Its On! Mt. Hood in June 2010

Happy New Year! Its been a long time. But, now that we live in the center of the outdoor universe, its time to commit. So, Mark and I are climbing Mt Hood June 12-13 with Timberline Mountain Guides (2 day summit program).

I am very excited to have it booked and to have a goal to train for. I am also going to try and take the BCEP program with the Mazamas group that I joined. They are a 100+ year old organization based on Portland who are all about climbing. It looks like 2010 is shaping up to be a nicely elevated year!

Also, looking into try Baker again in August. Wow, I am tired now. Nap time.

Finally

Two things. First of all, I FINALLY lost a toe nail today. Scroll down and you will see a previous post that shoes a photo of the big toe on my left foot after Rainier. Thats NOT the one I lost. I lost the one on the big toe of the right foot.

Second of all, we are trying to plan the next climb. We are discussing Baker in the summer, me, Keith, Jay and Mark. We came across Summitforsomeone.org. Have you ever heard of it? You climb mountains, and raise money for inner city youth to experience the great outdoors. Pretty cool. We are thinking about it.

Burts Famous -- well actually his toilet photo is

So, funny story. I am on Facebook, duh. One day I get an email from a chap who asks about my photo, the one to the left for a book he is writing.

Of course I don't trust him and ask him to prove who he is. He works for the BBC, is British, and is writing a book and wants my photo of a LOO! He checks out and tells me he will get back to me if I make it in.

I just found out. I made it in! I am a professional photographer now!

I will put the title and link in when the book comes out. I haven't signed over the movie rights yet, so if you are interested, let me know.

Mt. Baker Climbing Trip Day 1

So, today was Friday, 9/28, the first day of my adventure. I had to be at AAI at 7, so I woke up at 5:10 to make sure I was packed and to eat. In honor of Mike Bauer, I went to Denny's and had a huge omelette, taters and toast to bulk up for the climb. It was gross but great! While eating, I enjoyed reading how the Mets were completely choking.

I got to AAI and met Angela my guide. She was great, extremely nice and knowledgeable. There was another group of two guys and a guide too, and both of them had good climbing experience. Angela and I stopped for burritos and headed off on the drive to Baker. It poured the entire drive until we hit the trail head, where there was a blizzard! Who knew, snow in September!!!!

The hike in was beautiful. Tall old trees, creeks and waterfalls everywhere. We made great time and got to camp around lunchtime. We couldn't see the summit the entire day because of the weather. We camped at 6000 feet at Hogsback and worked on some skills, specifically roping, crampons, ice axes. We decided to try and summit on saturday as the weather for sunday was forecast to be horrible.

Looks Like it Might Be Mt. Baker

So, media conferences aside, where do I/we go next. After much research, and the unfortunate news of the RMI Rainier sellout, I found Alpine Ascents. They have a cool site and guide all over the world. They have slide shows, cybercasts, and a whole lot of information.

I was looking for a moderate climb, since Rainier wasn't available, and I think I have settled on Mt. Baker. At 10,781 ft., its smaller than Rainier but offers the real climbing experience. 65lb packs, camping on the mountain for two nights, early morning ascents, skills training etc.

The big open question is who's going. I am definitely in. My partner just started a new work gig and is far from committed to the climb. Brothers-in-law? Friends? Husbands of friends? All are welcome, who will climb?