MB's blog

Mt. Shasta climb

2010-05-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, May 20, I headed down to Mt. Shasta along with five other climbers. Kent and Steve drove, and Amy, Adam, John and I were the passengers. It took us about nine hours to make our way from Steve's house in Des Moines to the lovely town of Mt. Shasta just south of the mountain. We stopped a few times on the way down to get gas, eat lunch, and check out the northface outlet just south of Portland.On Thursday night, all of us met up for dinner at a local italian restaurant. Although I knew most of our group of 17 climbers, there were still a few new faces to meet. After a few beers at the local beer place called The Goat, we were off to bed in preparation for breakfast and gear check early the next morning.

After a nice breakfast and a last look at the mountain before the clouds rolled in, we converged on the Fifth Season to meet our guides, separate into smaller groups, and do a final gear check and group gear dispersal. My group consisted of five climbers -- Amy, Denise, Bob, John, and myself, along with our two guides, Kevin and Andrew. Then, it was a short car ride to the Bunny Flat trailhead, elevation 6900 feet. By this time, it was snowing. Not the best of conditions, but better than rain!

We started hiking a bit before noon. We arrived at Horse Camp a bit more than an hour later. Horse camp is at an elevation of about 8000 feet and surrounded by trees. There is also a cabin owned by the Sierra Club that is open to everyone. Horse Camp was completely covered with snow, and the cabin was still buried almost up to the roof.

We set up our tents (in the process disocovering that one of our two tents was missing two poles), and then did "snow school," practicing self arrest, rope walking, and general climbing skills. The wind and snow continued, and eventually we went back to our tents to escape the weather and warm up. We braved the elements for dinner, then walked over to the cabin to hang out with the rest of our Climb to Fight Breast Cancer teammates. I also hooked up with a friend of mine from last year's Kilimanjaro climb. Dean lives in San Francisco, and when he heard I was climbing Shasta, he decided to climb it with a friend of his on the same schedule as our climb. It was a nice treat.

Day 2 started out with sun, although it was mighty cold. We took our time climbing to our high camp at Lake Helen, 10,400 feet. We didn't see any lake at the camp, just lots of snow. High camp is located at the base of a 2000 foot slope which is the ramp to the summit. It can get very windy. The night before we were there, the rangers said that gusts reached 70 mph.

Because of the concern for wind, we dug way into the snow to create high walls around the tents. It was a good thing we did. The digging kept us warm as we were doing it, and kept us from being blown away that night.

Right before dinner, the snow started and the temperatures plummeted. At one point, there was a complete whiteout. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and it was snowing hard. We quickly ate dinner and crawled into our tents to warm up. Fingers and toes were crossed in hopes that the weather would improve so we would be able to make our summit bid early the next morning.
We were supposed to wake up at 2:30 or 3 am to head for the summit at 5. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. Our guides elected not to wake us up until 5. They told us that it was really cold. If we wanted to head up, wear. Couldn't say whether we'd be able to summit, but we would get as high as we could.

We put on our warm clothes, dug out our boots and packs from the 2 feet of new snow that had come into our rainfly during the night, and got ready to climb. As we were doing this, the wind picked up once again. I knew what was coming. The guides came back around and said we weren't climbing. We were bummed, but understood the reason for the call.

As we headed back down to our cars, the weather looked beautiful. As we moved below Helen Lake, the wind subsided. It looked so innocuous. But we made the right call. Temperatures were -1, wind was 20-30 mph, and wind chill was -26. Although I wanted to summit, I wanted to be safe and have fun. We all did have fun, and we all were safe. The mountain will be there next year. I look forward to challenging myself again next year, and hopefully the weather will be with us.

One positive aspect from the shorter hike on Sunday was that we had more time to hang out at the Goat for post climb celebrations. Much fun was had by all at the Goat. Beer, burgers, and tshirts were the big ticket items that afternoon and evening. Small tshirts.

Office Fun

2010-04-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

I work in the best office. Where else would my co-workers go bowling to help me raise money for breast cancer research and have this much fun?

Scottish Lakes

2010-04-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

March 8 was John George's birthday. It was a great time to spend time with good friends at Scottish Lakes High Camp. For those who have never been there, it's amazing. High Camp is a collection of A-frame cabins set at the end of a private road at 5000 feet east of Stevens Pass. The only way to get there in winter is to ski or snowshoe in, or to take snowmobiles. Fortunately, the lodge will carry your gear and food for you if you choose the manual option.

Sherell and I chose to ski up. Even though I'm not a good cross country skier, the road was freshly groomed and the weather was perfect. It took us about 2 hours or so to ski up the four miles.

Our group had several different cabins. We did the bulk of our cooking in the main building, as feeding the twelve of us in one cabin would have been challenging. We pretty much monopolized the place.
Of course a mountain retreat whose primary activities are skiing and snowshoeing wouldn't be complete without a hot tub and a sauna. Scottish Lakes has both. No electricity, but who needs that when you have lots of wood to fire up the amenities.

From the great food (including Kandace's amazing cakes for both breakfast and dinner), to the awesome friends and perfect weather, our 2010 Scottish Lakes adventure was perfect. Well, maybe fresher snow, but I'm being picky.

Winter/Spring hikes

2010-04-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Lots of great hikes during the past several months, some more strenuous than others. One of my new discoveries was Mercer Slough park, which I traipsed around in late January in a light rain. Even though its right between I-5 and I-90, it was a little oasis. Red blueberry bushes, a kayakable slough, herons, hawks, and quiet. The rain seemed to make it even prettier.

In early February, taking advantage of some unseasonably beautiful weather, I did a loop trip through Wallace Falls state park. I hiked up the newish Greg Ball trail to Wallace Lake. Still wanting more, I hiked around Wallace Lake to the lake beyond, Jay Lake. I then hiked over to Wallace Falls, hitting both the upper and lower falls. I think I did somewhere around 13 or 14 miles when all was said and done.

Several weeks later, I took a 3 days Wilderness First Responder refresher class in discovery park. Again, unseasonably good weather. One day, I got to the park ridiculously early so that I could walk the 3 mile loop before our class started. What a great way to greet the day!
Somewhere in the hiking mix, Amy and I did a nice loop through Cougar Mountain State park. Nothing strenuous, but we did see this lovely waterfall along the way. I'm a sucker for waterfalls.

In late March, we hiked up to Lake Serene, near the town of Index. This is a great hike, and one that gets you into the high country fairly early in the season, as long as you don't mind a bit of snow. It is a great workout, as the trail is quite steep in places. Rewards are great. Not only do you get to see an amazing waterfall on the way up, but there is a super lake at the top, and in the spring, you can see and hear the avalanches coming off Mt. Index on the far side of the lake. Last year, I hiked up here in May and there was more snow then than there was this March. I think that the swimming will have to wait a bit, though.

This spring, I also visited Lake Dorothy for the first time. I had driven by the turnout many times, but this was the first time I actually checked it out. Though it's not a strenous hike, the rewards are pretty good. It's a giant lake surrounded by some nice peaks, and a bunch of campspots. We encountered a good deal of snow, but looks to be a nice, easy backpack in season. Perhaps I can convince Roy to join me for a camping adventure. Lake, fire, easy. What's not to like? And, for me, passes beyond to enjoy.

In late April, another great hike previously undiscovered. The north cascades, which I always want to visit, but they seem so far away. A CLE in eastern Washington gave me the perfect ex cuse. As we drove home across the North Cascades highway, Amy and I stopped at Colonial Creek campground and hiked along the Thunder River trail for about four miles. It was incredible. All these great waterfalls, so much green. Flowers were just starting to bloom. It was a spring wonderland. Of course, I left wanting more. As we hiked the trail, we could look up into the glaciated basins above. I want to explore them. The trail continues, and you can hike all the way to Stehekin. Alternatively, you can take the trail up to Fisher Basin and drop through Easy Pass down to highway 20 further east. I definitely need to come back and do that!

Winter, 2009-2010

2010-02-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

Since I last posted, I have been busy with a number of hikes and trips around the west coast. In November, I took advantage of dirt cheap tickets ($39 each way) and flew to San Francisco with Roy for a fun long weekend in the city and a night in Sausalito. On our last day, while everyone else was working and it was pouring in Seattle, I rented a bike and rode from Sausalito to Tiburon and back under sunny skies in shorts and a t-shirt. Poor Roy was stuck in bed with some sort of ugly cold.

The following week, I headed back east to family Thanksgiving in Cleveland. I missed it last year due to recovery from knee surgery, so it was great to see the extended Dingledy family and friends, all 35 of us.
The weekend before Christmas, Roy and I took the train down from Portland to enjoy a long weekend at the Nines hotel, a gret place right in the downtown core above Macy's. We discovered it last year and loved it. It was a great chance to explore the city, do some tax free shopping, and be car free for a few days. Although the city was all decked out for Christmas, the weather was rainy and bleary.
A few days after we got home from Portland, Mom and Dad drove up from Indio, California to share the holidays. We had great holiday meals, and a fun white elephant party on Christmas night, complete with a wide variety of exotic and interesting gifts. Mom, Dad and I spent a day up north, checking out the snow geese and trumpeter swans on Fir Island. I don't know how many geese we saw congregating in the field, but it was in the tens of thousands. The din from their honking was incredible. And, when they all took off at once, it looked like a snowstorm. We also saw a pair of bald eagles and their giant nest and a short eared owl hunting in broad daylight. After our wildlife experience, we spent the afternoon in LaConner eating lunch and exploring the town. Caught a great sunset along the channel before we made our way back home.
After Mom and Dad left, I was still in the mood for wildlife viewing. That following week, I finished morning court early and took a field trip before afternoon court, heading up to Rockport to check out the bald eagles. None were feeding in the river, but a bunch were hanging out in the surrounding trees digesting their salmon breakfasts. I also saw a beaver or otter hanging out in the river below me doing it's thing. I couldn't figure out what it was at first, as I've never really seen one in action before, but that had to be what it was. It disappeared before I could take it's picture.

The first weekend in January, we had a girls trip to Whistler. Laura, Rachel, Haley, Cassie, Anna, Sonja, Sara and I drove up Thursday afternoon for two full days of play in the snow (actually rain). Despite the uncooperative weather, we had a great time. I tried out the new ACL for the first time and it was fine. I also went for a nice snow walk with Laura. We used the snowshoe trails, but the snow was so consolidated that there was no need for snowshoes. At least it didn't really rain on us!

We spent MLK Jr. weekend near Lake Wenatchee for the 11th Annual Dinglerama. Again, the weather was not optimal, but we still had a great time snowshoeing and cross country skiing around our house on the Chiwawa River and at Lake Wenatchee State Park.

At the end of January, Roy and I visited Camano Island and stayed at a great cabin in Cama Beach State Park. I first saw the cabins in Sunset magazine. They are really popular during the summer, but we were able to get a reservation for the January date in September. I guess the motto is plan ahead. The cabins are tiny, have no bathrooms and no bedding, and were built in the 1920s. They do have heat, running water, a coffee maker, and a microwave oven. And, they are right on the water. Roy was a bit skeptical at first, but is now sold. Truly incredible views right out the window, a great beach, and nice walking trails just out the door.
In addition to my mini vacations and day trips, I've been doing a bunch of hiking. Training for my Shasta climb officially started after New Years with a hike up Tiger Mountain 3. Since then I've done a number of training hikes around Tiger Mountain,

Mt. Si, Wallace Falls State Park, Discovery Park, and Mercer Park, most with 30-35 pounds of weight on my back. Thanks Amy for being my training partner.

