Houston Guy

Kings Peak Utah, 1st attempt

2010-07-18T02:02:00.002-05:00

As I do more highpoints, I'm finding that (a) every climb is different and (b), the weather can be a huge factor in making the summit. Now this is the third peak I wasn't able to summit on the first attempt. I've managed to go back to the first two, and, look forward to coming back here as well. I was close. How close? Read on, and you'll see!

I had been reading Highpoint Adventures, and all the post coming in from the Highpointers newsfeed. July was here, and people would be taking advantage of the brief window of opportunity in July and August to bag this summit. I wanted to go.

Kim King, hiking Kings Peak, UT

After hearing that my motorcycling pal and fellow highpointer, Kim, was in Colorado climbing, I got even more antsy. When she announced she might go to Utah, I logged into Travelocity just 4 days out to see if I could get a flight without having to give them a limb. $500 was my limit, and, amazingly, Frontier had a seat open in my budget! It was a go, Kim would drive from her Mt. Elbert summit trip (I did Elbert a few years back), and we would meet up in Utah, and join the groups of Highpointers attempting Kings Peak.

This trip would offer many obstacles to hinder my attempt. The first one: my flight landing in Denver got stuck on the runway for over an hour, causing me to miss my connection to Utah. After a frustrating long evening, I ended up with a short 3 hour nap, in an airport hotel, a red-eye flight to Utah, and 14 hours behind schedule.

The trail near Dollar Lake

After finding Kim in Utah and arriving at the trailhead the next day, the plan was to hike as far up the treeline past Dollar Lake and hang up my hammock for an early alpine summit attempt. Obstacle number two: a driving hailstorm at mile 5, and, obstacle number three: the footbridge accross the stream was washed out. I had left my armpit vents open during the hailstorm, and now my clothes were wet, and it was difficult to think clearly and find a was across the stream. A couple we ran into from New Jersey decided to turn around here. As did a group of horseback travelers, due to the swollen stream. It looked like a nice class 4 or 5 rapid, with just two slippery logs to cross.

Finally, the storm eased up, and we were able to slither accross the logs, me while pulling my backpack.
The late start now meant we had to go at least 2 more miles to Dollar Lake and set up camp. Obstacle #4: I was carrying a heavy pack, and now, at mile 6, my back was hurting. The mosquitos were swarming like mad. The snow and storm runoff made the trail a mushy swamp.

I ended up running out of steam near Dollar Lake, with only 45 minutes of daylite to setup camp. I had hoped to camp a little closer to the summit, to make the trip up shorter and more doable. Mistake #1: deciding to wake up at 4 AM and get an early start. 2 AM would have been a better decision, or, midnight.

Summit Day: I am dragging butt, and woke up at 4:20AM, and didn't get started till 5:30AM. Feeling tired, perhaps from little sleep for 3 days, or, from the altitude. We had camped at around 10,500 feet.
We crossed at Gunsight Pass, and tried to traverse as high as possible and avoid the 600 foot drop on the back side of Gunsight. Mistake #2, not taking the Anderson Pass chute, or "Toilet Bowl" route straight up to the summit ridge.

A snowfield traverse near Gunsight Pass.

As we traversed around Anderson Peak, we noticed a helicopter landing below us. Later back at camp we learned that a 67 year old hiker got separated from his family (son and grandson) and had spent the night out, having to be rescued. I recommend that your party stay within sight of each other at all times on this summit. There were a few steep snowfields to traverse that were quite scary. Not quite bad enough to require crampons, but, quite risky nonetheless. A couple of them had some pretty serious consequences had anyone slipped.

The hike leading up to Anderson Pass was an easy incline, then things got pretty steep pretty fast. About half way up the final summit ridge, the thunder started. Obstacle #5. The scrambling is steep here, and if a person was careless it would be easy to get hurt. I considered dropping off my daypack and raingear at the pass, which would have been a really bad decision. I would say NEVER hike here without your rain gear, even on the sunniest of days. It was sunny and clear for the first five hours of the day, then it got bad quickly.

The boulder field, final 700 feet. Fifteen minutes later,

the storm opened up.

About 200 yards from the summit, it started coming down. 50 yards later, it was coming down HARD. It was time to call it a day. Too dangerous to continue, with the lightning coming in, a hard, horizontal blowing hail pummeling my face. Again, it was difficult to focus. Wind were probably in the 40MPH + range, and there was a father pushing forward with pre-teenage children! This didn't seem like a wise decision, on his part.

One thing I noticed, the more often that I have to abort a summit because of weather, the less upset I get. I also notice that at 53, I'm no longer the first bloke up the peak anymore. Oh well, I'm just happy that I can still walk, and still hike at all!

The hike back to camp went from hail to rain, and wet and sloggy, for 90 percent of the trip. After a 13 mile summit attempt, I was too tired to consider contiuing another 7 miles to the parking area, and was looking forward to hitting the hammock early. I was in the sack just shortly after 7PM, and stayed in the hammock all night, for 12 lovely hours!

Survived to hike another day!

The hike back to the trailhead was mostly nice, it only rained and lightly hailed on the last mile or two. The stream had to be crossed again, now with time to video some of the action!

Hopefully Kim didn't get tired of my constant yapping and attempts to sing as I hiked. I tend to run off my hiking partners. Hmmm, I wonder why??? It was nice to have someone I knew to help in the decision making process of such a hike!

I spent most of the downhike pondering my strategy for my next attempt!

Another bit of advice to myself: don't try a new pair of "weatherproof" gloves on a long trip like this! And take two pair of gloves next time.

Link to more photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rickomni/Kings2010?feat=directlink

Mt. Hood, 2nd attempt

2010-06-17T23:50:00.001-05:00

Mt. Hood, approached from Hood River, Or.

Forgive my long windedness, and change of format. This was written very shortly after the summit trip, while vivid details remained in my mind.

For five months I trained for this one. At first just doing the treadmill and the stairmaster, after Dave had discovered a treadmill that went to 30 degrees incline. Two days doing cardio, then another two doing resisitance training to strengthen up the core.

It was still unfullfilling, as I wasn't working those downhill muscles, or getting used to the impact of decent.

Then we started working out on "the hill", just outside downtown Houston on Allen Parkway. It was steep enough, 40 degrees in places. It was only about 60 feet tall, so we would go up and down for an hour and half, waiting till near sundown so the temp would drop into the low 90's. Definintely worked out the downhill muscles around the knees. Looking at the skycrapers would inspire us to think of mountians.

We arrived in Portland on a Wednesday nite. Just in time to find a hotel on the eastern outskirts. On Thursday we'd get a nice view of Mt. Hood from the Columbia River. We stopped for a brewski in Hood River, at the same microbrewery Eric and I had visited two years earlier. Hood stood out like a white beacon, visible for 50 miles in all directions. It looked quite formindable.

The Big Horse Brew Pub, Hood River, Or.

As we got closer, it loomed larger and larger. In fact, much larger than I had remembered. Dave had a look of disbelief on his face. "You mean we're going to climb that?" he asked.

"Absolutely" I replied, trying to retrace the route up the face as best I could remember it.

The lodge looked bigger too. We now had two days to aclimate, at over 7,000 feet at the lodge. We checked in and drove down to Government Camp for some carbo's. Pancakes for me, a wonderful dinner indeed! We got back to the Timberline Lodge early, and sank into the nice soft mattresses, breathing in the clear, crisp air. It was in the high 50's, with an expected low just above freezing at the lodge. Tommorow morning we would meet our guide and our rope team. We were pumped..

8AM came early, and we reported to the Timberline Guide office. We gathered up our rental gear: crampons, helmet, harness and ice axe. Today we would "play in the snow", practice our steps, practice short roping, moving belays, and talk about our plans. Our guide was Rodney, an Oregon local. He asked us about our climbing background, and he spoke at length about the mountain, the weather, and his snow training. It was obvious he had extensive knowledge about snow and avalanches. This would serve us well tommorow.

On the nearby training slopes we practices our basic steps on snow that started out somewhat firm, but got softer and wetter as the morning wore on. Unlike the training I had at the same spot last year, Rodney focused more on climbing than falling, and explained that anytime there was serve consequences to falling, we would be roped in, so that falling wasn't too much of an option for us on his watch. He demostrated that he could easily control and lower all 600 plus pounds of us using a belay he sat in a snow pit with a small pick and his ice axe. Very reassuring!

We met the third climber in our group, who was Tim, who worked for the local TV channel 6. Tim was a very experienced skier and also had spent lots of time on Mt. Hood over the years. He would play a very important role in our climb the next day. He is one of those guys who seems to know everyone in Portland, a very pleasant guy.

Rodney, our guide, from Timberline Guides

Rodney had been guiding for eight years, had attempted Denali, had many successful attempts at Hood (he never gave a number, but we figured 50 plus) He also told us of 5 failed attempts at Ranier, and Jefferson, (weather) and it seemed he was preparing us for the fact that a summit is never a garuntee, even for a pro. The reality of that wasn't something I was ready to hear, but, I knew from experience that conditions aren't always ideal. I had told my family and friends I was staying in Portland until I got the summit. In retrospect, I don't think I'll ever make a statement like that again. Not summitting isn't really failure, it's learning. You just keep going and learning each time.

For example, a week after my first Hood attempt, I don't think I could have repeated one of the steps they taught us. Now I don't think I'll ever forget the side step, the "American" step, or the twelve three, the ten-two or "duck walk"

Tim Graham, from Portland Oregon

I'm sure in the first ten minutes he had us all sized up. Tim was obviously the most capable in our group, probably ten years younger than I, and a solid skiier. When Rodger put me behind him on the rope I assumed he had picked me out as the weakest. This was fine with me, as I knew my will to climb was strong, and I didnt think I would slow the team down on the ascent. In fact, for me, climbing is exhillerating and caused my energy and spirit to soar. Since my knee surgery, I'm not so strong on the descent, but at my own pace, I can go all day.

Training went well. We kept watching the weather. Rodger asked us what we thought our chances were (that the weather would co-operate). 50-50 was the consensus. He made it clear that his job was to determine as we made our way up the mountain the next day, he would study the snow, watch the weather, and he would let us know if he thought it was safe to climb. He also made it clear that his decision was final, and that he respected us, but we had to respect him and let him do what we paid him to do. Lead, and make the decisions. It was obvious we all respected his knowledge and understanding of this mountian.

The mountain is a living, breathing thing. It has a personality, and a disposition. It loomed strong, rigid and formidable today. In fact, we had heard that earlier in the week a climber had perished on the mountain. It turned out that it was actually a skiier who had ventured into the wilderness area. His party of six had gotten seperated during a sudden white out, and he had followed the fall line right off of a cliff. Then there was the memory of the two climbers that had gone missing in December, still not found, some six months later.

In spite of this, I didn't feel we were in any immediate danger. We had experience on our side, and no chances would be taken.

The training class ended, and we headed back to "Gov Camp", and another hearty pancake meal for me. Those delicious Huckleberry pancakes! Dave and I returned to the Lodge, and took a nice long soak in the hot tub. We dicussed the mountain, and relaxed. Later we just basked in the sun beside the pool, with eight foot snowbanks nearby, and the roof of the Timberline Inn piled high with snow. It was hard to imagine the 95 degree heat in Houston, and the swealtering humidity. We were on another planet now.

We grabbed a nice bown of Mac and Cheese at the bar, a glass of wine, and some cheese. Life was at it's finest moment. Here we were in this beautiful old lodge, surrounded by art and fine wood, in the warm glow of the fireplace. This is a stark contrast to where we would be just hours later.

We met at the climbers register at 12:30AM on Saturday morning. We came fully geared out, with our climbing harness on, headlamps mounted on helments and bags packed. I chose to bring my 2 liter camelback, in spite of the written warnings that the tube could freeze. I opted not to bring my spare liter bottle of water in order to reduce weight. I had almost decided not to bring my down jacket, but figured if we got into any trouble and had to hunker down, it could come in handy. Typically in weather over 30 degrees, I can't wear my heavy duty winter gloves, as they cause me to sweat and overheat, then the sweat causes me to chill. However, my light glove liners I use for skiing aren't wind proof, so they turned out to be too light.

