Yellowstone

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Rocky Mountain National Park

We first climbed Long's Peak. The young guys took the very easy but technical Cable's Route. The old guys took the Keyhole Route, which is a long, steep, loose hike with a little rock scrambling. It's crowded in August!

Staring directly at the Cables Route on Long's Peak, which follows right up the center. Photo taken from our campsite.

Climbing the Cable's Route on Long's Peak

The old guys met us at the top. John leads the crowd up the homestretch of Long's Peak Keyhole Route

We also attempted Mt. Ypsilon. The old guys took the Southern Ridge, and the young guys took the Northern ridge, called Blitzen Ridge. Both teams were turned back by an impending afternoon thunderstorm. Blitzen Ridge is lightning prone because of its prominence, and becasue you can't see the clouds coming your way until you're almost to the top, which is exactly what happened to us. We finished all the technical climbing, and had some scrambling left to finish it out. The old guys made it to about the same altitude. We had to do half a dozen rappels, but the rock was terrible quality, so it was a painstaking process to set anchors. It took few hours to rappel maybe 700'

Our rope was a tangled rats nest

A few pitches high climbing Blitzen Ridge on Mt. Ypsilon

Kyle shows his appreciation for long distance rappelling

Interesting formations at the Garden of the Gods

Sufferfest 2007: Grand Teton pt.1

Sufferfest 2007 was a 3 part adventure: backpacking the Teton Crest Trail, Climbing the Grand Teton, and seeing Yellowstone. For now I'll just talk about the most exciting part, climbing the Owen-Spalding route on the Grand Teton. The Grand Teton is the highest peak in Grand Teton National Park. The Owen Spalding route is a classic route up the back side of the peak. It is a technical climb, requiring most of a full day of technical climbing and an arduous approach hike. I was accompanied on this climb by my friend Kyle, who is studying Outdoor Recreation at the moment.

Since this peak requires both lots of climbing and lots of hiking, we decided to get a head start on it and camp a few miles closer to the technical climbing section. Next day we woke up at 2AM to get an early start, hoping to beat the summer afternoon thunderstorms. The weather was perfect, and we made it to the top with only minor incident.

Kyle feels the effects of a 2AM start

We started out at 2Am to get a head start on the weather, to no avail. We hiked quickly through the darkness, and managed to follow a trail that lead to a boulderfield. The trail died in the boulderfield and went nowhere. We retraced our steps via GPS, but the "trail" fooled us into thinking we were on the right path. Instead we waited until well after 4AM until we spotted some headlamps bobbing in the distance. We sprinted through loose rocks after them, and found our way back to the saddle, where the real climbing begins.

Kyle negotiates the easy "Belly Crawl" with an exhilarating 1000'+ of exposure on his left

Dawn on the Middle Teton, taken from high on the Grand Teton

Proof- A USGS point marker, strangely the altitude is missing?

Our dads hiked in celebratory beers packed in ice for the occasion

Sequoia: Sufferfest 2008 pt. 2

The first stop on this summers' trip was Sequoia National Forest. Of course it's well known for its trees, but there's so much more. Who would have thought some of the worlds biggest trees, high alpine lakes, and the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states could all be in the same place? It was a beautiful place, rivaling Yosemite and Yellowstone in my opinion.

We took a a few days to hike about 50 miles of the historic John Muir trail, and finishing out on top of Mt. Whitney. The dads dragged along, and eventually everyone made it to the top. The sun was intense, and a t-shirt could be worn until the very top of Mt. Whitney. Almost exactly two years before the whole crew was battling arctic winds on top of Mt. Rainier. Again, I am lazy and don't feel like typing much, so here is few thousand words, in photo form.

Mt. Whitney in Kyle's sunglasses

Camping along Guitar Lake, with Mt. Whitney looming at my back

Night landscape over Sequoia NF

"Leave No Trace"- Everyone is required to poop in a wag bag and pack it out

Yosemite: Sufferfest 2008 pt.1

Every year my dad, friend Kyle, his dad John, and I take a backcountry trip to a national park in the US. John (60 next year) coined the term "sufferfest," a fitting name. The old guys suffer alot more than the young guys. We stopped by Yosemite after a a week of backpacking in Sequoia National Forest. The weather was picture perfect the whole trip. I will save you the labor of reading too much and stop here (really I'm just lazy). Also, I suck at the html formatting so you're getting centered photos and no text wrapping till I figure something else out. All the photos are hosted on flickr, click the photos, the "Random Photos" bar on your right, or the flickr slideshow at the very bottom of the page.


This was a very brief trip to Yosemite, so we had only time to be tourists, rather than venturing into the backcountry or onto the walls. A few more days and my trad rack (rock climbing anchors for the laymen) would have made this a great trip. For now, we were content to sit and stare while drinking overpriced Margaritas at the Awhnahee Hotel, courtesy of John.

The Awnahee Hotel in the Yosemite Valley

I apologize for the oddly sized photos, I am still trying to learn this, and I am testing out different sizes.

Half Dome from Olmsted overlook, right off the road from Tioga Pass

Half Dome from Glacier Point

El Capitan in B&W from El Capitan Meadows

Maybe one day I'll come back here with my climbing gear, more time, and hopefully stronger fingers. El Cap is a little out of my league right now, but who knows?


See a few more photos on the flick Yosemite set. For now I have a really small upload limit, so there is not much. I plan to upgrade it, so there should be more photos up eventually.