various adventures outside

A mostly weekend warrior dabbling in cycling, running, climbing and a little photo snapping.

[adventuresbyben]

Mt Baker 2016

Faster is often seen as better and when talking about moving in the mountains it’s also usually more difficult. I had climbed Mt Baker twice before; overnighting each time at camp and sleeping for a few hours before summiting early the next morning. It’s a very pleasant introduction to mountaineering. This trip was going to be summiting in a single push and a very early start was needed.

The group consisted of myself as “guide” Aaron, Ali, and Joel. Old friends of various connections and happening to be free on August 13, a date we planned on impressively in advance (thanks Ali). We left Seattle on Friday evening heading up to Lynden to crash with some in-laws, sort gear, pack, and nap for a few hours.

11:55 pm alarms went off and barely having dozed off we shook ourselves more or less awake and trudged out the door. The Heliotrope Ridge trailhead was arrived at by 1:30am (a forgotten sandwich cost us ~10 minutes). Quickly throwing packs on we began waking up as the trail headed up and up.

Keeping our heads down and moving quickly we stopped for a quick viewing of the Perseid Meteor showers (convenient right?) and some food. Feeling okay about staying on the right trail and finding the climbers trail in the dark we headed on. At around 5500 ft of elevation and unfamiliar terrain I realized that I had made the ever so classic mistake of missing the climber’s trail. A couple map consults and re-crossings of streams later and we had back tracked enough to find the now obvious turn.

Soon enough we hit Hogsback camp and found a few tents with people stirring and moving by headlight getting ready for their ascents. We sat for a bit gearing up, stuffing calories in our stomachs, and watching a party of four ahead of us move uncertainly up the glacier. (That’s not great for boosting the confidence of first time mountaineers)

Crampons on and roped together we moved out onto the glacier, a first for Joel and Aaron, and began the ascent of Mt Baker via the Coleman-Deming route. Not long after being on the glacier we were greeted by a phenomenal sunrise.

As much as a few of us wanted to simply stop and take pictures we did have to keep moving. Mt Baker round trip via Coleman-Deming is only a little over 11 miles and 7,000ft of elevation. That mileage might not seem like much but the snow travel, a wrong turn, stopping for pictures, it all adds up and when the goal is car to car “quickly” you have to keep on trucking.

Conditions were fantastic and the trail a relative sidewalk for a mountain. We passed a group of four, were passed by a group of two and could generally see these parties at all times. It’s a remarkably simple route and somehow this late in the season very few crevasses to navigate around or cross. Enough to entertain and make you wonder how deep they go...

Pumice Ridge provided a nice change from the snow as we scrambled up the loose scree and minimized dislodging of rocks. While we never set loose anything remotely large I was glad the Mountain was relatively empty as too many parties trying the ridge would certainly increase the rock fall around this choke point.  

After Pumice Ridge we were at ~10,000ft with only the 700 ft of the Roman Wall to go. Some years there are switchbacks created by previous parties up it and some years it’s a pretty straight up thigh burner. That was this year, I tend to prefer the most direct route so up we went. 

Then the giant false summit. I’m going to come camp here sometime, likely as a training hike for something bigger but maybe just because. It’s several football fields, or acres or something, the point is it’s big and you can unrope, relax, and enjoy the top.

We took a few summit pics, took some for the other party that was up there and then began the descent. The other half of the day that rarely gets mentioned. And will barely get lip service here.

After 10hrs of moving up a mountain we were ready to be done. But the descent still waited. It was a great simple descent with no events, that’s what you want. We moved a bit quicker with less food and water weight and the new goal of the trailhead with refreshments and the relief of unweighted backs and flip flops.

At Hogsback Camp the wildflowers were absolutely in full swing. Lupine, penstemon, saxifrage, and so many others all just showing off and daring me to take pictures of them and daly some more.