I ended up going to the heavy gloves after all.

I digress. Rodger sized us up again and asked us one at a time what our gut feeling was. I really respect someone who listens to their gut, as I have done this for many years in running my business. In fact, it's those times when I don't listen to my gut I tend to get into trouble. One by one we each said we felt good about this, and we thought our chances of a summit were still very strong. I was thinking 80 percent, but stuck with the 50 percent from the day before. A part of me felt that we were ready, and that the mountian would smile on us today.

The snowcat was ready for boarding.

One wonderful perk of the Hood summit climb with the Timberline Guides is the snow cat service. Obviously, the mile from the lodge to the top of the lift would be a pretty tame hike. It's very nice to skip the scramble up the service road. Someone asked if we weren't cheating to start on the snowcat. Dave informed them that unless we used a helicopter, it wasn't cheating..

As the cat growls and crawls up the slope, the adreniline starts to flow freely. You check your gloves, your headlamp, and your nerve. The mountain is dark, and all you can see is the silloutee of the other riders (we had two parties with us, some had gone an hour earlier) but you can feel the power and energy of the mountain.

Before we know it we're there. It was much like my first attempt. Only, not quite so foreign. This time, I knew which way we were starting, and, I knew my guides name, and everyone in our small party. Rodney took the lead, kicking steps, followed by Dave, then I motioned Tim ahead and took up the rear. I was pumped, and felt as if I was leviating a foot off the ground. The snow had a nice firm crust. The temperature was just around thiry degrees at the top of the lift, and the wind speed was 9 -10 MPH. The wind chill was in the mid twenties. We could see stars. Things were looking up.

The first thing I noticed was that my heart rate was much more controlled than it had been on my 2008 attempt. I had remembered that the climbing to the Hogsback had seemed pretty simple the first time. It was even easier this time. I was wearing just my thin poly thermals, a thin light fleece top, and my thin hardshell Marmott jacket. On the bottom I had just my poly thermals underneath and a pair of breathable Mountain Hardware pants on top. We couldn't go fast enough for me. At some point I found myself in front of Tim,spirits soaring. It must have been obvious I was in a zone, "You're really enjoying this aren't you?" Tim asked. "You just don't know" I replied. But I think he did know, it must have been written all over my face.

The group behind us started coming around. We stood by and let them pass. "Let them cut us a path," Rodger grinned as they blasted by. Shortly afterward, we would see them again.

We paused, took a drink and a leak, and looked up again. With headlamps off or covered, you could still see a few stars peeking through. My harness was working it's way down my thighs. Crap. Gear problems already. I mentioned it to Rodney, he immediately noticed I had missed the main loop when passing through my strap. I fumbled with hands quickly losing control, Rodney quickly stepped in and fixed it. Time to take off again. I gulped water, and downed a pack of goo. It was off to the races again.

We quickly came across a large group of climbers. They appeared to be in a discussion, including several guides, and customers. As we approached, and someone asked who we were there were a few friendly shouts, and lively conversation. Several of the guides seemed to know Rodney or knew of him.

Everything in the following paragraph is a little sketchy. It comes from bits and pieces of what Dave, Tim and I overheard from the "Guide Pow-wow", and from what Dave and I recollect Rodney telling us.

The guides were all gathered discussing the results of their snow conditions test. Suddenly things weren't so upbeat. One of the guides was an older forest service guide who had trained Rodney. There were also what appeared to be at least two or three other parties, and the party that had passed us up and ridden up in the snow cat with us. After a few moments with the other guides Rodney returned to where he told us to stand by. He explained that the other guides had done a snow test, and that he didn't feel that they had done it in a reliable spot. Dave had overheard the older guide state the snow was solid at hip level and loose at knee level. Rodney further explained that he was going to check the snow in another spot. We were to stay put exactly where we were, With that he dropped his pack, and bounded quickly uphill to a spot just out of our circle of light and started digging. He had told us to get comfortable, and get into our puffy jackets if needed, take on some food and water. I decided to not do the puffy jacket, as I was already plenty warm when we were moving. I would just have to take it off later.

While he was gone, the three of us discussed how confident we were of Rodneys knowledge, and that we would happily follow his advice, even if it meant turning around. Tim mentioned his children, and that no summit was worth risking anything less than 100% assurance of a safe return. I told Tim I would go with whatever his gut feeling was. Dave laughed, knowing full well I would have proceeded with a safety margin as low as 70%. I only would have agreed to turn back on news of a 95% chance or 90% chance out of respect for Tim, and would have never put pressure on him to continue and risk him not returning to his family. In fact, I admired Tim, and his commitment to his family, and felt ashamed of my own selfishness and greed to summit. This trip taught me so many lessons, and I'm still sorting them out as I write this.

I had a breif flashback of Rodney telling us the day before that the mountain was not a static but a dynamic, ever changing climb. What might be happening at one moment with the weather and snow conditions, could change at any moment, and you would be on a new climb. He had also told us that we were no longer individuals, but part of a group. Unlike a hike, in this environment, we all summited, or no one did. He had also described the last 750 feet after the Hogsback, and how most of our efforts would be expended there. For the first time ever, I saw Dave's spirit drop a little. He had heard more of the guide-speak than I did. His prediction of our continuing forward had now dropped to 50-50. I was all hopeful.

We waited, and listened for his return. We could hear the constant digging, as he gathered information, in order to make an intelligent, informed decision. Just as quickly as he left, he appeared again. He gathered us around. He re-explained why he didn't like the previous tests that were done, and explained the benefit of checking the snow from different aspects. He advised us that his test conclusively showed good solid snow, and he felt like at this point that we could decide to move forward if we wanted to. Dave and I looked at Tim. "Looks like a green light to me." I was again happy, after a brief moment of doubt.

As I looked around, all the other guides and clients had already disappeared and headed back down.

It was just us, and Mt. Hood. Life was good.

Rodney advised us that he would be doing at least one or two more tests. We would continue to the Hogsback. I was relieved. At this point, I at least wanted to make it to the point I did last time, just to peer down over the edge of the Hogsback again, down to that vast, dark pit that lies over it's spine. If only that, I would have some comfort in knowing we pushed on as far as we could. Off we went.

The going got steep quickly. I don't remember the order, other than Rodney led and Dave was in second position. This is where Dave had a few slips, as the pitch made it easier for a foot to slip. A few slips and groans, and Rodney reminded Dave we had to keep up a decent pace. After what seemed like just a hundred yards or so, Rodney made the decision to put on crampons. I struggled with cold fingers, and again Rodney helped first Dave, then me get our crampons on properly. It must suck babysitting newbies! I felt bad for Rodney, having had taken off his gloves and working on both our gear. His hands worked the straps and buckles swiftly and skillfully, and we were off again. Sidestepping now became more natural, as did moving with trecking poles and axe. There was a certain rythem to it. Step, step, place axe, step step, place axe. Axe in uphill hand, pole in downhill hand, as we lived in our little box of headlamp light.

The fog had started to settle, and we had gotten above the blowing snow. Visibility was 40-50 yards. Up and up we climbed, with very few traverses, mostly up, following footsteps.

Gear dropped on the Hogsback

Before I knew it, there was the familiar ridge of the Hogsback. What a welcome site. I remembered my first atttempt. When the guide left to do his tests, I really had no clue what exaclty he was doing. Some magin hocus pocus. Now I understood perfectly. Rodney would dig, evaluate the layers of snow, and decide if travel was at an acceptable level of risk. The consequences were greater now. Deja vu. I was comfortable to be here again, it looked so familiar. I remembered this was where the last guide turned us around. I never really understood why. Now, if Rodney came back and said it wasn't good, I was prepared. I would have never questioned his choice, or second guessed him like I did the last fellow. (who's name I can't remember, as I'm sure he doesn't remember mine)

Again, we waited, and talked amoung ourselves. The wind had quietied down. The silence was heavy. I was thirsty, but could only get a small amount of water from my frozen cameback tube. I downed a cliff bar. No matter which way we went when Rodneyr returned, I would need more energy. I emptied another goo packet into my mouth. Seven hundred and fifty feet of scrambling, if we got to continue.

We heard him dig. Again, he appeared with his shovel. Dave commented first, that it looked to him like Rodney had a "negative face on'. My heart dropped. So close. Again. Then I saw Rodneys face - didn't look so much like a no to me. Tim said it best " you should play poker man, you're hard to read."

His demeanor was serious. Another good read. We were go for a summit run, if everyone was agreed. Another gut check. It was unanimous, we would go for it. Finally, I would get to see the last 750 feet. We left our trecking poles behind. From this point forward, we would rope in, and use ice axes. A few feet forward and we began a traverse. In a few feet, Rodney looked frustrated. The GPS wasn't responding well to our slow movement. He stopped us, and looked around. Then I saw what seemed to be a glimpse of recognition in his eyes. Rodney ordered Tim to backtack the traverse. Tim hesitated only about half a second, and started moving across the fall line. Then Rodney directed him to turn up, and continue forward. Now we shifted, with Rodney moving back across and taking the lead. Dave was just behind Rodney, then me, then Tim on the back.

Things were getting very steep now. I made a smart ass remark, thinking this was as steep as it would get, and asked "so when does the hard stuff begin?", just a little further Rodney replied. Crap, so it does get harder than this. We pushed and pushed. More American style punching in, often sliding backwards on every third step. This is where I noticed Dave starting to get frustrated. He was slipping backwards on two of three steps. I could hear the frustration in his groans, but couldn't figure out why he was losing his grip with his crampons so often. Later we concluded it was the altitude that caused him to suffer in his technique.

Rodney advised us we were now in the last 250 feet of the summit. It was a steep pitch now, like climbing straight up a wall. I couldn't see the top, and had no sense of where we were. There was no way I could have navigated to this point. I remember passing a fissure that was spewing hot gasses, and the strong smell of sulfur from the "Devils Kitchen".

Everything was surrealistic now. For the first time ever, I could hear the frustration in Daves voice. I knew he wasn't bonked. He was frusrated. We were so vertical, and plowing through some pretty deep snow. Again, Dave seemed frustrated, and looked out of control in his technique. Then the reality hit me, that we may have to turn around. The selfish part of me didn't want to give up. I knew if we turned around now, Dave would feel bad about this forever, he didn't want to let me down.

Rodney then said "Look. I can see the summit." I looked up, I could see nothing but a white wall of snow and ice. I too was starting to slip. Dave kept slipping back into me. Then Rodney held up his axe and said "look, hold your axe with both hands, and plunge it into the snow as hard as you can, then pull yourself up." I tried it. It worked. It took some of the weight off of your boot and now the boot was slipping out less often. Six inches at a time, I was moving.

"Look up" we're only a hundred feet away now" Rodney blurted. We were fighting for each inch now. Remember, everytime we slid backwards, Rodney felt the full brunt of our 200 pounds each. "Dave are you going to be a climber who has to remember he made it within 100 feet of the summit," Rodneys words stung.

For the first time, I saw resignation in Rodneys eyes. Dave was now face down in the snow. We were about 150 from the edge. I couldn't give up. I watched Dave, and saw what was happening. 1. He wasn't using his axe to pull up. 2. He was leaning back on his heel, and his crampon was breaking out of the snow, and he kept slipping. I had an idea, I knew Dave I had trained with him, and it wasn't a matter of strength. It was frustration. I told Tim we could do this. He agreed, I could tell by the look in his eyes. I shouted to Rodney " We can do this." ," Let me kick steps for Dave, and help him quit slipping." I could see in Rodneys, eyes' he would let us try this, He motioned foe me to move over and around Dave. He had me belay in off my axe, unclipped me, and moved me to a knot on the rope just above Dave. He clipped me back into the rope, from my secure perch on my axe, and told me to move in front of Dave.

