Whetstone Mountain via the Santiam side. Another great Winter conditioner, especially this Winter with the lack of snow. I carried snowshoes just in case there was enough snow. I really didn’t need them until I got close to the summit…
Sunday I picked a hike that would get me some elevation…fast. Tagging the summit of Sardine Mountain from Hwy 22 using the Whitman Creek trail did just that. Great day for a hike. Snowshoes went on at about 4200’. After…
Took a break from thrashing canyons to get some elevation. Saturday looked mostly dry so I did a good hike up to both Nasty Rocks. A good conditioner that passes below the Chemeketan Nasty Rock, and then on to the…
I’ve been looking at the falls on Bad Banks Creek for a few weeks. I’ve seen them on Google Earth but never up close. I knew there was at least two falls over 150’ tall. The toughest part of the…
Table Rock, always a good standby hike. Today only saw three others. One walking his dog near the trailhead and two others turning around at the boulder field. It was nice to make the only tracks in the snow past…
Smith Creek (AKA…move along, nothing to see here creek). I think Kevin and I dropped Smith Creek so nobody else had too Drawn to Smith creek by the way it looked on Google Earth, very deep and narrow. We…
I thought I found a viable creek to drop, mentioned it to Keith…his response was “that’s Donkey Creek!” Turns out he and a few others first descended this creek back in January. He named it after the old Steam Donkey…
Sandstone Creek, middle fork. 7-raps, 6-falls… The approach was a bit thrashy, but once off the ridge it was a nice descent through the old growth with some nice Cedar stands. The rappelling started with a short “down & dirty”…
I’ve done this tour many times. Today was a perfect day for it…sunny and clear. Forgot my camera, so these are phone pics. I decided to put this Grand Tour in text, so if you want to see it all,…
Mayflower Creek, on a very rainy day… Before the snow falls and closes the upper access road, we decided to explore this drainage from the top down…as most canyoneer’s do. The top was a bit thrashy with the low flow…
Rabbit Ears…this one’s been on my list for a while. It was fun getting it done. The approach was a bit thrashy once we left the trail, loose and steep at the base of the rock. The climb itself was…
Explored the Hellroaring group of rock on Sunday. Fantastic place for scrambling rock…when it’s dry. Beautiful stand of old-growth Ponderosa near and at the top.
After a good night’s sleep in the Hotel Prairie City, we headed up the Strawberry Mountain trailhead. Our original plan was to tag the summit then go off trail and explore the ridge with Indian Spring Butte and Rabbit Ears…but…
Fleeing from the rainy forecast, Deb and I found ourselves out in the John Day area. Today we tagged the summit of Canyon Mountain. From the trailhead we took the trail for about 5 miles (top of the Dean Creek…
It’s been a few years since I’ve climbed 3FJ….wasn’t even thinking about it, when Deb said what about 3FJ? Took me about 3 seconds to answer, OK! Perfect conditions…dry and sunny. Left the trailhead at 5:15am (heard a Mazamas team…
When I saw Chris had mentioned Bonanza Peak over the Labor Day weekend….I thought Yikes!, sounds like a suffer-fest to me…but after a tiny bit of research, it didn’t sound THAT bad. No other takers so it was just Chris…
Five of us had been planning a North Cascades trip for weeks…unfortunately the smoke and then weather had us changing plans… The team broke up and Deb & I found ourselves headed to Waldo Lake with the kayaks and camping…
Always wanted to scramble out to Park Butte…I’ve seen it from many other places, just never been on it. We parked at the Breitenbush Lake trailhead, took the PCT to Park Ridge, then just scrambled the ridge out to Park…
This time it’s Debs turn to show me a very special place. Deb has tried before, but I’ve been a bit reluctant because of the number of people that frequent the trails leading there…. Well as always, if you go…
Finally finished Little Angora. Saturday we installed a bomber rap anchor at the north summit for a 95′ drop. The views were awesome. The coast range was blanketed with a low marine layer, but we had climbed above it. Pitch…