A few quick snaps of the wildflowers and we were back down into the trees and descending the Heliotrope trail. The trail was welcomed after hiking on the glaciers but with it came the flies. Really the low point of the trip, swarms of them and you killed dozens every few minutes but they never ended. As we ended up at the trailhead and our cars we threw our stuff in and departed with haste. Not really the take a minute to savor what we had just done and maybe crack a beer and enjoy a binge of junk food end that we had hoped for. But still with our detour adding a bit of time we covered over 12 miles with ~8,000 ft of elevation gain, half of that being roped up on snow, in around 14 hours. I’ll take it. Next year we can try and be a little faster and more efficient or maybe another mountain, there’s a few around. 

[adventuresbyben]

artist point from seattle via bike

The Artist Point bike ride has been on my mind since moving to Seattle a few years ago. I’ve hiked from there, skied at Heather Meadows, and been on 542 numerous times in the car. Once the snow melts and days lengthen it’s a popular ride for cyclists.  It’s gradually rising climb and only ~24 miles from Glacier where you can stop for refills of water bottles and stuff the jersey pockets with a few last snacks. 

But while many people start in Glacier or often somewhere between Glacier and Bellingham we would be starting from my apartment in Seattle. I mean, it’s a big mountain it should be a big ride to get to it right? Plus there’s something really satisfying about big days in the saddle right from your own door. No logistics of picking up two or three others and loading bikes early just to drive to a remote location to begin biking. The idea is you’re on your transportation and source of fun/recreation. Although we would coordinate a ride home, that at least seemed reasonable to us.

On this day I was joined for the entirety of the ride by Josh and Tyler while Boucher, Miles, and Mike graciously escorted us for the first flat 45 miles or so. The meeting time and spot was 6am at a ubiquitous coffee shop along the Burke Gilman Trail. 

With a little caffeine and some calories beginning to fuel us we took off. East on the BGT to Woodinville then North to the Centennial Trail beginning in the cute town of Snohomish.

There’s not a lot to say about the Centennial Trail. It’s flat, straight, uneventful and is a great way to quickly get through 30 miles of a ride going North of Seattle. Some where before Arlington Tyler, Josh and I were left to fend for ourselves as the others turned around. It had been a nice ride and normally would have been the turnaround point for a solid Sunday spin. Today the easy miles were just the warm up.

We cranked out the rest of the Centennial Trail and made it to Sedro-Woolley by 10:30am averaging a little over 18 mph. 70 miles closer to our goal we stopped for some more calories, to text the spouses, and a little Aspirin.  A little soreness had crept into the knees of Josh (maybe not riding for a few weeks while in China contributed to that).

Post caloric consumption we headed back to Highway 9 to keep cruising North. On this Sunday traffic was never too bad on highway 9 and it’s just rolling and winding enough to keep it interesting. But always on the lookout for less busy options we hopped onto Mosquito Lake Road at Acme to cut up to Highway 542. 

I should note that none of us really mapped out this route. I mean we’d all ridden from Seattle to Bellingham for the Red Bell 100 before, I had done numerous rides in through Snohomish County, and in reality the default directions for this ride were to take Highway 9 North until it hits 542 then head up to Artist Point. What I’m getting at is when we saw that Mosquito Lake road was a nice alternative to 9 and would likely be more scenic we never looked at the grade of the road. And so at around 100 miles we we hit our steepest climb, almost 16% grade. It hurt and we definitely were wondering after we topped out what climbing 542 would feel like. 

But as the road twisted and wound around through the country side we pushed any nagging pains from our minds and simply enjoyed the riding. Until the farm dogs started chasing. No pictures, but there were a few moments where you had to get out of the saddle just to be sure you snuck by. 

We finally hit 542 and headed East. Turns our Glacier is a little farther down than you’d like. Bottles empty and legs tightening we ended up at Glacier after ~120 miles with our main objective still ahead.

We filled our bottles from a cracked two gallon jug of water someone had recently dropped from a car. The proprietors of the establishment we stopped at didn’t think highly of filling water bottles for paying cyclists (it was just salt and vinegar chips and cokes). But let us know about the jug outside... still not sure what to think of this but they were nice enough about it.