Fall Hikes

2009-11-07T10:51:00.001-08:00

Taking advantage of the nice fall weather, Amy and I hiked to Ingalls Lake on October 3. It was chilly, but no rain! I was pleasantly surprised to see that the larches were just starting to turn. I love larches, but last year I missed them turning. It was great to have a taste of them at Ingalls Lake. It also inspired me to search out new larch hikes for the following weekend!

During the next week, I did my research. Altough it was a long drive, Amy and I decided that we would head to the north cascades in search of larches. After all, larch season only comes once a year, and only for a short time. So, it was worth it to us to drive 3.5 hours each way to catch them.

We started early on October 10 so that we could drive to the east side of the north cascades and do our 7 mile loop before it got dark. We did it, and even had time to hike to Rainy Lake with plenty of time to spare. Another fabulous weather day, but it was COLD!! As we drove through North Cascades National Park on highway 20, the thermometer in my car dropped to 29 degrees. This was at 10 am!! We saw frozen waterfalls on our way.

The loop was amazing. Lots of larches, lakes of gorgeous colors, and high passes. In some cases, the larches seemed to be at their peak, but on others, they were not quite there. The hike made me want to come back again the following weekend, but alas, I had other plans. I was cutting wood at Scottish Lakes High Camp, which happened to be in the vicinity of another larch haven. Despite thoughts of spending another night at Scottish Lakes and hiking to Larch Lake on Monday, I just couldn't do it. Work and the weather forecast got in the way. Unfortunately, the larches will have to wait until next year.

Spider Meadows

2009-11-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

The weekend of September 11-13, the Crack o' nooners took a long planned backpack to Spider Meadows in eastern Washington. We had a strong showing of new and old crew members, with a total of 13 of us enjoying some fabulous weather. The newest was Evan, who experienced his first ever backpack at the age of a bit over14 months. He was great.

Amy and I had hoped to leave Monroe around 3 on Friday afternoon to get to the trailhead at about 6. Our original plan involved hiking up to the valley that night, possibly with headlamps. Plans changed, however, and we decided to camp at the trailhead instead. It was a wise move. Unfortunately, we were unable to make the second part of that plan work -- we missed hooking up with Chris and Sherell. Nevertheless, Amy and I had a nice evening. We got our fire started and had a great dinner of chips and salsa, instant mashed potatoes and black beans with cheese and salsa, and, of course, copious quantities of wine.

The next morning, despite a bit of protest from Amy, we got up early and hiked the 5 plus miles to Spider Meadows in less than 3 hours. We were there by 10. This was Amy's first backpacking adventure, and she did great!

Shortly after we arrived at Crack o' Noon headquarters, we set off on a day hike to Spider Gap. We trekked across the open meadow, then headed up a steep trail to the toe of Spider Glacier. The glacier seemed to be more of a snowfield than a glacier. We traipsed up the glacier, which was a LONG, chilly slog, and then eventually, after a few false summits, came to the gap. What an amazing view of Lyman lakes and the surrounding terrain. Mark and I continued past the gap for more views and adventure. We went about a half mile further and checked out the old mining debris and views of Lyman glacier before heading back to camp. Great day.

Back in camp, we enjoyed potluck dinner and wine and margaritas by the fire. We also enjoyed a fine starry sky, complete with shooting stars. The next morning, we hiked back out, grazing on blueberries as we descended back to our cars.

Amsterdam

2009-11-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

I left Africa early in the morning on September 1. Instead of flying directly home, I decided to break up the flight between legs. I landed in Amsterdam about 4 pm on September 1, and flew out at 10 am the next morning. Although it seemed like a great idea at first, I started to have second thoughts that morning. What if I couldn't check my bags all the way through. I really didn't want to have to lug a 50 pound duffel bag around the city. What if my flight was late? Was about 12 hours in the city a stupid idea? I just wanted to get home and see everyone and unpack.

When I arrived at the Nairobi airport, one hurdle was overcome. Yes, I could check my bags all the way through to Seattle, so I was able to carry on everything I needed for Amsterdam in my backpack. And, when I arrived in Amsterdam, the train station was right at the airport, so getting downtown would be easy. My spirits lifted.

Of course, things weren't quite as easy as I hoped. I managed to get on the wrong train, but didn't realize this until the city receeded and we started passing small country villages along the way. After about a half our of village travel, I realized my mistake and was able to get on a train going the other direction. Minor glitch, but I did get a nice tour of the canals and old village buildings and farms.
I arrived at Central Station and began to head towards my hostel. Not a long walk, but it was quite lovely. Canals are everywhere in the city, and the old buildings are incredible. My route took me through the fringes of the red light district and past the many "coffeehouses" I had heard so much about. After a bit of hunting for my hostel, I finally found it. Took a quick shower and began to explore. I was determined to see as much of the city as I could in my 12 hours.
That night, I wandered around the streets, checked out various squares, and gazed at the canals. Stopped along the way at an outdoor canalside cafe for a beer. I walked around the red light district and grabbed some street food. Later, I stopped at a pub and watched some football. Then, back to the red light district. As it was later on in the evening, the action had picked up considerably. I had heard much about this area, but nothing prepared me for the reality of it. It was quite tasteful, with beautiful, young, scantily clad women showing their wares in identical windows all up and down the streets and alleys. A canal ran right through the middle of the main scene. Sixteenth century cathedrals were just across the street from the alley windows. Each window had red flourescent lights running all around them. Occasionally, the window would be empty and the light off.
As you can imagine, the people watching here was amazing. Most folks was strolling by, gaping at what they saw. I saw couples my parents age wandering and looking, as well as numerous other folks. I also saw shoppers. Some were young, college age kids, others looked like grandfathers. Completely surreal.

After my big night out, back to the hostel for some sleep. The next morning, I woke early to get my last exploration in. It was still dark, and it was actually raining a bit as I started to wander. I really wanted to see the Anne Frank house before I left, and I had to be on the train no later than 8 to make my flight, so I was walking through the streets about 6 am. Deserted, but quite beautiful.

Although I got a bit lost, I had fun exploring, and did eventually find the house. Unfortunately, the museum wasn't open that early in the morning, but it was still quite an experience to be there. After that, a quick walk back to the hostel to get my bag, and then my last stroll through the red light district on the way to the train station and my flight home. I was back in Seattle around noon after leaving Amsterdam at 10:30 am. The next morning, I was back at work with about 200 brand new cases to plow through.

Masai Mara Safari

2009-11-01T17:12:00.000-08:00

On Friday, August 28, after spending a night at the Milimani backpackers hostel in Nairobi, Sherell and I woke up early to catch the first flight to Fig Tree Camp in Masai Mara National Park. We were spending 3 nights at Fig Tree Camp as part of our fly in safari. Along with our lodging and flights, our package included 2 game drives a day, all meals, and air strip transfers.

Masaai Mara National Park borders the Serengeti, lying just north of it across the border in Kenya. It is much smaller than the Serengeti, and it is a big component of the annual migration. Hundreds of thousands of wildebeast and zebras cross the Mara river in search of better grasslands between July and September. The river crossings can be treacherous, as crocodiles lie in wait. We were hoping to catch this part of the migration, but unfortunately, we didn't see any wildebeast river crossings. We did see other aspects of the migration, however. We saw thousands of wildebeast everywhere. Some were walking, patiently plodding one behind the other in a never ending line. Others were dead -- killed by lions, then scavenged by hyenas and vultures.
From the moment we arrived at the camp, we loved it. If you ever visit the park, we highly recommend it. Sherell and I shared a luxurious tent which overlooked the river (which was pretty much dry when we were there. This tent really wasn't like any other tent I had stayed it. The bathroom was actually a solid building which opened up into the tent. we had real beds with mosquito nets, furniture, floor to ceiling windows, and our wonderful deck. The bathroom was big and comfy, complete with open shower, double sink, toilet, and bidet. I don't think the bidet was actually used, but it was a nice touch.

From our deck, you could look up towards the savannah, and we were able to see some wildlife. We also saw the local Masai people herding their goats through the dry riverbed. At night, Sherell and I would sit out on the deck and play scrabble. In Zanzibar, I had downloaded a scrabble app onto my phone, and we played scrabble nonstop throughout the trip. We would also drink wine and listen to the sounds of the savannah and watch the wildlife. Our evening wildlife consisted of mosquitoes, lots of bats, and on our last night, mysterious rustling in the bushes across the river that sounded like several very large animals. We found out the next day that there were two buffalo that had come over the river directly across from our cabin and were drinking in it right below the row of cabins.

Another of our night sounds was the sound of the Masai cattle returning to the village at night. Bells of all pitches, some that almost sounded like windchimes, the cattle lowing, and dog yipping. So amazing and peaceful, like African zen.

In addition to the cabins, Fig Tree Camp also had a large reception/bar/dining area. This area was roofed, but opened up to the outside all around. There was seating by the river under a big fig tree, and also in the back under smaller trees. There was also a crazy treetop seating area up a few ladders in the branches of another huge tree. As we learned, while in that area, you need to hold onto whatever food or food looking items you may have brought with you. Fig Tree camp has monkeys, and the monkeys in this tree obviously were used to humans and stealing anything not nailed down from the humans.
As in most safari camps, Fig Tree camp had a buffet for all the meals. Our daily routine was to get up at 6, grab coffee and coffee cake, load up into the jeep, safari from 7-9, breakfast, relax or safari, late lunch, relax by pool, another safari from 4-6, tent, shower, sit on deck, dinner around 8, read, bed. Yes, relaxing was rough, but someone had to do it.

Oh, did I mention that we had our own personal waiter, Henry, who took care of us the entire trip. And, we had a steward who made up our room during the day, and then when we were on our evening safari, would fix up our tent for the evening. Close all the curtains, take our mosquito nets down, switch the day bedlinens for the nighttime down quilt, and turn the lights on for us. Wow, I need one of these in my own house!

For our game drives we were hooked up with 4 other people in our landcruiser. Frank and Elaine were from Ireland, and Judy and Andreas were from Germany. We got along great, and we also had a good driver. Our first game drive was the afternoon of our arrival. Not long into our game drive, we saw a pride of lions on a freshly killed wildebeast. Not sure how long before we arrived the animal was killed, but when we got there, one female was working on it and the others were lazing around up above the riverbank. 3 cubs were around. 2 ended up on the kill, the third was running around on top of the riverbank playing with a part of the wildebeast's leg. Reminded me of my own cat, but on a slightly larger scale. After staring at the lions for a long time, we roamed around to another section of the park, where we just missed a leopard come out of a tree and head into the bush. We then had to hightail it back to camp. I didn't realize you could drive so fast over the dirt roads of the park, but we did. The park closes at sunset, and sunset on the equator comes fast. We were a bit late, but the sunset from the park was fantastic!

