Christmas Ship Paddle |
On December 23, Mike and Cherié joined with their good friends Rey,
Karen, Roland and Gloria, and paddled amongst the Christmas ships in
Portage Bay and Lake Union. Leaving the snow behind, they put in
at Agua Verde Paddle Club, and carefully wound their way through the
large brightly decorated ships (of course, even a small boat looks
larger to a kayak!). After the Christmas ship choir serenaded them
in Portage Bay, they paddled with the rest of the boats to Lake Union
and Gasworks Park. It was an unique and incredibly enjoyable
experience, keeping with the Christmas Spirit! |
|
Pan Point Ski Tour |
On December 20, Mike, Jonathan, Barbara, Jill and Pete tried to beat the
storm on a backcountry ski day on Mt. Rainier. When they left the
Paradise parking lot there was blue sky, little wind and fresh,
untracked powder. As they broke trial towards the Muir
Snowfield they climbed toward Panorama Point. Once at Pan
Point the winds picked up, blowing 30+ mph at the top. Since
the forecast was for 70 mph winds, the group turned around and skied the
fresh powder to the cars. It was an excellent day in the
mountains! |
|
Rainier Ski Tour |
On November 23, Mike and Cherié stretched the limits of early ski
season, and skinned up toward Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier for a day of
skiing. They were enticed by the fabulous weather and the 7" of
fresh snow at Paradise. Alas, they dodged rocks and skinned on
heather until they reached the Muir snowfield. At that point they
found fresh powder and great skiing! A lot of work for a few
turns, but a great day all the same! |
|
Fay/ Pleasant/Hessong |
On October 25, Mike took advantage of our amazingly good weather, and
joined with Joseph and Deling for a climb of Fay Peak, Mt. Pleasant and
Hessong Rock, by Mt. Rainier. The day started with a
strenuous bike to the trailhead made necessary by a closed road.
Then the 3 climbed icy slopes to Fay Peak, traversed to Mt. Pleasant,
and then ran the ridge to Hessong Rock. It was an
outstanding 3 summit day for the group! |
|
Carne Mountain |
On October 11, Mike and Cherié joined their good friends David and Heike
on a spectacular October fall day, and hiked to Carne Mountain in the
Entiat Mountains. The season's first snowfall gave beautiful
definition to the golden larches on the mountain. After the
hike, the four friends watered Mike and Cherié's new trees on their
Leavenworth property, then visited their favorite Leavenworth
restaurant,
South. |
|
Granite&Trico |
On September 13 and 14, Mike, Cherié and their good friend, Kayla, hiked
into amazingly beautiful Robin Lakes. The weather was spectacular,
and the scenery better! After a freeze-dried food and wine dinner,
and a good night sleep, they climbed Granite Mtn (a different Granite
Mtn then the one they climbed in March), summited, ran the ridge in a
delightful hike to Trico Mtn, and hit their second summit of the day.
All and all, it was a fantastic weekend! |
|
Yellow Aster Butte |
Over Labor Day weekend, Mike and Cherié spent Saturday in Bellingham,
then Sunday and Monday at beautiful Yellow Aster Lakes. The
plan was to climb Yellow Aster Butte and Tomyhoi Peak, but the weather
(and Mike forgetting part of the stove at home!) limited them to Yellow
Aster Butte. What a difference two weeks make . . . two weeks ago
Mike and Cherié were enduring 100° temperatures and
unlimited bugs on Cashmere Mtn. This weekend it was cloudy, rainy,
and below freezing at night! But, the lakes, classic
North Cascades, are very beautiful, and it was fun long weekend for the
two! |
|
Mt. Roosevelt |
On August 23, Mike led a Mountaineers scramble of Mt. Roosevelt, near
Snoqualmie Pass. The weather was perfect, and an easy hike brought
the climbers past pretty Snow Lake and Gem Lake to the steep slopes of
Roosevelt. An ascent of steep, exposed and sometimes wet
slopes brought the group to the rocky summit block, and eventually the
spectacular views from the top. It was a wonderful day in
the mountains! |
|
Cashmere Mtn |
On August 16-17, Mike and Cherié climbed Cashmere Mtn in a bit of a
sufferfest! What a difference a year makes! In
2007
Mike was rained off of this climb. This year they encountered
and painful blisters on their approach hike. Then
once in basecamp, they were chased into their tent by swarming flies,
including horseflies that bit painfully! But the tent
was a sauna in the heat, so they would remain inside as long as they
could, then dash outside for a couple of cool minutes until the flies
discovered them again! They did this many times.
They thought relief would come when the sun went down, but that is when
the mosquitoes started swarming! Fortunately the next day brought
a breeze once they started climbing. The climb turned out to be
long, and airy, but remote and beautiful. The weekend was not all
difficult . . . the heat and a nearby wildfire meant they had the entire basecamp and mountain to themselves, not seeing another soul until they
returned to Leavenworth! It was a wonderful bonding
experience! |
|
Sahale Mtn |
On August 2, Mike led his SIG climbing group up the Quien Sabe (Spanish for
Who Knows!) glacier to the summit of Sahale Mtn, a mountain known for
its outstanding views. The day started wet, drenching the group.