A quick text to the families as cell service dwindled and to coordinate our pickup. We can be up to Artist Point and back to Glacier in under two hours right?  Fresh maybe, but not knowing how we’d react to the climbing ahead we weren’t certain. Trista (Tyler’s wife) would pick us up on her way a little out of her way to Bellingham. Artist Point was our main destination but if you’re going to climb all that elevation you might as well descend too.

Soon after Glacier the large Doug Firs and Cedars gave way to the small scrubby trees of the alpine, the road shoulder disappeared (if had ever really been there) and we began climbing in earnest. Never steep, just winding and winding up and up we went. 

While we had great clouds all day to provide shade and no need for sunscreen Mt Baker was never visible to us. Shuksan was however and provided a little motivation around each corner. The snow had been in tiny patches until a little above the ski lodge when we really began to see the remnants of Mt Baker’s amazing annual snowfall.

The temps began to drop little by little and the snow banks kept growing. The other trailheads along 542 provided a few red herrings as we kept hoping that each one was Artist Point and we could turn our tired legs downhill.

Soon enough we found the top of 542 with giant snowbanks, a few cars, and one other fellow cyclist greeting us. The cold damp air prompted the pulling on of the light jackets and vests we had carried and a nip of whiskey to celebrate.

...and then the descent. Not much to say; the descending is always over too fast. 542 is a glorious road to descend, the turns suiting the cyclist better than the motorist. As we speed down, Tyler and Josh easily out pacing me, cars would pull over to let us by. Backs ached and legs tightened even more with the cold air and lack of self generating heat but in less than half an hour we had descended what had taken hours to climb.

A few miles along the rolling and ever so gradually flattening 542 we were greeted by our pickup wagon driven by Trista. We were more than happy to hop out of the saddle permanently and into the comfy seats of a Subaru to head to Bellingham for the rest of the weekend.

Final stats of the ride for me: 166 miles, 9,500 ft of elevation and just under 10 hours of riding; my biggest day in saddle and even a few hours of daylight to spare!

[adventuresbyben]

Enchantments Backpacking

Weekends get filled up fast with work, a kid and spouse who works some weekends too.  So when Aaron (in a similar life position) and I heard of some friends hiking the Enchantments and realized that both of us could conceivably get away for this hike we went for it.

We left Seattle around 7pm Friday and drove to Leavenworth to meet up with Luke and Julia.  We enjoyed a quick brew at Icicle Brewing Co before dropping a car off at the Snow Lakes Trailhead and heading up to the Stuart Lake trail head.  We were camped and trying to sleep by 11pm or so.  I never sleep well my first night out on a trip and Friday night was no different, rolling around checking my watch seemingly every 27 minutes.  Eventually 6am came around and we rolled out of our sleeping bags and were hiking by 7am.

The first miles went smoothly by headlamp and as first light came up we began to see a few remaining bright larches here and there.  Then we hit Colchuck Lake as far as Alpine lakes go it’s tough to beat.  Big, bold and an exquisite shade of blue it’s hemmed in by Dragontail and Colchuck peaks creating some spectacular reflections especially in the cool morning hours.

Too soon we were on our way again and headed around Colchuck on our way to Aasgard Pass the main obstacle before the Enchantments at ~1,900 feet of elevation gain in under a mile.

The fallen boulders at the base of Aasgard create some great obstacles and a bit of a “choose your own adventure” path, cairns be darned.

Hiking up Asgard was all in the shade thankfully as it kept us moderately cool despite the ever increasing heart rates and throbbing legs.

Then the core Enchantments awaited us; a bounty of glacial lakes surrounding by peaks.  Most of the alpine vegetation was past their peak colors and many leaves and needles had dropped but that didn’t bother us any.

There were still a few colorful Larches if you looked hard enough.

Camp was set up next to Sprite Lake with a much needed ice bath for the legs and a cold beverage for the throat.

As the afternoon light got better and better we snapped photo after photo of the Alpine glory.

With the sun dropping behind Little Annapurna we made dinner and hope for a clear night for some star gazing but the clouds and a light drizzle rolled in.