In a move I wasn't expecting, Tim then started pushing in the pick of his axe under Daves boot everytime Dave would gain an few inches to keep him from sliding back. It took Dave a few minutes to realize we were gaining elevation. Finally, I saw him look up, and there was hope in his eyes. We were moving again. Now we were truly about 100 feet from the top edge, so we started calling out "only 50 more feet!". I kept the rope between Dave and I as tight as a guitar string, and kept reaching out as far as I could stretch, and drive my axe in, holding and pulling myself as much as I could. Between Tim and I, we wouldn't let Dave move back even one inch if we could help it.

Finally, Dave started to respond and use his axe to pull himself up, and he was moving. After 15 requests, he moved his axe from his right hand to his left, and was gaining 3, 4, then six inches with each surge. By now the look of defeat was fading, and he was struggling for altitude. He would either reach the top, or pull the top down to him.

The last thing I remember Rodney saying was "Gentlemen, we're going to get ourselves a summit!"

There we sat. We got the obligatory photo, sitting down. The fog was so thick, you couldn't see over 20 yards. The only indication that we were on the summit was that there was nothing you could see that was higher. Rodney had us sit, and eat to rebuild our energy. I was too embarassed to admit I had no water, as my camelback tube was still frozen. I was feeling dehydrated. Now I wish I had brought along that extra water bottle.
We were on the summit, but there was still to be two big surprises for me.

On the Hood summit: whiteout, no view.

1. It was a hellish struggle to climb back down, my knees were weak and rubber-like. It was much steeper going down than I had imagined.

2. As we were downclimbing, a climber in an unguided party lost his footing, and slid several hundred feet, just missing us, and we assumed we were about to witness a man fall to his death. He seemed to have given up, and wasn't trying to self-arrest. We were surprised a few minutes later to see him on his feet, climbing back up out of the steep ravine he had fallen into.

After reaching the bottom, I was spent. After it was over, I was a little overwhelmed. I was happy, exhillerated even, but, for some reason, I just stood there for a minute and wept.

We drove down to Oceanside, Oregon, and stayed a couple of days in a little hotel on the beach. Life is good.

The beach at Oceanside, Oregon

BTW, I highly recommend Timberline Guides, and, ask for Rodney. He has an amazing knowledge of the mountain, and of snow in general.

Dual Sporting in West Texas

2010-05-20T02:20:00.000-05:00

Just so I don't appear to be a single faceted adventurer, here are a few photos of my trip in May, 2010 to West Texas. My nephew (will he ever learn?) Eric agreed to go along with me.

We hauled the bikes from Houston in the F150, and stayed in Ft. Davis. The weather was perfect!

The WR250R was right at home!

Ft. Davis was a good base, but we learned the better dirt roads were down past Marfa. These photos were taken along Pinto Canyon Rd.

We took turns riding the bikes, and they both handled quite differently. The KLR was solid, steady and the smoother ride of the two. It was also more stable in the turns and over bumps. The WR, although less than half the displacement, was lighter and quicker. It handled like a speed-induced jack rabbit, on fire! It drifted a little on the turns, tended to lift off when pushed over bumps, and was all over the place. It was a hoot. They were both fun to ride, I can't say I have a favorite.

This is a beautiful, winding road. Lots of elevation gains, and drops.

There are lots of surprises around each corner! No harm done here, a typical little off-road hiccup!

The only mechanical problem was a flat front tire on the KLR, which Eric had to ride for a bit...

Lots of nice rocks to climb, too bad many are on private property! It was a little to hot to do much climbing on this trip. We took a little siesta near here in the shade of a rock. It must have been 20 degrees cooler in the shade!

Minnesota Highpoint

2009-10-17T23:02:00.100-05:00

I talked my pal Dave into joining me for a northwestern dash. The plan was to fly up to St. Paul, rent a car, and knock out the Minnesota hightpoint. We would then drive over to Thunder Bay, Canada, and chill out with some dinner and a few brewskis and spend the night there.

The next day we would dash down to Michigan, and catch that Highpoint, which is a quick walk, drive down to the Wisconsin Highpoint, Timms Hill, catch that one, and head back to the Hotel in St. Paul, next door to the Mall of America. As usual, Dave would be the designated driver.

Minnesota was beautiful, the leaves were turning. It reminds me quite a bit of Maine, very
uncrowded, and the people very friendly. The photo above shows the shoreline of Lake
Superior, going towards Canada. 10% of the world fresh water is contained in this lake,
and it's the worlds largest lake, by surface area. It contains islands, that have their own lakes,
which also contain islands.

Another lake view below:

Here you can see that a fresh, light powdering of snow had fallen. The footbridge was
quite slippery, but we managed to get across without any major "slippage".

About a third of the trail is soft and easy walking, with the balance being strewn with
small to medium sized rocks. Below is a sample of the easy going part-

Less than half way to the summit you'll come to this scenic lake. It's crystal clear, but it was a little too chilly for a dip this time!

There is a nice view of the area forests and lakes from the summit, as the treeline thins out.
Don't expect to get above the treeline! There is a nice monument at the peak, and lots
of chipmunks looking for handouts.

See you at the next summit!

Click here to view my Eagle Mtn photo album

Mt. Washington H.P.

2009-08-16T16:40:00.002-05:00

The final hiking day of our 4 summit New England trip. Note: we are still stiff from Marcy, and can barely extricate ourselves from the car to go into a restaraunt for a meal! We decide to drive up part way, and find a nice little 4 mile hike from a side parking area.

This required a half mile descent, in loose rock, but turned out to be very much worthwhile.

Dave leading the descent. There was about half a mile of these large

loose rocks. Tough work for sore legs!

Someone had placed these nice rock cairns every 100 feet or so.

Note the clouds blowing up and over the ridgeline.

You can see the trail cutting across the center of the meadow.

It was like a scene out of a Lord of the Rings movie! I expected a

Hobbit to jump out at any moment.

This was about 1.5 miles of easy walking! A very nice part of

Mt. Washington, most of which is rocky, steep and harsh.

This stream appears to just drop off to infinity.

The shot above and the next few are different views of Tuckerman

Ravine. Reminds me of photos from Ireland.

Another Tuckerman view.

Here's a nice shot right down the ravine. This is one of the more popular

summit trails. Will have to come back and do this one again.

We encountered a group of hikers coming up here.

We played "leapfrog" with them up the final haul, which is a

steep, rocky scramble. Quite a workout! Dave had cut up through an

even more difficult route, just before this one, that I missed.

This is Kim, a motorcycling\adventuring pal, also from Houston.

She was up visiting friends in Vermont, and joined us for some hiking.

And finally, another peak bagged. We just walked down the road

to the rental car, after a break and a snack in the gift store.

Glad we didn't just drive up!

Mt. Mansfield, VT Highpoint

2009-08-15T11:00:00.040-05:00

One day after topping Mt. Marcy, the NY highpoint, we pressed forward to Mt. Mansfield. The drive there was perfect. We ferried across Lake Champlain at Burlington, enjoyed a great dinner of local fish on the shore, got a well earned nights rest and set out from there to Mt. Mansfield.

Everything was sunny and bright until right at the highpoint. Even the parking lot was sunny, yet, only 2 miles away, a dark cloud loomed over the highpoint. It was a little chilly, even in August, and the wind was whipping around in gusts. There were a few families on the trail, but the conditions weren't the best.
Had we not been wanting to make this a 4 highpoint trip, I would have come back on another day!

From the parking lot - not the summit, but a nice view from the outhouse.

Clouds moving in, note mountains in background.

There was about a mile of rock scrambling, it was wet, and the wind was

gusting up to 40 mph. Would have been easy on a dry day.

This nice vista was off to the left, about half way along the trail.

Now you can see the peak disappearing into the cloud.

Did I mention we also had a few loud thunderclaps about now?

Thunder makes me nervous at altitude. Probably not too

smart to continue. What really amazed me was parents

with small children continuing in these conditions, with just

jeans and Tshirs. We had rain gear in my pack.

As we got up into the cloud, the rain and wind increased.

It became difficult to see, and to walk.

Watch the video link below:

Click here to see how bad the wind can be on Mansfield!

You can see the two white blazes on the rock. At this point we

find ourselves straining for the next blaze. Dave starts

to disappear, but he's only about 50 feet ahead.

I'm sure this would have looked even nicer in the sun!

And finally, a summit pic! Note, rain gear is now on!

My pal Dave, now the summiting beast-

New England H.P.'s Mass & NY

2009-08-14T18:52:00.048-05:00

This trip is day one of a three day - four highpoint jaunt.

Since the Mt. Greylock Mass highpoint is a driveup, and didn't involve an actual hike, I'll focus on Mt. Marcy New York in this posting.

We were able to catch a breakfast, do Mt.Greylock, drive to Mt. Marcy, and hike up a few miles, just above the lake and make camp. In fact, it seems most people camp near the lake, however, I suggest you push forward, and just after the next major creek crossing there is a nice site on a hillside to your right where you can hear the stream all night! Lots of trees to set your hammock in as well.

This is a view from the dam towards the mountain. Just over three miles from trailhead.

The beginning of the trail is fairly smooth and easygoing for the most part. A few footbridges save you from slogging thorough the mud and muck. Hats of to the trail maintenance folks here!

On your way down you'll be happy to return to the couple of miles of soft dirt-padded trails. This stuff is like carpet compared to the rocky obstacles you'll encounter on the topside.

There's just enough rock hopping on the ascent to keep it interesting. I will mention we weren't plagued by all the flies and bugs I've seen referenced in other trip reports. Considering it was mid-August, it was also pleasantly cool as well!

Lots of nice views and vista's the higher you get. Everything was very lush and green.

This is my pal Dave on the left. As I mentioned, we camped about a mile up the trail in hammocks. It was a perfect nights sleep. There is a deep pool to soak in nearby, with icy cold clear water. Of course you could do this 14 mile round trip in one day, but a day and a half made it much more enjoyable, with time to poke around and check out the scenery.

This is the view from the summit. There were a few folks at the top, lots of families and small groups.

And finally, a shot of the summit marker. All in all, I think this hike is very under rated in the Highpointing guides and trip reports. The surrounding area is pleasant for driving. In fact, we took a ferry across to Burlington Vt. the next day which was an adventure in itself. Only a couple of hours drive to Mt. Mansfield and another highpoint!

Chattooga River 2009

2009-07-08T22:56:00.001-05:00

The Chatooga river forms the border between South Carolina and Georgia.
It's a beautiful, natural, protected river. You won't see any houses or
development on this part of the river.

Above, we're disappearing momentarily in a hole. Our guide, Katie, did a fine job getting us through here.

You can dive down into the hole in this rock, and swim through a
short underwater cave. There is a small room underneath the spillway
where you can stand and catch your breath. From there you can
dive out into the current, and get swept over to the bank. Leaving your
life vest on is a requirement!

This waterfall flows into the river from the left as you travel downstream, and it's a great photo-op and lunch break spot.

Here's a view of Katie doing her thing through another tight spot. This one was story book perfect!

Hmmm, this is not looking good!

Here we are making a "wet exit". Only Kris and Katie (the guide, not the fiance) were able to stay in the boat!

Time to fish out the survivors!

At a couple of stops along the route, the opportunity to leap into the rapids was given - here Kris,

Followed by Megan...

Justin.......

and Katie!

This was a great trip, a good way to spend a couple of days in the summer!

Mt. Katahdyn - Sept 2008

2008-09-25T23:19:00.003-05:00

A great climb to end the 2008 "season". This turned out to be much more difficult than I expected. After leaving Houston, Hurricane Ike, and over two weeks with no electricity behind, Hurricane Kyle loomed in the Atlantic, threatening to hit the Maine coast just as we were heading up to set up camp.

The fall colors were in full force, as we drove up from Bangor in the rental car. The last several miles of road in Baxter State Park are gravel, but are well maintained. We encountered several A.T. thru hikers. Including those in the photo here. From the sign in log, it appears that only about half the hikers that started the hike made it to the summit. Perhaps even less than half. Some of the thru hikers decided the weather was too rough near the top, and decided to come back on a better day for the final A.T. summit.