Once in Boston Basin, they encountered white out conditions, navigating
by compass to the glacier. The clouds parted briefly, giving the
group the chance they were looking for! The ascended the
glacier, then the summit ridge, to wonderful views (not!). But all
and all, it was a very fun day in an area everyone "heard" is renowned for
its views!! |
|
Mt. Adams |
On July 4-6, Mike and Cherié, and their friends Cebe, Mark, Jonathan and
Gretchen, went in to attempt an ice climb of the Adams Glacier on Mt.
Adams. If successful, this would be Cherié's graduation climb from the
Mountaineer's intermediate climbing course, a 5 year journey! The
climbing group carried heavy 50+ pound packs to basecamp, but alas,
while the forecast was favorable, the weather took a turn for the worse.
They still spent time in a beautiful place, and looked forward to
getting Cherié her graduation climb another day! |
|
Silverstar Peak |
On June 20-21, Mike and his buddy Steve were weathered off of their
intended climbing destination of Snowfield Pk, and for the second year
in a row moved to Plan B, a climb of Silverstar Pk. Joining them
again was Sean, and this year their friends Marla and Carolyn. A
leisurely in basecamp was followed by an excellent climb! |
|
Moonlight Paddle |
On June 18, Mike and Cherié joined their friends Duana, Jason, Rey,
Karen and Diane at the
Agua
Verde Paddle Club, for a moonlight paddle through the UW Arboretum.
They warmed up with dinner and margaritas at Agua Verde. Once in
the Arboretum, they were serenaded by beaver tail slaps, frogs and
birds. The full moon eventual rose on a truly unique experience! |
|
Dragontail Peak |
On June 7-8, Mike and Cherié joined Cebe and Jonathan in leading a climb
of Dragontail Peak for their SIG group. The weather was
fantastic on the east side. The climb was beautiful and
challenging, and technical at times. But, in a long summit day,
all members of the group summited, for some their first summit! |
|
Whitehorse Mtn |
On May 26, Mike joined Steve and his Mountaineers climb of Whitehorse
Mountain. Whitehorse is one of the longest single day climbs in
the area, and true to form, it took the group 15 hours to climb 7000'
feet to the summit, and back to the cars. It was good old
fashioned butt-kickin', of which Mike loved every minute! |
|
Tatoosh Ski Tour |
On May 24, Mike and Cherié took advantage of an unexpected perfect
weather day and skied the Tatoosh range, south of Mt. Rainier.
With everyone else headed to Camp Muir, Mike and Cherié had the entire
range to themselves, not seeing a soul all day! The snow was
great and the fun even better! |
|
Mt. St. Helens |
On May 10-11, Mike, Cebe and Jonathan took their SIG group to St.
Helens. They enjoyed an extra 3 mile walk to basecamp
because of the high snow year. Mike and Jonathan skied. The
weather was harsh, and kept the group from the crater rim.
However, Mike surprised everyone on Sunday morning with traditional
Mother's Day garb for St. Helens! |
|
Merchant Peak |
On May 7, Mike played hooky from work, and joined Ian and Doug for
another attempt on Merchant Peak (Mike's 3rd attempt!). Alas, it
was not to be, but a soggy day in the mountains is better than the best
day at work! |
|
Tatoosh Outing |
On April 26-27, Mike and Cebe took their climbing SIG group to the
Tatoosh Range south of Mt. Rainier. The group camped on 20' of
snow in a beautiful setting, surrounded by Mt. Rainier, Castle and
Pinnacle Peaks. There was much teaching of snow and crevasse
rescue skills, and a great time by all! |
|
Leavenworth Rock |
On April 12-13, after recovering from a nasty flu bug, Mike joined the
SIG climbing group for a weekend of sun and fun rock climbing in
Leavenworth. The group climbed both days, and bunked in a
huge house, with home made dinner and breakfast. It was a great
weekend outside. Cherié spent the weekend recovering, and is joining us
next time! Yeah! |
|
Silver Peak |
On March 15, Mike, Cherié and Cebe took their climbing SIG group most of
the way up Silver Peak. Deep snow, avy concern and cornices kept
them off the final summit ridge, but the outing was a great conditioner
and bonding experience! |
|
Granite Mtn |
On March 9, Mike, Cherié, Cebe and Jim took their climbing SIG group up
Granite Mountain. It was a good early season conditioner, which
allowed some teaching of snow techniques and ice axe arrest.
Can't wait until climbing season!! |
|
Perfect Ski Day! |
Mike and Cherié enjoyed a perfect ski day at Crystal Mountain over
President's Day weekend, with blue skies, spring snow and steep lines! |
|
Winthrop Vacation |
The last weekend of January Mike and Cherié joined their good friends
Duana, Jason, Heike, David, Karen, Rey and Roland for 4 days of x-c
skiing, great food and drink, and relaxation in Winthrop. |
|
Stevens Pass Pow! |
Mike and Cherié started the new year off with a great powder snow day at
Stevens Pass with their friends Jason and Duana. The
recent snows have delivered much snow to the mountains, and Stevens Pass
had fluffy dry snow in abundance! It was a great day with
great friends! |