We got an early start to Sunday morning, packing up a slightly wet tent and making some quick oatmeal.  The clouds had stuck around and it seemed likely we’d get at least a little damp on our hike out.

Dropping out of the core Enchantments you soon head back into evergreen forest with periodic breaks for scree slopes and yet more scenic lake side travel.

The rain kind of picked up at this point and so did our pace.  The quickening our pace was more due to the respective parental duties of Aaron and I.  We needed to be back to Seattle by early afternoon and we had underestimated how many miles we had to go. While most of the Larches had dropped their needles the many understory species of the Alpine forest were a very vibrant yellow and I took plenty of pictures of Aaron’s backpack disappearing into the rain and shrubbery.

And then we could just barely see Icicle Canyon road and hear the cars in the valley below.  Back to the parking lot we had a quick car shuttle to complete and then we were soon enough back on our way to Seattle the weekend almost over.  ~18 miles and 4500 feet of elevation on one of Washington's supreme hikes completed over two too short days.

[adventuresbyben]

Oregon Outback 2015

It’s been a month since I completed the second Oregon Outback with a couple of friends and numerous others.  This may have been the last Oregon Outback as apparently people couldn’t literally take care of their own sh*t and treat places, including small town hospitable citizen’s barns, as their own, see post here.  This is a route that I hope to complete again and in part I’m writing up my own thoughts on this to show that most of us care enough about this route to treat it right.  

A year ago the Oregon Outback popped up on my radar thanks to the blowup on social media and the subsequent blog posts on popular sites like the radavist, velodirt, and cyclocross magazine.  In case you’re not familiar with the Oregon Outback route Donnie and Gabe from Velodirt/Oregon bikepacking and a few others have been scouring the gravel roads of Oregon and beyond for bike routes and then generously posting them online for all to view and ride.  It’s a huge service to the cycling community to get great quality routes without having to do the mapping or preriding to determine quality and feasibility of these huge routes on your own.  The Outback is a 364 mile route from the South side of Oregon to the North linking mostly gravel trails and forest service roads from Klamath Falls to Deschutes State Game Area.  You pass through only a few small towns and it’s supposed to be about being self sufficient on the bike, enjoying the company of the open sky and maybe seeing a few cows and buzzards.

Initially this ride was was like so many other big ideas I’ve had in the past I’d think to myself “I’d love to ride that some day” and not really follow through or the triumvirate of work/family/life would get in the way.  But this time a few friends, Braden and Josh, wanted to do it too... Josh and I managed to clear the weekend with the spouses while Braden just held himself accountable to be free.  

Planning for this trip wasn’t too hard and made much more simple because the route was set, I had plenty of lightweight gear, and there were enough blogs to reference for extra info. Our time frame was three days if Josh and I were to spend Labor day with respective families, the spouses were adamant about this. I tried to bike as much as possible, ordered some frame bags, bought a little bit of new gear because my old stuff just wouldn’t do (or that’s what I told my wife), and in general tweaked my cyclocross bike into a bike packing worthy steed on a budget.  The basics were adding some strap on bottle cage mounts, swapping 35mm tires for 40mm WTB Nanos, putting a 34t small ring up front paired with a 12-28 rear cassette, and yeah that’s really all I did.  A couple Revelate bags and a stuff sack on the handle bars and my rig was all set.  Gear wise I kept it pretty simple and light knowing three days of riding 120 miles/day plus 14,000 feet of elevation would be the easier for it.  All told my bike was around 45 lbs.

Clothing: one set of bibs and ss jersey, rain jacket, knee warmers, long sleeve jersey, wind proof full fingered gloves, down vest, buff, two pairs of socks, t-shirt, running shorts, and flip flops.

Water: two 20 oz bottles, 48 oz Nalgene and a spare collapsible bladder.

Camp gear: Big Agnes Fly Creek 2 fast fly set up split between Josh and I, MSR Pocket Rocket Stove, small fuel canister, 32 oz pot/mug, spork, 3/4 Big Agnes inflatable pad and a 30 degree Montbell sleeping bag.

