St. Vitus' Dance

The start to our multipitch adventure. Fun alpine pitch tugging on roots and cracks. 

Michelle climbing out of the tree-line. 

Jacquie exhausted after fighting her way through the "5.9" crack bulge towards the top. Not an easy section!

Yeah, that's nice.

Mt. Garibaldi at sunset. Debating whether the 30km roundtrip hike would be fun or regretful.

The chief at night. The parking lot is absolutely littered with white vans. Fancy people with their big fancy homes...

Our first multi-pitch adventure was the wonderful 5 pitch classic St. Vitus' Dance [5.9]. I climbed it with Jacquie, Michelle and Michelle's college friend Mark. Although it didn't take us all the way up to the summit of The Chief, it was a great introductory trad climb in Squamish. Mark and I tacked on a couple more classic crack climbs above St. Vitus' Dance for a great conclusion to our adventure. 

Squamish!

Crag life.

Cooking dinner on Michelle's awesome Rav4 dirtbag setup.

Thanks Sara for showing me that easy crack climbs are a great rest day activity.

The Chief looming over beautiful Squamish.

With 2 different groups of friends heading to Squamish, BC, I decided to skip over the rest of Oregon and Washington and drive straight to the Canadian border. Border patrol did not like the idea of an unemployed and unkempt man driving into their country with all of his belongings in his car. With the ability to stay in Canada indefinitely (they must be on their toes this year with our current election) they had me pull over for a search and a background check. Slightly nerve wracking, but I made it through with all of the right answers (and a single text message proving that I planned on going back to the US). 

Holy moly Squamish is beautiful! Granite cliffs towering over the town on all sides, complimented by rivers, waterfalls and lakes. I can see why they claim to be the outdoor recreation capital of Canada. The climbing so far has been world class. It's been really great seeing some New England friends as well.  Looking forward to the next 2 weeks here.

South Sister

The trail to the summit. Quite imposing.

Moraine Lake.

The final push to the summit: Super steep switchbacks on sketchy scree. 

Took an hour nap after this picture. Nice view of Middle Sister, North Sister and Mt. Hood way in the distance.

Nice view of Broken Top.

The summit after an hour of descent. The clouds are engulfing the entire peak!

Before leaving Bend I absolutely had to hike at least one of the mountains nearby. South Sister is popular and provides a solid challenge. 12 miles roundtrip with the summit being over 10,000 feet. Incredible views the entire way. Made it up in 3 hours and down in 2 (with an hour nap at the summit). Such a beautiful hike! I then went out with the guys to celebrate my last night in Bend. Currently on my way to Portland and eventually north to Canada. Bend, I'll be coming back to you for sure!

So Many Activities!

More activities in Bend... disc golf, fishing and picking flowers. Still so much to do here, but really need to move on soon. Will definitely be coming back!

Monolith Tattoo

Well I've found a way to commemorate my journey through the Pacific Northwest. My friend Alie is learning how to draw and sent me this awesome piece of art depicting me and my Saturn camping in the mountains. It's a lot like the artwork I've been looking at for years, but hadn't yet found something inspiring enough to put on my body. Well this turned out to be perfect. Nick the tattoo artist was really psyched about it too. Came out great! 

The Monkey Face

The famed Monkey Face. Not the best angle to see the face, but hey, I'm not a professional.

Pitch 1 selfie.

Pitch 2 bolt ladder. My first aid climb. I have to admit, I prefer free climbing over aid climbing for sure.

Top of pitch 2, in the monkey's mouth. Lots of hikers across the way watching.

The top! Looks like I'm judging Logan a little bit... Or maybe I'm just awkward in front of cameras.

Nice view.

Logan and I spent a few days camping and climbing at Smith Rock. Got on a lot of cool climbs; hard sport, moderate trad cracks, and the famous 3-pitch Monkey Face [5.7 A0]. I'm psyched that this was my first ever aid climb. Although I didn't really enjoy the second pitch bolt ladder, it was a valuable and fun experience. 

Caving And Climbing

Logan climbing up and through the small entrance to this room.

Crew #2 exploring the Arnold Ice Cave. This is the awesome entrance.

Not posed.

Smith rock catches sunsets quite nicely.

Mt. Jefferson viewed through Asterisk Pass. I'd like to climb that mountain sometime.

I can see why this place is popular amongst climbers and hikers alike.

I now understand why so many people have told me to stop in Bend. So many activities! The lava tube caves are super cool. Definitely a type of cave I've never seen before. The best part is that you can go whenever you want and you don't get pushed through a gift shop afterwards. Then I finally made it to Smith Rock. Although the temps are in the 80s, climbing in the shade is still quite enjoyable. Smith Rock is a really special place.

Now I must go. My laundry has finished drying. I'm psyched for some clean clothes again!

Prineville Reservoir

The reservoir.

Kona is a real babe.

Fun 20 minute exposure. The Milky Way looks like plumes of smoke and there are mysterious green streaks. 

Joined the guys for a camping trip at Prineville Reservoir. Free camping and they allow fires, fishing and swimming. As far as I know, the East coast is way more strict about reservoirs compared to this.

Prineville Reservoir: 5 out of 5 stars

THE FREEDOM RIDE

This is a fraction of the people in the ride. Car drivers were not happy.

Some people had some pretty awesome modes of transportation. 

Nice Americans offering refreshing blasts of water.

Do a flip.

Heads up, shooting fireworks off of your roof will guarantee that your neighbors call the police.

Nice view of the town fireworks from the roof.

 Turns out I'm very satisfied with spending my 4th of July in Bend, Oregon. During my initial "research" of local breweries, I met some really cool locals that took me under their wings and showed me around town. They're even letting me crash at their place for as long as I want. So naturally I had to join them for the annual Freedom Ride, an informal gathering of bikers in the park. Once the park fills up and overflows with already drunk and very proud Americans, the crowd of thousands then rides through town, causing a ruckus for miles until they get to another park where the drinking continues. Honestly, every town in this country should have a freedom ride. It was an absolute blast and if you could pace yourself properly, sufficient entertainment could be derived just from watching drunk people make really bad decisions. The night concluded with lighting fireworks off the roof and talking to some nice cops.

Crater Lake, Mon Dieu!

Some girls offered to take a photo for me. Here it is.

If you squint, you can see me on the left. Rolled my ankle trying to climb up there, so you better appreciate this photo!

I don't make it rain, I make it snow.
Took a while to time this one properly. Lots of judgy faces from confused people.

Watching the sunset and thinking long and hard about the origin of Pringles.

The lake at dusk.  

Rise and shine Crater Lake. The lack of wind made the lake mirror-like.

Decided to head north to Bend for the 4th of July. Realized last minute that Crater Lake was on the way there. I've been wanting to visit this splendid feat of geo-activity for years. The views did not disappoint! Unfortunately the East Rim Road was closed, so a lot of the hikes I wanted to do were not easily accessible.

I arrived at 5:15 and the headquarters, which gave out backcountry camping permits, was closed. Similar to Redwoods I just found a pullout and camped in my car. Unfortunately this time, a park ranger woke me up nice and early to tell me I was breaking the rules. Fortunately no ticket was issued, but it put a real damper on the mood for the rest of the day. After reflecting by the lake one last time, I boot scootin' boogied my way to Bend. First impressions: this town is wonderful!