10/03/2010--Final Posting

The time has finally come to say goodbye for the summer. I had an awesome time at the Graduation Party. It was great seeing all of you in your everyday clothes without trail grime on your faces. Congratulations to Steve Payne for being knighted “Prince of the Cascades.” It is a well-deserved honor. Steve has posted some images from last night on the CHS Facebook page. Go check it out.

Also, John Connelly, our photo guru, has posted his slide show presentation from last night on U-Tube. You can view it by entering the following into the youtube.com Search window: Seattle Mountaineers CHS Highlights 2010.

My favorite memories of the course are from hiking with you this year. Thank you for another fun season of CHS. I enjoyed meeting all of you and hiking with many of you. Congratulations on gaining a significant achievement. Even if you don't plan on doing longer distance day hiking ever again, you have gained the skills and knowledge you need to perform confidently on the trail, regardless of difficulty.

Several of you have shown interest in either taking the course next year or helping out with it. I'm glad that you enjoyed the course enough to want to be involved with it again. We could definitely use all of your support! Please email me with your interest and I’ll be in touch when it comes time to start planning CHS 2011. And remember that even if you decide not to take the course again, you are always welcome to come along on any of the hikes that do not fill up by the Thursday before the hike—one of the perks of graduating from the course.

I also wanted to reiterate again my comment from last night about finding some volunteer activity—even if it’s not CHS—that you are passionate about and making it a part of your life. One person committed to a calling can make a difference in this world. I encourage you to find your calling in life—be it outdoors-related or otherwise—and keep working to make it happen. And while you’re at it, visit your National Parks and see what dedication by others can do to make a difference in other people’s lives.

If you were unable to make it to the party, I have your graduation certificate and picture CD and I will have the clubhouse mail them to you sometime before the end of the month. Please make sure today that the address you have on file at the clubhouse is the correct one.

Keep in touch and I hope to see you on the trail again soon!

Kelly

9/26/10 Posting

Well, can you believe it? The CHS hikes are over for the season. It seems to have come so soon this year. Congratulations to all of the folks who completed their graduation hike this month.

I spent the glorious weather on Saturday doing a scramble up Mt Pugh in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. The views were incredible and the route presented a good challenge for me as I keep pushing the limits of my ability to handle exposure. I consider it my Graduation hike for the summer. I’ve included a happy photo of myself at the summit with Glacier Peak over my shoulder.

As graduates of CHS, you have also challenged yourself this summer. Many of you have hiked longer and higher than you ever have before. Those of you who are repeat graduates may just be challenging yourself to keep in excellent hiking condition for another summer. I know that as I grow older, it seems to take a little longer each year to get myself back in CHS shape.

So as you move on to the next phase of your post-CHS hiking life, I encourage you to meet a different kind of challenge in your hiking career: Figure out one bad hiking habit you have developed and get rid of it. For example, I have a bad habit of not putting on sunscreen every time I go hiking. I have lots of excuses, but there really is no good reason for not applying I before I head out in the morning. I’m sure you have a different bad habit. Here are some common ones:

· Do you always bring the Ten Essentials? Including the map?

· Do you always bring extra food and water.

· Do you let an emergency contact know where you are going hiking and when you’ll be back?

· Do you start walking before you put your camera away (another big one of mine)?

· Do you eat and drink enough to avoid low blood sugar and dehydration?

· Do you let hiking companions know when you need to take a break or do you walk along suffering in silence?

· Do you stretch after a day of hiking?

I could go on and on. Pick one bad habit and make it into a good habit. That’s my off-season task for you.

CHS Graduation Party

The graduation party is next Saturday, October 3^rd at the Seattle Mountaineers clubhouse at Magnusson. I’ll see you there and we will celebrate your accomplishments. Please contact me if you have any questions.

9/19/2010 Posting

First a request: I'm collecting responses to the question, "What the best thing you learned from CHS?". Email me at masterhiker@gmail.com with the reply. I will use the comments on the web site, so if you prefer your input to be anonymous, please let me know when you email me.

As we come close to finishing the course for 2010, I want to remind you that every activity and hike was made possible by the work of volunteers. Volunteers monitor the signups for the trips. Every extra activity, including the Cougar Flat campout, was organized and run by volunteers. Put simply, CHS would not exist without volunteers. I cannot thank each of our volunteers enough. You should thank them too.

Who are these volunteers? Some of them are long-time members of The Mountaineers. Others are newer to the club. Most of them are themselves graduates of the Conditioning Hiking Series. They’ll tell you that a big motivation for their own service was the powerful and positive effect CHS had on them.

If CHS has been a positive experience for you, and you want to help pass that experience on to others, please consider volunteering for next year’s course.

In fact, many of you have already expressed interest in helping with next year’s course. I truly welcome this interest and this help. There is room for more. For those whose abilities and interest may be more behind the scenes, there are opportunities for organization and record-keeping. Please let me know of your interest in these areas, and we’ll find work where your help will be best used.

