Although I should have been putting more miles on the bike in preparation for our mountain bike adventure, the prospect of cool, early morning hikes was just too enticing. With great hiking partners we “bagged” the following local peaks:

Lewis Peak from the Windsurfer Beach Trailhead with Pam – 18.8 miles up and back, started in the dark and watched a rare fog form on the flanks of the peak.

Naomi Peak Loop with Andrea – about an 8 mile loop that I didn’t even know existed! Had been up to Naomi Peak before but just as an out and back. Beautiful hike with great views of the Logan Valley area and beyond. Involved a bit of bushwhacking but luckily AllTrails told us when we were off route.

Lewis Peak via the North Ogden Divide Trailhead with Pam and Kathy – a little shorter version of the trail – about 11 miles roundtrip.

Middle Fork Wheeler Creek Trail with Andrea – about a 7 mile loop. Again, started in the dark and just as the sun was rising we saw a huge moose just off the trail. Andrea got a much closer picture than I did and when I showed it to Joel, he confirmed it was BIG!

On my way back to Utah the stars aligned again and I found a lone, relinquished permit for Mount St. Helens on July 27th. With all the permits going to an online system I was not aware how quickly the 110 permits/day sold out. The permits for July opened up on June 1st and when I looked in mid-June, they were all gone. On a whim one morning when the cats chose to wake me up at 3:30am, I logged on and found two spots open for July 27th so I snagged one of them. Only some days later did I realize that that was the exact day that Mom and Dad climbed the mountain in 2010!

I must say a very noteworthy feat as they were both in their mid-70’s when they summited in 2010 … In fact, so noteworthy that I must publicly degree that they are going to hold onto the family age group award for peak bagging – after this climb there is NO WAY that I will repeat this in 15+ years! Maybe someone else in the family will step up???

This was certainly not my most favorite climb … once you got done with the first 2 pleasant, forested miles and made your way up to the scree, ash and boulder fields, it was not a fun endeavor. In fact, almost the whole time I was moving uphill I was wondering to myself how in the world Mom and Dad managed to climb this beast!

The evening before I stayed in the town of Woodland which was about an hour+ from the parking lot at Climber’s Bivouac trailhead. After a very filling meal of Chinese food with my friend Mary Jane and her daughter, Jan, it was off to sleep for a 2:30am wake up call.

I left the trailhead at about 4:15am and was treated to an amazing sunrise over Mount Adams. Maybe if I am lucky Joel will consider including it in his 2023 calendar?

Once you pass through the boulder fields, you come upon what is fondly called the “Beach.” A very long, annoying slog up scree/volcanic ash where you take one step forward and slide two steps back. It seemed to just go on and on and on!

On the way down I decided to be nice to my knees and glissade down for as long as I could. A couple other guys didn’t glissade but were running/boot skiing. Certainly the way to go! As I carried my ice axe and snow shell pants, I might as well use them.

When I got back to the parking lot it was 91degrees so I quickly loaded the car, fired up the air conditioner and started driving back to Utah. I got as far as a small town past Hood River, OR called Wasco – not much there except a convenience store/deli. Another fast food dinner to celebrate the summit. And no, I did not drink all the beer – it went to Joel as a trip souvenir!

Odd sign in the hotel – reminded me of Law & Order episodes where a runaway/fugitive rents a cheap hotel room, chops off all his/her hair and then dyes it a new color!

I guess one could say I am on a WA Volcano Quest – with 2 of the 5 (Rainier and Baker) out of the way, Glacier Peak and Mt. St. Helens fit well into the game plan for my 2 week vacation/trip to WA. Joel has basically hung up his mountaineering boots after our trip to the Alps so I was on my own. Glacier Peak, as the name suggests, has active glaciers and crevasse danger so I decided to take the trip with Alpine Ascents. A great guide service that I have climbed with multiple times.

We met at 6:15am the morning of July 21st for a gear check and introductions. I was armed with photos and a class syllabus from when Mom and Dad took climbing courses at the UW – their climb of Glacier Peak was September 5 -7, 1958!

A total of 8 clients and 3 guides were on the roster with one client opting out at the last minute. I won the jackpot as they were handing out group gear and one of the guides asked who wanted a single tent – me, of course! The little bit of discomfort of carrying the whole tent, poles and stakes was clearly negated when I didn’t have to spend 4 days with a new “friend.” After the gear check we loaded up the van and trailer and drove about 3 hours to the trailhead of the North Sauk River Trail. We followed the trail for about 5 miles and set up camp at the now-defunct, Mackinaw Shelter.

