the name "Charity"), Oregon's third tallest peak at 10,358 feet in elevation. The approximately 5.5 mile long South Sister Climber trail # 36 (11 miles round-trip) starts at Devils Lake off the Cascade Lakes Highway and climbs nearly 4,900 feet to the summit.

After spending Saturday cleaning house and hearing about Jason’s summit attempt on North Sister, I was ready for another adventure. Never one to sit still for long, Jason was game for more activity after a good night's sleep. Temperatures were expected to climb into the upper-80’s on Sunday, so we decided it might be fun to beat the heat with an adventure to Illumination Rock on Mount Hood. At 9,543’ elevation, Illumination Rock sits on the Southwest side of the mountain, North-Northwest of Palmer chairlift.

Friday night, five of us (Al, Matt, Paul, Phillip, and I) drove from Portland through Sisters, Oregon in order to get an alpine start (i.e. way before sunrise) climbing North Sister Saturday morning. At 10,085 feet tall, North Sister (also known as "Faith") is the fourth tallest peak in Oregon and the oldest and hardest of the Three Sisters to climb. It is a shield volcano while neighboring Middle and South Sister are stratovolcanos. North Sister is highly eroded with rockfall, a common occurrence.

We headed to Washington state this weekend for a summit attempt on Mount Adams. The weather forecast was not stellar, but we were hopeful that a weather break would allow us to make a push for the summit. Mount Adams is the second highest peak in Washington, standing at 12,276 feet. We opted for the easiest and most popular South Climb Route, which begins near Cold Springs Campground on the South Climb Trail # 183. This route gains over 6,600 feet in elevation over approximately 5.7 miles.

During our camping trip along the Breitenbush River (NE of Detroit Lake along Rd 46), Katie, our dog Bella, and I went for a day hike into the Mount Jefferson Wilderness to Bear Point. The trailhead is about 4.5 miles from road 46 off road 4685. The well-marked trailhead parking is a large gravel area with room for many vehicles. Wilderness permits are available for free at the trailhead and are required for day and overnight trips. The hike to Bear Point is approximately 7.2 miles round-trip and is rated difficult due to its nearly 3,000-foot elevation gain.

On Friday, my cousins David and Kenny, my uncle Richard, and I hiked to North Dome with a side trip to the natural arch near Indian Rock. We were the only four up for a 10 mile hike the day after hiking Half Dome. The North Dome trail starts at the Porcupine Creek trailhead off CA SR-120 (aka Tioga Pass Road) and is approximately 9 miles round-trip. We drove to the trailhead from Housekeeping Camp in Yosemite Valley where we were staying the week.

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.

This was our first beautiful weekend of the year with temperatures forecasted in the low 80s F in Portland. My friend John and Katie and I spent the weekend car camping along Barlow Creek off the Barlow Road (FS road 3530). It's a beautiful area with silty soil and a mixed conifer forest (pine, fir, cedar, hemlock, etc.). There are several primitive camping spots along the creek between Barlow Crossing and Barlow Creek Forest Service campgrounds.

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.