Food: numerous bars, chews, Nuun tablets, chia seeds, block of cheese, jerky, nuts, oatmeal, instant coffee, tortillas, and more.  Really I carried too much as the towns are perfectly spaced for restocking on a three day trip.  

Logistics: We rented a car in the Dalles and then dropped a car at the Deschutes Game Area and drove down to Klamath Falls to our hotel.  Unfortunately we couldn’t get a room at the Maverick where most people stay so we settled for a slight head start by staying 3 miles East at the Majestic.  We also figured it might be quieter and a better nights sleep.

Day 1

Josh, Braden and I planned on riding in three days we were joined at the hotel by Steve and Nathan who were planning on riding the route in 4 days.  That morning we packed up and slowly rolled to coffee and then a porta-john and then to the OC&E trail.

Pretty quickly on the trail it was a real amateur hour as we had tires rubbing frames, loose bags, and small tweaks to make.  The faster riders from the Maverick soon caught us and we wondered if any of them would break the sub 24 hour barrier it was rumored that they were going for.  We soon hit the gravel sections and as we shed layers and opened and closed cattle gates others slowly caught up to us.

Rain threatened and a light drizzle turned into pouring rain.  The large rocky gravel and plentiful pot holes along the route mean your body gets pummeled, combined with the cold rain was an real experience.  At one point we took a small break under a cedar tree.  It didn’t shelter us from the rain much but it made us feel better for some reason even though we were standing in cow sh*t and there were intestines hanging from a branch.  

Back on the trail we had some periods of sun and I think enjoyment of some nice gravel sections.

And then our first mechanical.  Braden’s front rack disgorged a screw and sent Braden flipping over the handlebars it was a shame Josh and I were ahead and didn’t get to see it.  Others did and told us great stories about it.

After a quick repair and checking the map to make sure we still had 20 some miles to go before our first turn we were off again.

Sun and rain were a little intermittent for a us for a while but we certainly enjoyed finding some pavement after mile 70.  Not sure who was grammin who here.

The Forest Service roads on this route do not disappoint and for a while we thought we were in the clear from rain.

We met plenty of awesome people on this trip and these boys from Swift were at the least interesting...They told us horror stories of the “red sauce” to come, brutal 6 inch deep sandy redness that at best we could hope to travel at 6mph through and there would be miles of it.  Walking might be the preferred method for some, anathema to cyclists normally.

After this section it really started to pour so the camera went away and suffering for real set in.  We were cold, wet, tired, and just wanted to be in camp.  Unfortunately we had another 40 some miles to go if we wanted to hit our goal of 140+ miles for day one.  While we did hit pavement and knew that the small town of Silver Lake was just ahead we hit what for me was the most miserable section of road.  Ironically on an off road bike packing trip this section was paved and really nice except for the expansion joints/ cracks that were every 40 feet or so.  These cracks were 4-6 inches wide and a couple inches deep meaning your freezing, wet, miserably calorie  deprived body was bone jarringly jolted every 30 seconds for miles.  We could have missed this part of road had we been on course but we missed one turn.  Finally the road turned decent and we could see Silver Lake ahead.  We grabbed calories in the form of hot dogs, candy bars, canned peaches, and topped off water bottles for the night.  Some people had reserved motel rooms here and we enviously eyed them as we slowly cranked the legs around and got back in the saddle headed towards Fort Rock and the National Forest that lay ahead.

Another 20 miles and darkness caught us but we were able to find a site just inside the National Forest and Josh and I set up our camp. We had pulled ahead of Braden shortly after Silver Lake and were getting a little worried that he hadn’t caught up yet as we ate dinner.  Luckily we had cell service and he texted us that he was going to spend the night in Fort Rock with the guys from Swift and a few others.

Day 2

The morning had a slight bit of dampness on the tent and there were a few clouds but nothing looked too ominous.  We later found out that just five miles South at Fort Rock they were absolutely dumped on.  We ramped ourselves up for the dreaded “Red Sauce” that we were to start our day with but all the rain blessedly tamped it down and tamed it for us. Josh did some stretching to prepare for the “Red Sauce” and then wasn’t all that impressed with it.

