Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Route: Hex Mountain (Central Cascades)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead:  Snoqualmie Region -- Salmon La Sac/Teanaway Hex Mountain (#1343)  Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Cle Elum Ranger District
  • Co-ordinates: 47.2850, -121.0914
  • Address:  Snoqualmie Region -- Salmon La Sac/Teanaway
  • Elevation: 2400ft 
  • Pass: Northwest Forest Pass
  • Directions: I-90 - State Highway 903/Salmon La Sac Road
  • More direction: 
    • 1. Firehouse at 11.2 miles from roundabout where Bullfrog Rd meets 903 and you take 903 north / Salmon La Sac rd. The firehouse will be on your right in the direction you are going (North) and just before a small brown sign saying "Newport Creek". 
    • 2. On the left side of the road across from the firehouse is the single car parking. 
    • 3. (Note: I had trouble with waypoints so it looks like there are two on top of each other here). To get to the start of FS 116 (the main logging road), walk North on Salmon La Sac road about 200 ft to the first maintained / plowed road going off to the right. It is the second road on the right after the Newport Creek sign and has big orange signs saying "Logging Trucks Only". 
    • 4. Location of the old road grader with the "Hey Boys" sign scrawled into it. As previous posters mentioned, you actually need to stay on the main logging road here. 
    • 5. Turnoff to unmaintained, old logging road after a small turnout with single pine tree. 
    • 6. Turnoff to the summer trail at sign "Hex Mountain Trail 1343". 
  • Weather forecast
  • Avalanche danger forecast

Route Information: (Choose the easiest one or the winter route if there are multiple routes)

Misc 

Posted by at No comments:

Monday, January 23, 2017

A Team Policies

We, the A Team (Alpine climbing team), are amateurs and enthusiasts who are interested in off-trail traveling, scrambling, and climbing.

Expectations

Hiking, scrambling, and climbing are dangerous in nature. Life is good. The safety of a trip relies on both individual capability/skills and collective effort from all team members. As a result, it is required that.
  • Team member must sign the wavier before participating our team activities. 
  • Team member must read and study the route information provided by the leader for a trip and use his/her own judgment to decide whether he/she wants to participate or not.
  • Team member must be responsible for his/her own safety and must speak out if the route or other conditions are not in his/her comfort zone. 
  • "Come home safely" must be the first priority and turn-back is always an option. 
  • Team member must be a team player and help each other along the route.
  • Team member must respect other team members' privacy when sharing pictures and videos with outsiders.
It is also expected that.
  • Team member should have good physical fitness and conditioning, for example, has no trouble to hike up Mailbox Peak old trail in 2 hours and 30 minutes or less in normal trail condition.
  • Team member should be comfortable with class 3 scrambling.
  • Team member should keep improving his/her skills such as route planning, navigation, ice axe, rope, avalanche awareness, first aid, and rescue techniques. 
  • Team member should read the book "Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 8th Edition" at least once to get to know the basic mountaineering knowledge.
  • Team member should be committed to be active in the team. Inactive members for a half year will be removed from our web chat group. 
  • Team members should keep the same pace and keep in sight of each other on a trip unless the route is a well-traveled regular trail.
  • Team member should be on time for the trip and leave trip itinerary with your family or a responsible person.
  • Team member should provide an emergent contact phone number so that a Standby member, i.e., one person from our team who does not participate in the trip, could keep track of the team trip progress and call the search/rescue team and the appropriate emergent contacts if necessary.
  • The team is managed by senior team members collectively. Senior and experienced members should take turn to lead the team for different trips. 
  • Team leader should provide detailed route information including weather and avalanche danger, emergent plan, and turn-back time to all team members before a trip. 

Equipment

Please bring 10 essentials and other required items.
  • Winter:
    • Required: extra clothing, headlamp, firestarter/matches, pocket knife, food, water, trekking poles, ice axe, microspikes, helmet, boots, gaiters, sunglasses, sunscreen, Gaia GPS or other GPS apps, emergent blanket.
    • Recommended: crampons, snowshoes, Rope Cordelette,  Carabiners, Harness, Compass, radio, first aid suppliers, emergency bivy.
  • Summer:
    • Required: extra clothing, headlamp, firestarter/matches, pocket knife, food, water, trekking poles, helmet, boots, sunglasses, sunscreen, Gaia GPS or other GPS apps, emergent blankets.
    • Recommended: Rope Cordelette, Carabiners, Harness, Compass, radio, first aid suppliers, emergency bivy. 
Apart from the above, as a team, some members (usually the trip leader) must carry ropes, first aid suppliers, emergent blankets, and other tools if required by the route.

