NW Adventures,  Maps & GPS Tracks

About Me

DSC04469Welcome to my blog!

My name is Karl, and I live in beautiful Portland Oregon.  Portland is a gateway to all sorts of terrific adventures to be had in the Pacific NorthWest.

I enjoy rock climbing, snow and ice mountaineering, and singular sub genre of hiking known as adventure thrash.

Adventure thrash is roughly defined as seeking obscure objectives, rarely in any guidebook, often crumbly rock spires never before ascended, and almost always off trail.  Oregon has plenty of such places, and I share a few of them with you here.

I always have a camera and love taking photos of my trips.   Enjoy the images on my blog posts, as well as in Karl’s Picasa Web Album gallery.

I don’t really write trip reports per se, but I generally add captions on my photos that should give you a good idea of the trip.

I also have a GPS with me on almost every outing.  On the Maps and Tracks page, you’ll find a listing of maps and GPS tracks you can use to find your next adventure.

My favorite GPS unit is the Garmin 64CSX.  You can read more about it here at Amazon, although I am using the Gaia Map App on my phone more and more these days.

Please Feel free to check out my Blog Post’s, and help yourself to my maps and GPS tracks…and feel free to Buy me a Beer via Paypal if you find these resources useful.

Thanks!

Karl

 

 

 

 

11 thoughts on “About Me

  1. JJ

    Hey, looks great. There’s a typo (yu is spelled “yu”) and the link doesn’t work on your paypal donation site. I wanted to be the first so you could hang my dollar on the wall.

  2. Adam D

    Karl, Your web page is awesome! I have been on a mission to ski/climb/mountaineer as many peaks as I can since moving here 3 years ago. I have also started ‘waterfall caonyoneering’ in the Umpqua area. Again, great web page and the .gpx files are really helpful.
    -Adam

    1. Karl Helser

      Thanks Adam, glad you are using the GPX files. That’s pretty much why I have this site…to share my REAL tracks. Waterfall Canyoneering sounds like a hoot! Do you post pics of your adventures?
      Karl

  3. Simon Testa

    Karl
    Came across you website looking for some info on Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Washington. Me and a few friends are coming out from Boulder, CO for a long weekend at Smith Rock and we thought it would be fun to take in one of these volcanoes. Trying to determine what conditions are like. Whether an alpine axe and crampons or microspikes are helpful at this time of year. Any ideas on the best place to determine this?

  4. Rory King

    Great site bud. My girlfriend and I just moved to Salem. We went from knowing everything to do in our 5 hour radius, to knowing nothing. I found your site when I was looking for topo of North Sister to print out and carry along. Since I’ve returned for some outing ideas – you’ve racked up a bunch!

    1. Karl Helser

      Thanks Rory!
      Where did you move from? Now that you are in Salem, you’ll be pretty close to my favorite playground…Detroit Lake area. Some really fun shit up there, including Mount Jefferson.

  5. Jean Hillebrand

    Hi – I have been a Mazama member for awhile and have heard your name so many times. Seems like I know you, but I don’t think we ever met. Three of us are planning a trip to the Maze and found your website. WOW! One of us backpacked in the area about 20 years ago. We plan on going in April and are trying to decide whether or not to spend 5 or 6 nights there and whether to drive or take the boat. If you are willing to share more detailed information, please email me.

  6. Emma

    Good to see the old goat is still getting out there! I haven’t climbed in a loooong time, but am enjoying my new motherhood adventure! Say hi to Deb for me!

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