On our second day, instead of the normal 2 hour morning game drive, we took a much longer drive and brought "breakfast to go" with us. We went far into the park where we saw lots of wildebeast and zebra, but no river crossings. Early in the drive, we were lucky enough to spot a leopard walking in the low brush. We were one of a whole huge group of something like 15 safari vehicles jockeying for a glimpse of the elusing leopard. I think we probably spend about 1/2 hour chasing the leopard before we got a quick look at him as he crossed the road between a few of the vehicles and disappeared in the brush on the other side.
A bit after the leopard encounter, we found a mother and a year old cub sitting on a termite mound surveying the landscape. We watched them for awhile, then headed to one of the high view points in the park above the Mara river. Saw hippos in the river, but no wildebeast. We had a bit of a funny hippo moment when someone in our safari vehicle blew his nose and caused a bit of a hippo stampede down below.
On the way back, we had another encounter with the cheetahs. They had moved away a significant distance from where we had first seen them, and they had just killed a large impala. Both were absolutely exhausted. When we got there, mom was trying to drag the cheetah, and baby was panting under one of the safari vehicles. Mom soon joined them, and there they stayed. I wonder how long that land cruiser had to stay there. The people in the car couldn't even see the cheetahs under it.
We also saw a group of 3 heyenas devouring a wildebeast. I could hear the bones breaking from their powerful jaws. Two of the heyena were tearing the carcas to shreds as another skulked around in the background trying to get a bite. A bit further back, the vultures lurked, just waiting.
Over the course of the safari, we saw a lot of elephants. Even though we saw so many, they still were incredible to watch. They are so big, and look so slow when they walk, but they are incredibly powerful and dangerous. A few times, they came towards our landcruiser. It would not be too difficult for something that big to turn us over. Our driver had a very healthy respect for the elephants. We could hear them chomping on the vegetation, and we watched them protect their young. We saw tiny elephants that may have just been weeks old, and on our last day, we saw an absolutely enormous bull elephant. He was at least 1 1/2 times as big as all the other elephants we saw, and he was obviously in charge. A whole caravan of elephants walked across the road in front of us. It took over 5 minutes for all of them to pass. Unbelievable. There must have been close to 50 of them.
We saw giraffes of all sorts. We saw dark giraffes and light giraffes -- different species. We saw baby giraffes -- the one in this picture was very young. We saw sleeping giraffes -- they look like construction cranes with their legs folded beneath their bodies and heads straight up in the air.
We saw buffalo, which are the most dangerous animal on the savanna because of their unpredictablity. We saw lots of lions, most of them lazing around in the sun trying to avoid flies. We saw several leopards, but none really clearly. On our last day, we found several leopards hiding in the bush near a dead cow. At first, we just saw one, but then, we realized that she had cubs with her. Unfortunately, we didn't see much of her, but she was tantalizingly close.We also witnessed some fantastic sunsets. Every night was different. On a few nights, we could see rain in the distance, and the clouds enhanced the scene. We even got a few drops of rain through the open roof of our land cruiser. The only thing missing from the safari was the rhino. No rhino in any of the parks. The rhino is the most elusive of the big 5 (the other of which areo lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard). I guess I'll just have to go back!

Zanzibar

2009-11-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

Sunday, August 16, I boarded a small plane for a two hour flight from Arusha to Zanzibar. The day before, I had been in Tarangire National Park trying to figure out what to do for the next 5 days. My friend Sherell was going to meet me on Zanzibar Island on August 21, but I didn't have any plans between now and then. I had hoped to visit some of the lesser known national parks, but no one was responding to my inquiries, and I had to make some decisions. So, Saturday morning, I asked our driver to see if the safari company could arrange a flight for the following day to Zanzibar. I was lucky. After about an hour, they were able to find me the one remaining seat on a small plane that would fly me from the local Arusha airport directly to Zanzibar. So, now I was on my way. My one worry was what the heck was I going to do for the next 11 days -- 6 on my own, 5 with Sherell before we headed back to Nairobi. I have a very hard sitting still and doing nothing. How could I do that many days on a beach without going crazy. At least I had a lot of books.
My first stop was Pongwe beach. I had read about it in my guidebook, and after doing some research at the internet cafe on Saturday, I decided to make a reservation at the Santa Maria Coral Reef, a small, inexpensive place right on the beach. It was fantastic. They actually have two facilities that are about a mile apart by beach walk. My taxi driver mistakenly took me to the Queen of Sheba, which is the more upscale of the two places. I spent the night in a beautiful tiled room on the bottom floor of this amazing house with a courtyard right in the middle. $30 a night, including a breakfast of fresh fruit, toast, eggs, and freshly blended fruit juice. The beach was a drop down from the overlook (see photo above) by way of a ladder. At high tide, the water was under the overlook deck. At low tide, the water went way out and the local women went out with bags and picked up crustaceans and farmed seaweed. Seaweed farming is the big industry on the east side of the island. There is a reef that goes the entire length of the island, and this protects the interior and makes it quite shallow for about a mile. The women put poles in the water, the seaweed grows around the poles, and then the women harvest the seaweed. Other women will get up early and grab the seaweed that washes ashore. I have never seem anything like it.

I spent 3 nights at Pongwe. I read, ate, and walked up and down the beach and out into the water. I would get up at sunrise, about 6:30 am, walk up the beach during the low morning tide, and then again during the low late tide to watch the sunset. Then, I'd come back and have dinner at the restaurant at the hotel. Every hotel has it's own restaurant, which was a good thing, because there were pretty much no options otherwise. The weather was warm and sunny for the most part, but every morning a band of rain would move in. I would sit in the overlook on the netted chairs, listen to the rain pound on the roof, and stay nice and dry. It was a rough life, but I was okay living it.

My last night at Pongwe, I moved from the Queen of Sheba down to the Santa Maria. I really liked the Queen of Sheba, but there weren't many people staying there, and I was hoping to meet other travellers and exchange ideas and maybe find someone to travel with for a short period of time. Although my room wasn't nearly as nice as the Queen of Sheba, I did meet some nice people and was able to hook up with them for my next Zanzibar adventure -- the dalla dalla ride to Jambiani beach on the south part of the Island.Dalla Dallas are the method of public transportation in Zanzibar. They are pickup truck with an open canopy over the back. The roof is used to transport everything, including the kitchsen sink. Backpacks, bikes, firewood, doors, everything. The only thing I didn't see up there were people. People go on the inside, along with their market purchases, gasoline containers, and everything that couldn't fit on the top. Dalla Dalla travel was definitely an adventure. Where the taxi ride to Ponwe cost me $40 plus tip, the Dalla Dalla was about $1.50. It took almost 3 times as long and was not exactly comfortable, but it because my mode of transportation for the rest of the trip. Local culture and adventure all rolled into one. Imagine sitting on a hard board seat, one butt cheek on the seat, the other squished against the person jammed next to you. No leg room, no sense of personal space, and undoubtedly some dried anchovies in the bag in front of you invading your leg space. People's children would be placed on a stranger's lap. School kids and latecomers would have to sit on the bags in the middle of the bed. Oh, and when it rains, either you get soaked or they close the sides and you can imagine how stuffy it gets in a 5x12 foot area filled with 32 people and all the items coming from or going to market.After a dalla dalla transfer in Stone Town, the main city on the island, we finally made it to Jambiani. We found a hotel right on the beach, which was inexpensive, but not exactly nice. But, it was on the beach and we all could stay there, so that's where we ended up. Jambiani has a much bigger beach than Pongwe. At low tide, you can walk all the way up to Paje, which is about 3 miles north of Jambiani. And, you can walk another mile down the beach until you hit coral cliffs. You pass a number of small hotels and their restaurants. Jambiani is definitely much more touristy than Pongwe. Jambiani also has a town. Town is not what you would think of iin the western sense, but there is a town there, small shops, and a soccer field. I checked out a soccer game as I explored the town one day.

For the most part when I was in Jambiani, life was not much different than while I was at Pongwe. I woke up around 6, walked down the beach for about a mile with my camera, watched the sunrise, took photos, and picked up shells. Then, I walked back, had breakfast, and went to the beach again and read. Then, lunch at one of the many restaurants along the the water (this was different from Pongwe, because at Pongwe, the only restaurant around was the one at my hotel), more walking on the beach, reading, dinner, beers, bed. I did very my routine a bit. One day, I went snorkling out to the reef. We took one a dhow out to the reef with a local fisherman, and while we snorkled, he fished. The octopus he caught was his dinner that night. I also got a henna tatoo and a massage while at Jambiani beach. The local women walk up and down the beach offering these service. Tatoos for less than $10, hour long massages for $10. How could I go wrong?

I spent two nights at Jambiani, August 19 and August 20. August 21 was the day I was to meet Sherell in Stone town, so that morning I walked up to Paje, got poured on, then walked back down the beach and caught the 2pm dalla dalla back to Stone town. I got there around 3:30, and with some help from a local stone towner, I found the hotel and Sherell. Yay!

Stone town is an incredible place. Very old, dating back to the 1400s with a portugese fort whose walls are still mostly intact on the waterfront. In the 1800s, it was a major slave trading port. During our exploration of the city, we visited a church that was the site of the slave market. We stood in the slave holding chambers below the church. It was absolutely chilling.

Stonetown is famous for its doors. Many are works of art. Sherell and I wandered around the narrow streets for hours. We got lost, found ourselves, found giant markets, small shops, and everything in between. There are over a hundred mosques in Stone Town -- the city is something like 70% muslim. We happened to be there during ramadan, which meant no eating or drinking on the streets during daylight. Surprisingly, many of the restaurants were open, although some had their windows covered so those observing the fast could not see in.

Our first night there, we visited Forodhani gardens on the waterfront for their food market extravaganza. I had read about it in the seattle paper's travel section before I went to Africa, and heard about it from people I met while travelling in Zanzibar. None of that did it justice. It has to be experienced to be believed. It is a huge conglomeration of cooks all dressed in chef outfits with their wares on tables covered in white table cloths and gas lanterns all over the park. Everything is beautifully laid out, incredibly organized, and fresh. You could get sugar cane juice, lobster kebabs, zanzibari pizzas, meat, vegetables, whatever. Locals and tourists mingled together, watching and eating. It was fantastic.
The next day, Sherell and I took a boat out to prison island, where we snorkled for a few hours, then checked out the giant tortoise sanctuary on the island. We did some more town exploring, then had a drink and watched the sunsent at the rooftop bar at the famous Africa house, and a fabulous dinner at Monsoon restaurant.
The next morning, we headed north toward the top of the island. We stopped along the way and took a spice tour at one of the many farms in the center of the island. Zanzibar is known as the spice island, and now I know why. We saw cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, curry leaves, pepper trees, as well as many more. And, bananas, mangos, jackfruit, starfruit, tangarines. Good stuff.

When we arrived in Kendwa, our home for the next three nights, we were fortunate to find that there was a room available at Kendwa Rocks, a beachfront hotel that I had heard a lot of good things about. For our first two nights, we had to stay in a posh room with a great deck and hammock. Our third night, we were moved to a small banda, which was not nearly as nice as the first room but was about half the price. Kendwa rocks has an amazing bar/restaurant right on the beach. Sherell and I spent lots of time there eating, watching football, playing scrabble, and making new friends. It also has a super beach set up with chairs and covered areas where you can avoid both sun and rain.
Life in Kendwa was much like life in the othe beach areas. Lots of reading, beachwalking, and picking up shells. We checked out the other hotels along the beach, and on our last full day, walked up to the end of the island and visited the town of Nungwi, which is filled with hotels and also is the dhow building section of the island. Dhows are wooden boats outfitted with sails. Most have outriggers. These are the ubiquitous island boats, used for everything from fishing, and ferrying to snorkel trips for tourists. We had some good rain showers along the way, and at one point when we stopped for our first REAL non instant coffee on the trip, there was an out and out deluge going on. We stayed warm and dry, though.
After a fantastic three days in Kendwa, we headed back to Stone town for one more night before we headed back to Nairobi and our safari in Kenya. Before we had gone north, Sherell and I had checked out a hotel called 236 Huzumi. It was located on one of the main shopping streets, and looked beautiful. Plus, it had a well regarded rooftop restaurant that had sunset prix fix meals that were supposed to be spectacular. So, we decided that we would splurge for our last night in Zanzibar. It was a good choice. The hotel was amazing, location was great, and the dinner experience was a lifetime memory. We also had a room where we could hear the calls to prayer all throughout the day. What a haunting experience.
Our last day, we did a bit more shopping and wandering, then headed south to the airport for our flight back to Nairobi. It was hard to leave, but we were ready for the next stage of our adventure, a four day safari in the Masaai Mara.

