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 12-15-18
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) Canyoneer 12-1-18
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…
Donkey Creek Canyoneer 11-24-18
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 Canyoneer 11-17-18
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”…
Angora Peak – Grand Tour 11-11-18
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 Canyoneer 10-28-18
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 Climb (CRG) 10-21-18
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…
Hellroaring Rocks 10-7-18
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.
Strawberry Mountain 9-16-18
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…
Canyon Mountain Loop 9-15-18
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…
Three Fingered Jack (3FJ) 9-9-18
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…
Bonanza Peak 9/2/18
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…
Waldo Lake Kayak Camp 8-27-18
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…
Park Butte 8-13-18
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…
Yocum Ridge 8-5-18
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…
Little Angora Climb 7-28-18
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…
Bench of The Lakes 7-22-18
I’ve done this route before back in 2007, although this time we started a bit further north. We parked at the road’s end, at the east end of Breitenbush Mountain. From there thrashed our way along the ridge till we…
Spire, Boca, Xspire 7-15-18
After yesterday….today should be a breeze. And it was…. Fun adventure day with Deb and Kevin. Left the Triangulation Peak trailhead at 7:45am and got to the base of Spire Rock at about 8:45. Fun climb to the summit, then…
Bear Butte Attempt 7-14-18
Well, I had big visions of getting to Bear Butte…on the map it totally looked possible. In real life…It sucked…AND I had to bail before getting there. Sitting at the dining room table on a comfy chair I planned this…