Camping up at the Quartz Mountain Fire Lookout. We hiked over to Horse Mountain and drank and played frisbee till the sun went down. Here’s Ken keeping the sun up for us a little bit longer.
Huckleberry’s & Camping
Some of you might know that I do all the design work for Huckleberry’s Natural Market. It’s work that I thoroughly enjoy. They’re a great company with a great mission:
“to produce for and provide our customers with the best tasting, most healthful food possible and to pledge a commitment to social and environmental responsibility.“
Today’s ad (above) features a photo I took years ago on a backpacking trip with my friend James. Nothing pleases me more than getting to use some of my adventure photography for commercial use (insert comment about selling out as an artist here), and then bragging about it on my website!
James and I were camped at a little lake for a couple of days before we decided to spend the last night up on the ridge. We hauled everything (including a few gallons of water) up to a great meadow on the ridge and made camp. The views were beautiful and we could see for miles. It was different camping up high on a ridge vs. by a lake in a valley. We had no access to water and we were severely exposed to incoming weather.
Late that afternoon we noticed very dark and ominous clouds approaching our location. We gathered as much firewood as we could to prepare for rain. We burned all of it waiting for the storm, then we called it a night. Half an hour later we had access to fresh running water in the form of a stream running through James’ tent. Thunder and lighting was cracking and flashing all around us. The sound of the wind and rain was like a freight train. A few hours into it I had to go to the bathroom. I was a little worried to leave the “safety” of my tent, but when nature calls you answer. I only walked a few feet away from my tent because the visibility was almost zero. I turned around to look at my tent and I could barely make it out in the “fog”. We were literally inside of a thunderhead cloud. The moisture was thick as smoke. I took a leak quickly and hurried back to my tent. The rest of the night was spent sleeping lightly in between loud thunder claps.
It was still raining the next morning. We somehow managed to get a fire going using James’ wet wood fire starting skills. The fire was nice but nothing could dry us out in that rain. We solemnly packed up all of our wet gear and bushwacked our way down the mountain for hours in the rain. 10 years later I scanned in some old backpacking photos and put one in a natural market ad. Totally worth it.
Winterwalk
Oh boy, we’re goin’ on a hike!
360° Panorama • Leigh Lake • Snowshoe Peak
Click to embiggen
This was my dog Snow’s first backpacking trip and she was so excited she barely laid down the entire drive! I have been training her with a dog backpack and every time I get it out she goes nuts. “Oh boy, we’re goin’ on a hike!”. Little did she know that it was an over-nighter in Big Sky Country. Montana!
I’ve been all over the Cabinet Mountains but had never been to Leigh Lake. I’ve summited Snowshoe Peak several times and looked down on the 2nd largest lake in the Cabinets, but never actually stood on it’s shores. It has a very short (but steep) 1 mile trail to get to it, which has always turned me off. Generally the shorter the hike, the more people you’ll see – not my cup of tea.
Leigh Lake Falls covered in snow.
With this season’s massive snowpack there was a definite possibility that we might not even be able to drive all the way to the trial head. We just figured it would keep a lot of people out and create a little more solitude (bonus). After a little pre-planning I got out of work early last Friday, grabbed my gear, grabbed my dog, picked up Jon and headed to Montana.
It turns out we were able to drive all the way to the trailhead. The hike itself was pretty easy until the last quarter mile. We had to negotiate snowfields, raging waterfalls and some light scrambling. The entire lake was still frozen over and there were very few spots to put a tent down without being on the snow. Avalanches rumbling off of Snowshoe Peak were frequent and amazing. Nearly our entire time there was spent taking pictures and watching the avalanches.
My home for the weekend.
While we were there a local photographer, Bob Hosea, hiked up for the day. He stayed for a few hours and we chatted with him a bit. He gave me his business card and once I got home I emailed him. He sent me a few of the photos he took that day and they were incredible. How lucky is he to live so close to such a great area?
I finally wore her out.
As for my dog, Snow, she did great. She carried all of her own stuff and probably ran about 200 miles in total. When we got home she slept for three days. I’m pretty sure she had fun.
