The Ahlers

As mentioned previously, JP and I went down to Mt. Rainier last weekend and did some hiking, camping, and skiing. Drove down Saturday morning, started hiking right before 10, and made it to camp Muir around 4.5 hours later. Not too shabby considering we were spending the night up there (which meant we had full overnight packs on). I'm pretty sure I got the easier end of the deal since JP wanted to carry all the shared gear -- tent, stove, fuel, and water filter. He's training for a climb down in Central America in December, so he wanted to check out all his gear. And I think he wanted to do a bit of a conditioning test, hence his desire to carry everything. My pack certainly wasn't that light either, since I had all my normal ski stuff plus sleeping bag, pad, extra clothes and food, etc.

Saturday was a beautiful day -- if a little chilly, mainly due to the wind -- and the sunset was spectacular. We even got to see a bit of Mt. St. Helens excitement when part of the dome collapsed and sent ash 4,000 feet up in the air.

Sunday was absolutely epic, with a great ski run down from Muir all the way to Pebble Creek with only one 10-foot carry. I was amazed at how many skiers there were on both days. Glad to see I'm not the only one crazy enough to be skiing in October, er, Rock-tober. The snow had melted up nicely for some spring-like conditions, and there was pretty good coverage after the snow of a couple of weeks ago and then the rains earlier in the week.

Link to my pictures from the weekend

My dad called this to my attention recently:
Western Outdoors: Hike around Mount Baker is no walk in the park

Dang that sounds tough.  When you get around treeline on the mountain and look around, you can tell some spots would be tough going.  But I had no idea it would be that difficult.

I'd love to hike up to the glacier with the plane on it someday.  Sounds like you need to do it in late summer, in a lesser snow year.

JP found this cool historical weather telemetry data web page. Actually, this is the main user-friendly way to access current data as well. Too bad the historical data only goes back 10 days.

Yesterday was the first day that Mt. Baker got snow down at the lodges. (There was a report from a few weeks ago that it had snowed at the top of chair 8.) Their web page says 2" of snow at Heather Meadows, and the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center telemetry weather station says 4" at 4220 feet, wherever that might be.

My old buddy JP and are I are headed up to Camp Muir for an overnighter this weekend. Wish me luck -- I'll take some pictures and post when I get back.

Bill and I continued the quest for skiing once a month for 12 months in a row last Saturday, when we went up to Mt. Baker and hiked in for some turns in the dense fog.

(Lest you think we're weird for doing this, know that there are many, many other folks doing the exact same thing. Okay, you're right -- they're weird too.)

The hike was 4 miles each way, and the farther up the trail we hiked, the denser the fog got. And the wind blew a little harder. And it was a little colder. (Remind me why we're doing this again...?) We didn't end up getting that much vertical because neither of us had skied in that area before and the dense fog was a little intimidating. Over that little knoll right there, is that a 10 foot drop or a 100 foot drop?

Just kidding, it was good times for sure. If for no other reason than to get out and go for a good hike. Pictures are here.

The last Duck Dodge of 2006 was, sadly, over a month ago. To people who sail but don't do Duck Dodge, it's hard to explain how much fun it is. To people who don't sail, it's improbable that you can explain the sweetness that is Duck Dodge. And to people who don't even live in Seattle -- good luck. Can't help ya. Better luck next time.

Overall, we had a pretty good season. I actually lost count of the number of ducks we got this year (you get a plastic duck sticker for coming in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in your class), because in the end, it's all about having fun. And that we did. :)


Pictures from the final Duck Dodge of 2006

# posted by eastlaker @ 7:58 PM 0 comments links to this post

We spent last weekend in SF at Andy and Tina's wedding. Beautiful weekend, great to see all the family and friends -- some we haven't seen for quite awhile.

The wedding itself took place in a grand old Catholic Church, Saints Peter and Paul in North Beach. The reception was held at the swanky Bimbo's 365 nightclub, which is celebrating their 75th year anniversary this year.

Here are the pictures. (Note that this is just like Jim and Angie's wedding -- I didn't want to babysit the big camera the night of the wedding, so these photos are only from the day after.) More great stories from the weekend as well; ask me about the guy on the gurney sometime. Great times, great people, great fun....

Over Labor Day weekend last month, Melissa, Julie, Mack, (Melissa's parents) and I went up to the cabin and enjoyed some fun hiking and sightseeing around Glacier and Mt. Baker. These pictures are all from the hike we did from the Artist Point parking lot. We had incredible weather and phenomenal views, which made it one of the highlights of the weekend.

Check out the picture of the new Washington state license plate design that we spotted up in the parking lot. I generally despise custom plates, but this one is super cool. :)

I'm getting closer to being caught back up w.r.t. photo posting. This set is from Jim and Angie's wedding weekend down in Big Sur, CA. You'll note that they're from the wedding *weekend*, not the wedding itself since I didn't want to have to babysit my camera during the reception.

Lots of good stories from the weekend. Ah, how relaxing traditional Japanese baths can be after a long ceremony and reception... :)