So So Good

It's been a crazy few months in the life. I left Utah and headed north to work for Rainier Mountaineering for the summer. I started on July 8th after a week of training and summitted ten times with my clients. Superb. A smattering of photos:

Looking down on Little Tahoma

She's a big one.

The Muir Snowfield

Lot's of people on the DC route

Good view from the Emmons Glacier

I also took the time to climb some rocks in Leavenworth and Index, WA. The granite is superb, the sun is sunshiny, and I have met so many fantastic partners!

At the conclusion of my Rainier season, I met up with Eric Nelson, a fellow guide and climber and we went on a very brief North Cascades climbing attempt. We had a very short NW weather window, decided to gun for it and made it as far as base camp before realizing it was futile. Luckily it was only a 5 mile uphill hike with loaded packs... So we hiked back out the same day and drove 6 hours to Smith Rocks State Park outside Bend, Oregon where it was high 70's and sunny for our whole stay.

Pregame: We spent a couple hours drinking beer in the parking lot at about 9am and watching other groups leave the trailhead for the lake. We then finished packing and proceeded to beat all 6 groups ahead of us. Benefits of big guide's legs.

Gross, typical, NW weather.

Pondering the universe

When the weather sucks, there's always box wine. That's right, we may have carried 3 liters of wine in with us.

That's Dragontail Peak, where we wanted to climb.

I'll relay the bit about Smith Rocks in the next installment. I will be in Utah soon doing some climbing in the good ole' Wasatch, and maybe a lil' bit in the desert as well. Stoked! I'll also start outlining the gear I've been using and why. Til' next time!