Post Climb Safari -- Tanzania

2009-10-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

After our brief rest at the Arusha hotel, we were back on the road again for the safari portion of our climb. We were met at the hotel at 6am by the land cruisers. We hopped in with our safari gear for the short trip to Arusha airport. Our flight took us west, over the planins to Seregeti National Park. Our plane stopped once on the way, and we got our first glimpse of the park animals. It had to do a fly over before landing at the first airfield to scare the zebra and wildebeast off the runway. The second stop was ours, so we got off, collected our bags, and met our drivers for the next 4 days. Fauzia, Gary, and Garrison ended up in one of the land cruisers, Dean, Alan, Mara and I in the other. Just like you see on tv - the tops pop up for better viewing!

Our safari was called "game enroute" which is another way of saying "driving from one park to the next while looking for animals." We started in the Serengeti, and made our way east, traveling over rugged dirt roads, and in some places, rugged dirt roads under construction and incredibly dusty. Along the way, we saw all sorts of wildlife. And, we had nice lodging every night. The days were long, though. Up for breakfast at 7, leave around 8:30, Drive, stop for boxed lunch, drive, get to next lodge around 5, hit the pool, have a drink, dinner at 8, bed.

The first park we drove through was Serengeti. It lived up to its name. Within probably about 1/2 hour, we came upon a pride of lions with a fresh kill. Later on we saw more lions, some with kills, a cheetah, several leopards in trees, elephants, and buffalo. 4 of the big 5, plus lots more amazing things. Hippos, birds, gazelles, zebra. It was incredible. And, the trees were awesome. That night, we stayed at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge, a beautiful lodge on the edge of the savannah overlooking a watering hole. Zebra, gazelle, buffalo, and warthogs wandered around below us as we sat on a private deck near the pool drinking sundowners and watching the sun go down.

On our second day of Safari, we continued through the Serengeti for several hours, then through a desolate "under construction" section of road which gave everyone a good butt massage. Eventually, we made it to Ngorongoro Crater, which was amazing. The crater holds a large alkaline lake, which was quite low when we were there. There is an astounding amount of wildlife in the crater, including the rare black rhino. There are less than 20 black rhinos in the park. Sadly, we didn't see any of them, but we did see plenty of other wildlife, including a bit of a buffalo stampede.
On Day 3, we left the crater behind and headed to Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks. On the way, we got to experience tire changing, safari style. It's amazing that we only had one flat tire on our trip given the roads upon which we were traveling. The first jack wouldn't work because all of the dust that had gotten into it. Fortunately, the other land cruiser had a working jack, and we were back on the road within 1/2 hour.

Lake Manyara was much more treed than the other parks we had visited. The trees were pretty incredible. Giant and funky. It was the first time we had seen Baobab trees, which are immense, with branches that look like roots. We saw giraffes, flamingoes, elephants, and hippos, but not nearly as much wildlife as we had seen in the other parks. We were getting spoiled.

After a nice lunch at the Lake Manyara Serena Hotel, we were back on the road headed to Tarangire. Tarangire is well known for it's large population of elephants, and we were not disappointed. Elephants were everywhere, vast herds of them. At one point, we were treated to the sight of an elephant in ecstacy as he scratched his back and rear end on an abraided river bank. Happy day.
We spent the final night on safari at the Tarangire Sopa Lodge. As was our tradition, after moving into our rooms, we met by the pool for drinks and a sunset. We also enjoyed a bottle of wine that I had brought all the way from my house to celebrate our summit of Kilimanjaro. Nice way to end the day.
Day 4 of the safari was basically driving out of Tarangire and back to Arusha, which was only about 2 hours from the Tarangire gate. Once back in Arusha, we had lunch, then folks started to leave. Only Fauzia and I spent another night in Arusha. But, alas, my stay at the Arusha hotel was over. I was back for another night at the Arusha Naaz, and then, the next morning, I was bound for the airport for the next phase of my journey - Zanzibar.

Kilimanjaro

2009-10-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

On July 28, 2009, I flew from Seattle to Nairobi via Amsterdam. The first leg of the flight took about 9 hours. With our delayed arrival in Amsterdam, I had about a two hour layover before I took off for Nairobi. By the time I landed in Nairobi at 7:30 pm on July 29, I had been travelling for about 20 hours and flown through 10 time zones. It was my longest travel experience ever, and I was tired. And, my back really hurt! I went through customs, picked up my bags, one of which was a giant duffel bag that weighed just under 50 pounds, and headed into the throngs of waiting cab drivers and touts looking for the driver who was supposed to take me to my hostel. Unfortunately, after about 15 minutes of pacing back and forth and back and forth, no driver was to be found. The first person who contacted me was a nice woman who got me on my way for a reasonable fee. I kept waiting for something bad to happen after all of my reading about "Nairobbery" and the touts who will scam you on a taxi ride, but this one actually worked out quite well. So, I was tired and sore and not thinking straight, but at least I made it to the hostel with my bags and my money.
The hostel where I stayed in Nairobi was fantastic. It is called Milimani Backpackers, and it is within walking distance of the downtown area. It's safe, has a great outdoor bar/restaurant/seating area with a firepit, and lots of friendly international travellers. It was the perfect place to start my Africa trip. I spent 4 nights at the hostel before I headed into Tanzania. While I was in Nairobi, I wandered through the city center, checked out the city market, the national museum, and some of the parks. I also spent a day on a Safari to Hell's Gate National Park, which is about two hours outside of Nairobi. Saw my first animals there -- giraffe, buffalo, zebra, gazelle, warthog, among others. And, went on a nice hike through an amazing canyon. Hot springs, waterfalls, and Maasai guide included. It was a completely unexpected side of Africa.

On August 2, I took a shuttle bus from Nairobi to Arusha, Tanzania, the launching point for most Kilimanjaro climbs. Our group was scheduled to meet in Arusha on August 3, so I figured I'd get there a day early to get settled and explore the area. Also, the shuttle was an 8 hour ride over roads that were "under construction," so I wasn't sure what to expect. The bus was... interesting. Most of the occupants were local, it didn't have air conditioning, and only the driver's window opened up. So, as you can imagine, it was quite an experience. The African people have a different concept of personal hygeine than Westerners do. There was some not so good fragrance on the bus. Also, there was no bathroom on the bus. And, although one window did open, much of the ride was over dusty, unpaved roads, so the window wasn't even open most of the time. And, I was starving. The night before, they forgot to make my dinner at the hostel. And, that morning, the bus came too early for me to get breakfast. So, I was a bit hungry.The ride was an experience. The beginning of the trip started off on paved roads, but that really didn't mean that the drive at that point wasn't an adventure. Africa has crazy drivers. The tailgate, pass into oncoming traffic, and assume that whomever is coming in the other direction will get out of the way. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Also, there really aren't any traffic lights or stop signs anywhere. People just go. I don't know how I managed to survive the various car/bus rides I took, but flying, even in local airlines, seemed much safer than driving. Once we left the paved roads, the driving became a bit less crazy, but it was still an experience. The entire rest of the way was mostly dirt, and we kept crossing and recrossing the old road. Lots of bumps, lots of dust, and at some point, our shuttle driver went around some barricades and had us on the original, under construction, roadway. Thank goodness for my ipod and my downloaded "This American Life" podcasts. After 8 hours of fun, our shuttle made it to Arusha. Unfortunately for me, my luggage was on top of another shuttle, which didn't arrive for another hour.

Once my luggage got there, I took a taxi to my hotel for the night, which was close to the hotel we were meeting in on August 3, but much less expensive. Alpine Ascents International, the guide service, definitely treats its clients nicely. The Arusha Hotel, where we would be staying on our guided nights in Arusha, was definitely the nicest hotel around. And, out of my budget.
My room at the Arusha Naaz was fine. I had a hot shower, a room with a fan, and a tv. And, the hotel had FOOD downstairs. Woo Hoo. But, on a Sunday, not much else was open. I wandered around a bit, but most everything was shuttered. At 6:00, it got dark, and I was advised not to walk alone after dark. So, I wandered over to the Arusha hotel which was about the only thing open, grabbed dinner, and came back to my room for reading and tv watching.
The next morning, I checked out of the Arusha Naaz, checked into the Arusha hotel, and visited the internet cafe near the hotels. Then, I wandered into the other section of town and explored the market, which was amazing. Everything from live chickens to plastic kitchen items and everything in between. And, it was huge. Of course, as is the same all over the places where I traveled, I had a self appointed tour guide attach himself to me and guide me through the marked. And, even though I didn't want or ask for a tour guide, he demanded a tip afterwards. And, when I ponied up, he didn't think it was enough.

That afternoon, I met my roommate, Fauzia, who was from Maryland. We wandered around some more and visited the market again, this time avoiding the tourguides. We discovered another part of the market, outside the main area, where hundreds of women were selling a variety of produce.

The Arusha Hotel was awesome. Our room overlooked the gardens, which were incredible. The hotel had a turndown service, so after dinner, we would come back to find the room looking like something out of a fairy tale -- gauzy mosquito netting surrounding the plush, white beds. Pretty awesome experience. The hotel had a pool and also in-room massages. I actually took advantage of this service. My back had been hurting since I got off the plane in Nairobi, and I hoped that maybe a massage would get it back to normal, or at least close to normal. It helped, but the back was still sore when I started climbing.

The next day, we met the rest of our group. Gary and Garrison, a preacher and his son from Texas, Dean, a laid back Californian, and Mara and Alan, a couple from Colorado who had left their two kids with her Mom in Chicago and come to Africa for their first climbing adventure. We explored the town together along with our "local guides," who quickly expanded from 3 to probably about 15 by the time we were done, went through gear check with the guide, then packed our bags for an early departure the next morning.

On August 5, we headed towards Moshi and the entrance to Kilimanjaro National Park. It was actually raining when we left, a rarity this time of year. We were taking the less popular but more scenic Machame route, which is a 7 day climb. As we started our trek (5363 feet), it continued to rain. We gained about 4000 feet that first day, hiking through a rain forest eerie with fog. All we had on our backs was a day pack. Our clothes and gear was carried by 40 or so porters who additionally shuttled all of our food as well as group gear up the mountain ahead of us. I felt guilty as I watched my bag, coolers, water jugs, and chairs go by me on the heads of the porters who would then set everything up and have it ready for us when we arrived. Even our personal tents would be ready for us, bag out front, chair nearby, when we got there.

That was luxury enough for me, but it got even more incredible when we stopped for lunch. We had a huge blue tent set up for us, a full table and chairs inside, and flowers on the table. For lunch we had casava chips, pringles, salad with avocado and cucumbers, bred, vegetable patties, and fresh papay, oranges, and passion fruit. And, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or milo. We got some interesting looks from the other people trekking by. Also, no peeing in the woods for us. We had our own portable toilet and tent for our bathroom needs. Wow!

When we arrived at Machame camp (9300 feet) for the evening, we unpacked our bags, organized our tents, and then headed into the big blue tent for tea and popcorn. That was only a warm up for our fabulous dinner - cucumber soup, potatoes with gravy, green beans and carrots, pepper steak, and sweet corn cakes. A propane floor lamp provided ambiance, along with the tablecoth and flower. This food routine was to continue for the next six days. Hot breakfast, hike, lunch, hike, dinner, sleep. The food was amazing, and certainly not what I had anticipated.

Day 2 on the mountain we finally broke out of the clouds and got our first look at where we were heading. Kilimanjaro was brown and hulking and didn't seem to have much snow. It looked big, with a very flat top. We would walk around almost half of it as we acclimated and climbed.

