The Mighty Mount Hood!

5/16/16

Here's our story...I got up early to call and wish my oldest son, Dawson a happy 15th birthday before he headed off to school.  I decided to go for a casual 40 minute walk around Tualatin in the damp overcast morning.  I had a hearty breakfast and set off the airport.  I picked up Billy at 10:45a at PDX.  We were glad that his flight was on time.  We promptly loaded his gear and set off for Mt. Hood.  The weather was still overcast.

We arrived at Government Camp in a thick fog around noon.  It is six miles up the road to the base of the mountain from here.  We pulled into the parking area and the clouds were heavy at the Timberline ski area base, our staging point for the climb.  We ran into a group of climbers who had summited that morning.  They said it was raining sideways on their climb up until they got around 8500ft, where it cleared.  The upper climbing route, Pearly Gates, had knee to thigh deep snow drifts.  This would make the climb more physically challenging and potential for avalanche.

By mid afternoon the clouds started to lift and move in and out, giving us picturesque views of the summit.

The skies were completely clear by evening.  We prepped our gear and filled out our climbing permits at the Wy'east climber's cave.  We headed back to Government Camp for some pizza at the Ratskeller. We over hydrated and you know what that means...many trips to the bathroom!  Our sleeping arrangement initially was to find a camp spot in the forest.  We did find a site down low, but it was damp, wet and soggy.  So we put plan B into effect- sleep in the car at the Timberline parking lot.  We tucked ourselves in to the front seats at 6:30p and set the alarm for 12a.  We had a beautiful clear sunset over the mountain through our windshield.  With cars pulling in and out of the parking lot and snow cats moving up and down the mountain, we had 5.5 hours of sleepless rest.

5/17/16

Alarm sounds at midnight and we gear up.  We were on the trail at 12:52a under a 3/4 moon.  The moonlight was bright enough that we were able to hike without our headlamps on.  We followed the groomed cat track all the way to the top of the palmer lift.  Technically, we were suppose to stay to the right of the ski resort.  We broke the rules and so did the other climbers we saw heading up.  We passed the overnight ski area crew manicuring the slopestyle course and half pipe.  We had to dodge the snow being thrown out of the pipe.  The hike up the palmer snow field felt endless.  We made it to the top of the lift in 2:30 hours.  I was getting a little tired at this point.

We continued straight up toward the Triangle Moraine.  The moon turned a deep red before setting.  We had about 45 minutes of dark where we turned our headlamps on.  The route steepened and the snow was firm.  We stayed with trekking poles and I didn't put crampons on and take out my ice axe until just below Crater Rock.  My pace had significantly slowed and Billy was being a fast mountain goat.  The smell of sulphur was in the air from the fumaroles on the mountain.

Hood's shadow over the Cascades at sunrise.

We hit Devil's Kitchen at 5:30a.  We snacked and hydrated before climbing to the Hogsback.  The snow was perfect for cramponing.  The Hogsback delivered great veiws of the Pearly Gates, Old Chute, Steel Cliff, Hot Rocks and the large fumarole to the right.  You could see the steam rising out of it and the smells were strong.  We reached the Bergschrund and took a look into its bottomless depths before stepping over it.  There was a thin snowbridge that looked a little suspect.  The upper part of the Hogsback steepened and I took out my second ice axe.  We traversed the rime ice covered rocks to the base of the Pearly Gates.  We took the left gate.  The right gate also was in and climbable.

Devil's Kitchen with Pearly Gates above.

The Hogsback leading up to the Gates.

Large fumarole to our left.

Crater Rock

Billy on the Hogsback.

The climb in the Gate was fun!  I used a double ice axe pick technique.  There was a mix of snow and ice.  Everything was solid and the snow from the day before had consolidated.  There was some snow to wade through at the exit of the Gate to the summit.  I reached the summit at 7:45a.  It was clear, sunny and calm- NO WIND!  We took photos, grabbed some food and hydrated.  There were 4 others sharing the summit with us.  Two of which has previously lived in CO.

Summit!  11,240ft

Mt St. Helens

Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams

Mt. Jefferson

My descent was slow and careful.  No fall needed on the upper challenges of the mountain.  We cleared the obstacles cleanly, made it over the Bergshrund again and took a break at Devil's Kitchen.  The down climb from here was long and slow.  My left ankle began to hurt from pressure in my boot.  This worsened as I went and made it difficult to walk.  I had to stop and rest every few hundred feet.  The sun was blazing which added to my fatigue.  It also made the snow very slushy.  You could clearly see the base of the ski area and the parking lot, but it never seemed to get closer.  Oh how I wish I had my skis!  I finally made it to the car at 12:15p.  What a great and long climb!  Glad to be down safely.