Many of you may feel moved to serve as hike leaders. There is a great need for hike leaders both for CHS and for the club’s general-membership outings. Becoming a Mountaineers hike leader is not difficult; it does not require extensive training or exotic certifications. There are two simple steps: First, attend a two-hour workshop for prospective leaders; second, partner with a qualified and experienced leader for a mentored hike. The mentor will help guide you through the process and will provide feedback on your performance. Following the mentored trip, you will be qualified to begin leading trips yourself; some people prefer two mentored trips before flying solo. That’s it.

Please consider volunteering for CHS. The time to start preparing is now. Let me know if you want to help, and we’ll get you started.

Graduation Party:

Hold the date of Saturday, October 2^nd on your calendar. The evening will be spent celebrating your graduation from the 2010 season of CHS. You should have received an invitation through email by now. Remember that in order to be recognized as a graduate, you must have also completed your trail maintenance requirement. If you have not completed your trail maintenance requirement you can schedule an outing on a non-CHS trail maintenance trip with either WTA or some of the other outdoor organizations. Once you have completed your trail maintenance requirement, please email me to let me know what date you did it on

September Hike Signup:

September hikes are available for signup for more than two hikes. Hikes with space still available:

CHS1:

9/25/10—Cathedral Rock/Deception Pass Loop, Jan Davis (14 miles, 2300 ft gain)

CHS2:

9/25/10—Mt David, Mark Harniss (16 miles, 5000 ft gain)

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs. The last date to submit pictures for inclusion on the graduation DVD that we hand out to all graduates is Sept 26^th.

9/12/2010 Posting

In my off weekend between a backpack trip and climbing Mt St Helens, my plan was to hike up Mt Pugh. But as it’s a bit of an exposed scramble, I only wanted to do it in dry, sunny weather. Unfortunately, today it was neither dry nor sunny. In fact it was one of the soggiest days I have ever hiked on. Plan B was to hike up to Tin Pan Gap near Three Fingers and look down on the glacier below the Three Fingers lookout—about a ten-mile roundtrip hike. However, it was so wet and unpleasant that we only made it to Saddle Lake—about five miles roundtrip. We were pretty happy to get out and do that given that it poured the whole time we were out. The fun meter was definitely hovering around zero. We did have the trail all to ourselves however…

A participant requested that I put together a list of hiking resources that our hike leaders use to plan and prepare for hikes. Here is a website on the Seattle Hiking Branch page that has some resources: http://www.mountaineers.org/seattle/seahike2/Resources.html

I also polled the hike leaders and this is what they use the most:

Books: Mountaineers Books Day Hikes series

Trail Info Web Sites:

· Olympic National Forest trail information: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/olympic/recreation-nu/trails_1.shtml#trailinfo

· Northwest Hikers: http://www.nwhikers.net

· Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/conditions/road_conditions_report.shtml

· Washington Trails Association: http://www.wta.org/

· Google "Karen Sykes [name of hike]" to see if she’s written a trip report on it

Mapping Web Sites:

· http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/

· http://mapper.acme.com/

· http://mattj.net/overlaymap.html

· http://greentrailsmaps.com

Other Web Sites:

· Sunrise/Sunset times: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=234

· Weather: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/

· Pass conditions: http://www.skimountaineer.com/MtnWebCams/WA-MtnWebCams.html

Graduation Party:

Hold the date of Saturday, October 2^nd on your calendar. The evening will be spent celebrating your graduation from the 2010 season of CHS. You should have received an invitation through email by now. Remember that in order to be recognized as a graduate, you must have also completed your trail maintenance requirement. If you have not completed your trail maintenance requirement you can schedule an outing on a non-CHS trail maintenance trip with either WTA or some of the other outdoor organizations. Once you have completed your trail maintenance requirement, please email me to let me know what date you did it on

September Hike Signup:

September hikes are available for signup for more than two hikes. Hikes with space still available:

CHS1:

9/18/10—Deer Lake/Bogachiel Peak, Barry Kellems (16 miles, 3450 ft gain)

9/25/10—Cathedral Rock/Deception Pass Loop, Jan Davis (14 miles, 2300 ft gain)

CHS2:

9/17/10—Copper Mountain, Sue Shih (20 miles, 6000 ft gain).

9/18/10—Pacific Crest Trail from Snoqualmie Pass South, Bill Shecket (20 miles, 3000+ ft gain)

9/25/10—Mt David, Mark Harniss (16 miles, 5000 ft gain)

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs. The last date to submit pictures for inclusion on the graduation DVD that we hand out to all graduates is Sept 26^th.

9/6/2010 Posting

I just got back from a wonderful weekend spent on a backpacking trip with friends up into the Goat Rocks Wilderness. We spent two glorious days exploring Snowgrass Flats, Goat Rocks, and a high section of the Pacific Crest Trail. Despite a rainy forecast, we enjoyed amazing views of Mts Rainier, St Helens, and Adams on several day trips from our campsite below Goat Lake.

The highlight of the trip was a day hike up the Pacific Crest Trail to the shoulder of Old Snowy Mountain. A couple of us scrambled up the block summit of Old Snowy and saw some amazing views of Mts. Rainier, St Helens, and Adams along with Mt Stuart in the Enchantments. We then enjoyed a ramble down the other side of the pass on a narrow rock ridge to a view of Packwood Lake and dreams of hiking farther up the trail on a true knife-edge ridge. But save that for another day.