There are two campsites that have the picnic shelters as seen in the group photo. we tied up our hammocks in the rafters and rode out the rains from Kyle the nite before. It was a windy, noisy night. A couple of hikers came by to check our out Hennesse Hammocks, as we hung like bats from the rafters in relative comfort.

We made it up to about two miles from the summit, before deciding the cold wind and blowing rain wouldn't make for a nice day. On the way down I started planning on rescheduling my flight and coming back in two days for another attempt. After running some of the thru hikers to town, and dropping David off at the airport, I spent a night in Bangor hanging out with my son, who drove up from college. (WPI)

We located a "dive" bar, next to the bus station downtown. Chatted with lots of folks, and, unlike Texas, most everyone knew thier state hightpoint and had climbed it 2-3 times. Thats Kris clowning around in the fountain. Yes, we had in fact enjoyed a couple of beers already!

I have to mention this restaraunt, which is just a couple of towns away from Baxter State Park. The food was excellent. I had the spaghetti one night and a fish dinner the other. It's called the Aerie, and it's on the left hand side of the road, in East Millinocket.

After an uneventful nite, I headed back up again, this time, with no rain to deal with. I was the first one on the trail that morning. I even caught a gap in the clouds for almost an hour, and got a few photos between the clouds.

This is a bridge just past the one mile point.

This lovely waterfall is a nice place to stop for a sandwich and a short rest.

The last two miles consists of a fairly difficult to navigate boulder field. Even more difficult in the rain, as the trail becomes a rocky stream. Finally things get easier the final half mile as it levels of into a nice rocky field, with an easy path.

Although it's not as high as some of the western U.S. highpoints, and it's not a particularly long hike, this one will probably catch you by surprise the first time you hike it!

I had the honor of meeting this Retired Marine Colonel, who goes by "Yoda"! It was an honor to chat trailside with such an experienced hiker & soldier. Like the other Yoda, he was full of wisdom, inspiration, and advice on hiking and life!

At the summit, there were a few thru hikers that had camped at the summit. They were kind enough to snap a photo for me....

Angels Landing, Utah

2008-09-05T00:38:00.010-05:00

This place is amazing. A great getaway dayhike. The next time you're in Vegas, drive up to Zion National Park in Utah. It's less than 3 hours! Spend two days here, and one in Vegas. Above is one of two extreme switchbacks. Very picturesque, no? This is a nice view of the "Landing" from the approach trail below. Spring and fall are probably a better time to do this hike. This was early in September, and the weather was almost perfect! This section, the first steep section, has a nice overhang to provide shade. Plan on stopping a couple of times to catch your breath. The overhang offers a nice refuge from the sun as your heart rate increases.... Also note how the trail pavement is grooved, providing great traction. Just past the overhang section, the trail cuts back into a nice canyon. It also transitions into another switchback section, and you begin the climb up to the gap. You pass through a nice, lightly forrested section in the canyon, catch your breath here. It quickly becomes another steep switchback! When you reach this gap, the real views begin! There are lots of chains placed along the way here for handholds. Otherwise, this would be a somewhat technical climb. There are places where it drops off quickly on both sides. The next few photos need no caption! I would certainly recommend some lightweight leather gloves. Just a cheap pair of work gloves will do fine. It's helpfull for running you hand along the chains and grabbing the rocks as well! Below are my first attempts at adding video to my blog. We'll see how it works out!

Here's a second video spot:

And, in closing, a few shots from the top!

Grandma

2008-08-21T17:35:00.001-05:00

Margarita Gonzales, born April, 1915, died today.

She was my son's grandma, and is missed and was loved by many.

Grandma prayed more than any person I've ever personally known. I feel that I owe a lot of my success in life to Grandma - not only that, I'm not sure if I'd even be alive without all the prayers she sent up for me.

I can't write well enough to do her justice in my little blog. I'm so honored that the family let me be a palbearer today. It was truly an honor, and a priveledge.

Grandma, I know you're up in heaven, looking down on us, and praying for us still. I don't really see how I ever deserved to recieve so much kindness from you.

However, I thank you for everything.

Love, Rick

Rhode Island Highpoint

2008-08-17T09:26:00.001-05:00

Most of my Highpoint trips begin with a trip to the airport; a flight to a city near the highpoint, a rental car (which sometimes gets thrashed a little) an overnite in a nearby hotel, or, camping near the trailhead.

This one was different - it began with a 2,000 mile motorcycle ride. I love taking long trips by motorcycle. This one had additional points of interest: Kris (my son) was moving to Worcester, Ma to work on his PHD. A good thing, from a parents point of view! Throw in 4 possible high point opportunities, and, well, sounds like a mini-adventure to me!

Left to right: scooter, Pig, Rick, Kris.

Kris wanted to take his car and motorcycle, so I jumped on board when asked to accompany him on the move. He was kind enough to let his old dad do all the motorcycling. I'm not to keen on long car trips, so he did all the boring, sleep inducing car driving.

The drive through Virgina, W.Va, NY State, & Pa. were incredible. I took off from work early on Wed, and we arrived in Worchester on Saturday. Since it had been a hot August in Houston, I was expecting to be a little miserable with the heat. Not so. From Tennessee to Mass. it was cool, even chilly at times. Life is good.

Due to poor planning on my part, I missed one H.P. opportunity in New Jersey. About an hour after we passed nearby the Jersey H.P. on the freeway, I noticed it on the map. We weren't going to add 2 more hours to the 2000 mile drive, so, after some confusion, and backtracking, we continued to his new apartment.

Drive to the highpoint, viewed thru windshield.

The next morning we set out (in his car) to "bag" the Highpoint, which is a "drive up".

Going by the Highpoint Adventures suggestion, we were taking photos along the highway near the radio tower. Then we noticed a young lady pull up on a scooter (along with a stuffed pig) and snap a few photos nearby. It turns out she was a member of the "Something Awful" web-group, and was participating in a motorcycle rally as part a group function. They're transporting the Pig you see in the photo across the country and photographing it at different location. A well traveled Pig, for sure.

I'd have to say this was the easiest highpoint ever, as some driveups have been much more difficult to locate.

Eva

2008-03-28T22:39:00.004-05:00

Eva got her wings today.

My sister-in-law Eva, left this world today. She was sixty nine.

I only knew Eva for about half of her life. She was nice, soft spoken, god-fearing, faith filled and a strong family woman.

Her only child, her daughter Elaine survives her.

I often have felt over the years that she never really got a fair shake in life. By that, I mean it seems like she had to endure a lot of pain and that life didn't give her many breaks. I often felt like she was often made fun of more than she should be and not taken seriously enough. That people didn't think she had much to offer, or that her opinion wasn't truly valued. I never really understood why.

Eva had a big heart. A huge heart. I sensed she was in awe of god's creations, in awe of technology, and of people in general. She respected all, and seemed a little short on confidence.

Besides her father and brother who loved her dearly, I never really saw that there was a man there for her to love her and hold her up. This is all just an observation, on my part.

She was a woman of strength. She was a worker. She labored hard for her employeer, and, indeed, it also bothered me that her employeer didn't appreciate her enough and that her efforts weren't so well compensated for.

Eva's strength came from God, and from her family. She did smile a lot, and she smiled the most when I saw her at simple family gatherings for birthdays, holidays and celebrations. She was often happy when she was at church. She loved church. Like her mother and father, she truly loved God, and her family.

My peace comes from this: I've seen many strong women in my life, who found a way to survive on this earth, without a lot of help from an earthly man. She provided for herself and for her child, and gave to her church as much as she could, much more so than most.

Eva, I'm sorry I didn't do more for you. You showed me so much love and admiration, and treated me so kindly. And now as you have been lifted up into heaven, into your position of honor in Gods Choir, I feel I understand you so much more. In my minds eye, I can see you so clearly there beside the throne, beaming and smiling like a student at graduation.

You kept your treasures in your heart, and in heaven. Your deposits weren't made at the bank, but with the heavenly father. Now he's lifted away your prison, your tired body. You are soaring in a very high place, with beautiful robes, and with a bright, bright light.

I thank you for accepting me with my flaws and allowing me to be part of your earthly and your spiritual family.

(note, for those who don't know Eva, she was my ex-wifes sister)

Toys for Tots MMRC Run

2007-12-08T23:31:00.000-06:00

A small part of the starting field for the ride shown above.

(L to R) Deanna, Rhonda, Rick, Kris, Jermaine, Melonie, John.
We did the local Toys for Tots run, second year for the club, first year for me.
We met up at Starbucks, and rode down to Walter Park to the start point. The bikes were still rolling in steadily a half hour after the official start time. There were four parking lots full of bikes!

This fellow with the cool mask was one of a few thousand others we rolled with to the Pasadena Fairgrounds.....

Here we are gathered at the end. The weather was good, even a little hot for a December ride. Probably around 75 degrees. The police support was great, they shut down all Northbound lanes of I-45 for us!

The food choices were somewhat lacking at the end, so we retired to a country restaraunt in Deer Park for eats afterward. There we were treated to a chance to check out "Mike the Bike", June's trike, which started life as a 750 Honda Shadow.
In all we ended up with four members and five guests at the ride, to finish off the 2007 club rides.

Boundry Peak, Nevada

2007-10-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here's my trip report for the Boundry Peak climb. I figured the first week in October would be a good time to beat the heat and attempt this peak. That was ONE of my mistakes that day. We drove over from Vegas, and dropped by the trailhead for a view of the next mornings climb.

This view is from about 45 miles out. I couldn't tell from here if it was blowing snow, clouds, or fog at the top.

As we got closer, it got colder, and yes, it was blowing snow at the top. It was a hard cutting wind. About 28 degrees and 20MPH winds. I was dreading the next day.

This was Dee's first major climb. She really didn't know what to expect. Here we were enjoying a nice dinner the night before.

Here's Dee again, at the trailhead sign on summit morning. It started out pretty cold, just below 30 degrees. Luckily for us, the wind had died down. I was so relieved. I couldn't imagine her having to fight that and the elevation gains. Sidenote: Go ahead and rent a four wheel drive for this one. The little economy car I rented bottomed out repeatedly!

The first mile or so is fairly level. It does offer multiple paths, many unmarked options, but the main trail is USUALLY easy to follow. A couple of short backtracks could be neccesary, however.

I recommend looking back often during this first mile. On your return, it will help you in getting back if you save a mental picture. It could be confusing. I kept remembering Diane Winger in the "Highpoint Adventures" book being lost here. I didn't want to relive that. Here's looking back from the picture taken above.

This tree is typical of an old forest on the left as you approach the obvious trail almost straight ahead. I read a trip report the night before that recommended trying this left side approach to avoid the steep approach in front. Don't do it.
I'll tell you why later.

Here's where I veered left. Sure, it is easier down here in the trees, but you can't really see above them. It gets much harder there, but you certainly don't want to go back down and start over.

Now I'm pondering my choice. Instead of climbing this increasingly steep, and loose rock terrain, we (I) decided to cut ACROSS the boulder strewn steep mountainside.
Warning: mountainside is much larger than it appears. Say, well over a mile. This added at least 3-4 hours to our day.

Here's Dee scrabling across the boulder field. They ranged from the size of a basketball to the size of a refridgerator. We fell often, and the going was slow.

Here I'm being cursed. By both Dee and myself.

Finally, a look up at the last leg. It's only a little over half a mile. It's now about 3:30. I want to summit, but I'm afraid of losing light and getting lost, so I give myself just under an hour. From here up I was too tired and rushed to take photos. It was very difficult scrambling.

At last, a view from the top:

And we went back down the way we should have gone up, although it was slick with snow, loose pea sized scree, and very steep. We fell some more. We even glissaded down on our bottoms at times. It was getting dark, as well. The last mile to the parking lot was difficult, but all my backwards looking at the beginning paid off.
Our trophies: two shredded pairs of ski pants....

