Orcas Island Feb 29 – March 1, 2020, Eric and Katie Saturday morning we took the ferry out to Orcas Island and drove up Mt Constitution to admire great views of the San Juan islands from 2,407 ft up. We then set up camp at the Mountain Lake campground and… Continue reading
Cardinal Peak (8,590ft), Emerald Peak (8,422ft), Saska Peak (8,404ft) (probable first winter ascents) Feb 22-23, 2020 Eric and Fred 46 miles, 9,400ft gain Saturday – 12:30am to 10pm, climb all peaks and camp at Grouse Creek Sunday – 6am – 1pm, ski 17 miles back to car I had attempted… Continue reading
Cardinal Peak Attempt Feb 15-16, 2020 Saturday – 12:30pm – 10pm, 17 miles Sunday – 3am – 1:30pm, 21 miles Eric Gilbertson (solo) I call this the Murphy’s Law trip because so many things that could go wrong did go wrong. After failing to find a partner for the weekend… Continue reading
Big Craggy (8,470ft), West Craggy (8,366ft), Sherman Peak (8,204ft) Eric and Fred, Feb 8-9, 2020 Saturday – 11 miles, 3,000ft gain, 11:45am – 7:45pm Sunday – 27 miles, 8,000ft gain, 3:45am – 12:45am Probable first winter ascent of West Craggy, Second winter ascent of Big Craggy We left Seattle Saturday… Continue reading
Enchantments: Cannon Mountain (8,638ft), McClellan Peak (8,364ft) 20 miles, 10,000ft gain 2:15am to 5:30pm, Eric Gilbertson (solo) Probable first winter ascent of Cannon My favorite time of year to visit the Enchantments region is the winter, when the views are great but the summer crowds are gone. On one trip… Continue reading
Windy Peak (8,333ft), Horseshoe Mountain (7,956ft), Armstrong Mountain (8,117ft), Arnold Mountain (8,091ft) Probable second winter ascent of Windy Peak, First winter ascents of Horseshoe, Armstrong, Arnold Sat Jan 25 12:45am to Sun Jan 26 8:15am (31.5 hours continuous moving) Eric and Fred, 53 miles, 10,000ft gain Back in October I’d… Continue reading
Mount Bigelow (8,440ft), Switchback Mountain (8,321ft), Martin Peak (8,375ft) Possible First Winter Ascents Fred and Eric, Jan 19-20, 2020 32 miles, 9,000ft gain I’m working on climbing Bulgers in the winter and it looked like a weather window in the Sawtooth area of eastern washington for the weekend. Interestingly, as… Continue reading
Mt McCausland (5,747ft) Backcountry Skiing Eric, Tyler, Colie, Kayla, Birkan, Kurt Jan 11, 2020, ~10 miles, 2,600ft We left the Smith Brook pullout Saturday morning 8:30am on skis and splitboards. Luckily it is permitted to park in this pullout even when plowing is going on, though cars might get buried… Continue reading
Northern Lights in Yukon Dec 31, 2019 – Jan 5, 2020, Eric and Katie 2700 miles driving Dec 31 – Seattle to Prince George, BC Jan 1 – Prince George to Muncho Lake, BC Jan 2 – Muncho Lake BC to Watson Lake, YT Jan 3 – Watson Lake to… Continue reading
Cotopaxi (19,374ft) December 29, 2019 Eric I was in Ecuador to climb Chimborazo, the country highpoint, and found myself with a few extra days after my chimborazo climb went as planned with no delays. I had planned ahead in case this happened, and had arranged to climb Cotopaxi, another tall… Continue reading