It was very cold last night, right around freezing in fact, and woke up this morning to windy, cloudy, and very cold weather. So we packed up quickly and headed back down to the trailhead. We were amazed when it started snowing on us at Snowgrass Flats. The first signs of fall, I guess. Summer always seems to go so quickly.

While on my backpack trip, I was reminded of the advantage of being prepared for unplanned events in the backcountry. This means that it’s a good idea to bring along items which may not necessarily be used on any given trip, but which would come in handy if you had them. For example, despite having had my Yaktraks attached to my backpack for most of the summer, I declined to bring them along on this backpack trip as I didn’t think we would encounter any snow. Well wouldn’t you know, we did encounter snow when we were high up on the PCT. There was an icy snowfield with a long runout that we had to cross to get up to Old Snowy. Those yaktraks (which weight maybe a couple of ounces) sure would’ve come in handy. I also looked at some chemical handwarmers in my daypack and decided they didn’t need to come along too. Did I mention that it got down to freezing on our last night out and was snowing on our hike out? Those handwarmers sure would’ve felt nice this morning. There was also the extra pair of long underwear I didn’t bring along…

Do you get the idea that I wasn’t thinking it would be that cold? That’s kind of a silly assumption given the fact that it’s been a bit chilly on my hikes these last few weekends. Even if it had been warmer and I hadn’t needed them, it still would’ve been easy to bring them along and to be prepared for the unplanned event. Keep that in mind as you pack for your all of your adventures, regardless of season.

Graduation Party:

Hold the date of Saturday, October 2^nd on your calendar. The evening will be spent celebrating your graduation from the 2010 season of CHS. You will receive an invitation soon with more details. Remember that in order to be recognized as a graduate, you must have also completed your trail maintenance requirement. If you have not completed your trail maintenance requirement you can schedule an outing on a non-CHS trail maintenance trip with either WTA or some of the other outdoor organizations. Once you have completed your trail maintenance requirement, please email me to let me know what date you did it on

September Hike Signup:

September hikes are available for signup for more than two hikes. Hikes with space still available:

CHS1:

9/11/10—W Cady Ridge/Benchmark Mt, Kim Westerhof & Jennie Douglas (16 miles, 3300 ft gain)

9/18/10—Deer Lake/Bogachiel Peak, Barry Kellems (16 miles, 3450 ft gain)

9/25/10—Cathedral Rock/Deception Pass Loop, Jan Davis (14 miles, 2300 ft gain)

CHS2:

9/17/10—Copper Mountain, Sue Shih (20 miles, 6000 ft gain).

9/18/10—Pacific Crest Trail from Snoqualmie Pass South, Bill Scheket (20 miles, 3000+ ft gain)

9/25/10—Mt David, Mark Harniss (16 miles, 5000 ft gain)

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs. The last date to submit pictures for inclusion on the graduation DVD that we hand out to all graduates is Sept 26^th.

8/30/2010 Posting

Can you believe that we’re done with August hikes already? Seems that the summer time is picking up speed and rushing to its conclusion—particularly with the fall-like weather we had this weekend. I co-led a hike with Barbara Folmer on Saturday up to Tuck and Robin Lakes and while the skies were sunny and clear, it certainly felt like a fall day. The views of Cathedral Rock, Mts Daniel and Hinman were awesome though and it felt so great to finally arrive up at Robin Lake and enjoy the beauty and sunshine even in the cooler weather.

If you haven’t done the hike up to Tuck and Robin Lakes before, then this hike can be a bit of a butt-kicker. It’s very steep and in some places you have to do some low-level scrambling using your hands to climb up rocks. We slowed down and did this section as a group, so that folks could help each other out and encourage each other. A few folks had not done this kind of thing before so they needed an extra hand. Everyone did a great job on the trip and we all had a great time together.

Caring for and helping your fellow hikers is one of the most rewarding parts of hiking with others. When you care about and believe that your hiking partners care about you, then you really enjoy being in their company. At the beginning of the year, I discussed the tenants of the “CHS Way.” One of these guidelines is that “We support other hikers and the group.” We fulfill this guideline when we help our fellow hikers who are having trouble either physically or mentally while on the trail. Instead of complaining about how much a struggling hiker is wrecking our good time, we ask ourselves how we can make their experience better and then we do it. Struggling hikers need to be able to recognize when they need help and then be able to ask for and accept aid from others. This is not weakness, it is maturity. Hiking in CHS is a group activity, and we all have a better time when everyone feels valued and supported by the other members.

September Hike Signup:

September hikes are available for signup. Please limit yourself to signing up for one hike. You can sign up for more than one starting on September 1^st at 9:00 AM.

September hikes with space still available:

CHS1:

9/05/10—Chinook Pass to Norse Peak, Karen Sykes & Lola Kemp (14+ miles, 3000 ft gain)

9/11/10—W Cady Ridge/Benchmark Mt, Kim Westerhof & Jennie Douglas (16 miles, 3300 ft gain)

9/18/10—Deer Lake/Bogachiel Peak, Barry Kellems (16 miles, 3450 ft gain)

9/25/10—Cathedral Rock/Deception Pass Loop, Jan Davis (14 miles, 2300 ft gain)

CHS2:

9/04/10—Welcome Pass/Excelsior Ridge, Barbara Folmer (16+ miles, 4000 ft gain)

9/17/10—Copper Mountain, Sue Shih (20 miles, 6000 ft gain).

9/18/10—Pacific Crest Trail from Snoqualmie Pass South, Bill Scheket (20 miles, 3000+ ft gain)

9/25/10—Mt David, Mark Harniss (16 miles, 5000 ft gain)

WTA Trail Maintenance Signup:

All CHS/WTA combined trips are completed. If you have not completed your trail maintenance requirement you can schedule an outing on a non-CHS trail maintenance trip with either WTA or some of the other outdoor organizations. Once you have completed your trail maintenance requirement, please email me to let me know what date you did it on as we keep track of this information for graduation purposes.

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs.

8/22/2010 Posting

I’m taking a well-deserved rest today and watching some recorded Seahawks football from last night. Yesterday I hiked with three CHS2 folks to Buck Creek Pass in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. We had originally planned to hike on Pilot Ridge, but the weather forecast for the east side of the Cascades was better than for the west side, so we did an alternate trip. The plan was to hike 19 miles and about 3200 feet of gain to a lovely pass. According to the GPS one of us brought along, we ended up hiking about 21 miles roundtrip to get to the pass. The views of Glacier Peak were awesome but we were all pretty beat by the time we got back to the trailhead. Dinner at the 59’er Diner sure was a welcome treat afterwards.

As we were hiking along, we came across a couple of women coming down the trail after spending several days up in the wilderness. We talked a little about their trip and I asked them if they’d done the side trip to Image Lake—a beautiful lake that in the right conditions reflects Glacier Peak. It’s a little bit off of the main route, but many folks make the effort just to see it. One of the hikers told me that they hadn’t and had found the scenery they did see on their trip “beautiful enough.”

I thought about that statement as I was hiking along and came to the realization that it was a great attitude to have about any sort of vacation type trip. So many times, we get caught up in the notion that we have to experience every possible activity or scenery available in an area that we do things just to check them off the list rather than taking the time to savor the experiences that we are having. Vacations become a rushed series of activities rather than a time to relax and reflect on the good things that we are able to do. It’s more enjoyable to abandon this mindset and focus on just a few select activities.

I’ve found this to be especially true on many of the National Park trips that Matt and I have taken. Most parks have so many cool things to see and do that it’s impossible to do it all one trip. For example, at Crater Lake National Park, Matt and I took the boat ride on Crater Lake to Wizard Island. We were dropped off for several hours. The two big activities to do on the island are swimming in one of the coves or climbing the crater to the high point of the island. If we really hurried, we could do both. But it was so much fun just to pick one activity and truly enjoy it. We opted to swim in the lake (that didn’t take too long—very cold) and then spend the rest of our time getting a few Disco Lion pictures and hunting around for crayfish. We got a great picture of me holding a crayfish. It was a fun time spent just bumming around and enjoying the lakeshore.

I encourage you to keep this in mind as you go on any trips that you have planned in the future. Instead of trying to do everything and running the family ragged, pick just a few special events that you will enjoy doing and remember when you’re back home.

August & September Hike Signup

All August hikes are open for signup for more than two hikes. Feel free to take advantage of open spaces we have available in the hikes in your group.

September hikes are available for signup. Please limit yourself to signing up for one hike. You can sign up for more than one starting on September 1^st at 9:00 AM. If you’re in CHS2, Mark Harniss will be leading a hike to Mt David on 9/25. Here is the description:

9/25 Mt David, Mark Harniss (16 miles, 5400 ft gain). This hike is located in the Wenatchee National Forest, north of Lake Wenatchee. Climb well-graded switchbacks through forest to a high ridgeline via a steep, blueberry-filled trail. The endless view walk along the ridgeline makes it all worthwhile though. At the summit there is an old lookout site and a stone outhouse as well as drop-dead gorgeous, panoramic views of the Glacier Peak wilderness including an in-your-face close-up of Glacier Peak. The last 200 feet to the summit are a bit “airy” but manageable. Email the hike leader if you have any questions. Guidebook: 100 Hikes in Washington's Glacier Peak Region.

August hikes with space still available:

CHS2:

8/28/10— Sourdough Mtn, Mark Harniss (12.5 miles, 5100’ gain)

8/29/10— Stileto Peak, Sue Shih (14 miles, 3720’ gain).

WTA Trail Maintenance Signup

All CHS/WTA combined trips are completed. If you have not completed your trail maintenance requirement you can schedule an outing on a non-CHS trail maintenance trip with either WTA or some of the other outdoor organizations. Once you have completed your trail maintenance requirement, please email me to let me know what date you did it on as we keep track of this information for graduation purposes.

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs.

8/15/10 Posting

Well we spent April, May and June complaining about the cold, rainy weather and now we’re just basking in sunshine and hot temperatures. I can’t complain about the heat, but I sure like to start my hikes a lot earlier than I did in April right now.

Matt and I checked out the North Fork Sauk river crossing today for my Pilot Ridge CHS2 hike that I’m leading in a couple of weeks. I was able to cross the log (about 25 yards long) and we were both able to ford the river (it felt great!). So if you were interested in doing the Pilot Ridge hike, but were turned off because of the log crossing, rest assured that you can wade through the river safely, but you might want to bring some water sandals for the ford so you don’t have to hike in wet hiking boots.

I mentioned last week that I did a great hike in the Wallowa wilderness in eastern Oregon with my brother up to Ice Lake. It was a 16-mile round trip hike on great trail and is now one of my favorite hikes. From beginning to end, it was a gorgeous trail with lots of flowers, water, and waterfalls, capped off by a beautiful, large lake with the glowing granite Matterhorn peak looming above it. We arrived around noon and had the lake to ourselves—enough time to check out potential camp spots for the future and take a little nap up against a comfy log while listening to the water lap against the shore.

Disturbingly however, when we arrived at the lake, we found an abandoned campfire still smoldering. Campfires are forbidden in that area, but someone had not only ripped off some live branches from a nearby tree to build one (and left the limbs that they didn’t get around to burning on the ground), but just left it going without making sure it was out. Stuff like this makes my blood boil. Just one spark from that fire could set the whole place on fire given the right dry conditions. And August in the wilderness in most areas meets those right dry conditions.

This is not the first abandoned campfire I’ve found either. I’m beginning to think that many folks who build fires in the wilderness think that it’s okay to just leave a fire smoldering as long as it’s in a fire ring. This is not true. When you build a fire, you are responsible for making sure that it’s dead before you leave the area. This means that you need to pour water on the fire, stir the coals, pour more water on the fire until it stops steaming and hissing. Then crush the sodden coals to see if any more burning embers are exposed. Dump more water on these. Put your hand over the coals—do you feel any heat coming out? Then keep repeating the dumping of water until you no longer feel heat. Then hang around for a bit and see what happens. This is the responsible way to put out a fire when you are in the woods.

August Hike Signup

All August hikes are open for signup for more than two hikes. Feel free to take advantage of open spaces we have available in the hikes in your group.

September hike descriptions will be coming out in the next few days. We’re still waiting for a couple of hike leaders to pick their destination. September hike signup will begin on Wednesday, August 18th.

September hikes with space still available:

CHS1:

8/17—Midweek hike, Destination TBD, Jan Davis & Sue Shih (14 miles, 2300’ gain) This hike was supposed to go to Cathedral Rock/Deception Pass Loop, but unseasonably high waters at Daniel Creek have required a change in destination. Jan & Sue have notified registered hikers.

8/21—Royal Basin, Anna May Brennan & Jan Pecoraro (14 miles, 2600’ gain)

8/21—Go Getter: Surprise Lake/Surprise Mtn, Gregg Pilgreen (15.5 miles, 4100’ gain). This will also count as a CHS2 hike but will be led at a CHS1 pace.

CHS2:

8/21—Go Getter: Pilot Ridge to Johnson Mtn, Kelly Cleman (20 miles, 3600’+ gain)

8/21—Surprise Lake/Surprise Mtn, Gregg Pilgreen (15.5 miles, 4100’ gain). This is a CHS1 level hike but will also count as a CHS2 hike (will be led at a CHS1 pace).

8/22—Thompson Lake Car Shuttle, Bill Shecket & Barb Motteler (14 miles, 4000’ gain

8/28/10— Sourdough Mtn, Mark Harniss (12.5 miles, 5100’ gain)

8/28/10— Tuck & Robin Lakes, Barbara Folmer (14 miles, 3300’ gain)

8/29/10— Stileto Peak, Sue Shih (14 miles, 3720’ gain).

WTA Trail Maintenance Signup

All CHS/WTA combined trips are completed. If you have not completed your trail maintenance requirement you can schedule an outing on a non-CHS trail maintenance trip with either WTA or some of the other outdoor organizations. Once you have completed your trail maintenance requirement, please email me to let me know what date you did it on as we keep track of this information for graduation purposes.

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs.

8/9/10 Posting

I know that you've all been eagerly awaiting the return of my blog since I've been on vacation. Well I'm finally back from my travels in Oregon and California and getting back into the swing of work and CHS.

We had a really great time on our trailer trip. If there is one place I would recommend as a good place to hike or backpack, it would be Lassen Volcanic National Park. The volcanic aspects of the park are a sidebar compared to the wonderful hiking and backpacking opportunities available. The Pacific Crest Trail runs through the park as well as miles and miles of trails around lakes and scenic peaks available.

The highlight of my vacation was hiking up to the top of Lassen Peak--a 10,000+ foot volcano with eye-popping views in all directions. The hike is only about 5 miles roundtrip but when the trailhead is at 8000 feet, I was huffing and puffing up in the the thin air. But the beauty of the scenery and flowers quickly took my mind off of my physical exertions. Matt and I got to the summit early in the morning, so we had the top all to ourselves for awhile. It felt like being on top of the world! Here's a picture of my traveling companion on the top of Mt Lassen looking at Mt Shasta (DL's a bit blurry, but the background sure isn't!).

I have travelled a bit to other countries, but my favorite trips have been spent discovering the beautiful places easily available in this backyard we call the Pacific Northwest. You don't have to spend a lot of money and travel far from home to see the truly amazing and breathtaking places that exist in just Oregon and Washington. I just got back from spending a weekend with my parents and brother at Wallowa Lake State Park in eastern Oregon. What a truly amazing place--it's billed as the Oregon Alps and to say the area was stunning was an understatement. I’ll tell you about the hike I went on up to Ice Lake in next week’s blog.

So next time you're looking for some place new to go, consider taking out a map and looking for some places you haven't been in either Oregon or Washington. Check out the Wallowas, Central Oregon, Methow Valley, the Okanagans, or one of the least visited National Parks, North Cascades National Park. You'll have an adventure and won't spend a fortune to do it.

August Hike Signup

All August hikes are open for signup for more than two hikes. Feel free to take advantage of open spaces we have available in the hikes in your group.

September hike descriptions will be coming out early next week. September hike signup will begin on Wednesday, August 18th.

Hikes with space still available:

CHS1:

8/15—Lost Creek Ridge, Kim Westerhof & Jennie Douglas (12 miles, 3800’ gain)

8/17—Midweek hike, Cathedral Rock/Deception Pass Loop, Jan Davis & Sue Shih (14 miles, 2300’ gain.

8/21—Royal Basin, Anna May Brennan & Jan Pecoraro (14 miles, 2600’ gain)

8/21—Go Getter: Surprise Lake/Surprise Mtn, Gregg Pilgreen (15.5 miles, 4100’ gain). This will also count as a CHS2 hike but will be led at a CHS1 pace.

CHS2:

8/14—Kachess Ridge/Thomas Mtn, Bill Sheckett (15 miles, 3300’ gain

8/14—Club hike: Mowich Lake to Sunrise, Marion Bauman (24 miles, 5900’ gain)

7/17—Cougar Flat Campout: Mt Aix, Kelly Cleman & Matt Cleman (12 miles, 4000’ gain)

8/15—Hidden Peaks & Lookout, Christine Pratt (14 miles, 3500’ gain)

8/21—Go Getter: Pilot Ridge to Johnson Mtn, Kelly Cleman (20 miles, 3600’+ gain)

8/21—Surprise Lake/Surprise Mtn, Gregg Pilgreen (15.5 miles, 4100’ gain). This is a CHS1 level hike but will also count as a CHS2 hike (will be led at a CHS1 pace).

8/22—Thompson Lake Car Shuttle, Bill Shecket & Barb Motteler (14 miles, 4000’ gain

8/28/10— Sourdough Mtn, Mark Harniss (12.5 miles, 5100’ gain)

8/28/10— Tuck & Robin Lakes, Barbara Folmer (14 miles, 3300’ gain)

8/29/10— Stileto Peak, Sue Shih (14 miles, 3720’ gain).

WTA Trail Maintenance Signup

All CHS/WTA combined trips are completed. If you have not completed your trail maintenance requirement you can schedule an outing on a non CHS trail maintenance trip with either WTA or some of the other outdoor organizations. Once you have completed your trail maintenance requirement, please email me to let me know what date you did it on as we keep track of this information for graduation purposes.

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs.

7/11/2010 Posting

What lovely weather we’ve been having! After a slow start to summer, the snow is finally melting off in the upper mountains and we’re enjoying some fine, warm hiking weather.

I spent Saturday working with several other CHS folks on the WTA trail maintenance outing up in the Foss River area by Skykomish. We ended up working on the trail that goes up to Trout and Copper Lakes—a trail I’ve hiked before, but where the beginning of the trail had been seriously washed out several years ago. The WTA is rebuilding the trail to a more stable section and we got to work on leveling out new trail bed. As far as trail maintenance goes, this is pretty hard work—we dug out rocks, sawed out roots and fallen trees, leveled ground, and hauled in new rock for the trail bed. We were beat at the end of the day and all enjoyed an ice cream treat at Zekes on the way back to the Park and Ride.

Hard though the work was, several folks remarked on both the importance of the work and their desire to come back when the trail was complete and admire their handiwork. I know from talking to many course participants that this feeling is very common. Participants who are initially not too excited to get out and wield a polaski or saw can see immediate results after a day of hard work. This is an experience not often gained through the work most of us do for a living. For many of us, it may take months to see progress on a work project. Several of us have worked hard on work projects that end up getting scrapped and never come to fruition. Performing trail maintenance has both an immediate and long-term benefit. You can immediately feel a sense of accomplishment when that fallen tree is finally cleared from the trail. The long-term benefits are many, but the most obvious is contributing to the maintenance of trails that we all enjoy and that will hopefully still be there for all to enjoy after we are long gone.