We finally located the car. Only to get lost for another hour trying to drive back to the highway!

Thanks for going with me, Dee! I'm running out of people to highpoint with!
Hopefully in 2008 I can return to Mt. Hood, and perhaps tackle Utah...

Mt. Hood, Oregon Highpoint

2007-07-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

This was the next to last trip the Timberline guides offered this season. Because it was warm, just around freezing when we departed at 1AM. We left early in the AM as it's more difficult to move around on the mountain later in the day, the snow would become more slushy as it melted.

This would be the first snow accent for both myself and Eric, who went with me on the trip. We attended the one day class the day before on using the crampons and ice axe self arrest.

We were driven to the top of the ski lift area in a snow cat, which saved us a lot of plodding early on. The guides moved swiftly up the mountain, making new steps for us to follow in as they went. It wasn't until the last leg climbing up to the hogsback that we followed in the footprints of previous hikers.

It seemed like we reached the hogsback in no time at all. A few times I felt pushed, but kept pushing forward so as not to slow the others down.
Several times we heard massive rockfalls in the dark. It was somewhat unnerving as several Hood climbers had died this year. One of the regrets I had was that the guides really didn't give us any time to take photographs. We had just enough time to catch our breath and get a drink of water before moving again.

Then came the worst news: at just 700 feet below summit, our guide felt it was too dangerous and told us we'd have to turn back. It really didn't seem that bad to me, other than the rockslides we'd been hearing. I was totally disappointed to come so far without summiting. Even more so after hearing from others successful summits made the same day, by parties starting out later than we did.

The good news is you do get a discount for return attempts. Guess I'll be back next year!

View of Mt.Hood from the Washington side of the Columbia River.

Harney Peak, S.D.

2007-04-06T19:11:00.000-05:00

This may take a while. I loved this freaking mountain. I really wasn't expecting much. After climbing Whitney, I figured everything else would be anti climatic. Wrong. This is a special mountain. I quit counting the other hikers when I got to 120, yet, it didn't seem crowded. There were lots of folks with DOGS. It was a nice crowd, and I must say, around half the hikers were gals, not what you normally find when highpointing. Guys are ok, but, they're just, well, smelly.

First of all, note the diversity of the trail. The first mile and half or so has lots of nice soft trail like this.

There are two paths leading up from the main parking lot. Go up via trail #4, the trail that passes the "Little Devils Tower", and come back down trail #9. The two trails join together for the final climb.

Due to time constraints I didn't get to do the short side hike over to the Little Devils Tower, about half a mile, I think. All the more reason to go back.

As you gain altitude, the you encounter more rock. There is still plenty of soft footing, until you get past the halfway point.

Now here's a sampling of how the trail can get pretty rocky as you near the summit. You'll find a few sections like this, that make you appreciate the earlier soft stuff.

Aliens! Is it just me, or do these formations look like a group of friendly aliens that petrified in place? Ok, maybe not. I think all of the cool rock formations are what really adds to the magic of this mountain.

Giants! Tilt your head to the left, and squint, and these guys look kinda like giants. Or something. Well, they are big, and almost seem alive. There are so many rock formations, if you're a "rock guy" like me, you can't stop taking photos. I ran out of memory card space twice.

I love moss. There, I said it. Whenever I hike, I always end up with a couple of moss photos. Here's one of them. I also like big, lush, fern beds. Call me crazy.

What's a climb without a vista? Well, this hike has plenty of vistas, like this one. Now, I do have to give you a warning. If you take the #4 trail for your ascent, there is a pretty substantial drop, at what seems like should be the two and a half mile point. At one point, I thought I had gone the wrong way, and almost panicked.

Then, as soon as it finally bottoms out, look up at the peak on the horizon, and you can see the tower on top of the peak. Only, it looks like it's still three miles away. Don't you hate it when that happens? Shortly afterward, you join up with trail #9 and begin the final ascent.

Soon you'll come to a sign letting you know you can't take your horse any further, and there you can tie it up. Then, you'll see some cliffs, go through a small tunnel and climb some metal stairs. Now it's getting real exciting. You feel as if you're about to discover something.... the Stairway to Heaven!

Just around this bend lies the tower.

Here you'll find the coolest tower of any highpoint. This thing is just awesome. Multiple rooms, doors, stairs and platforms. Lots of photo-ops. Some nice fellow from Wisconsin even gave me an ice cold beer! Talk about trail magic. That was one of the best beers I've ever had the pleasure to drink.

Here's how it looks if you kinda hang out of the top observation tower window and take a photo! Vertigo anyone? (click on this one and enlarge it)

This happy hiker is taking a break on the way back down the tower\stairs\cave section. See the contentment, and awe?

At the end of the day, this is why we climb the mountain.

Parting shot: Fly into Denver, rent a car, go to Cheyenne, Montanta and spend the night in the Plains Hotel downtown. Go on a Friday night, and go to the country bar behind the hotel, and have a beer. Or two.

You can easily hit the highpoint in Nebraska, and head up to Custer. Take the long way, through the back roads.
If you have time, do Mount Rushmore too, while you're in the area. You can easily spend a week in this area, and not get bored.

Mt. Whitney, CA

2006-07-27T22:43:00.000-05:00

If you only do one peak in your life, do this one. (Have I said that before? If so, this overrides the previous statement.) 360 degrees of surround beauty from the trailhead to the top. It actually starts with this veiw from the parking area!

Somehow I again managed to coax my newphew, Eric (from October 2005 Arizona trip report) to join me! We flew into Vegas, rented a car, and drove straight to Lone Pine Ca and spent the night before in a nice bed. (The elevation is only 3000' or so, but it didn't seem to cause much of a problem). This photo was in Death Valley, which you'll pass thru if you come in from Vegas. Isn't it wonderful, the lowest point the lower 48 states so close to the highest!

You'll be rewarded with many lovely waterfall views, they pop up everywhere along the way. This is the first one. You get to enjoy it from a several different viewpoints. Along the route there are MANY water crossings. I came across a study that stated most of the water had been tested and was drinkable non-filtered. I know many purists (or are they really purists?) will have a hard time with this, but we decided to go for at and drank straight from the stream at almost every crossing. We had no ill effects from this.

This is the first water crossing. Watch your step!

Followed by this series of hewn logs, which is much longer than it looks. The diversity along this hike is much more than most. Every corner offers a surprise...

You've probably already read that you have to enter a lotto
to get a permit. Not to worry, perhaps we were just lucky, but we got a permit our first try, and on one of our preferred weekends. (You get to list several alternate date \ ranges.

Bring plenty of film (or memory stick space) as you'll find many breathtaking views, such as Lone Pine Lake, to fill your scrapbook when you get home.

This is a great spot to stop for a breather. In fact, if you just hiked to this spot, had lunch, and turned around and went back, this would still be a wonderful hike.

However, you're only about a third of the way to the top, so there are a lot more vistas to awe you.

This meadow lies just past Lone Pine Lake, I wish we had had more time here, but we wanted to get to a spot another mile or so, just past the treeline for our camp. The water here is plentiful, no need to carry a lot.

After climbing out of the meadow, there is a great spot to camp, away from the group camps, and just shy of halfway to the top. There are some level bivy spots on each side of the trail, within a short walk of a great trailside water stop.

We started out at about 4:30 am, with enough moonlight to render our headlamps useless. We switched them off shortly after passing up our first snowbank.

The snowbanks kept getting more and more interesting. Keep in mind, this is mid-summer.

As the melting snow rushed under this lump of snow forming a fairly loud waterfall, I could just see it crumbling beneath us. Fortunately, it didn't.

I did, however, walk very SOFTLY.....

The sun was still just barely peeking over the horizon behind us.

And the morning climb gave away to a short, flat section, which offered up my first alpenglow views!

Whenever I see shots like this, I wonder if they were tweaked. Well, they don't have to be. It's very surrealistic.

Between the lack of oxygen, and the surroundings, you get somewhat of a natural high here.

Once sunrise is over, the fancy colors fade, and everything

returns to it's original grey and and white chalk.

Its fun while it lasts, though.

The easy part is about to end, and the real climbing is about to begin.

This nice yet rugged snowfield lies just off to the left of the trail, just before the switchbacks begin.

It looked hard and choppy, yet, almost skiable.

I was about a half mile long, I'd estimate.

This section of cables and poles looks more difficult than it really is. Here I'm gaining on a couple of other climbers. Overall, everyone was pretty spread out, considering the number of people per day who summit. The experience is still very personal.

A look down from the cables, back towards Trail Camp. Be sure to fill up the water bottles at the bottom of the switchbacks. No more easy water from there up.

This was clearly the most difficult snowbank to navigate. After this, it was just a long, rocky climb. This is about the 2/3 rds of the way point.

The views get better and better, yet, we were becoming very tired. Lack of oxygen becomes more apparent.

Victory at last! Rick and Eric at the Summit of Mt. Whitney! We headed back down, and became re-energized when we got about half way down the swichbacks. We had planned to camp again, but decided on a one hour nap back at camp. From there we hiked on out to the trailhead.

Black Mesa, Oklahoma

2006-05-29T17:28:00.000-05:00

Black Mesa got it's name from the color of the lava rock found on top.

This is an easy hike, but long enough to tire you out, at 8.5 miles round trip. The climb is very short. Most of your time is spent on the flat land around the bottom, it's a little over 2 miles before you actually reach the inclined trail.

There was no cell phone service here in May of 2006. There is a payphone across from the mercantile, and a phone inside the mercantile that you can use during business hours.

A good place to stay, the nite before your climb, would be the Kenton Kabins, located in Kenton, Ok. Small, and somewhat sparse, but CLOSE to the trail head - maybe a 10 minute drive.

Don't expect much as far as snacks, trail food, or any breakfast at the mercantile next door. Bring your dinner, breakfast and trail food with you, and maybe a bottle of wine to enjoy. Get the larger cabin if you want to sit on the porch at nite.

http://www.geocities.com/kenton_merc/Kabins.html

This is how the approach looks. You'll pass several high areas on your left, and wonder why the heck you aren't climbing up yet.

On the day I climbed, it was 82 degrees when I started at around 9:30 am, and got up to 102 on the top in just a couple of hours! The humidity was low, around six percent, so even above 95 degrees was comfortable as there was a breeze.

When you get to this point, the trail cuts to the left, and you begin to see the switch backs that take you to the top. Not very steep for the most part, and not a very long climb.

Just before you reach the top, the trail looks like this......

And if you turn and look directly behind you.......

It looks like this! This area looks pretty much the same for miles in every direction. Vast. Flat. With mesas popping up all over.

Today, May 20th, was "Cops on Top" day, commemorating fallen heros. Summit attempts were made on most US highpoints. At the time of this post, I'm not sure if everyone was successful. From the info on their website (see below), it looks like a few peaks were unatainable. Regardless, it was nice to be there as the Oklahoma team, from Edmond, made the trek to represent the Edmond P.D. It was nice meeting this group, including Bryan Weathers. It certainly made the trip more interesting!
http://www.copsontop.com/climblog/CategoryView.aspx?category=2006

(Note) Bryan was probably the only highpointer in the country who changed a "poopy diaper" while at the highpoint! That was quite a trip for his little guy - who was probably the youngest highpointer of the day.

And at the end of the day, expect a spectacular sunset!

Sunflower Mountain* Kansas

2006-05-28T16:57:00.000-05:00

The most striking part of visiting this highpoint isn't the highpoint itself, but the trip to get to it.

I drove up from Black Mesa, Oklahoma, after doing that highpoint the day before. I highly recommend driving up through western Kansas to see this point. It is so VAST, it can't be captured in photos. Mile after mile of crops, animals and snakes along the roadside, an very few buildings or people. It's quite incredible if you've never seen it.

