Foursquare Mountaineering

Mt. Adams, North Ridge 6-28-09

The Northwest side of Adams as seen from our high camp. The North Ridge is the one on the left edge of this photo. Our camp for this climb was at 6,900' and had running water!

Emily, Tania and Mark heading up the lower snowfields towards the ridge.

A small lake at 7,500'.

The upper part of the North Ridge.

Tania crossing over the ridge.

Taking a break, having a snack and staying hydrated.

Jason climbing a unique lava formation near 10,000'.

Ascending some scree high on the ridge.

We all made it to the top under clear skies. Doug, Mark, Tania, Emily and Jason. Congratulations to the 3 newcomers.

Tania descending beside the lava formation.

A couple of mountain goats at home on the colorful slopes.

It was nice to finally climb a different route on this mountain. The terrain, greenery and wildlife made it seem like it was a different mountain altogether.

Mt. Si 6-13-09

Mt. Si is the big hill, with the rocky top, right behind North Bend. For the most part, it is a hike on a dirt trail in the shade of tall evergreens. There is an inviting feature at the top called the Haystack. It consists of a few hundred feet of easy rock scrambling. It is fun to weave your own route to the top. For some reason it seems steeper on the way down.

The clouds rolled in as we reached the top. Pictured are: Dennis, Sabrina, Dave, Cody, Doug, Bethany, Danielle and Jim.

Mt. Rainier, Ptarmigan Ridge 5-30-09

The plan was for Mike and Jonathan to climb the Emmons Glacier, while Mark and Doug climbed Ptarmigan Ridge. Things did not exactly work out. The weather was too warm and the snow was too soft. The going was OK for Mike and Jonathan until they got to the steep part of the Inter Glacier. There was no boot track and they started to sink up to their knees with every step. Making progress up a steep slope, with a heavy pack, in knee deep snow is extremely difficult. This put an end to their climb.

Mark and Doug had a long traverse, in soft snow, around to Ptarmigan Ridge. We had hoped to get to the 10,300' level on the ridge on the first day, but instead had to camp on the West side of the Carbon Glacier on the first night. We would make it to the 10,300' bivy the next day. This photo shows the Carbon Glacier with Ptarmigan Ridge in the distance.

The actual climb would have started on the lower right side of this picture and gone up and to the left.

The Liberty Cap Glacier and The upper part of Ptarmigan Ridge. There are 2 popular options once you reach the buttress at the top right of this photo. One is to go right below the buttress. We were leaning toward the other option, which is to take a left and find a path on the glacier. While we were killing time at high camp, we heard a loud noise, looked up and saw an avalanche. A huge block of ice had calved off of the LC Glacier and swept right through a large part of the route that we might have been on if our progress had been better! We spent the rest of the day napping and watching climbers on Liberty Ridge make slow progress. One group took 8 hours to climb a section that should have taken 2-3 hours. Between the ice-fall danger and slow going on steep snow, we decided to bail out on the climb.

We got up at midnight hoping that the snow would be firmer at night. It was better, but still pretty soft. The sun rose as we approached St. Elmo's Pass and we got to the car in time for breakfast. Maybe next time. :(

Mt. Hood 5-17-09

Mike and Dennis starting up Mt. Hood going by the jumps at Timberline.

Our campsite and an awesome sunset behind Illumination Rock.

Dozens of climbers on the Hogsback and others traversing to the Old Crater Variation. There was a lot of falling ice on the mountain this weekend. Two climbers were seriously injured and many others had minor injuries. Dennis and I made it part way up the Hogsback when we saw a guy with a bloody face. He had been hit by ice. There was a definite need for speed if we were going to cross the shooting gallery. Dennis and a lot of other climbers called it good at the Hogsback. As I reached the traverse, I decided that I did not want to be trapped behind a bunch of slow moving climbers, so I opted for the Pearly Gates instead.

The Pearly Gates were not being used very much due to their steep, icy condition. I figured it was safer than spending 30 minutes in a shooting gallery. Everything went well until I stopped to take some pictures. Wouldn't you know it, I got smacked in the knee with a chunk of ice while I was taking pictures! I knew better.

I topped out, took some pictures and then turned to head down with the crowds. I discovered that while I was on the top, a guy had fallen off the traverse and tumbled 500'. He was seriously injured and had to be hauled off the mountain. Dennis had already broke camp and we had a nice descent in perfect snow.

Mt. Stuart, West Ridge 9-13-08

We finally climbed the West Ridge of Mt. Stuart. It ended up being our last big climb of the year. Mark and Doug were the only two climbers. Since it was going to be a one day climb, we got up early and left Yakima at 3:00am and hit the trail at 5:00am. Our plan was to go light and fast. To accomplish this we decided to climb it without a rope. The forecast was good, so we were able to go light on clothing too. We made good time up to Ingalls Pass and then on to Ingalls Lake. After the lake we walked up a ridge and across a rockslide to get to the base of the climb.

We started climbing at 8:00am. The going was real easy and fun. My daughters would have had a ball climbing this lower section.

Glacier Peak in the background.

The West Ridge.

It turned out that we would not have used a rope if we had one. Most of the climbing was real easy. There were only two short sections that required any rock climbing skill and these were in safe areas.

We made it to the top at 11:00am in perfect weather. After spending about an hour there, we started the long descent, followed by the ascent up to Longs Pass and the descent to the parking lot. We got back to the car at 3:30pm and home in time for dinner. Thanks Mark, for leading the funnest rock climb I have ever done. I especially enjoyed the freedom of going light and only carrying items that we knew we would use. It was a great day exploring a special part of God's creation.