A little pleasant pavement before more gravel on on the way to Crooked River. (thanks Josh for taking the camera for a bit)

The Crooked river section was glorious for the views and great road.  Prineville had been the goal for lunch but 70 miles of gravel and hilly roads was too much.  We settled for lunch along the river at about mile 50 on the day.  Josh attempted to silence a squeaky chain with salmon oil to not much success.

We got into Prineville around 2:00pm if memory serves me right.  A stop at the Good Bike Co. to silence Josh’s squeaky chain and for me to tighten a loose spoke and leave a message for Braden who was somewhere behind us.  Very friendly folk at that shop.

Then we climbed Skookum!  Seriously most of the climbs on this route are paved and awesome if you like climbing.  The road was was mostly empty of traffic, the sun was out, and temps were perfect.  We passed some guys from Team SHJ (no idea what that stands for) and Patrick rode with us for a bit.

At the summit the roads turned back to gravel and we had a decision to make.  The National Forest only went on for another few miles and it was mostly private land ahead meaning legal camping would be scarce. It was camp now at ~110 miles for the day or try to push until one of the small towns 20+ miles ahead.  We decided to take it easy and camp. Then we bombed down the gravel roads until we found a likely spot by a creek to set up with plenty of day light and time to relax and unwind.  Soon after Braden caught up with us and regaled us with his adventures from the day including rainstorms and a bar fight the previous night that he witnessed. Dinner was around a campfire (in a fire ring) and we turned in for the night pretty early.

Day 3

At some point during the night we were joined by a few other riders making morning breakfast and pack up more communal. As we broke down camp for the last time spirits were high and packs were light. I had totally forgotten about one of the funnest parts of backcountry bike packing, stream crossings!  First thing in the chilly morning we had three.  Josh was skilled enough to just blast though them, Braden listened to my advice to ride as fast as possible through while I attempted to photograph him.  It didn’t end well and I missed the shot of Braden biting it.  From there on Braden and I resigned ourselves to wet feet rather than chance a full body ice bath.

The rain the past few days meant the next miles of road would be filled with muddy ruts and left them feeling like a cyclocross course.  Combined with the small rolling hills, gently curving road, sunshine, and high spirits of the last day this was some of the most fun riding of the whole trip.  It didn’t last long.

The climb out of Ashwood like so many of the hills to come looks small when seen on the map.  By the time you’re at the top you’re wondering why you still have so many miles left when it seems so late in the day, the legs are already aching and gnats are circling and biting.

If you're Braden you just grin and bear it.  What else is there to do?

We had more farmland and rolling hills to cross.  Pretty glorious riding really with Mt. Hood off in the distance and while tired we knew the small town of Shaniko was up ahead.

Shaniko is for Cokes!

Josh and I debated titles...

After Shaniko we knew we had a bit of highway riding before the last rolling miles of gravel to our car.  The highway wasn't too bad and pace lining made it go fast.  But then the rolling hills of gravely doom appeared.  It’s hard to quantify or describe how much these hurt.  It’s day three, you’ve put in over 300 miles total and all that’s between you and the end are these hills that on the map are loosing elevation (insult to injury that).  It doesn’t feel like downhill especially with the brutal headwinds beating you down and the loose gravel refusing to provide a decent line.  But we volunteered for this we reminded ourselves.  There were ever so brief sections of road that felt great before returning to the drudgery of gravel.  No really we were having fun, I mean we were encouraged by cows riding alongside and the glorious fields of grain.

Finally we hit the last downhill road section, steep and curvy, warning signs for trucks to brake, it should’ve been super fun but that headwind meant you had to pedal downhill to keep moving.  Then the downhill took us to the river valley and our car was a few minutes away.

At the parking lot we found the guys from Team SHJ and gladly took them up on their offering of PBR and reminisced about the just completed route.  

All in all it was a total blast and one the best rides of my life.  It hurt at times sure, but riding across an entire state with great company in inclement weather is not to be missed!

More photos can be found on my smugmug account