The guest register is in this mailbox. It's filled with the usual mix of profound writing of finding one's inner self, along with a few not-so-profound entries.
It's always fun to read a few pages. The log showed four visitors on this day, on a weekend no less. I guess more people are drawn to the highpoints that involve a nice hike.

The garden sculpture is the only thing to see for miles, other than emptiness. This is a good place to just sit quietly and reflect on life. The endless open expanse makes one feel somewhat insignificant and small.

You can see the curvature of the earth on the horizon. This road leaving the parking lot is a contrast to your average traffic jam!

2006 Planned Climbs

2006-04-07T20:59:00.000-05:00

I've still got to post a couple of trip reports, but right now all I can think about are this years climbs: Mt. Whitney in July, Mt. Katahdin in June, and hopefully Black Mesa and Sunflower Mt. in May. I need to come up with at least one more to add this year as well.

Heres a cool link to a Highpoint Checklist you can use for updating!

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/1516/compare/ricksteven

Grand Canyon

2005-10-14T23:41:00.000-05:00

So, the same day Eric and I climbed Humphrey in Az, we drove over to the Canyon that afternoon. We were tired, but we did manage to poke around some at the rim before retiring to the hotel.

We hadn't done any research, so we just played it by ear. We were both awed by it, and were pretty much just walking around with our mouths hanging open for a while. Here Eric looks like he's ready to try to fly. Don't worry, he didn't really try.

This is a shot of Horseshoe Mesa, from the rim. It looks far away. It is. We only had about 5 hours of daylight left, and toyed with hiking to the bottom, and back.
We would have spent the night and cowboy camped, but we had to get back to Phoenix the next day, early in the afternoon, so an overnighter wasn't in the cards. The mesa is just right of center in the photo above.

We made it to the mesa, but after exploring the area, which was an old mining site, we didn't have time to descend the last 1000 feet to the bottom of the canyon.

This is an old mining house on the mesa. We had lunch and rested here for a while, as we contemplated what it must have been like to live and work down here.

Other than not having a roof, the structure is pretty much intact. In the background you can see the mesa, which is closer than it looks.

This is one of three or four open mine shafts. This one is rather shallow, opening up horizontally into a ten by ten foot room. A perfect base camp, no need for a tent. Another shaft we found went straight down about thirty feet before veering off. Too bad we didn't bring rope!

Endless climbing and scrambling opportunities. We took a ton of photos. Yes, we'll be back. Soon.

This place is calling me to come back again. I'd love to spend at least four days down in the canyon.

Humphrey Peak, Az

2005-10-13T11:25:00.000-05:00

This view shows the cloud that dominated about half of the climb. It doesn't look like it's 12,633 from here, does it? The elevation here is about 8,500, so it just looks like another little "4k footer" from here.

Some good ol boy at the trail head told us it was only about a 4 hour round trip. (It's about nine miles) It took us about 7 1/2 hours.

We picked the last recommended week to climb, according to the guide books. Any later than mid October can mean running into snow.

The aspens were all a bright golden yellow. They were the dominant tree on this climb. It was slightly chilly, in the mid-thirties. Partly cloudy, with a big fat cloud seemingly stuck right on top of the mountain.

We started out just as the sun was rising, our initial trailhead photos were too dim to post.

The first mile or so is fairly mild and heavily wooded. There was trail maintenance and clearing going on the first half mile, lots of downed trees - huge trees. This view is just past all the carnage, and everything started looking great from this point on. The trail was soft and padded, just a few roots and rocks to dodge.

The treeline is pretty high here, and several hikers chose to go just up past the treeline, checkout the view, and turn back.

Note the trail getting steeper as we get into the thinner, smaller trees.....

Thats me, mid climb, as we approach the last stand of trees.

The photo below shows the trail markers when you hit the point where there's no discernible path..... note the single tree clinging on for life in the background.

Here's my nephew, Eric, from San Antonio, who joined me on this climb. One of my true joys in climbing is introducing newcomers to the hobby. Eric is a runner, so he had plenty of wind for the climb. He did quite well for a guy who lives at near sea-level. When I told him how tall Humphrey was, he was a little disappointed we weren't going to do a fourteener! This is plenty of mountain for a first climb, more than I'd recommend for most, if they weren't in pretty decent shape already.

Notice the "whiteout" in the background. The trail skirted the edge of the cloud, limiting visibility to the north only, with just a few feet visibility to the south.

This view here is one of many false peaks. There are at least 4 times when you think "I'm almost there!", and - you're not.

Then you look up to the next peak and your heart drops as it looks miles away.

If you look closely, in the center you can see two peaks ahead. There's actually a third peak slightly visible, and that's the top. When you're at this point, it appears daunting, but it's only another 10-15 minutes away.

This section was my favorite part of the climb. We've gotten right up into the cloud. On the left (south) visibility is pretty much zero. To the right, there was actually a view. It was very surrealistic, very much dreamlike, when combined with the effects of reduced oxygen, at about 12,000 feet, it was quite an experience. I love moments like this!

Here's a glimpse under the cloud cover. Usually grey clouds like this near the peak, with temperatures thirty or below, means there's going to be sleet or snow.........

Call me strange, but I think it's wonderful when you get a little snow at the peak on a climb! There were probably about forty people enjoying the summit, as the wind was unusually light. We ran into a boy scout troop, and I met a Kilimanjaro guide passing out business cards. (How great an idea was that! Go right to the potential clients, and, write off your trip as a business expense.) Met another guide for Mt. Rainier.

Oh, and I was taking off my shoes so I could undress and do and underwear shot on top! (Sorry, but I decided not to post them here. Didn't want to make Brad Pitt jealous....Email me privately for your copy) As it turned out, that was a bad influence for the Boy Scouts, as they took of their shirts to pose for some pictures of their own. I just love being a bad influence....

There is a nice windbreak to hide in for those times when the wind is howling. We didn't really need it today.

In closing, I'd like to share a couple of more photos. Don't you just love digital cameras? I was able to take about 125 shots, so it was hard to pick just a few.

here's one of Eric, a black and white, on the trail at the clouds edge. You'll recognize the similar shot above, less Eric. This was his last road trip before he got married!

He looks so serious, eh?

This was the most scenic vista, due to so much cloud coverage.

This is the area where all the downed trees were. There must have been 3 or 4 hundred of them, at least. Storm? Last years avalanche? I dunno.......

A look at some neighboring peaks in black & white.

Author, in black & white.

Looking down on the pass, perhaps a mile below the summit.

Eric and Rick, on the top!

Thank you for looking, and for visiting my Blog. If you've done this trip, or are planning to do it, please leave a comment. If you're a new visitor to the Blog, a little "howdy" note would be nice too. Just to know that more folks than my four friends who only look 'cause I bug them so much actually see this! Remember, climb often, be safe and have fun! Life is short!

Black Mtn, Kentucky - Ugliest Highpoint

2005-09-10T22:50:00.000-05:00

So, there are now a total of two trip reports on my blog with no photos! Did I forget my camera? Or perhaps it just malfunctioned? Lost in the woods?

None of the above. My hard drive crashed, and I had no backup of that file! When backing up my "Mountain Photos" folder, I spaced out when moving over "Black Mesa", and skipped "Black Mountain". I did it the same day I hiked Mt.Rodgers, Va.

What a contrast! Let me just say right now, that the Kentucky Highpoint was butt-ugly. There, I said it. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Kentucky, it's a beautiful state. I've hiked and had family gatherings up in the Cumberland Mountains. I even rented a houseboat up there for a week with my sister for vacation a few years back.

The highpoint, however, is the ugliest out of the 27 I've seen to date.

Now, if that changes, well, I'll be sure to post it here. I truly hope that doesn't happen. Because, friends and fellow highpointers, this was one ugly place.

The worst part, was the litter that was EVERYWHERE you looked. Mostly beer cans, fast food bags, soft drink cans, thrown everywhere. I can see it now. Four or five pickup trucks, a few coolers of beer. Listening to the Wildcats basketball game on Saturday nite. Chugging PBR, and yelling for the home team. (I know, Lexington is far away, but isn't the whole state filled with beer chugging fans?)

Add to that the mud puddle filled dirt road access, and all the radio and TV towers, and that spells, well, ugly.

Sorry if I offended anyone from Kentucky. Nothing personal, really. But crap, guys, if my state highpoint was such an eyesore, I'd get out there and clean it up myself.

So, no, I won't be going back to get photos of that one.

Which points would I do again? That's easy: (1) Harney Peak, S.D. it's beautiful, rugged, and yet it's not all that difficult. (2) Mt. Rodgers, Va. again, because it's not a difficult hike, and it's almost "enchanted". (3) For pure, raw beauty, Mt. Whitney, Ca. I'd love to go poke around there for a few days, with no pressure to summit, and take a ton of photos, relax and just chill out.

Happy climbing.

Mt. Rogers, Va

2005-09-10T21:09:00.000-05:00

Mt. Rogers, although not a very high peak, at 4,720 feet, is a very enjoyable day trip. It was surprisingly scenic, a trip I strongly recommend. It's close to several other peaks, Mt. Mitchell, N.C., and Black Mtn. Kentucky, and Clingmans Dome, Tn. You could easliy do all four in a three day weekend.

When you come to this sign, take a hard left. It's easy to assume you're just supposed to follow the jeep road you're on which veers left, and miss the narrow path that goes 90 degrees left. Doing so will still put you back on the trail, but it's somewhat confusing. This isn't the best marked trail I've ever been on, and I noticed several others also going the wrong way on my return trip.

The trail is almost level, and only climbs 1000 feet in four miles to the summit. As you cross this field, you'll see several dozen wild ponies scattered around in small groups of 2-3.

You'll get close enough to take as many photos of these guys as you want, as they don't really run away from people. Obviously they're used to hikers. Most of them look pretty fat, and you have to wonder if they've ever really run away from anything.

This footbridge crosses over the fence, and there's a campsite just past it. This is less than half a mile into the hike. On the other side of the fence a jeep road goes to the right. The trail goes straight. Of course, I missed this, and again, went the wrong way. Fortunately, the jeep trail ended up on the Appalachian Trail, so you can get back on track. My second wrong turn of three today.

The sky was beautiful today. Fields, waving grasses, a few scattered rocks, and rolling hills.

There were a couple of side trails, this one added about half a mile to the trip up, and it was well worth it. There was a lot of steep rock scrambing. It's marked by blue blazes, and it was quite fun and a good workout.

Look closely, and you can see the blue blaze in the center of this nice piece of rock. I worked up quite a sweat cutting through here! I had missed my brother in law, who was supposed to meet me for this climb. He camped out the night before. I figured by now we missed each other on the trail since I had gone off trail three times already. I did see his car in the parking lot, though....

Again, the blue blaze in on the center of the large boulder there. Much easier to go over the boulder than to try to trudge through the very gnarly brush on this leg. Going down the other side of this knob was also steep and fun!

The view from the top of the knob certainly was worth the scrambling to get there! Mt. Rogers, on the other hand, is so heavy with trees there really isn't a view, so enjoy this one on the way up!

After decending the knob, you're just a short trek away from joining up to the A.T. The trail from here on up to the summit is nice and sofly padded. An easy afternoon stroll. Just stay alert here as well, as it's easy to get off track here where several trails converge. Luckily I ran into a group of camping scouts who pointed out the correct route at an unmarked intersection.

The rooftop you see in the photo below is one of the A.T. shelters. A really nice one, compared to the overrun shelters in the Smokies I remember from many years ago. And who do I find resting here? My brother-in-law, Bob! It's always nice to run into a familiar face when you're a thousand miles away from home.

There's Dr. Bob, on the left, and his pal Dr. David on the right. Bob's pointing to the US Survey marker at the peak.

I should mention that just past the shelter, when you break off to do the final summit trail, the trees were so grown over, it got cool and "cave like" due to the thick overgrowth. It was even misty, and at least ten-fifteen degrees cooler! Other than that, the summit is uneventful.

That's Bob, with me on the right, for the obligatory summit photo.

Now which relative can I con into doing the next highpoint with me?