Route Planning and Navigation

For each trip, a leader is responsible for the following tasks.
  • Collect route information.
  • Create a caltopo route and export it as a GPX file for GPS applications.
  • Update team members with weather, avalanche danger, and other route information in advance.
  • Provide emergent plan and turn-back time to team members.
  • Designate a Standby member to check team progress on the trip.
  • Be responsible for the navigation of the route.

External Members

Our off-trail trips are usually more strenuous with much higher danger, as a result, we don't expect to invite external members to travel with us. However, we also do regular hiking from time to time and we accept external members for regular hikes.

GAS Sharing

It is expected that each member shares the driving responsibility and gas cost.
  • When external folks ride with us for regular trails. We will charge $5 for hiking within 1 hour round-trip driving and $10 for 2 hours,.... This will be included in trip announcement.
  • Gas share using the formula: c = R/25 * 3 * f /n, where c is the shared gas fee for everyone in the car including the driver, R is round trip miles, 25 is the average MPG, 3 is the gas cost per gallon, f is a factor. If there are three or less people in the car, we use f=1.5 and f=2 otherwise. Finally, n is the number of total people in the car. As a result, a ride needs to pay c and the driver earns (n-1)*c.  We will do bookkeeping for the cost and calculate the cost distribution among team members and pay the cost every three months.
  • Every time, the mileage will be recorded and aggregated for a driver and will be used to decide who will take a turn to drive for the next trip.
  • If a team member rides with an external member, please use the external policy for gas sharing. 

 
Posted by at No comments:

2017 Homework Two: Basic Climbing Knots

Purpose 

  • Learn how to tie basic climbing knots
  • Learn how to pull people up using a rope
  • Learn how to tie to a rope so that you could be pulled up by your teammate
  • Prepare for rope team

What do you need?

You can start to practice knots with any rope. However, the following items are recommended. You could carry them with you whenever we hike or climb.
  • 5mm-7mm Rope Cordelette from Amazon or REI.
  • One or Two Locking Carabiners from REI. 
  • Buy a Prusik Cord Set from REI or cut a piece of rope from the cordelette and use double fisherman's knot to create a Prusik loop.

Knots 

If you are interested in more basic climbing knots, please watch the SMC seminar: fundamental knots.

 Use cases

  • Use bowline to tie your body to a rope so that you could be pulled up by your teammate
  • Use one handed bowline to tie your body to a rope when you only have one hand free in some scenarios.
  • Use Swiss Seat (square knot will be used) as a harness and use a locking carabiner to tie in a rope
  • Use figure-8 (on the end of a rope) or butterfly (in the middle of a rope) to tie in a rope
  • Use double fisherman's knot to tie two ropes/cordelettes together
  • Use double fisherman's knot to build a Prusik loop.
  • Use prusik knot to prevent you from slipping out a rope with overhand knots on the end of the rope
  • Use prusik knot (two are preferred) to climb up a rope if the ground is too difficult to climb, for example, very soft snow.
 
Posted by at No comments:

Route: The Brothers (Olympic National Forrest)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead:  Lena Lake Trailhead
  • Co-ordinates: 47.5997, -123.1512
  • Address:  N Hamma Hamma Rd, Hoodsport, WA 98548
  • Elevation:  650 ft
  • Pass:  Northwest Forest Pass
  • Directions: (From WTA) "From Hoodsport, drive travel north on Hwy 101 for 14 miles. Make a left onto Hamma Hamma River Road at milepost 318. Continue for 7.5 paved miles to the trailhead. A privy is available at the large trailhead, that can accomodate 30 cars. Keep in mind that the parking flanks an active road, so if you must park across the road from the trailhead, look both ways before crossing!"