We were exhausted.  We dried out our gear in the parking lot.  We were so non-motivated to leave that we ended up staying the night at the historic Timberline Lodge.  We grabbed a great, juicy burger and I had an Ice Axe IPA beer at Mt. Hood Brewing Co in Government Camp.  What a great day!

I'll be posting some videos eventually on Facebook.

Now on to the next adventure...

Gearing up for the count down to Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams

5/7/16  Final on snow training in CO.

Billy, Derrill and I headed up to Berhoud Pass for our final on snow practice.  The weather didn’t look too promising so we thought Berthoud to be a better option than St. Mary’s due to a quicker escape plan.  We were able to get 400 ft of a 35-40 degree snow climb, even though the snow was soft and hadn’t hit a freeze overnight.  We topped out after each getting a chance to lead kicking steps in.  Our next intention was to summit Russell Peak, 12,300 ft.   We hit the base of Russell and the weather rolled in causing the peak to disappear in the clouds.  The wind had intensified.  We made the decision to turn around and head down.  A good thing, because not too much later we heard thunder.  We got down to the car just as lightening flashed and graupel pelted us.  Here are some pics from the day:

5/13/16  Departing day!

I am not very superstitious, however flying on Friday the 13th doesn’t sound so appealing.  I departed DIA early this morning with two checked bags loaded with gear and a carry-on expedition backpack.  The flying was smooth and on time.  

Mt Hood on descent into Portland

Billy is to join me on Monday morning, where I will pick him up at PDX.  I am in debate of what I should do on this down day.  I can hang out in Portland, visit one or many of the fine breweries in town, drive to the mountains and scope out our climb or head to the Pacific and take in the ocean scene.  What do you think is best?  The Portland weather is sunny and hot, 90 degrees.   I chose to head to the beach, Cannon Beach that is, where Goonies Never Die!

It was a misty maritime day.  Quite the contrast to hot Portland.  After some beach strolling, I returned inland to my hotel and to explore the southern suburbia during rush hour.  The next two days will be spent in class for some Mckenzie training.  I will have the opportunity for rest as well.  Next up date in a couple days.  Wish us good weather!

2016

Well after some time of inactivity in the big mountains, Team Cinco Hombres has awoken for a new adventure- Mexico!  We gathered at Billy's house in December of 2015 to discuss options and made a final decision in February to climb Itzaccihualt (17,160 ft) and Pico de Orizaba (aka Citlaltepetl) (18,491 ft).  These are 2 volcanos in central Mexico.  Pico is the 3rd highest mountain in North America and both would give us a good altitude test in planning for the higher mountains of the world.  We will head to these mountains on January 12th 2017.  Team Cinco Hombres is adding an addition climbing member, Pete, a friend of Derrill's.  Pete has climbed these mountains in Mexico and will be an asset for logistical planning, plus he speaks Espanol.  

Let the training begin!  In December we mapped out monthly training time in the Colorado mountains which consisted of 2 winter camping over nights and a bunch of skinning/skiing day trips. In addition to this, a last minute opportunity fell into my lap.  I registered for a professional education course in Portland, OR and took this opportunity to look at climbing both Mt. Hood (11,250 ft) and Mt Adams (12,280 ft).  I threw this out to the team and only Billy was able to accompany me.  So the two of us had 5 weeks to prepare for our 5/16/2016 climbs.  It was time to break out the climbing ropes, harnesses and tools.  Mt. Hood requires a greater amount of mountaineering skills due to the steeper terrain (40-50 degree slopes) and the possibility of ice to climb.  There are crevasses to negotiate, though less than Rainier, and the weather can be pretty poor.  How exciting!  

Billy, myself, Jeff and Derrill trained on St Mary's glacier last weekend with 12+ inches of snow. Billy and I will practice rope skills tomorrow and most likely return to St Mary's on Saturday, which will conclude our on mountain training until we arrive at Hood.  If all goes well we will plan on moving to Mt Adams after Hood on either May 17th or 18th for a 2 day climb to the summit.  Mt Adams is a long approach on a much less technical route.  We will fly back to Denver on the 20th.  

Here are some fun pics of our 2016 outings and training: