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.