We spend our second night at Shira Camp, 12,300 feet. The clouds covered the forest below and we felt like we were on an island looking out onto the ocean. Sunset that night was fantastic from a knoll above camp. I was almost late to dinner because I couldn't stop watching the light change. That night, as we went to bed, an almost full moon illuminated the mountain and our camp below.Day 3 we moved from Shira Camp to Barranco, 12,800 feet. In between, we crossed a 15,000 ridge at Lava Tower. Of course, we had to climb Lava Tower, too, which gave us some even more impressive views. It was a bit of an adventure in an of itself. Some crazy rock climbing to get to the top! On the way down from Lava Tower, I started getting very chilled and couldn't eat (I never can't eat). As we got closer to camp, I felt sicker and sicker. By the time we finally made it to camp, I was feeling awful. I tried to get up for dinner, but I couldn't even hold my head up. My recollection of that evening is fairly hazy, but it's fair to say I haven't been that sick in years. Thankfully, I had cipro with me.
Started taking the cipro the next morning, Day 4, and I was able to make it up the Barranco wall and haul myself into the next camp, Karanga, 13,000 feet. Thankfully, the mileage that day was only about 2.5 miles, but the Barranco wall was not easy. It is straight up a rock face with no place to step off the trail. I have no idea how I held it together on that wall, but I did. Once we got to the top, most of the rest was downhill. I was very happy to get into camp and relax. I felt much better by the end of the day.

Day 5 was another short day to our final camp before summit day. Camp Kosovo, at 16,000 feet, is a bit higher than the traditional high camp, and we were lucky enough to be able to stay there. It's about 45 minutes above Camp Barafu, and gave us good position for our summit bid later that night. We had a nice dinner, then went to bed early so we could get up at 11:o0 pm. I was feeling much better, so feeling optmistic about making the summit.

Day 6 started early. We were on the trial before midnight. I had been feeling the altitude starting at about 12,000 feet, but it was noticably more apparent at 16,000 feet. Not surprisingly, the higher we climbed, the harder it was to do anything. Every step got harder and harder, and I felt like I was gasping for breath. We were climbing steep slopes (in doing the research for this blog after I climbed, the elevation gain was 3600 feet in 1.8 miles, about 1900 feet per mile, twice as steep as Mt. Si for you PNWers), and we were walking on what seemed like a combination of beach sand, ash, and rocks. Not easy footing. We would stop every hour or so for food and water breaks, but just the act of digging through my pack was breathtaking. Zipping up my jacket made me pant. Taking that first set of steps after the stop left my heart pounding and me breathless. And, we were hours from the top. I spent a lot of time looking at my feet, some time looking at the stars. No one really talked - it used up too much precious oxygen. I just kept concentrating on the next step, periodically looking up to see if I could see the top.
Finally, just around sunrise, we reached Stella Point (18,886 feet) at the crater rim. It's not the top, but our guides told us that if we could make it there, we would be able to make the summit. I was so relieved to be there. We took a break, took photos, and tried to see where the actual top was. It looked far away. It felt even farther as we continued to climb towards it. I really had a hard time taking each step, but I was motivated by the people whose names were on my flags, the people who I was climbing for. I kept focusing on them and tried to forget the exhaustion and oxygen deprivation I was suffering. I was not going to be the one that quit. After we got back down and talked about it, apparently every one of us was feeling terrible, but no one wanted to be the one that quit. We all made it. The bulk of our group arrived at the summit at about 7:30 am on August 10, 2009. We posed for pictures, looked around, then headed back down for some air. Apparently, another person on the summit had passed out up there, but I never even noticed. I was too oxygen deprived to think about much else than taking some pictures and getting down.

What took us 7 1/2 hours to climb took us 2 hours to get back down. The soft sand/ash/rock combination made for good plunge stepping and tired legs. Back at camp, I was still feeling the altitude, and my crappy sickness seemed to have returned - I couldn't eat lunch. When the guide took our oxygen saturation back at 16,000 feet, mine was 64%. Not great, apparently. My firefighter friend said they take people to the hospital at 85%.

We packed our bags after lunch, then headed down to our last camp, Mweka, at 10,170 feet. Yes, that's right. We climbed 3600 feet, descended 3600 feet, ate, then descended another 5830 feet to camp. We descended almost 10,000 in eight hours. I was absolutely exhausted. But, I made it. We had a wonderful celebratory dinner, then off to bed.

Day 7 was another descent, this one 4100 feet to the Mweka gate. Legs were tired, we were exhausted, but also looking forward to a night at the Arusha, a hot shower, and some clean clothes. At the end of the trail, we were greeted by our singing and dancing porters with the Kilimanjaro song and a fantastic buffet lunch, including cold beer. And, we even got the royal boot treatment - porters took off our boots and gaiters, washed them, and then returned them to us in pristine condition. Unbelievable.

Also great to watch was the lottery at the end of the trip. After each trip, the guide collected donated gear items. The porters pick numbers, and then then get to pick an item of donated gear based on the number picked. It was great to see all the items prior climbers had donated, and so wonderful to see the looks on the porter's faces as they picked out their gear. These items are huge to them.

After the lottery, headed back to Arusha and enjoyed a few hours of cleaning and organizing for the next leg of the trip, the 4 day safari. I rinsed off the climbing clothes as best I could, and sent the rest out for laundering. I wanted to nap, but between everything I had to do and the limited time in which to do it, it just wasn't happening. I'd have to save my sleep for the safari.

Katmai National Park

2009-07-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

On Monday, June 29, I flew to Anchorage to lead my first Sierra Club trip. After two days of finalizing trip preparation, the trip officially began in King Salmon, AK on July 2. Our group consisted of two leaders and seven participants from all over the US as well as Italy. As we flew from Anchorage to King Salmon (no TSA security for this flight), we could see amazing mountains and lakes out the window, including Mt. Redoubt, which was putting out a nice trail of steam. Thankfully, no eruptions interfered with our flight.

Once we landed in King Salmon, we were shuttled from the tiny airport to the Naknek River floatplane dock, the next leg of our adventure. We had to weigh ourselves and our gear, then based on that information, the planes were loaded and we headed off to Katmai National Park. The flights took about 20 minutes. My plane held 5 passengers, some of the planes looked to hold 7-9. More beautiful scenery as we flew first over tundra, then over lakes and rivers before landing on Naknek Lake at Brooks Camp.

We unloaded the plane then quickly walked across the beach to the visitor center. The group that came after us had a more eventful landing -- they had to wait for a bear to finish walking by the landing area before they could exit the plane.
We spent our first night at Brooks Camp in the camping area which is protected by an electric fence. This place is truly amazing. Bears are everywhere, and it takes a bit of time to get used to the fact that you are sharing everything -- beach, trails, fishing holes, even walks to the bathroom, with these giant animals that could kill you in an instant if they wanted to. But really, as far as I could tell, the bears could care less about us. They were much more interested in the salmon that had just started to run when we arrived.

Brooks Camp is managed incredibly well. The campground is surrounded by an electric fence, and there are two viewing platforms where people can congregate and watch the bears. These platforms are located at the mouth of the Brooks River and at Brooks Falls, which is a one mile walk up a road and trail from the first platform. The rest of the area is unfenced, so you need to be on the lookout for bears. Rangers are located at certain points and will steer you clear if bears are in the area. They also keep track of bears in the area of the bridge crossing the mouth of the river. If bears are within 100 yards of the bridge, you can't cross. This results in interesting "bear jams". We got caught in one of these for two hours. Of course, we didn't really mind watching bears for two more hours in the sun. Much better than sitting in traffic.

As I said, bears were everywhere. We saw a few on the trails, and we had one situation on the road between the viewing platforms where I thought I was going to get eaten by a bear, but we really weren't in any danger. A bear came running out of the woods right at us, maybe 20 yards behind us, and after I almost took off running (which is the absolute wrong thing to do), we realized that it was being chased by another bear and it was not charging us. Thankfully, all of us remained somewhat calm, and we had some fast heartbeats, trembling legs, and a good story.

On day 2, we headed out to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes for six nights and seven days. This valley is full of ash and pumice from a huge volcanic eruption in 1912. In places, the ash is 700 feet deep. A few rivers have cut through the ash over the years, and the gorges they have cut are amazing. It also means that crossings are few and far between. There are no bridges, you have to ford everything when you find a chance. The valley is about 12 miles long, and ringed by volcanoes and glaciers. It is cloud free only 20% of the time according to the literature. For us, however, the weather was pretty much all sun, with the exception of 2 foggy mornings. We had no rain, and the temperatures were HOT! I think it was probably around 80 during the days, and there is no shade. Basically, it is like a desert. I broke out my down jacket only once. We also got incredibly lucky at the absence of wind. The valley is notorious for wicked winds that funnel through Katmai Pass and kick up ash that gets into everything. We were advised to bring goggles and dust masks to protect ourselves. We saw this on the first day, but we managed to avoid it. Still not sure how we got so lucky.

After an amazing 7 days in the Valley, we headed back to Brooks Camp for two more nights in the campground a full day of bear viewing. We also contemplated taking a hike up Dumpling Mountain, but the bears won out. I think I speak for most if not all of the group when I say that we spent hours watching the bears, and could easily have spent hours more. It was truly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The pictures are great, but they really only give you part of the story. It is an unbelievable thing to watch the bears sit there and wait for fish. Some stand at the top of the falls and wait for the fish to jump right into them. Others wait at the bottom in the backwash and when they feel a fish bump them, they grab them. Still others swim around with their heads underwater and "snorkel". More run and jump on the fish. Some steal the fish from the bear that caught it, and some have learned to steal fish off a fisherman's line (see photo at the end of this entry). They stay in the same spots for hours, and the next day, they are in their spots again. Really, truly amazing.

The trip ended on July 11, and as I flew back through King Salmon on the way to Anchorage, I ran into a guy from Seattle who I climbed Mt. Baker with. Small world. On the way from King Salmon to Anchorage, we saw Redoubt again, as well as the incredible glacial mass of Mt. Iliamna. Made it back to Seattle on July 12, where I unpacked and immediately started repacking for Africa. I leave for Africa on July 28.

Columbia River Gorge

2009-03-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

In mid February, Roy and I headed down to Portland and the Columbia River Gorge for a nice weekend. We spent Friday night in Portland at a Swanky Hotel called the Nines. Highly recommend it. Right downtown on the light rail and above Macy's. I did some shopping, and the we had a nice dinner at Roy's favorite Portland Restaurant, Basta's.

The next day, we drove along Highway 14 and checked out the waterfalls. It was incredibly windy. At one point, we stopped at a scenic point along the highway high on a ridge. I got out to take some pictures and walk to the lookout building. I almost couldn't make it back to the car. I seriously thought I might blow away. There was a family there holding a little baby, and I was horrified. I don't think I have ever been in wind that strong. After getting our fill of waterfalls, we crossed the Columbia and spend the night in Stevenson at the Skamania Lodge. What a great place. After a lovely dinner of nachos and sweet potato fries, we were pooped.

Sunday morning, I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. Instead, I drove back across the Bridge of the Gods and hiked three miles in on the Eagle Creek trail. What an amazing hike. Fairly flat, but right along the river, sometimes beside it, but more often high above it along this amazing gorge. There were so many waterfalls, and the rising mist made for some great photographs. Roy was just getting out of bed when I got back to the hotel!

winter hikes

2009-03-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

My knee has been recovering very well after my surgery in November. I was off pain meds in three days and off the crutches in a week. I started doing some short walks (couldn't really call them hikes) around the local parks in January. I even went for a snowshoe in Whistler in early January. It was hard not to ski, but snowshoeing along a groomed trail in over a foot of new snow was good consolation, and much cheaper than a lift ticket!