I have to say, Virgina and it's mountains are very beautiful. I had no idea it had so much open land. The roads are nice too, I look forward to coming back someday on a motorcycle. It's trips like this that make you look forward to the next one....

Mt. Mitchell, N.C.

2005-09-09T17:59:00.000-05:00

MARK

The Blue Ridge Parkway is not very far from where I grew up. Coming back here was a great experience. I had planned to meet my pal Tucker and we were going to ride motorcycles. When we found out he had to work, it was too late to get another travel pal - so I decided to keep my reservations, and visit Mt. Mitchell(NC), Mt. Rogers(VA), and Black Mt(KY)

As you can see, this is a popular site. There is a snack bar at the trailhead, however, if you're smart, you'll have stopped to eat at the restaurant near the park entrance. The rainbow trout was delicious, and the service was great. Keep in mind, the restaurant isn't open year round, so be sure to do this trip in the summertime!

This is a view of the trail. It is an extremely easy walk.

This is a view of the tower from below.

This one was taken from the base of the tower.

And of course, what is a highpoint trip without the obligatory pose at the top!
See you on the next mountain.

Mt. Driskill, Louisiana

2005-09-05T00:05:00.000-05:00

If you really want adventure, go try to find Driskill Mountain without first consulting a highpoint guide for directions! This is what we did, and it took a few hours to track it down. We were all around it, asking the locals for directions, and each one gave directions with confidence. Most were wrong. It also seemed like most were a little wary to even talk to us at first. Part of the crew even gave up and headed home before we finally located the trailhead.

Finally a guy on a tractor directed us to a church, saying that the trail began past a tower behind the church. From the tower to the gate that marks the beginning of the trailhead is about 2-300 yards. You could drive a truck as far as the gate, but most cars or large touring motorcycles wouldn’t bode well on the rutted dirt road.
Note that Craig was able to negotiate the road on his BMW motorcycle.

In this photo, Tucker and Craig are in front of the gate where the trail starts. If you look closely, you can see the “TRAIL” sign to the left of the trail, just to the right of the gatepost.
. A closeup of the trail follows.

At a fork in the trial another sign points the correct route to the right.
Although rated an “easy” trial, Driskill is actually more strenuous than say, Mt. Mitchell N.C. the hightest mountain East of the Mississippi, and over 10 times higher than Driskill, which is a mere “bump” at just over 500 feet. The difference is, you drive almost all the way up on Mitchell, whereas Driskill actually gets a little steep for about a quarter of a mile. See Craig and Tucker “struggling” up the hill……

Here's a shot of Tucker and I at the peak. There is a rock pile with a sign, a logbook, and a post with the elevation marked at 535 feet.

Also of interest is a handwritten monument stating: “Jack Longacre, FOUNDER, HIGHPOINTERS CLUB SCATTERED HIS ASHES ON DRISKILL MOUNTAIN, MAY 22, 2003”

It would be nice if we could put together a nice plaque for him on this peak to honor his contributions to highpointing …

Magazine Mountain, Arkansas

2005-09-02T05:17:00.000-05:00

The pics of this trip came out a little fuzzy. It was a hazy day, so the shutter on the camera stayed open too long.... The hike wasn't so memorable, but it was a great labor day motorcycle ride, with my wife and my friends. We ended up covering about 1,200 miles in three and a half days.

A veiw up the short trail. This is almost a drive up, but there is a short walk to the peak from the parking lot. Craig volunteered to stay back and watch over the bikes.

The view on the way up. This is a great road for motorcycling, although we were wishing the curvey part lasted longer!

The gang, from left to right: Johnny, Dee, me, Tucker, and Craig.

Johnny's Spiderman bike and Dee's VFR.

Tucker and I at the top.

Lone Star Trail (Double Lake and the ghost)

2005-08-21T14:24:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to knock out a motorcycle ride and hike in one morning. A good place to start a hike is at the Double Lake Recreation Area just outside of Cold Springs, TX. Just head out I-45 North, and once you pass Conroe start looking for the New Waverly Exit (Hwy 1375 East). In a few blocks you'll come to a junction and pick up 150 East towards Cold Springs. Follow the signs from there. The exit is closer to Houston than the more popular (and more crowded) Huntsville State Park; however, once you exit, it's still another 30 miles. The road is a nice rolling twisty one with little traffic.

So, if you're sitting around in the Houston, Texas area, and looking for a place to hike, here's one to consider: The Lone Star Trail! Located just an hour or so north of Houston, this is Texas' longest trail, at 130 miles. It goes from Richards, TX to Cleveland, TX. There are plenty of spots to access this trail, so you can hike as little or as much as you want. The trailhead mentions that you need to allow 30 minutes for every mile, (or 2MPH the average walk). Today I planned on going a little faster.

The inspiration for today's walk was a book by John Annerino, "Running Wild".
It's a book about coming back from a near amputation, trail running, with lots of historical, spiritual, Indian references. If you like outdoor adventure reading, it's a great read! Here's a link to the book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1560251751/qid=1124711966/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/002-7683515-7729669?v=glance&s=books

This is the swimming hole at Double Lake! If you do an out-and-back hike, bring your trunks and jump in to cool off when you're done. There are restrooms to change in. They also have a bike trail and campsites here. The entry for day-use is $5 per vehicle.

If you want more info on this trail, here's the official Trail Club Site. http://www.lshtclub.com/

I've been training for hikes for several months now, but for walking, not running. I figured I could run a few miles. After changing into my hiking boots and shorts, and noticing all the exposed roots, I decided to hike out till I found a good turn-around point, then attempt to jog all the way back.

The trail follows along beside "Big Creek", which is not much more than a trickle, as it begins just below the earth dam that creates Double Lake. I used to wade-fish Big Creek many years earlier, down around Shephard, TX. with my son. He caught his first "big mouth bass" there, with a rubber worm he rigged himself when he was about 4! It was a two pounder! I digress.

The trail is well covered and shaded in this area. Don't expect to see much sky. It's mostly flat, with only about a dozen or so bridges crossing gullies which go on to feed Big Creek. You don't really get much of a peek at Big Creek for about three miles.

This is a sign marking a campsite, about half a mile down the trail.

This is one of the larger footbridges. There are three large bridges which cross over gullies that are 8-10 feet deep. You wouldn't want to drink this water without purification.....

Here's a look at Big Creek, which is actually pretty clear. It gets it's brownish tint from tannin that leeches into it from all the pine needles it's filtered through. It's the typical East Texas stream.

So After 4 miles of walking east on the trail, you come to this marker. I decided to have lunch here, and then attempt to run back. It took an hour and a half to get here (3 MPH). My goal was to get back in an hour flat.

I have a lot more respect for trail runners now. I thought that it would be easier than street running, as the ground is softer. What happens is your legs are constantly adjusting for the different angles of terrain, and you work out muscles all around the knee that usually don't do much work. After a mile-and-a-half, I had to slow down to a fast walk. I should have brought more water.

After I regained my composure, I tried jogging uphill with small steps, then opening up my stride on downhills. I still ran out of breath after a half mile, and walked the next mile briskly. I didn't think I'd make it in an hour.... then a strange thing happened. I noticed another hiker on a bridge coming up. He was wearing a white cap and a white shirt, leaning on his hiking stick, only 20 yards ahead. I figured since I was jogging, I would have to continue to jog past him until out of sight, as not to appear like a lightweight.

Just as I should have been in front of him, I looked around, and - nothing. There was no hiker. No bridge. No kidding! I either just (a) saw a ghost, or (b) hallucinated. I decided to jog a little more.

I knew I was getting close, but it was only two minutes until my hour was up. I was sure I'd be about ten minutes late. Then, suddenly, with about ten seconds to spare, there was the lake in front of me. I'd made it!

If you ever decide to do this walk, watch out for snakes and ghosts. Email me if you happen to see the guy with the white cap.

Mt. Elbert, Colorado

2005-08-11T07:26:00.000-05:00

If you're planning on doing this trip, it will be a lot more fun if you train first! You could quickly tell with a glance at the faces going up who had trained and who hadn't. The trail is basically uphill 99% of the time. At times it's pretty steep, although no scrambling or bouldering is required.

Here's my pal Tucker pointing to the peak from Leadville, a few miles from the base town of Twin Lakes. You may want to rent a 4WD for the jeep road which leads to the trail head. We had a Dodge Durango 2WD which wasn't quite up to the task. This added another 3 miles or so to the round trip as we had to walk up the jeep road to the trailhead.

The jeep trail had a couple of deep ruts coming around this bend, and after seeing a 4WD almost flip, we decided to park and walk from here.

You'll have to drive through this creek, which is still about a mile out from the trailhead along the jeep trail. Another trip report described a Geo Metro which made it through the jeep road - that would have been fun to watch.

If you're walking, you can get around the creek by crossing these logs. They're wet from the spray, but at least there's a log to hold onto!

We are greeted by some Aspen shortly up the trail. Several nice campsites are set-up along the road before you get to the trailhead.

Finally, after a mile and a half of Jeep road, we arrive at the official starting point of the south Elbert Trail.

We began our hike late, about 8:30AM., as we planned on camping about a mile above the treeline the first day. We would then just relax, acclimate some more, sleep, and do an early summit. Unfortunately it played out differently. Since we hadn't really used loaded packs in a while, we were carrying too much, and couldn't make the original campsite. We ended up dropping our gear at the first big clearing, a few hundred yards short of the treeline. That was too soon (about 11:30) to set up camp, so we decided to attempt to summit, now carrying a much lighter load.

The rounded clearing at the lower right of the photo is where we dropped our gear to set up later for camp. We were just short of the halfway point here.

There were LOTS of other climbers today - perhaps 85 people and about ten dogs. These two dogs had brought along two really cute college- age girls to keep them company. We met them early on. Later, I got a picture of the girls as they were headed back down from the peak. I was surprised to see lots of ladies of all ages on the hike. A five-year-old girl peaked with her dad who was helping her back down. Lots of couples, I'd say a full third of the hikers were gals. There was also a scout troop there, perhaps 30 or so counting the Dads.

Once we got past the third large clearing we finally go out of the treeline. Now you can really see the last few lingering patches of snow scattered around. There is a really steep section after the clearings, a short respite, then an even steeper section.

Tucker took this shot of me at our first little break before we dropped most of our stuff. Some folks were surprised that we were able to cram our air mattresses, tent, food, ground cloths, and enough water for an overnight in our small daypacks! By the way, there are places to get water if you have a good filter. Had I known that, we wouldn't have lugged 6-7 pounds of water each the whole way up.

I also wanted to mention how friendly the people from Colorado were. Almost everyone we met was from there, and they were very nice and talkative. There were some nice folks from Oklahoma too. And the ladies were so "outdoorsy" and healthy, it was refreshing to meet such nice folks....

Just beyond the pass you see at right-center, the wind picks up for a while. It didn't last long, as you start to get some shelter from the peaks as you do the next steep section. After this pass is a tough section, and it starts getting more rocky.

These two scouts in front of me were playing "leapfrog" with me as we passed each other several times over almost a three mile stretch. It inspired this oldtimer (almost 50) to be able to keep up with a couple of twelve year olds....

I took a little half-mile side trip over to examine this alpine pond a little closer. This is close to where we had wanted to camp originally. Would have been a good spot to refill the canteens.

A closeup of the pond..... clear water is rushing in from the melting snow. Crystal clear, but still needs to be filtered I suppose.

Getting closer to the clouds....

This fat little marmot was expecting some food for this pose. Sorry little buddy, I'm too tired to dig in my pack right now. At this point, about the last 3/4 mile, I get into a rhythm of ten baby steps, stop, count to ten, ten baby steps, stop count to ten. Not much air to breathe, I always start to slow down after passing the 13,000 foot mark.

A photo near the snow..... I got much closer to this stuff on the way down, somewhat by accident.....

The girls that the dogs in the earlier photo brought along. They're headed back down already; notice they didn't even break a sweat.

Not much further now!

Hey, finally made it. That was pretty tough.

Now......how can I screw this up?

A closer view of the thin icy crust on top....

The saddle you see near center, is about half a mile away. Somehow I came down the wrong way, since I'm supposed to be on that saddle. Either I climb back up and backtrack, or cross the steep mountainside where there's no trail through loose scree...

Going up is not an option, so I decide to cross over. The first shot here is looking back across the scree strewn slope when I'm half way.

And here I am looking across at the remaining scree field yet to be crossed.

The drop off into "Emerald Lake" is where you fall if you slip in the scree field...

Here's what the sunset looked like from our campsite on the mountainside that nite. We got a little three-hour rain, when I discovered my "bivy sack" wasn't very waterproof. Also had my first little episode of altitude sickness, even though I was fine earlier at 3,000 feet higher altitude.

Overall, a wonderful hike, my first "fourteener". I was really pumped after this one, and even now, several days later, I'm inspired to plan the next state high point!

Pre-Mount Elbert

2005-08-10T23:55:00.000-05:00

So, after a few months of getting ready, we're off to Denver, then Twin Lakes, Colorado to climb Mt. Elbert. Second highest in the lower 48 states, and our first 14'er! We arrive on Friday night. I booked us a room at this little Inn at the bottom of the mountain.

This used to be an old Wells Fargo stagecoach stop! It is very cool. From now on I plan to never spend another nite at a hotel chain before a climb. Afterwards, you just want to pass out somewhere, but the nights before are sacred. Better to sleep on a picnic table than a hotel chain!

The owners prepared a great dinner to fuel us the next morning. They are very knowledgeable of the local trails and climbs.

A link to the inn:

This is a great place, I highly recommend it for acclimating to the altitude before setting out for your climb!

Highpointers

2005-08-04T15:52:00.000-05:00

Highpointers are people who have committed to climbing the highest points in a given area, such as each U.S. state, which is one of the more common. Here are a few highpointer links of interest if you'd like to know more:

http://highpointers.org/
the official highpointers club website

http://www.peakware.com/encyclopedia/ranges/fiftystates2.htm A listing of state highpoints from the highest to the lowest.

http://www.surgent.net/highpoints/ A point and click map of the U.S. with highpoints and journals.

Wheeler Peak, New Mexico

2004-09-10T11:41:00.000-05:00

Click below for the current weather conditions:
http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USNM0315.html

Welcome to the highest peak in New Mexico, at 13,161 feet. This is one account of my attempts to climb each of the highest peaks in the lower 48 states. This is only my eighth, so I have quite a few more to go! My pal Tucker and I flew over from Houston for a long weekend.

Tucker at the trail head the day before the climb. You can get some great room rates at the Taos Ski Area in the off season. This approach is from the south-southwest.

Me at the trailhead, the day before. In case you're wondering, you can't see Wheeler Peak from here. That doesn't happen till several hours later. It is visible from the Angel Fire ski area from the North side.

There are shorter routes up this mountain than the one we took (via the trailhead at the Taos Ski Area) and you may want to consider them! This turned out to be a long day. It's a LONG fifteen miles. You may want to consider coming up from Williams Lake to shave off several miles - as long as you don't mind fighting your way up a steep scree-strewn incline, crossing private land, and missing out on some great views. Nah, on second thought, take the long way, it's worth the extra steps.

We chose the longer route as I wasn't in the best of shape at the time. (Note belly in photos.) The elevation gain is 3771 feet on this route, and you also get an opportunity to bag three other peaks along your way: Bull of the Woods Mountain at 11,640, Frazer Mountain at 12,613, and Mount Walter at 13,133 almost a "twin" of Wheeler. So there you go, four peaks over 10K in one or two days depending on how worn out you want to be when you're finished.

There's a nice campsite just before the first peak, but it's too early to think about camping here. You'll see a nice little "alpine" pond before the trail continues its ascent. If you want to camp and make it a two-day trip (which I highly recommend), there's a better site approximately three miles further.

As you continue past the pond, the trail steepens, but it's just a gentle climb for the next three-quarter miles or so. This little bird kept following us along. He was so friendly and used to being fed by hikers, he let me touch him! Of course you should never feed the wild birds and animals. Of course I did.

This view is just past Bull of the Woods Mountain. A good place to catch your breath and take some photos. Notice how clear and blue the sky is. That's all about to change in a bit. It's the first weekend in September; the temperature was in the mid-thirties when we started. It's now around fifty, and looks to be the perfect weather for a hike.

This is what should be the halfway point. If you notice the ridge in the upper part of the photo, the trail eventually does a few switchbacks and climbs up here. However, for some reason the trail cuts sharply back into the woods to the left, and descends away from Wheeler, loosing perhaps 700-800 feet! I would highly recommend making camp near the bottom of this descent, and starting fresh the next morning for the peak. Of course you can do it in one day if you want the physical challenge, but now that I'm almost 50, I'd say slow down and smell the aspen. I should have followed my own advice.

Out of nowhere come these ugly clouds! Just like the guidebooks say, avoid peaking in the afternoon. Well, here we are. Something funny started happening about this time. We're at around 12,000 feet, it's getting definitely harder to breathe, and I keep having to stop and rest. It's not that my legs are tired, I'm just exhausted, out of breath. Instead of "sitting down", I find myself just finding a spot to sort of crumple in, falling slowly off to the side of the trail.

Just before we reached Frazer Mountain, I start laughing hysterically. Then Tucker starts. We're both laughing till tears are streaming down our face. For no apparent reason, and for 10 minutes we can't stop. Is this what John Denver was singing about in "Rocky Mountain High"? It was nuts. Good thing I didn't find out about this as a teenager in the "wacky tabbacky" days! A few hikers just smiled as they "power hiked" past us, but one nice couple of ladies explained that it was just our bodies' way of taking in more oxygen. Sounds reasonable to me.

Wheeler Peak is the last peak on the left. I've almost lost my will to peak, but Tucker encourages me to continue. It's getting darker, and the wind is starting to beat the crap out of us. Rain would certainly dampen my spirits. I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and mindlessly keep moving, stopping to rest every ten minutes.

Now we are being pelted by ice, from BB to pea-sized pieces. My spirits were actually lifted though, as I had thought it would be wonderful to actually see some snow. Although not quite snow, it has a similar effect as the ground was dusted in white. There were several others hovered at the peak, and the wind was now pounding us at about fifty miles an hour. Then there was a flash of lightning and rumble of thunder. This was dangerous. Another hiker yelled out "hit the ground, I felt that one", and I immediately did so.

Me lying at the summit, the wind wants to blow me off the top!

Tucker is trying to shield his face from the blowing ice, which stings any exposed skin it can locate.

Finally, the wind dies down enough to start the trip back down. The adrenalin
has given me a little burst of energy. We walk a half mile and find some shelter from the wind to have a snack. Wheeler is in the background.

Just as quickly as it showed up, the storm starts to pass, and the sun peeks through.

Going back into the Bull of the Woods pasture, I feel a new burst of energy, and settle into a light jogging pace. I'm sure it's because my body is happy to have some air to breathe again. It seems like under 12,000 feet is where I work the best.

I finally get to see the stream that I could only hear when we left the trailhead at just before daylight this morning.

Back to the parking area. I thought the cross made a nice photo. See you on the trail!

In closing, I have to give a plug to the best hiking boots I've ever used. Now after 8 highpoints, and poking around in the snow, I have to highly recommend the Vasque Zephyr GTX they keep even my sweaty feet dry and warm. They are lightweight and super breathable. Great for warm or cold hikes.

Guadalupe Peak, Texas

2004-05-04T11:56:00.000-05:00

Click here for the current weather at the peak: http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USTX0558.html

Here's an interesting thought: if you ask your average Joe from Colorado what the highest point is in his state, more often than not, he\she will know the answer. Now ask a Texan the same question, and they'll probably reply with "Peak, what peak?"

From my informal, unscientific survey, less than 1/10,000th of one percent of Texans will ever climb this peak. What a shame....

This view from the parking lot shows El Capitan, a sub-peak of Guadalupe. This is one of several "El Capitans" around the world, not the most famous one. The main peak is back behind the peaks to the right. Incidentally, this is the 14th highest state highpoint in the lower 48 states.

Our group here range from fifteen to sixty-five in age. Here we are at the trailhead raring to go....from left to right: Tucker, Jarod, Me, Brandon, Johnny, Ray, Conrad, Kris. David was the photographer here.

My first trip up Guadalupe was with my son Kris when he was ten. He joined me and some pals from work again, shown here, at the ripe old age of nineteen. Of course he spanked me on both trips. Looks like I'm pregnant here! I'm not fat anymore - really, I'm not!
This mountain is very special to me. I remember trips taking inner city scouts (Royal Rangers) up the peak, and some of my best friends. Someday Kris will be bringing my ashes up here to scatter, hopefully after a few hundred more peaks and motorcycle rides.

Here's a view of El Capitan from the peak trail. This is about 1/3 of the way up. The trail never gets much closer to El Capitan than this. I've never gone over to climb El Capitan, but I think I will on the next trip. I imagine it would add at least a couple of hours to the trip.

Most of the trees on this trail look like this one. There was a forest fire here about ten years ago. There has been a lot of recovery. Things look much better than they did the year following the fire.

This pass comes about half a mile before the halfway point. There is almost always a 30-40 m.p.h. (or greater) wind blowing when you go through this pass and continue the climb. The wind is probably caused by the heat rising up off the desert that lies at the western base of the mountain. El Paso lies just over an hours drive to the west. There are several wind-powered generators in the area taking advantage of the wind's consistent power.

The first third of the trail is very steep; it'll make your heart pound. Here Tucker has rounded the turn through the pass and continues the ascent after.

Some flowers at trailside......

My brother-in-law Johnny climbs up one of the many rock formations along the way.

More of the typical rock piles you'll see on Guadalupe.

My pal Conrad seems to be energetic as we get closer to peak!

Here's a shot from the peak. Someone had gotten a nice shot of everyone in their underwear, but no one emailed me copies! Also, if you want to know about the night before when we crossed over into Mexico, you'll have to ask me in private.

Here Ray and I take a breather as we head back to the van.

*Note - these photos were taken with a cardboard box\disposable camera, and saved to DVD at WalMart. Sorry about the low resolution.

TN, SC, GA, AL - Beginnings

2003-08-18T13:53:00.000-05:00

My first highpoint was in my home state. I was three. We saw bears in the picnic area. Clingmans dome was already a paved trail, back in 1960. I thought we'd never get to the top. I think my grandfather carried me. It's probably only a mile or so! We went back several times over the years, including once when I was in the Army home on leave. You usually can't see very far for all of the fog. Now I think it's about half smog.

I have no photos of this trip. though I'd love to dig some up next time I'm in Tennessee.

The South Carolina and Georgia high points I did back in 1980 when I lived in Macon. I would drive up to a trailhead on the A.T. with my first wife (wife 1.0 as I like to refer to her) We were section hiking the A.T. at the time. I would also do side hikes, thus, thats when I bagged the S.C. and Ga. points. I still didn't seriously consider ever being able to do all the highpoints then. Never thought I'd have the time or money. Heck, we would park at a trailhead, hike 10-20 miles, and I'd hithchike back to the car while Wife 1.0 waited. Sometimes during the hike, if 1.0 slowed down, I'd grab both her and my pack (the old external cheap aluminum frame type) and proceed to jog. Hell, at least she tried, eh?

Anyway, thats how it all started. Backpacking in the Smokies as a teen, hiking all over Germany in the Army, then knocking out a good chunk (ok, a small chunk, 3 states of the A.T.

I bagged the Alabama point on one of our trips to visit 1.0's parents in San Antonio. That may have been the first time I started dreaming about highpointing.

So, thats my story. No pics......two curse words, though. I need to start cursing more in my blog. Give's it flavor, no? Kinda a "Bruce Willis" touch, except, I wasn't getting my ass kicked at the time.