#mountaingoating

[jameeleemiller]

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@realbluehippo getting in those drops and straight #mountaingoating up #dirtvert

[mountain-goating]

May Shenanigans

One failed trip is the foundation of another. Or something like that…

Fail: Mount St. Helens summit

Success: Leavenworth climbing & trail running

One of the amazing things about Washington's landscape is that if it's stormy on one side of the cascades (read: St Helens was getting socked with precipitation), there are blue skies and warm temps on the other side of the passes (Leavenworth was 75 and sunny all weekend).

We quickly got over our bummed-out moods about another inopportune weather window for St. Helens and re-packed our bags from splitboards + avy gear to climbing gear + running shoes and headed out to Icicle Creek for the weekend.

It was our first trad leads of the season, so we wanted to start them out easy on Mountaineers wall. Turns out we weren't the only ones with this idea, as there was already groups on the wall and a queue forming up. We made a call to explore some walls east of the area, and found some great routes.

Gibson's Crack

  We spent the 2nd half of the afternoon on Sport routes:

A new route that we're assuming is not yet done being bolted. The bottom was a spicy fest of featureless slabs with thin finger crack-like features. The top was more blank slab.

  Contractor Rock: Slabs on Slabs on Slabs!

    The next day, after waking up and shaking off our headaches from the night before, we parted ways with Christian and Dave, who went back to Seattle. Meanwhile, Katy and I opted to spend the day trail running.

We parked the car along icicle creek and aimed for Colchuck Lake. We had to turn around a few miles shy of our objective due to snow, but not before we were rewarded with some great views of the canyon and some burn from elevation.

    Another great weekend in the hills.

(A couple more photos here: http://flickriver.com/photos/elygerbin/sets/72157645177450801/)

[ely]

Not a bad spot for a rest and fuel on our trail run yesterday. We did an awesome out and back along the East Bank trail on Ross Lake from hwy 20 to devils junction. Perfect weather and almost no one on the trail made for one of the best runs I've ever had. #trailrunning #marathontraining #longrun #mountaingoating

[ely]

After posting that last photo of the enchantments, @kaytlyn1579 and I decided that seeing them from a plane wasn't enough. A weekend of trail running and bouldering hit the spot. This is Dragontail Peak towering over Colchuck Lake. The trail was totally melted out and made for an awesome run that we linked up with Stuart Lake. #enchantments #mountains #trailrunning #leavenworth #mountaingoating

[ely]

The Enchantments at 37,000 feet. High alpine lakes, sheer granite walls, golden larches, mountain goats, serenity, isolation, and some of the most beautiful and demanding terrain in Washington State. Still covered in snow, but May and June's heat and rain should melt things out before we know it. #enchantments #mountains #flying #mountaingoating

[ely]

Another one from this weekend. The first four miles of our trail run had us gaining about 2000 feet. Stopping to grab a photo of icicle canyon was a great excuse to take a water break and momentarily let the burn in my legs subside. #trailrunning #mountaingoating #leavenworth

[ely]

@kaytlyn1579 leading up a fun, slabby route this weekend in #leavenworth. #mountaingoating

[thatsokay-itspojamas-blog]

I hereby coin the term, "mountain-goating". A verb meaning to ascend, or descend a surface in a manner which defies all logic. "Dude, I totally just mountain-goated down the side of this sheer cliff." Best used when referring to video games where your character takes a short cut over, or down a mountain.