Thank you for the work you have done or will do in the course of this summer to the maintenance of our trails. Together we will contribute over 60 volunteer days by the time we are done!

July & August Hike Signup

All July hikes are open for signup for more than two hikes. Feel free to take advantage of open spaces we have available in the hikes in your group.

Signup for the Cougar Flat Campout is also going well. There is still space available on the campout and most of the hikes.

If you end up only hiking, not camping this weekend, please be sure to communicate this with your hike leader so that they can arrange meeting times/places with you accordingly. One suggestion is to fill in the note section when you register for the hike that tells if and when you are camping (Friday, Saturday or both nights). But be sure to also email the hike leader and let them know your plans as well so there is no confusion about carpooling. If you are camping, I encourage you to use either the CHS Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/CHS2010) or the CHS Hikers Facebook page to see if others are interested in carpooling with you so we can cut down on the number of drivers and cars parked at the campground.

August hike descriptions will be coming out early this week. August hike signup will begin on Wednesday, August 21st.

CHS1:

7/12/10—Midweek Hike, Surprise & Glacier Lakes, Jan Davis & Sue Shih (11 miles, 2800’ gain)

7/16—Cougar Flat Campout: Union Creek Photography Hike, Steve Payne (6 miles, 1300’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/17—Cougar Flat Campout: Naches Peak/Sourdough Gap/Crystal Lakes, Steve Payne & Heidi Walker (12 miles, 2400’ gain)

7/17—Cougar Flat Campout: Berkeley Park/Grand Park, Shep Griswold (14 miles, 1800’ gain)

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Noble Knob, Barbara Folmer & Jan Pecoraro (7 miles, 800’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Summerland, Heidi Walker (8.5 miles, 2100’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Mt Fremont Lookout, Steve Payne & Shep Griswold (5.5 miles, 800’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/24—Harry’s Ridge/Coldwater Peak/South Coldwater Trail, Steve Payne (8.5 miles, 2300 ft gain) leader)

7/31/10—Navaho Peak, Gregg Pilgreen (13 miles, 4200’ gain). This will also count as a CHS2 hike but will be led at a CHS1 pace.

CHS2:

7/16—Cougar Flat Campout: Union Creek Photography Hike, Steve Payne (6 miles, 1300’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/17—Cougar Flat Campout: Indian Bar, Barbara Folmer (14.5 miles, 3700’ gain)

7/17—Cougar Flat Campout: Mt Aix, Kelly Cleman & Matt Cleman (12 miles, 4000’ gain)

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Noble Knob, Barbara Folmer & Jan Pecoraro (7 miles, 800’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Summerland, Heidi Walker (8.5 miles, 2100’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Mt Fremont Lookout, Steve Payne & Shep Griswold (5.5 miles, 800’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/25/10— Leavenworth Area Hiking Weekend: Snow & Nada Lakes, Christine Pratt & Steward Hougan (13.5 miles, 3900’ gain)

7/25/10— Leavenworth Area Hiking Weekend: Lake Stuart & Horseshoe Lake, Michale Kelly (13.5 miles, 3900’ gain)

7/31/10— Navaho Peak, Gregg Pilgreen (13 miles, 4200’ gain). This is a CHS1 level hike will also count as a CHS2 hike--it will be led at a CHS1 pace.

WTA Trail Maintenance Signup

If you haven’t already signed up for one of the several remaining trail maintenance trips with WTA, please do so soon, or you can schedule an outing on a non CHS trail maintenance trip with either WTA or some of the other outdoor organizations. Once you have completed your trail maintenance requirement, please email me to let me know what date you did it on as we keep track of this information for graduation purposes.

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs.

Have a great week and I look forward to hiking with each of you soon. Please contact me if you have any questions.

7/5/2010 Posting

I hope you are all still enjoying your holiday weekend!

I spent a very lovely 4^th of July weekend with several friends and my brother backpacking on the Eagle Creek trail on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge. While the weather wasn’t exactly sunny and warm the whole time, the rain only showed up a few times when we were heading into our camp on Friday morning; otherwise we were treated to partly sunny skies and moderate temperatures most of the weekend. We even had pretty good views of Mt Adams and Mt St Helens when we hit the top of Indian Mountain off of the Pacific Crest Trail.

I want to discuss a couple of safety issues on the trail this week. First, for trails where there are several junctions, it’s important to wait at all junctions for the whole group to catch up. This way, you know that everyone has taken the correct trail. Secondly, if for some reason you do miss a junction and are beginning to suspect that you’ve taken the wrong trail, then stop and assess the situation. Take out your map (remember why you bring a map?) and figure out if and where you could’ve possibly gone wrong. Take a look at your surroundings, do they look like what you should be encountering on the trail or if you’re heading back down, do you remember coming through this section? If you conclude that you’re not on the correct trail then head back down and figure out where you’ve gone wrong. Hopefully the rest of the group is waiting there for you. If you’re not sure if you are on the right trail, then wait to see if someone else in your group catches up with you. Do not continue to hike on a trail when all signs are telling you that you are not where you should be.

