Today's Hike

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Great shot!

I finished a couple days on the Long Trail in Vermont on Friday. Aside from a bit of ski touring this winter I haven't really done much in Vermont, always a pleasure to hike somewhere totally new.

Nice.  Wishing I was in VT right now.

A quick run up Cashmere Mtn that turned out to be a 18 hour saga ending with a monumental brush battle...

Looking down on 8 Mile Lake

In the basin below Windy Pass (Cashmere Mtn in the background).  We skied here this same weekend last year... there was still about 3 feet of snow.

On the shoulder 850 ft below the summit of Cashmere Mtn (8450 ft.).
 

Shortly after making the summit, my colon began to go spastic... for the first 2 hours of the descent, I could not move a quarter mile without having to take a shit.  A poorly plotted shortcut that resulted in a miserable brush battle, along with the constant need to stop and shit yielded no time savings.  In fact, in hind site, backtracking 8.5 miles from the summit would have been quicker.   Made it back to the truck shortly before midnight... 7 lbs. lighter and legs torn to shreds.

Wow...what a nightmare. severe runs like that could have dehydrated you to the point of shock..your lucky to have made it out..

Glad you made it out "ok."  (All relative right?)

Looks skiable to me.

nepa wrote

  In fact, in hind site, backtracking 8.5 miles from the summit would have been quicker.  

Surely that had to be a Freudian slip.

Glad I wasn't following behind you!

Hope things are back to....um, regular?

Our Yesterday's Hike was a bit more pleasant.  No time for the narrative now so I will reverse my MO and give you pictures first and fill in the narrative later.  I'll leave the picture of our crew at the trailhead sign out and  wait until Tuesday to add the narrative, see if you guys can figure out our location, which included a trail that Newsweek rated (circa 2009?) one of the 10 best hikes in the U. S. of A.






















































The tower put us about halfway (2 miles) through the hike, 4 hours into a 6 hour adventure.

Maybe Storm King or Break Neck Ridge?  I bet Jason or ML will know.

Breakneck ridge. Was just down there for work, looking at some rock. Pic from my short weekend hike:

Yup, Breakneck.  Not a difficult answer for anyone who has been.  Storm King is the prominent bulge across the river in many of the pics, and Bannerman's Island is a clear giveaway as well.  Breakneck Ridge truly is an incredible hike.  

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Talk about an adventure. I have never done any caving.. Well, I can't say that entirely. I think there is enough for me to see outside :).

Where are you hiking this weekend?

Thanks Ray... not sure exactly where yet this weekend, but somewhere in the ADKs.  If my kids had there way we'd be going deeper in Eagle Cave.  We'll definitely be going back there this summer.

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At Mount Rainier National Park on the Muir Snowfield yesterday.  There are several spots in this area that offer year round skiing.  Variable weather over the past several weeks resulted in poor snow conditions.  The ascent to Camp Muir was really fun.  The descent back to the car was survival skiing on August sized sun cups.  It was a bumpy ride down on the snow to say the least.  If you are looking to earn some Summer turns this is a straight forward option.  MRNP is a shortish drive from Seattle.  The Muir Snowfield hike can be done as a day trip from Seattle or there is lodging at Paradise.  Even if you don't bring snow-gear, the scenery down low is absolutely amazing.

A few shots from the day

A pretty straight forward carry up to the snow (about 1.5 hours hiking)


Local Marmot

On the Snow


Camp Muir (~10K)

Wow the snow starts above Pebble Creek..Last July there was snow just above the paved  section out of Paradise ..
Love the last shot. Muir looks like you reach out and touch it.. Still so far away..

Curious to know why it was survival mode? Did the snow not give into the turns, was it due to exposure or crevices?  From the pics that ADK Jeff posted, you can see we are full on summer here now.

Lovely shots and great TR.

JasonWx wrote

Wow the snow starts above Pebble Creek..Last July there was snow just above the paved  section out of Paradise

Yup.  It melted out very fast this year.  Last year in June, we skinned right from the parking lot.  There was still about 60 inches of snow at paradise on June 1st.