After being destroyed by a fire, Ferguson’s Cafe on Garland Ave is getting very close to opening back up. Can’t wait.
Grand Cayman Island Honeymoon
Grand Cayman Island. British West Indies. Drive on the left. Watch out for Iguanas. Kiss a stingray. Drink a lot.
Reception Photobooth
We had a photobooth at our wedding reception. Our guests could put on all kinds of fun hats, gloves, feather boas, and other fun accessories. Once they came out they got two prints, one to keep and another to put in a photobook – which served as our guestbook. Fun times were had by all!
One Month
Today marks one month until I marry the love of my life, Sara. I thought it would be a good time to post this photo-mosaic of our wedding logo using pictures of the two of us. I plan on printing this out about four feet tall so we can put it above our mantle. I hope it will be something special we can look at for years to come.
The mosaic itself is 40 tiles x 40 tiles for a total of 1,600. I only used about 200 different images, so each one is repeated several times. I even snuck a few pictures of our cats and dog.
That’s all for now. After the wedding I will post all of the great wedding collateral I created – save-the-dates, invitations, programs, thank you notes, etc. Until then, wish us luck!
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
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.
Engagement Photos!
Last Thursday Sara and I had a great afternoon posing for engagement photos with Ifong Chen. She has such a great eye. We live in the Garland District in Spokane so we wanted to take these pictures there and I think they turned out awesome. Feel free to leave a comment on Ifong’s website below our picture set. She said that if we get 20 comments we will receive a beautiful metallic 8×10 print!
http://ifongphoto.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/spokane-engagement-sara-and-jake/
Mt. Rainier
It’s BIG. It is the fifth highest mountain of the continental USA and the highest volcano of the Cascade Range. This massive mountain is the most heavily glaciated peak in the contiguous United States with multiple glaciers and routes of all technical levels. Mount Rainier offers an exciting challenge to the mountaineer. That’s why a lot of climbers attempt it.
So far I’ve attempted the climb four times with one successful summit. Not exactly the best track record. My first two attempts were fun trips even though we didn’t summit – one because of poor planning/training (newbs) the other because of bad weather. A third attempt finally brought success and some more great stories. My fourth attempt was a new sport for me; ski mountaineering (AT). Using gear that’s a cross between telemark and downhill skis enabled me to “skin” up like a cross country skier, yet lock those heels down for some serious alpine skiing on the way down. Poor training on my part stopped me from making the summit on that trip, but the ride down was incredible. Longest single-run downhill vertical ski of my life.
I have some great climbing buddies and we know our stuff so we’ve never had to fork over the big bucks for guide services. I hear they charge $1,000 plus! To each his own I suppose. I recommend taking a mountaineering course and climbing it with trusted friends instead of wealthy strangers. An annual climbing permit is only $30.
The reason I bring any of this up is simple. I need to jazz this blog up with some awesome photos of my climbing trips to Mt. Rainier. So without any further ado. Pictures!
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.
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