Setting out on Day 2 we immediately hit the 24 dreaded switchbacks that took us to the junction of the Pacific Crest Trail and White Pass. The wildflowers were in full bloom and it looked like the hills had been painted!

After taking a break at White Pass, we traversed across White Mountain towards the White Chuck Glacier. Above the White Chuck Glacier we found tent sites at an area called Glacier Gap. It had been cloudy, foggy and windy the whole day with a few intermittent sun breaks. Because of the cloud cover, we never actually saw Glacier Peak until the evening when the clouds finally passed by. A 10 hour day and everyone was pretty tired but excited for our “summit” attempt the next day.

Not really classified as an “Alpine Start,” we headed out from camp at around 7:00am. The snow was starting to get pretty slushy as the overnight temps were close to 40degrees but the guides felt it would be less dangerous as there were a couple clients that were not real comfortable with their ice axes and crampons yet.

From basecamp to the summit was about 3 miles and 3000′ elevation gain – not too bad until you get to the last 0.7 mile where you gain close to 1500′ elevation! Everyone made it and after a bunch of photos and snacks, we headed back to camp.

We took our time the following day, moving back down to the Mackinaw Shelter – although another fairly long day, it put us in a good position for the next morning’s hike to the van.

All in all a great trip – This was the second longest approach (32 miles roundtrip) to a summit behind Gannett Peak (50 miles roundtrip) but the rewards were amazing and I would say it was easily in my top 5 favorite US peaks.

The stars seemed to align when a trip to visit Mom and Dad coincided with a 40 (+2) Year Sammamish High School Reunion, a climb of Glacier Peak, a visit to a friend from my Alaskan Malamute past and a climb of Mt. St. Helens.

After many years of asking about getting some of his slides scanned, I decided to load up my scanner and attack the over 5,000 slides that my dad has. I think even a bigger task than the scanning is looking at the slides, may of which were 60+ years old, and trying to decide which ones to save and scan. We had several “viewings” during the four days I was there but in the end I only got about 10% scanned – UGH! I foresee many more trips in the future!

Luckily, Mom kept us well fed and well hydrated during my stay and then Bob and Larina were in town at the end of my climb so we all met for brunch at the apartment.

Other tasks included sorting through several boxes of tapes and CDs, dropping some of Dad’s submarine books off in Seattle to a local submarine historian and anxiously awaiting Dad’s inaugural donning of his new, high tech shoes!

One of my yoga teachers mentioned to another student that she was training to climb Mt. Whitney in September. Nuff said, I have another hiking partner!

We took a hike up Ben Lomond Peak yesterday. A long slog (16.6 miles) and no matter how hard you try to avoid it, in Utah in July, you end up descending in 90 degree heat. Aside from that, it was a great day – not many people up on the trail, amazing wildflowers and clear views from the top.

Out of the parking lot of Snowbasin ski resort are several unexplored trails. Andrea and I took an 8+ mile loop up to Sardine Peak. Noteworthy for the many overlooks of Pineview Reservoir, Snowbasin ski runs, Ogden area and abundant wildflowers, it is apparently the “go to” trail for mountain bikes. So much so that we spent too much time stepping off the trail to avoid the bikers barreling down the trail that I would not put in my “recommend” file!

Probably boring compared to Joel’s ever- evolving garden(s), I always get excited when the first daylillies bloom, even if they are the same every year! Discovering them and realizing there were more types of daylillies than just the ugly Stella D’oro when I lived in Lockport, IL, the climate here seems perfect as the displays just get better each year!

Andrea and I found another 7ish mile hike that she had never been on and so we ventured out early morning to Frary Peak (6596′) on Antelope Island. Joel and I have done this hike a couple of times and found the winter hike with snowshoes to be a lot of fun. As we are starting to get consistent days in the 90’s our hikes now are usually starting by 6am. By the time we were down from the summit, it was getting toasty but we timed it well and had ample water!

That Joel has a green thumb? Let the salads begin!

Well, actually I am already back after spending an extended weekend at my friend’s place in Augusta, MI. Couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather, great hosts and a jam packed agenda.

Jenifer & Steve’s place is on a lake and we spent time enjoying the amazing weather and scenery.

I hadn’t seen Jenifer and Steve since her 60th birthday celebration a couple years ago. A few new faces in their cat family of 11. I thought three was a handful!

Once a month the Kellogg Research & Development, Quality and Nutrition retirees have a get together and the timing worked out and I had the great fortune of attending and seeing many of the ladies I used to work with.

As Steve is having shoulder surgery, one of the big tasks at hand was to make sure Jenifer could get the pontoon boat operational and “park” it by herself … Mission Accomplished! Add in a few hikes and great meals and then back to reality.