I started hiking in mid February, and since then, I have done West Tiger Mountain 3 and 2 in the snow, a bunch of hikes around Cougar Mountain, and some hikes in the Columbia River Gorge and in Boulder Colorado. I'm ready for spring flowers! Today I hiked a 5 or 6 mile loop on Cougar Mountain. Not much elevation gain, but I had about 25 pounds in my pack. That's the most weight since my surgery. A few trees were leafing out, but the trail still had snow on it in places thanks to yesterday's storm. And it was MUDDY. This may have been the muddiest trail I have ever been on. Guess spring is on the way.

Summit Success

2008-11-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

On October 28, I headed to Mexico to climb a couple of mountains for breast cancer research. Our team consisted of 7 Climb to Fight Breast Cancer climbers as well as a father and son from Texas, and 3 guides. After a day tourning pyramids around Mexico City with some of the CFBCers, the complete group met in Mexico City on October 29. The following day, we loaded ourselves and our gear into two vans and headed southeast towards our first objective, Iztaccichuatl, anywhere from 17,100 to 17,500 feet, depending on the source. Before we got to the mountain, we had a nice stop in Amecameca, where we toured the market and a cool old church.

We spent our first two nights at Itza in a refugio near the tv and microwave towers at an elevation of about 13,200 feet. The first day, we went on an acclimitization hike to familiarize ourselves with pressure breathing and other fun aspects of high altitude climbing. On day 2, we loaded up our backpacks and headed for high camp. This involved descending to 12,200 feet, and then climbing up to about 15,000 feet over scree and rocks. We camped among the rocks, had an early dinner, then went to bed around 5pm in preparation for our alpine start for the summit. At midnight, we were awakened (well, hard to awaken when you never have actually slept). Got dressed, ate our oatmeal, and headed out of camp about 1:45 am. All 12 of us reached the summit at about 7:30, having witnessed a fantastic sunrise and mountain shadow on the climb up. The summit was crystal clear, but windy and COLD. Water bottles, even though in our pack, were very slushy. I had blue lips, though I'm not sure whether that was from the cold or the hyopoxia. Our trip back down was warmer and faster. Back at high camp, we took down our tents, packed up our gear, and then headed back down another 2800 feet and up several hundred to the waiting cars and beer. Then, a long ride to Puebla. We checked into the hotel around 7:30 pm after a LONG day. I was too tired to eat dinner. Just wanted bed.

We spent Monday in Puebla as a recovery day. We shopped in the artists market, checking out amazing pottery and other crafts. Several of us got massages to get our bodies back to where they needed to be in order to tackle our next objective, Pico de Orizaba, the third highest mountain in North America at over 18,700 feet.

Tuesday morning, back to the vans and the 2 + hour drive to the town of Tlachichuca. At Tlachicuca, we tranferred our gear to heavy duty 4x4 vehicles and ate lunch. Then, we got into the trucks and headed up the 13 mile dirt road that puts the middle fork snoqalmie road to shame. 2 1/2 hours later, we arrived at our objective, Piedra Grande, 14,000 feet. There is a big climbers hut at Piedra Grande, with cooking tables and bunk space for 40 people. Fortunately, there were only a few other people besides our group, and no mice. Our original plan was to camp outside the huts, but the wind was quite strong, so we elected to stay inside. Good choice.

If you are paying attention, you might realize that Tuesday was election day. It was quite strange to be in a foreign country on the big day, and in a place with no electricity or cell reception. We did have a sat phone. Before we went to sleep, we called Seattle at around 8pm east coast time. No hard results at that time, so I went to sleep not knowing who our next president would be. The next morning we called an east coast relative and got the good news. Woo Hoo!!!

Wednesday morning, we once again loaded our packs and headed up the scree and rock slope to our high camp around 16,000 feet. In high camp, we had clear skies, but lots of wind in the afternoon. Seemed to be a trend. We ate an early dinner, and this time, I remembered to bring my sleeping pill. Although I didn't sleep great, at least I got some sleep before our midnight wake-up call. At 1:45, 10 of us broke camp, roped up and crampons on. We climbed steeply through the rock and ice "labyrinth", then, after about 1 1/2 hours, we broke out onto the glacier. As we climbed, the slope got steeper and steeper. Eventually, the pitch reached 45-50 degrees. We were told that this was a "no fall zone. If you fall, someone dies." Not terribly reassuring. At one break, we could not sit, because the slope was too steep. Toes were cold, feet were cold. Thankfully, I had handwarmers to keep my fingers from going numb.

At about 17,600 feet, two climbers turned around with one of the guides. One climber was suffering from severe hypoxia. He was actually hallucinating. The other was shaky and worried that she could not continue safely. The 7 of us remaining continued up the slope. Because I was at the end of the rope, I got to carry the 5 pounds of extra rope. Believe me, at that elevation, I could feel it. It was all I could do to keep going. Every time I tried to look up to see the top, I felt like I might tip over. I stopped looking. At this time, we could start to see our surroundings as sunrise was approaching. But, given the severity of the slope and my desire not to die, I was not able to take any great sunrise shots. I'm okay with that.

The 7 of us reached the crater rim about 7, took a short break, dropped our packs, then made the short climb to the summit. No wind, just views of everything. The was a great crater just below us, and we could see Itza in the distance. Another great mountain shadow day.

On the way back to our packs, I had a bad moment. Took a step and realized that my foot seemed weird. I looked down, and my crampon was half off my foot. Not a good place for that to happen. I had a bit of a panicked moment, but the guides were able to reattach it to my foot as I held onto the crater rim for dear life. I have no idea what I would have done if it had actually come off. Don't want to think of it.

We picked up our packs, then headed back down as the sun began to warm us. Again, we were reminded of the "no fall zone." We were to trust our crampons (oh, the crampons that I was just told sucked???) and just head straight down the mountain. Great. 45 degree slope, 2000 feet of ice covered snow between me and the rocks at the bottom, and the no fall zone with crappy crampons. And, I'm roped to 4 people. If I fall, I kill them, too. And, if they fall, I get to go along for the ride. Why am I climbing???

We all made it down, and it really wasn't that bad. Quads were sore for days and the legs were a bit shaky at times, but the snow conditions were great and our guides had everything under control. We made it back to camp about 9:30, and our friends had broken camp and packed everything up for us. Nice friends! We reloaded our packs, then headed down to the Piedra Grande and the 4x4s that were due to arrive at 1. They weren't there. Finally, at 3:30, they showed up. We loaded up, drove back down the crazy road, and showered and had dinner in Tlachichuca. Then, the long 3 hour drive to Mexico City. At midnight, we checked into our hotel. Another LONG day. But, we were safe.

Friday, I flew home to Seattle, and got in to Seatac at about 1:00 am. Alaska Airlines was kind enough to give me a new suitcase after apparently throwing my suitcase in front of a herd of wild elephants. At least it wasn't my pack that they ruined. I spent the weekend recovering, but now I'm good to go. And, I get a whole week's worth of rest starting tomorrow (Wednesday) courtesy of the ACL surgery I am having tomorrow.

Thanks to all of your support, in addition to reaching my summit goals, this year, I have raised over $11,000 for breast cancer research atthe Hutch. My three year total is over $25,000. Thank you for being a part of my endeavors!

The Refuge (Alaska, part deux)

2008-09-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

On August 15, I once again headed to the land of the midnight sun, this time as the assistant leader of a 14 day backpack in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The trip was comprised of 6 people -- 4 participants and 2 leaders. I was the only female. As the assistant leader, I was in charge of food organization for all meals of the trip. You can imagine the work and stress with that job, not to mention the joy of packing up all that food and hauling it to the airport. I was very relieved once I checked the luggage and got on the plane.

We arrived in Fairbanks late Friday night, spent Saturday meeting everyone, running last minute errands, going over logistics and food distribution, and repacking. Did I mention that my pack weighed almost 50 pounds? Bright and early Sunday morning, we were on the road for the LONG drive up the Dalton Highway to our starting point, Atigun Gorge. On the way, we watched the pipeline snake its way across tundra, over the mighty yukon, through vast burn areas, into a ferocious rain storm, and around glaciated mountains. Although it was still summer in Fairbanks, we passed through fall colors as we headed north. At times during my trip, I felt like those "highway" miles of fall were all we had between summer and winter! 11 hours and numerous rest stops later, we were there. By that time, it was almost dinnertime. At least it wasn't raining.

Over the next two weeks, the six of us enjoyed sun, wind, fog, snow, and a few clouds as we circled the area around the Atigun River, the Sagavanirktok, and Accomplishment creek. We crossed a number of high passes and several big rivers. We watched a herd of about 100 caribou stream across the face of a large hill, possibly after a wolf had killed one of them. Later that night, we marveled at falcons playing and stalking, while a golden eagle soared overhead. and another hawk hovered nearby. We saw numerous dahl sheep, and got up close and personal with one large flock. We saw moose one morning at a lake just outside of camp.

Did I mention the tundra? I hate tundra. We had lots of tundra. Hummocks and Tussocks. especially with marsh in between, are not much fun. One day, I think we must have walked through 8 miles of tundra. Looks beautiful, but miserable to walk in.

The trip, despite the hated tundra, was amazing. Our group of Eric, Peter, Larry, George, Mark and myself, got along fantastically. The weather was fantastic, (albeit cold), as was the scenery. We were constantly amazed at new views as we crossed over the various passes. The diversity of ecosystems was something that surprised us. In some places, we had peak foliage, and in other areas, it seemed winter had arrived.

Prince William Sound

2008-07-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

What an amazing trip. From June 9-19, I stayed outdoors in one of the most amazing environments I've encountered. Sea Kayaking is not my usual means of transportation, but this was a fantastic adventure. I may now be hooked. Of course, we were very lucky in terms of the weather. I might have a different take on it had it rained the entire time.

We started the trip with a boat shuttle of about 1 1/2 hours from Whittier to Culross Pass, where we spent two days hardening campsites and doing a few other tasks. The first day's weather was amazing. Blue skies, no clouds. On the second day, it got overcast, but pretty much no rain. We stayed at our first campsite for two nights. Late in the afternoon on day three, our boat shuttle arrived once again and took us another hour south to our second campsite on a small island in Gaamaak cove. The site was a bit boggy, but quite lovely. From Gaamaack, we day tripped further into the bay to a Skookumchuck (a tidal pond) and a nice lunch spot where we climbed up and looked out to amazing views. Once again, the weather was fantastic.

The next day, we arose early and kayaked to campsite number three, a big beach with major tidal changes. We had to carry the kayaks a LONG way to ensure that they did not end up leaving us with the high tide. We spent one day at this campspot, listening to the oystercatchers yell at us and hoping that bears did not come visit us and the large deer carcass close to our campsite. We survived the night and the next day, headed further south to the best campspot ever.

Campsite number four was located on the neck of an ithsmus and surrounded by three bays. In one of the bays was a kittiwake rookery, in another, many iceburgs. The southern view was out to icy bay and nassau fjord and the 3000 foot peaks coming straight down to the water. The spot was unbelievable. Oh, and the weather was, too. As was the lack of mosquitoes for pretty much the entire trip. Not sure how we got so lucky, but I can't complain.

We spent three nights at this paradise, exploring icy bay and nassau fjord and gazing in wonder at the tidewater glaciers that calved for us and left our bay filled with icebergs. We saw seals, sea otters, river otters, sea lions, nesting eagles, and bears. We also visited the kittiwake rookery, which was a waterfall surrounded by birds nesting on every possible rock outcroppping. It felt like a scene from "the birds", but much less aggressive.