Route Information:

  • Gain: 6042 ft
  • Round Trip: 16 miles
  • Difficulty: Physically most difficult, technically difficult
  • Season: May to October
  • Source: https://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=HGW230-074
  • Existing tracks: http://www.peakbagger.com/climber/GPXFile.aspx?aid=646347&sep=1
  • Related Trip Report: http://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=646347
  • Caltopo Route: http://caltopo.com/m/S07B (Imported track and haven't created a new route yet. It is not a good example without breaking the route into sections, will fix it later) 
  • Approach: 
    • Begin at the trailhead at 650ft and hike north on Lena lake trail 810 up to and around the west side of Lena Lake. Pass the junction with Upper Lena Lake trail 811 to the left, cross Lena Creek, and enter the Brothers Wilderness at the east side of the lake. Continue up East Fork Lena Creek through the Valley of the Silent Men on The Brothers Trail 821. At 6 miles from the trailhead, reach the Lena Forks Camp at the final creek crossing and the end of the maintained trail at 3000ft. You can find a camp nearby at the intersection of two streams. 
  • Ascend: 
    • Follow a boot tread west along the north side of the creek that drains the south ridge of the Brothers. After a half mile, turn right (north) to go up an avalanche area and an area of burned-out forest before entering the gully and stream-bed directly below the low point on the south ridge. The way may be difficult to find here. In early season, go up on snow or in later season on rocks, which may be marked by tape and cairns, crossing back and forth over the creek. Scramble up the gully on the left. 
    • In the second meadow at a gigantic boulder at 5000ft, go east by following rock ledges and scrambling on loose scree to an open, rocky slope. You may be able to travel on snow for sections in early season. Scramble about 200 yards and then bear left into the narrow upper couloir, The Hourglass. The last 500ft of snow can be steep and hard. When you are heading into snow in shadow, put on your crampons before you get there, as it may be difficult to do once you are on the icy slope. You can go around the Hourglass by going right up snow slopes or rock to the main shoulder next to the upper chute. Scramble up to about 6000ft, where the gully opens up.
    • From about 200ft below the summit, you can take several routes. One is a steep snowfield to the right, which leads to an easy scramble to the summit from the east. You can also look for a notch before you reach the saddle, with the summit to the right. Pass through the notch and scramble the last 200ft on loose rock to the summit (6842ft)
  • Descend: Retrace your steps to the trailhead 

Misc 

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Route: Mailbox Peak - Dirtybox Peak - Granite Lakes Traverse (I-90 Corridor)

Mountain Information:

  Mailbox Peak

Dirtybox Peak

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead:  Mailbox Peak Trailhead
  • Co-ordinates: 47.4666302,-121.6747634
  • Address: North Bend, WA 98045
  • Elevation: 800 ft
  • Pass:  Discover Pass
  • Directions: "Take exit 34 from I-90. Head north on 468th Ave SE for approximately half a mile until the intersection with the SE Middle Fork Road. Turn right onto the Middle Fork Road. Follow SE Middle Fork Road 2.2 miles to the stop sign at the junction with SE Dorothy Lake Road. Head left onto SE Middle Fork Road and drive .3 miles. Take the turnoff to the trailhead on the right and continue a short distance to the parking lot."
  • Weather forecast
  • Avalanche danger forecast

Route Information:

Misc 

  • Videos: 
  • Other Links: 
  • Notes: 
    • A more ambitious route is Mailbox-Dirtybox-Dirty Harry traverse as described in this report.
    • As described in the summitpost page: "There are three variations of following the West Defiance Ridge from Mailbox Peak to Dirtybox Peak. One variation of the route follows the north/northeast side of the ridgeline. Another variation of the route basically follows the crest of the ridgeline between the two peaks. The third variation of the route follows the south/southwest side of the ridgeline."
    • During winter, the north/northeast route is preferred: "During snowy traverses, following the gully on the north/northeast side of the ridge to the Dirtybox summit is most recommended and is YDS Class II. In contrast, following the crest of the ridgeline or the south/southwest side of the ridgeline alternate between YDS Class II and Class III (scrambling), have high exposures to avalanche dangers and rockslides, cornices to avoid (crest variation only), and might require technical climbing in places." The route is as follows: "If planning to follow the north/northeast side of the West Defiance Ridge to Dirtybox Peak, hike around the northwest (left) base of the first talus slope (~4600' elevation) of Mailbox Peak and circle around the north side of the mountain until below the east side of the summit."
    • The above is proved by the most recent nwhiker.net report. The report stated: "We kept our microspikes on as we headed down the north ridge of Mailbox. About 150 ft below the top we changed into snowshoes which worked well. We continued down the north ridge for about another 50 ft where we started our traverse over to Garcia (Dirtybox). The map and an old report indicated a route between Mailbox and Garcia staying about 200 ft below the ridge between Mailbox and Garcia. As soon as we got off the north ridge we were breaking trail through the really nice snow we’ve been seeing this year. The views on the traverse looking north and east were really good! We traversed over to the northwest side of Garcia and went through trees up to the west ridge which we followed just a short distance to the summit. The ridge was really beautiful with some big old growth trees and small openings with southern views. The summit of Garcia had some trees blocking the north and northeast  views, but the south and west/southwest views were spectacular!". The path (#8) is drawn based on the above description. But some details are not very clear and we may need to update the route based on the snow condition.
    • During summer, the ridgeline route is recommended. "During summer (non-snowy) traverses, following the crest of the ridgeline to the Dirtybox summit is most recommended because a faint dirt trail is exposed during much of the ridgeline despite still having both YDS Class II and Class III sections. In contrast, following the gully on the north/northeast side of the ridge would be a forested bushwhack, and following the south/southwest side of the ridgeline would be a steep bushwhack with exposure to rockslides." 
    • Trekking poles are highly advised for all seasons. An ice axe is highly advised for snowy traverses.
  • Topo maps: printouts
Posted by at No comments:

Route: Dirty Harry's Peak and Web Mountain (I-90 Corridor)

Mountain Information:

 Dirty Harry's Peak

Web Mountain

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead:  Dirty Harry's Balcony - Trailhead
  • Co-ordinates: 47.4313276,-121.6345487
  • Address: North Bend, WA 98045
  • Elevation: 1200 ft
  • Pass:  Discover Pass
  • Directions: "From Seattle drive east on I-90 and take exit 38, SE Homestead Valley Road. Turn right and follow the signs to "State Fire Training Center,” driving 1.8 miles. This will lead you to an intersection. Turn left to go under the freeway. 0.2 mile later, come to a gate. This gate is well marked: "Locked after 4 pm daily." Do not risk getting locked in (there are hefty fines), and park just outside this gate"
  • Weather forecast
  • Avalanche danger forecast

Route Information:

Misc 

  • Videos: 
  • Other Links: 
  • Notes: 
    • Web Mountain is usually climbed via P3, for example, this report and the GPS track.
    • Optional route (#8 Ridge via Coincidence Point): the Upper Granite Pond could be reached from the Coincidence Point ( 1302 m / 4272 ft). For example, this report, GPS track, and Flick photos.
    • Web Mountain can be ascended from Dirty Harry's Trail (#7 Path to Web MT). For example, this report described as follows. "We parked at the trailhead for Dirty Harry's Peak, on the north side of Exit 38, and headed up the paved road that leads to a fire training area. After less than a mile we headed right up Dirty Harry's road-trail. Around 3,500' the trail fork at the bottom of a talus field, the route to Dirty Harry's Peak goes left and our route was straight ahead. The trail countoured below the talus field as it headed ENE toward a small tarn at 4,353', Greentrails maps show this trail to the tarn. From the tarn we followed a flagged path ESE up the basin that is west of Web Mountain. Because of snow on the north side of the ridge, we stayed in the basin instead of taking the ridge and ascended on a talus field to the summit. This was a surprisingly brush-free and aesthetic route. For an after-hours trip it was fairly ambitious, we got back to the cars at 11:30 PM". This route is included in this Dirty-Web-Putrid Loop GPS track and another GPS track. But need to check avalanche danger.
    • The midforkrock map shows a ridge path from Web Mountain down to Dirty Harry's Trail (#9 Ridge down Web MT). But it may be dangerous in winter due to unstable snow and cornices.
  • Topo maps: printouts
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Route: Stegosaurus Butte aka ChoirBoy (Middle fork Snoqualmie)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead:  Middle Fork trailhead
  • Co-ordinates: 47.547879, -121.536590
  • Address: NFD 5600 Road, North Bend, WA 98045
  • Elevation:   930 ft
  • Pass:  Northwest Forest Pass
  • Directions: "From Seattle, drive east on I-90 to exit 34 (Edgewick Road). Turn left (north) onto 468th Street and follow it to the junction with the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road (Forest Road 56). Turn right and continue up the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road for 11.8 miles to the Middle Fork trailhead parking area on the right."

Route Information: West Ridge

Misc 

  • Videos: 
  • Other Links: 
  • Notes: 
    • From report: "We followed a faint bootpath along the top of the ridge which became more clear as we climbed. About halfway up we were treated to stunning view of Mount Garfield mostly covered in snow. Near the top Mount Bessemer and part of Preacher Mountain appeared."
  • Topo maps: printouts
Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Route: Dixie Peak (Middle fork Snoqualmie)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead:  Mount Teneriffe Trailhead
  • Co-ordinates: 47.486090, -121.700933
  •  Address: Mount Teneriffe Rd, North Bend, WA 98045
  • Elevation:  800ft
  • Pass: Discover Pass
  • Directions: "From I-90, take exit 32 (436th Avenue SE). Turn left (north) over the freeway and drive 0.5 miles to SE North Bend Way. Turn left (west), and in 0.25 mile turn right (north) on SE Mt Si Road. In approximately 3.5 miles (past the Little Si and Mt Si trailheads), you will reach a small parking area on the left (directly across from 480th Ave)."