Snowshoe Peak Panorama
Click to embiggen
Buyin’ Some Boots or: A Snowy Scotchman Summit
I have been desperately needing new hiking boots this entire year, but have been unable to find a suitable replacement that fit my exacting criteria: affordable, full leather uppers, on sale, waterproof, sturdy, cheap, and comfortable. I basically wanted my old, worn out, nearly destroyed boots to be new again so I wouldn’t have to buy boots that I would end up hating.
When Ken and Mandala invited John and I to join them on a hike up Scotchman Peak I knew there was going to be snow, and I knew I had to get new boots. And fast. It was Thursday when I got the call so I had to find boots Friday or risk having frozen, wet feet. White’s Boots to the rescue! Having exhausted all my other boot buying options on previous shopping trips, White’s Boots was the only store I hadn’t tried. I had never been there before, so I wasn’t sure what I would find. Well, Jackpot! They had the exact same brand and model of my old boot on clearance. And on the shelf, right above it, a leather Scarpa mountaineering boot for 70% Off. I tried them both on and went with the Scarpa.
6am Saturday morning I picked John up at his new apartment in Brown’s Addition (nice place John!) and we drove to Coeur d’Alene to meet Ken and Mandala. After an uneventful drive we arrived at the trailhead and started hiking around 9:30am. Ken had reminded us about hunting season the night before, so John and I had some hunter orange vests on so we wouldn’t get shot by any hunters.
The trail itself starts out steeply before finally settling down with a series of switchbacks. We hit the snow early on in the hike, and my new boots were working great so far. After a couple miles we ran into some hunters that weren’t having any luck. Orange vests to the rescue. We continued on and the snow kept getting deeper. At a certain point the the forest opens up and the trail switchbacks several times through a treeless hillside, exposing you to either great views or finicky mountain weather. We picked a rather snow-stormy day and had to forge through the exposed open slope with wind and snow blasting us the whole way. Back into the woods for a while before the peak opened up to an exposed mountain top. The snow depth varied from just an inch or two in the windiest spots, to a couple feet deep.
John, being the fastest hiker, led us competently up the snow and rime covered rocky mountain top in a mild snowstorm. Visibility was poor to say the least. Every once in a while John would proudly stand atop a false summit looking back at me and yell “Is this it?”. I had climbed this peak several years ago, so in these near whiteout conditions I had to determine whether we were really on summit or if we had to keep going.
Yes. Finally! We made it. There’s a little rock wall wind shelter and remnants of the old fire lookout on the summit, so it’s a dead giveaway even in a snowstorm. We didn’t stay on the summit long as there wasn’t much to see and it was kinda cold. I didn’t get a lot of pictures either because of the weather, but we had a great time. It was great to hang out with John, Ken and Mandala again. My new boots were awesome – no blisters, no hotspots, warm and dry. Afterward we drove through Sandpoint and had an early dinner at MickDuff’s Brewery – which is becoming a nice tradition for post-climb grub. Two words: Gorgonzola Fries.
Chimney Rock
This famous local formation is one of my favorite places. Part of the incredible Selkirk Crest and visible from Priest Lake it rises 400 or so feet above the ridge it sits on.
Chimney Rock was my first traditional multi-pitch climb. That first time, we backpacked in the long way (6 miles vs. 3) from the East along the pack river trail. A memorable trip to say the least. Future trips have always been made from the Priest Lake side. Even though you hike up and over Mt. Roothaan on this route it is still much shorter. So far I’ve only climbed the Standard Route three times and a weird variation of the Rappel Chimney Route once – level II, trad 5.4 & 5.7 respectively.
This past June of 2010 we hiked in from the West side. The entire 3 mile approach was snow. It was a gloriously sunny day though, and we climbed the rock with no problems. Climbing the face surrounded by the basins and peaks covered in snow made that climb pretty special.
Engle Peak
Backpacked up to Engle Lake with Jon on Friday. It never rained hard but we were soaked the whole time. 100% humidity. We were literally in the water soaked clouds the entire time. Once at the lake we did manage to get a great campfire going, which helped dry out our boots. Later that night I asked Jon to be a groomsman in my wedding. He accepted. Five more to go.
On Saturday morning we decided to pack up because it didn’t look like the weather was going to change. We hiked up to the summit of Engle Peak and back down in very cloudy and rainy conditions on our way out. No decent views from the top. Just wind and clouds. We were soaked.
Overall it was a fun trip. I definitely want to go back in better weather.