It was sad to leave Paradise, but we had to. We paddled across the bay and on to our next campspot, close to Whale Bay and Humpback Cove. This was another nice spot, although it smelled a bit fishy thanks to the millions of eggs fish had laid on the beach. I'm sure the resident bear enjoyed it. He left a nice present for us below the tideline, which we noted shortly after arrival. Many similar presents were scattered in the trees around the beach. I was the only one who actually saw the creator of those gifts. I was walking on another beach around the corner from where we were camping, taking pictures. When I went to take a picture of the headlands on the other side of the beach, there he was, standing on rocks looking straight at me. We were not far apart. He was huge, but not concerned about my presence in the least. As I stood there yelling "bear, bear, bear," he slowly sauntered into his cave, about 10 feet away from where I saw him. No one else saw him, so I feel somewhat like big bird and snuffalufagus. He really was there, though. When our boat captain picked us up, he said that the last people to camp there had to move because they couldn't get the bear to leave. Fortunately, we had no such problems.

We spent two nights at this spot, enjoying campfires and whale sightings. We didn't see any humpbacks, but we did see a minke whale about 30 feet out from our beach, and a transient orca further away.

Alaska Kayak

2008-06-03T21:40:00.001-07:00

Getting ready to head north to Anchorage this Saturday for a 10 day kayak trip in the Prince William Sound. The trip is sponsored by the Sierra Club. I am looking forward to trying out a relatively new activity, and also anxious to test drive the knee and see how the shoulder feels.The trip leaves from Whittier on June 9. For the first several days, we will learn cold water kayaking skills and also work on a forest service project -- building tent pads. For the remainder of our trip, we shuttle the kayaks into a more remote part of the sound and travel from campsite to campsite until June 19. Hopefully, we will see whales, bears, seals, birds, and other cool creatures. I'm also hopeful that it won't rain the entire time. So far, the extended forecast is for rain and showers. Oh well. It is Alaska and I have a waterproof camera.

Vegas

2008-06-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

Back in the old days, when my knee was still intact, I was talked into going to Vegas for a soccer tournament in mid-May. It didn't take too much convincing -- I love Vegas, I hadn't been there for a couple of years, and I always had a great time playing in the tournament. After the knee injury, however, I began to rethink my plans. Up until a week before the tournament, I flip flopped on whether to go. In the end, I decided not to change my tickets. I found a cheap car rental and noticed that there was an interesting looking recreation area not far out of town, so I decided to check out Red Rock canyon the first day of the tournament.

What a great place. It's only 17 miles outside of Vegas, but it's a world apart. Great sandstone formations that used to be the floor of the ocean on one side of the park. On the other, treed canyons that almost reminded me of Zion. It was a pleasant alternative to watching soccer all day without being able to play.

In Red Rock, I took my first several hikes without an ACL. The first was flat, a three mile loop around the sagebrush flats. The next hike was more challenging, and more interesting. I climbed through the rock to a hidden oasis, with a total elevation gain (and loss) of 420 feet. I made it! The 105 temperatures were probably the worst thing about this hike, and it was only May. Can't imagine what this furnace would be like in August.

Miami Beach

2008-06-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

On the last weekend in April, I headed south to Miami to meet up with four girlfriends from college. Barb, Elizabeth, Marcy, Kris and I spent a long weekend wandering the boardwalk and streets of South Beach. We ate some great food, swilled some beachside-priced drinks, and visited the spa.

It had been at least five years since I had seen any of them, but of course we all looked the same. We were amazed at how many years have passed since we met each other. We seemed to easily fall back into our old friendships. Looking forward to another reunion next year.

Knee Tragedy at Alpental

2008-06-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

Twas a fine spring day in the Seattle area, and I decided that this was my last shot to use the two free passes I received for my fundraising efforts in last year's Climb. My friend Laura and I headed up to Alpental ski area to take advantage of the warm, sunny weather and get a few turns in. I also brought along my new, waterproof camera so I could take some pictures of the terrain.
I was feeling pretty lucky. I had minor shoulder surgery nine days earlier to repair some old damage, and the shoulder was feeling good enough to ski. I just wanted to make sure I didn't take any hard falls. I figured I would take it easy.
Laura and I skied on the lower slopes first, but the upper lift and bowls were so much more enticing. So, she and I decided to do a couple of runs on our own, then meet back up for lunch. I headed up. The first run was great! Snow wasn't so hot, but the weather sure was. I didn't even need a hat or gloves.
The second run started off well. As I stood at the top of Upper International, I watched a small avalanche come down near me. I saw people eating lunch on the flat section way below. The mountains looked beautiful. I was happy to be alive. I got about halfway down, then disaster struck. As I went into a turn, my left leg got stuck in the snow. I couldn't get it to release, though the rest of me was leaning downhill. It really didn't hurt too much when I fell, but the pop was bad, as was the immediate nausea and cold sweat. At least I was smart and didn't try to ski down.
Needless to say, I was late to my lunch date. Poor Laura finally gave up waiting for me and had a beer. I highly recommend avoiding the ski sled for getting off the mountain. Going down headfirst on your back with no shocks is not fun for either you or the ski patrol. But, we made it eventually.
As luck would have it, I had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon the next day to get my stitches out. Despite the good case of denial I had going on, I was able to get the ACL tear diagnosis thrown in as a bonus. Certainly not the news I was hoping for, but not unexpected. A subsequent MRI showed I partially tore my MCL and did some meniscus damage in addition to the ruptured ACL. Hopefully, the doctors' predictions that I can do my kayaking, hiking, backpacking, and climbing this summer and fall will prove correct!

Hawaii

2008-03-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

At the end of February, Roy and I flew to Oahu to enjoy some sun and sand instead of rain. Rather than stay in the resort area, we bought a tent, a big blow up mattress, and a small grill and headed north to Malaekahana campground on the island's windward side. What a great campground! Unlike most of the campgrounds on the island, this campground was private, so we didn't have to worry about our things getting stolen or our car getting broken into. We had a nice, protected spot just steps from the mile-long white sand beach, complete with picnic table and pet cats and chickens. Contrary to what we are taught as children, roosters do not crow with the sun. They crow in the middle of the night. Repeatedly. And, they travel in large groups.

Every morning, I would get up with the first light, walk along the beach, and watch the sun rise. Every day, it was different. We had no agenda, so it really was a relaxing vacation. We visited Hale'iwa, the big surfing beaches, the leeward side of the island, and lots of little shops. We snorkled at Hanauma bay, kayaked in Kailua bay (where I lost the keys to the rental car), hiked to a waterfall, and also to the top of a ridge. I realized after several days of this that I brought way too many clothes for the beach lifestyle.

For our last night, we headed to Waikiki and an actual hotel. On the way there, we stopped at a great Saturday market and pigged out. Then, loaded with fried food, we headed off to climb Diamond head with all of the other tourists. I must say, it felt so weird to be cooped up inside a hotel after so much outdoors time. Also weird to hang out by the pool instead of on the beach.

The last morning, I climbed up to an overlook above a lighthouse with a friend who was in Oahu with her family. We got up VERY early so we could drive out there and watch the sunrise during the hike. We timed it perfectly. When we started, people were wearing headlamps. By the time we got up to the overlook, the sun was just about to rise. It was amazing. Views all around of the mountains, the bays, the islands, and the ocean. We could see at least 2 of the other islands. We also watched a number of whales coming around the point, some very close. And, we saw 2 different whales breaching, one multiple times. Not a bad way to spend our last morning in paradise.

Dinglerema 9

2008-02-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

On January 18, I headed up to Mt. Baker with 33 of my closest friends for the 9th annual extravaganza known as Dinglerama. We rented 3 cabins and had as many kegs as cabins. In addition to the usual suspects, we brought some new Canadians into the circle, as well as more work and soccer friends. All in all, it was another success, with many new stories: Scotty's ditch driving endeavors, Dingleromance II, guest appearance by Sponge Bob, cross-dressing Canucks, big ass bruise, Anders's unique sleep spot, Sabrina's trifecta, and the Quiet House.

We were lucky to have some nice weather over the weekend. On Saturday, I snowshoed up a snow covered forest service road with Roy, the Canadians, Kimberley, Nate and Elizabeth, Kevin, Liz, and John. Although it was cloudy, we got some glimpses up to Shuksan. On day 2, I downhilled with Paul, Anders, and JG. A bit windy, but we had a super time. We started skiing around 11:30 and went non-stop until 3:30. Not bad for my first day out in a year. Only one nice wipeout. Nothing painful, but lots of snow inside my jacket. On Monday, we did an easy cross country ski along parts of the same road we snowshoed. The weather was amazing, and we had great views up the river towards Shuksan.

Scottish Lakes High Camp

2008-01-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

For New Years, Roy, John George, Gina and I headed up into the Chiwaukum mountains east of Stevens Pass for a three day stay at Scottish Lakes High Camp. What a great spot! The camp is accessible by an 8 mile logging road. You can either ski or snowshoe up, or take a combination 4 wheel drive / snowmobile shuttle. We opted for the shuttle. We arrived just after a storm deposited about two feet of new snow in the mountains, which made for interesting driving, but great scenery. It also made for tough trailbreaking. For the first night, we stayed in a cozy cabin that was more suited for 2. Our second night, we moved to a more palatial cabin. No electricity, but plenty of firewood, and propane to see and cook by.

We cross country skied all three days. Roy had fun breaking the trail through the meadows (known as clearcuts in the summer, but with snow, they looked like meadows) to a nice lookout. We also practiced tree skiing in the falling snow. And, we had plenty of fun trying to get ourselves up after some great falls of our own. Note to self -- do not cross country ski alone as it is impossible to get up without someone else's assistance.

On our last day, we skied 4 miles down the road to the parking lot, where we were met by the 4 wheel drive vehicles. Roy tucked almost the entire way down. I was too much of a wimp. We'll be back next year!

Olympic Hot Springs

2007-12-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

To start off the month of December, 5 of us hiked to Olympic Hot Springs. We thought the hike was going to be about 5.5 miles, but the road was gated off about 3 miles lower than we had anticipated, so it became a bit longer than we had planned. Snow began to fall as we hiked in. By the time we got to camp, it was coming down very hard. We set up our tents on the snow, then walked to the uppermost pool of the hot springs. I have no idea how long we soaked, but it was for hours. As we sat in the pool, it POURED snow. Every once in awhile, a glory hole in the clouds would open up and we could see stars. Then, the snow would start again. We soaked, we ate, we drank.

Finally, we extricated ourselves from the wamth and headed back down the hill to the tents. Wow, we had gotten a ton of snow. At this point, more than a foot had fallen since we started. Throughout the night, snow continued to fall. By morning, we had accumulations of between 18 and 24 inches of fresh snow, and the snow continued.

The hike out was something else. We alternated breaking trail with out one pair of snowshoes. About 1.5 miles into our hike out, the snow switched over to rain. The trail got harder to break and we got quieter. After about 4.5 hours of hiking, we finally made it to the cars. All of us were soaked, but we still had a great time. And, due to the bad weather, we were the only people at the hot springs that weekend!

Ingalls Lake

2007-12-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

In October, I visited Ingalls Lake. The weather was spectacular, and I assumed that it would probably be the last chance in 2007 to visit the high country before it became snowbound. No camping around the lake, so we set up our spot and then visited the lake. Ingalls lake is an amazing spot. It is set just below craggy Mt. Stuart in a basin of larches. We just missed the larches, which are conifers that turn bright yellow and lose their needles in the fall.

The lake was partially frozen over and it was quite an expedition to scramble over rocks and snow to get to the far end of the lake. On the way back, the sky clouded over and it got a bit colder. Just before sunset, the clouds lifted and Stuart began to glow. All around us, the mountains reflected the last rays of sun. When the alpenglow receeded, the clouds lit up. Later that night, the almost full moon on the surrounding snow and peaks rendered headlamps totally unnecessary. Sunrise was an unearthly orange glow.