Route Information:

Misc 

  • Videos: 
  • Other Links: 
  • Notes: 
    • The route could be cut short if go through the Mount SI - MT Teneriffe connector trail as described in this meetup (but better to stay on ridges when snow is not stable) and skip the mount SI peak. We could also put two cars on both Mount SI and Mount Teneriffe trailheads to skip the walking on road. If we skip mount SI peak and the road, the round trip will be 12 miles.
    • Here it was recommended: "Be sure to go to the north summit as well. Going in winter or spring is recommended as some reports show heavy brush in summer."
    • Alternative route one, Dixie Peak via MT SI Trail, http://caltopo.com/m/61A5, RT 12.6 miles
    • Alternative route two, Dixie Peak via MT Teneriffe Trail, http://caltopo.com/m/EKCS, RT 12.8 miles
  • Topo maps: printouts
Posted by at No comments:

Route: Revolution Peak (Middle fork Snoqualmie)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

a) Shortcut Trailhead

  • Trailhead:  Shortcut Trailhead
  • Co-ordinates: 47.4939, -121.6416
  • Address:  shortly before milepost 4.2 and the concrete bridge down the MF road as described in this report.
  • Elevation:  800ft
  • Pass: Discover Pass
  • Directions: "Take exit 34 off of I-90. Go north on 468th Ave for about 0.4 miles. Go right onto SE Middle Fork Road. This TH is a couple of miles further down the MF road than the traditional Granite Creek TH and cuts off about 3 miles roundtrip--beautiful path to hike as well. Trail starts on the overgrown road to your right shortly before milepost 4.2 and the concrete bridge."

 b) Mailbox Peak Trailhead

  • Trailhead:  Mailbox Peak Trailhead
  • Co-ordinates: 47.466671, -121.674574
  • Address: 49515 SE Lake Dorothy Rd, North Bend, WA 98045
  • Elevation:  800ft
  • Pass: Discover Pass
  • Directions: "Take exit 34 off of I-90. Go north on 468th Ave for about 0.4 miles. Go right onto SE Middle Fork Road. Follow this road 2.5 miles (3 miles from exit 34). Here, the Mailbox Peak trailhead is to the right. Park here or continue 0.1 mile further to the blue DNR gate where there is room for about 2 cars. This gated road is the start of the route up Revolution Peak."

Route Information:

Misc 

  • Videos: 
  • Other Links: 
  • Notes: 
    • The path from the shortcut trailhead (1(a)):  
      • RT 11.50 miles to the private cabin
      • RT 11.88 miles to Thompson Pt (Pt 5124) 
      • RT 13.16 miles to Revolution Peak (Pt 5454)  
    • The path from the Mailbox trailhead (1(b)) will add about 3 more RT miles:
      • RT 15.22 miles to the private cabin
      • RT 15.60 miles to Thompson Pt (Pt 5124)
      • RT 16.88 miles to Revolution Peak (Pt 5454)
  • Topo maps: printouts
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, January 6, 2017

Snow Travel Skills

Tutorial Videos

Articles & Posts

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Route: Quartz Mountain (Middle fork Snoqualmie)

Mountain Information:

Driving Directions:

  • Trailhead:  No offical Trailhead. Park at the beginning of the CCC trail
  • Co-ordinates: 47°32'14", -121°34'32"
  • Address: NF-5600, North Bend, WA 98045
  • Elevation:   about 1000ft
  • Pass:  Northwest Forest Pass
  • Directions: From Interstate 90 take Exit 34, turn left under the freeway, pass Seattle East Auto Truck Plaza, turn right on Middle Fork Road, and drive about 9 miles and park off to the road just after a rocky outcropping. Anywhere in the next mile is fine as well. If you hit the Middle Fork Trailhead, you went too far. Another starting point is at Road 120, at 9.8 miles. Drive in on this road as far as you can, then walk it, eventually hitting the old CCC road (now trail).

Route Information: SW Ridge

Misc 

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)