Also, do not be offended if your hike leader chooses to wait for you while you take a party separation. Hikers have been known to come back on the trail and take off in the wrong direction—leading to hours of frantic searching by the whole group. Your hike leader needs to know where you are and that you are not heading off in the wrong direction. You signed up to hike with a group this summer, so be mindful of responsibility you have when travelling with a group—group safety takes precedence over your autonomy.

Hike Leaders: be sure to give clear, proactive instructions on what your hikers should do at all junctions or if they’ve suspect they’ve gone down the wrong path. Be sure to require that everyone waits at all junctions.

CHS Hikers Facebook Group

You should have received an invitation by now to join the CHS Hikers group on Facebook. Steve has set this up to let us more easily stay in touch with CHS folks both past and present. We hope you find it useful. You will need to set up a Facebook account to access it. Let me know if you didn't get an invitation and we’ll send it out to you. This group is totally private and access is only allowed by invitation. Friends who have access to your Facebook Wall will not be able to see posts to this group.

July Hike Signup

All July hikes will be open for signup for more than two hikes starting on Wednesday, July 7^th. Feel free to take advantage of open spaces we have available in the hikes in your group.

Signup for the Cougar Flat Campout is also going well. There is still space available on the campout and most of the hikes. If you want to come on the campout, be sure to sign up before July 7^th. The Cougar Flat hikes will also open up to non-camping CHS hikers on July 7^th.

If you end up only hiking, not camping this weekend, please be sure to communicate this with your hike leader so that they can arrange meeting times/places with you accordingly. One suggestion is to fill in the note section when you register for the hike that tells if and when you are camping (Friday, Saturday or both nights). But be sure to also email the hike leader and let them know your plans as well so there is no confusion about carpooling. If you are camping, I encourage you to use either the CHS Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/CHS2010) or the CHS Hikers Facebook page to see if others are interested in carpooling with you so we can cut down on the number of drivers and cars parked at the campground.

CHS1:

7/11/10— Tired Creek to Pollalie Ridge, Barry Kellems (11 miles, 2600’ gain)

7/12/10—Midweek Hike, Surprise & Glacier Lakes, Jan Davis & Sue Shih (11 miles, 2800’ gain)

7/16—Cougar Flat Campout: Union Creek Photography Hike, Steve Payne (6 miles, 1300’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/17—Cougar Flat Campout: Naches Peak/Sourdough Gap/Crystal Lakes, Steve Payne & Heidi Walker (12 miles, 2400’ gain)

7/17—Cougar Flat Campout: Berkeley Park/Grand Park, Shep Griswold (14 miles, 1800’ gain)

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Noble Knob, Barbara Folmer & Jan Pecoraro (7 miles, 800’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Summerland, Heidi Walker (8.5 miles, 2100’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Mt Fremont Lookout, Steve Payne & Shep Griswold (5.5 miles, 800’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/31/10— Navaho Peak, Gregg Pilgreen (13 miles, 4200’ gain). This will also count as a CHS2 hike but will be led at a CHS1 pace.

CHS2:

7/10/10— Alpine Lookout via Merrit Lake, Deborah Dickstein & Bill Schecket (12-13 miles, 3200’ gain)

7/10/10— Indian Bar, Marion Bauman & Michale Kelly (14.5 miles, 3700’ gain)

7/16—Cougar Flat Campout: Union Creek Photography Hike, Steve Payne (6 miles, 1300’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/17—Cougar Flat Campout: Indian Bar, Barbara Foler (14.5 miles, 3700’ gain)

7/17—Cougar Flat Campout: Mt Aix, Kelly Cleman & Matt Cleman (12 miles, 4000’ gain)

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Noble Knob, Barbara Folmer & Jan Pecoraro (7 miles, 800’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Summerland, Heidi Walker (8.5 miles, 2100’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/18—Cougar Flat Campout: Mt Fremont Lookout, Steve Payne & Shep Griswold (5.5 miles, 800’ gain)—no CHS hike credit for this.

7/25/10— Leavenworth Area Hiking Weekend: Snow & Nada Lakes, Christine Pratt & Steward Hougan (13.5 miles, 3900’ gain)

7/25/10— Leavenworth Area Hiking Weekend: Lake Stuart & Horseshoe Lake, Michale Kelly (13.5 miles, 3900’ gain)

7/31/10— Navaho Peak, Gregg Pilgreen (13 miles, 4200’ gain). This is a CHS1 level hike will also count as a CHS2 hike--it will be led at a CHS1 pace.

WTA Trail Maintenance Signup

If you haven’t already signed up for one of the several remaining trail maintenance trips with WTA, please do so soon, or you can schedule an outing on a non CHS trail maintenance trip with either WTA or some of the other outdoor organizations. Once you have completed your trail maintenance requirement, please email me to let me know what date you did it on as we keep track of this information for graduation purposes.

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view. You can access the picture site through the CHS Web Site or directly by going to http://picasaweb.google.com/hiker.chs.

Have a great week and I look forward to hiking with each of you soon. Please contact me if you have any questions.