Eagle Cap Wilderness

2007-12-08T08:30:00.001-08:00

In mid September, Sue, my friend from my Alaska trip, flew out from Georgia to join Gina, John George, Sherell, Chris and myself on a weeklong backpacking trip in Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness. JG had been to the area when he was a boy scout, but none of the rest of us had heard of it.

What an amazing place. The elevation was mostly about 6000 feet, and it was filled with beautiful lakes and valleys. Much of the landscape was granite. It reminded me of the Sierra Nevada. Our favorite lakes were Moccasin Lake, because of the amazing clarity of the water and the great drop offs, and Glacier Lake, because of it's incredible beauty.

Mt. Adams climb

2007-12-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

In the beginnig of August, a big group of us headed south to Mt. Adams to attempt to climb the second highest peak in Washington. Adams can be a technical climb, but the route we took was not technical. It was steep. We camped the first night at Lunch Counter, then got up before dawn to head up. Sunrise was beautiful -- great mountain shadows on the clouds and landscape. We had amazing views of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood from our perch. As we started climbing, the winds picked up and the clouds came in. I had one glimpse of the true summit from the top of the false summit, then everything became totally white. We made it to the top, but our visibility was reduced to about 10 feet of solid white, and the winds were probably blowing a sustained 40 mph. It was an interesting trip down. Once we made it back to the false summit, we glissaded in the luge-like trough down to our camp. What took us about 3 hours to climb took about 5 minutes to go down.

Next year, we will return for the view from the top!

Success on Mt. Rainier

2007-07-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Early Monday morning, July 2, I left Seattle for Mt. Rainier, specifically the White River Campground where I began my bid to climb the mountain. The campground is on the east side of Rainier at an elevation of 4400 feet. It is the jump-off point for those taking the Emmons Glacier route to the summit, elevation 14,410. This climb was a four day climb guided by Alpine Ascents International. There were 7 climbers and 4 guides on the trip.

For the first part of the climb, we hiked through forest and along the white river, picking our way through a trail that had been devastated in parts by the November, 2006 flooding. Significant work had been done on the trail, and it was in better shape than I expected. After about 3.5 miles and an elevation gain of 1600 feet, the vista opened up into Glacier Basin, which had great views of the Emmons route and a beautiful meadow filled with avalanche lilies. This would be a great place to camp.

After we passed through Glacier Basin, the real uphill began. Then, we hit snow, and eventually, glacier. We practiced our snow skills at the bottom of the Interglacier, then roped up and headed up the 2000 foot climb to our first camp, Camp Curtis, elevation 8500 feet.

On Day 2, we took it easy. We climbed another 1000 feet to Camp Schurman, where we set up our tents on the Emmons glacier and then relaxed in preparation for the next day's climb. We went to bed around 6:00 pm to be ready for our Alpine start. The weather was great, and the forecast for summit day was also spectacular.

We arose at about 11:15 pm on July 3, ate our oatmeal and drank coffee, then headed up at about 1:00 am on July 4. The wind was blowing, but it wasn't very cold. The stars and moon were out, the snow was hard, and all was good. We had four rope teams, 3 with 3 people, 1 with 2. The summit was 5000 feet above us, and we were expecting to reach it anywhere from 6-8 hours in the future.

At first, the grade was pretty mellow. We used our headlamps and walked in the tracks of others. Then, the real climbing began. The slope after about 11,200 feet becomes anywhere from 30-40 degrees. You can't walk straight. Climbers either duck walk with their feet splayed, or walk sideways, one foot crossing over the other, perpendicular to the fall line. Great workout for your it band and also for your quads. I opted for the latter. For much of the climb, the concentration is on putting one foot in front of the other. It was dark until probably somewhere around 4:30, and the wind prevented me from hearing anyone else's voices. When the sun finally started to rise, there still was not much opportunity to look around. I was too concerned with making sure I knew where I was stepping. At times, the crossover steps were actually carved into the trail where it was really steep. Some of these steps were about one foot above the other. Much fun for someone with short legs above 12,000 feet.

At around sunrise, the last person on my rope decided that he did not want to climb anymore. The combination of a lack of sleep, altitude sickness, and a weakening drive spelled the end of his summit bid. He changed places with the person on the two person rope, and a guide took him back down. The timing was great, however. I was able to take several sunrise photos during the unexpected break. You can see Camp Schurman's location far below at the base of the prow shaped rock to the right of the climber below me. We were at about 12,500 feet.

My rope team finally arrived at the crater rim at 7:30 am. There, we met up with Dave, another AAI guide who had come up from the Camp Muir side. We chatted with him for several minutes, then headed up the final 200 or so yards to the true summit. The views were amazing -- Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak. All around us were mountains, the Puget Sound, and the crater below. We signed the summit register then sat down to wait for the rest of the crew.

The remaining two teams arrived at the top about an hour or so behind us. We took a nice photo at the top, complete with the Climb to Fight Breast Cancer banner and our prayer flags. Then, we headed back down at about 9:30.

The 5000 foot descent was even more difficult than the climb. By the time we headed down, the snow had softened up substantially, and snow was balling up under our crampons causing us to lose traction. On a steep slope, we took off our crampons so that we could plunge step down just using our heels as traction. On my first or second plunge step, I started to slide. Thankfully, the guide had my back. I slid many times on my way down. Nothing serious, but I did get lots of self arrest practice. It was not good for my confidence, however. The snow was variable. Sometimes it was deep and the plunge stepping was easy. Other times, however, there was a thick layer of ice just below the surface snow, and I could not dig my heel in. My feet slid out, and down I would go. Not something you want to do on a steep slope with yawning crevasses. Oh, did I mention how hot it got in the full sun? And, my splitting headache? We could see Camp Schurman for most of the way down, and boy, did it seem far away.

We finally made it down at 1:30. We were exhausted, but happy. The rest of the teams showed up about an hour or so later. Some of them had fallen into crevasses, but only up to their waists. They, too, were exhausted. One of our teammates was too exhausted to eat any dinner.

Later that night, the three of us in my tent woke up and watched the fireworks in Seattle and Tacoma. Not a bad ending to a good day. The next morning, we woke up early and headed back to the White River Campground. The 2000 foot Interglacier climb that took us 2 hour to get up took us about 10 minutes of glissading on our butts on the way down. We were back at the van by noon. Beers and watermelon at the van, then lunch in Enumclaw on the way home. Friday, I stayed home and did nothing. What an amazing trip!!

Arctic Adventure

2007-06-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

On June 8, I headed north to the land of the midnight sun, the arctic circle. Flew into Kotzebue, which is a small native community set in the middle of nowhere. The only access to Kotzebue is by plane or boat, though everyone in the town seems to have a car. Not quite sure why, as the town is about a mile long and maybe 1/4 mile wide, but I guess in the winter, you might freeze if you walk 2 blocks.

We were supposed to head out to our landing strip and the start of our backpacking trip on Sunday, June 10. Unfortunately, we had a few glitches in the initial plans, so the trip did not actually start until Tuesday evening. Our group of 16 quickly ran out of things to do in Kotzebue after we visited the library, the crafts shop, the supermarket, and the 2 chinese restaurants in town. I would not recommend Kotzebue as a destination, unless you are truly desperate. Did I mention that Kotzebue is a damp town, meaning they don't sell alcohol? We did use the time to get to know each other, however, and we started the trip with a solid foundation for our blossoming friedships.

We finally headed off into the tundra on Tuesday evening. Hiking until late at night is no problem when you can't tell the difference between 12 noon and 12 midnight. We traveled up snow filled drainages, across knee deep creeks, over broad swales, and through fields of flowers. No trails, just caribou tracks to follow. Our total mileage was somewhere around 60 miles for the entire trip. The scenery was amazing, as was the camraderie between the group members. Along the way, we endured hordes of mosquitoes, a helicopter evacuation of one of our teammates, and several days of rain. For the most part, however, the weather was quite nice. Lots of sun and warm weather.

We did not see much wildlife. Several moose from far away, some caribou from Kotzebue, and a musk ox on the bush flight back to Kotzebue. We saw lots of signs from bear, but did not have any grizzly encounters. The best part of the trip was the people. Despite the initial delay in getting out of Kotzebue, despite the evacuation, we really bonded together and made the trip great. I'm sure that the DeLong mountains have never seen the likes of our last night's variety show, nor the tour of tents at Camp Eternity. This trip will forever be cached in my soul. Thank you all for the memories.

Arctic Backpack

2007-05-20T21:58:00.001-07:00

On June 8, I fly from Seattle to Kotzebue, Alaska for a two week backpacking trip in the National Petroleum Reserve with a group from the Sierra Club. From Kotzebue, 15 other participants and two guides will take bush flights to a landing strip in the arctic circle. No need for headlamps around the summer solstice. We will have 24 hours of daylight.

http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/national/brochure/07014A.asp

I have been told that the temperatures will range from 20 to 80 degrees. Also, that it WILL rain. I've upgraded my raingear. Expensive, but considering the alternative, worth it. I am not looking forward to the fact that my feet will be permantly wet on the trail. Not only is the tundra boggy, but in Alaska, there are no briges over the rivers and streams. You just go in with your boots on and get used to the wet.

The road to the top

2007-05-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

Climbed to Camp Muir on Saturday with a large group of fellow climb to fight breast cancer folks. We had nice weather to start -- high clouds, but good visibility. As we climbed higher, the clouds began to come in below us, eventually covering Paradise and the Tatoosh range. Eventually, even the highest peak of that range looked like an island in the sky. Got to Camp Muir (10,188) at a bit before 3 pm after more than 5 hours of climbing. The climb was 4 1/2 miles, 4600 feet of elevation gain, entirely over snow and glacier. Spent over an hour at the camp, enjoying fierce winds, snow, sun, and everything else you can imagine. Mt. Rainier makes its own weather, and this was the perfect example of it. Headed down around 4:00 with a fellow climber. We hit the clouds at maybe around 8500 or 9000 feet, and it was something else. We could see only about 10 feet, and everything was white. You couldn't tell where the snow began and the clouds ended. Thankfully, the park service has put wands on the route, so we were able to get down by following the wands, each one about 20 yards from the next one. No reference points other than footprints, ski tracks, and wands. We could not hear anything or see anything. We really had no idea where on the mountain we were. Now I can see how people get lost. We were fine, but it made for quite and adventure. Got back down to Paradise at about 6:30. The last of the group finished at 9:00.

Mt. Rainier

2007-04-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

I took this picture of Mt. Rainier just after sunrise from the flanks of Mt. Baker. Didn't know then that in less than year, I would be attempting to summit Rainier for the same cause as my Baker climb. Hope the weather is as amazing on Rainier as it was on Baker.

March 28, 2007

2007-03-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

Had a great trip to Big Sur. We stayed in some fantastic yurts right on the coast with a great view of the ocean. If you visit Big Sur, I highly recommend them. http://www.treebonesresort.com/ We watched the whales from our deck, from the hot tub, and from a bench on a ridge about 40 feet from our yurt. The highlight of the trip was watching one gray wale breach 7 times in a row!

This weekend, I will be hiking Tiger Mountain 3. Climb is not terribly strenuous, but it is a nice hike to great views. Meet in the upper parking lot at 9:00 AM.

March 21, 2007

2007-03-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I am heading to Big Sur, California for a long weekend with my boyfriend. Hopefully, we will take in some short hikes at various state parks in the area. We really want to see the waterfall at Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park. We are also looking forward to seeing the gray whales migrating north with their calves.

I am hoping to hike Tiger Mountain next weekend. Please let me know if you want to join me. I did my first post surgery training hike on March 18. Bob Reorda and I climbed Mt. Si. 8 miles RT, 3100 feet of elevation gain. Took me 2 1/2 hour to get up with 30 pounds on my back.