Featured Hikes
Zekes Peak
Started ByZekes Peak is not for the faint of heart, for myself it took me 6 attempts to successfully climb this mountain. This is probably one of the hardest peaks below 5,000 feet in Snohomish Country. It's not only a full day trip but also has many obstacles, much elevation gain, and bush whacking. Like many mountains, the season plays a big roll in the conditions and difficulty of the mountain. This peak was named after the owner of the Zeke's Burger place along highway 2, ad was a pioneer of the area. If your up for the challenge of climbing this mountain, you are rewarded with good views of the Wild Sky Wilderness, Mount Index, Mountain Loop Highway, and views out West. There is some moderate class 3 scrambling in the gully below the summit ridge that has loose rocks. But as long as...
Mount Persis
Started ByMount Persis located right off of Highway 2 is well known for being Mount Index's little sister. From Highway Mount Persis looks almost impossible to climb. But in reality there is actually footpath/trail that head up to the summit from the west head. This footpath located up on dirt road 62 goes up 2700 feet of Mount Persis 5464 feet rather quickly. From the car this trail let's the hiker know that it is uphill. THat being said the higher you go the easier the trail becomes. There are two small but very pretty lakes near the summit which add to the attraction of this mountain. That being said this trail is quick and most in shape hikers can summit this mountain in two hours or maybe even less, depending on if you stop at one of the two ponds for pictures. If you have the time and energy you...
South Sister
Started ByLocated 30 miles west of Bend, Oregons third highest summit is another very popular destination for experenced. With the main bootpath usually free of snow by August, receives a lot of traffic in the summer months. The summit is a special masterpiece. It is presently a dormant volcano which erupted last at 1200 AD. That being said there have been a number of tremers around the volcanos which scientist have been monitoring for activity. Like many of the other volcanoes in the are South Sister is a stratovolcano and is 250 larger then it's older neighbors, North and Middle Sister. It is also the easiest of the three and receives the most traffic. Teardrop Lake which sits inside the crater is the highest exposed lake in Oregon. It's aqua color is a added special treat for anyone who makes the 12...
Crystal Mountain (Silver King)
Started ByCrystal Mountain is one of the best known ski resorts in Washington State. Nestled just to the east of Mount Rainier, Crystal Mountain is well known for it reliable skiing and snowboarding. It is also a great early season or late season snoclimb when the resort is closed and a good summer hiking destination. The highest peak on the Crystal Mountain Ridge is Silver King. With an elevation just below 7000 feet, it is a great place to start off a great winter. Views from Silver King when clear include Mount Rainier and Mount Adams, Norse Peak, Silver Queen and many of the other summits in the area.Silver King can either approached by the south (summer and fall) from Chinook Pass via the Pacific Crest Trail. Take the Pacific Crest Trail north until once near the ridge. From there...
Featured Trip Reports
Winter Ascent of Mount Baker
Created ByEven though I have already climbed Mount Baker twice, it is such a lovely mountain that deserves another visit. For the longest time I had been wanting to do a winter ascent of Baker because I know how beautiful the North Cascades are during this time of year. An amazing weather window came about just in time before my buddy Steve arrived in Washington. Gimpilator warned me that the avalanche danger could be high on Baker even with the low avalanche forecast. But our luck was in, the snow was incredibly solid. I met Steve though SummitPost once again on accident because of a snow cave picture. At first I could not make up my mind of what mountain to climb. Mount Baker? Mount Shuksan? Eldorado again? They all sounded wonderful. I was warned that Shuksan could be dicey at the end due to snow build up with a lot of exposure. Steve came over to my house and picked me up for the trip with a undefined destination. As we are heading North we missed the turn off to Eldorado and decided that Mount Baker would be the one. Approaching the Easton GlacierWe went to the ranger station to ask some questions which we were told that the road was opened either...
The Grand Tour: A 15 Day Mountaineering Road Trip
Created By"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions." -Oliver Wendell Holmes This was the greatest adventure of the year and is the longest road trip I have ever been on. We traveled from Mount Hood, Mount Whitney, Golden Canyon, and ended with Wheeler Peak in Nevada. There could not have been better timing to push for winter ascents of these peaks with amazing success rates and wonderful conditions. I felt as though this was a new experience that made me feel like we were on the far edges of the Earth. Michael Blake originally met me though SummitPost, mistakenly contacted me as a Josh who wanted to climb Denali. At first the plan was to climb the Mountaineers Route until secretly both of us wanted to go on a Grand Tour and climb other great peaks along the way. Michael asked me about avalanche training which I told him I had the perfect partner to invite who is known as Gimpilator. We now had a solid team for our grand adventure.Day 1: Heading out to Mount Hood I had never gone on an adventure like this making it hard to gauge exactly how much food one would need for the entire trip. So I made a good call by building up the biggest food...
Getting "Lost" on Kyes: An Unexpected Overnight...
Created ByOften times when heading out to the mountains on a nice clear sunshiny day I don't expect things to go wrong. But every now and then I get one of those trips where adventure finds me. This was another round of exciting fun with bush whacking, getting lost in the dark, sliding on slippery shrubs, and everyone's favorite! Sleeping out on a steep slope. But hey, who said I wanted a tame adventure? Sometimes going through all the troubles in the end become worth while, especially when you learn from it. The adventure started out as the usual bus ride to the city of Gold Bar to meet my partner for the trip. On the way there the sunrise was looking quite beautiful, especially the golden sun beams on Mount Zekes and the red colors I saw on Mount Rainier. I was in for some stellar weather. In Gold Bar I met up with my partner Scott to head out to the trailhead. "I'm the kind of guy who isn't so much worried about where we are going, so long as were having a adventure" Scott announced. Sun Beams over Mount ZekesHiking up KyesThe trip started out as a nice hike in the woods switch backing up the side of the...
No Escaping the Odds: Making an Attempt on Mount Rainier
Created ByThis was quite the interesting trip which I learned a few important things along the way. The weather on Mount Rainier was not looking ideal, in the Seattle area it was very misty and raining in the National Park. Rain or shine, we planning on at least giving it a try. Considering that Bentley and his family came all the way across the country for this, we were not going to back down so easy. But at the same time during this adventure we had a few complications that each one could have made a summit bid impossible. We had been planning this trip since September of 2010 who I met Bentley from CascadeClimbers. We sent many emails back and forth figuring out what each of us should bring and getting to know each other. I had no way of getting to Rainier which I told him that my plan was to take some buses and bike as close as I could to the mountain. Bentley at first thought I was joking and then thought I was nutty for having such a commitment for a trip. When adventure calls, you gotta do what you gotta do to cease the opportunity. Bentley generously offered to pick me up from my house making the trip much easier. But easier doesn't mean easy.A Not so Ideal BeginingOn...
Walking into a Winter Wonderland on Eldorado Peak
Created By"Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb." -Greg Child "It would be a crime not to climb on a day as nice as this one." -SkiEldorado Peak is perhaps one of the most amazing peaks in the state of Washington. I've seen it from just about every face which it does not cease to impress me. Even when climbing it in what I call "It's finest moments" during winter time I see yet another perspective of the mountains I have not seen before. This is what one would call a Cascade Classic which we had a perfect weather window for the climb.