Mount Adams, WA

Info: Mt Adams, WA

We started the adventure with a leisurely morning of waking up eating a big breakfast and hitting the road around 10am.  It's just over a two hour drive to the ranger station where we each had to buy our $10 wilderness hiking passes with blue bag equivalents.  We thought it would be a nice easy hike to camp that night but the rangers quickly bursted our bubble.   We were told that it was a three mile hike just to the trail head because of the late winter and the low snow level.

So two things killed us the first day, the snow and a wrong turn.  As we started driving up the road there was a little confusion to which road we needed to take.  Right after leaving the ranger station we took a wrong turn.  We kept on driving because we were told that people would be parked on the road.  Because we were looking for all the cars we kept on driving until one snow drift stopped us in our tracks.

Digging out the truck

We spent about two hours digging our selves out mostly because when I would gain a little ground I would get a little excited and keep on driving to the point where I would just get it stuck again.

After finally getting to the trail we had the long grueling hike up to camp.  We didn't gain as much ground as we thought we would had but the unexpected snow set us back quite a bit.  We couldn't have asked for better weather, I spent most of the time hiking in only basketball shorts and a t-shirt.  The weather also gave us some amazing views.

Tyler just gettin' it

Sam and Dane with Mt Hood in the background

We started the next day leaving our tents and large packs behing and started up the mountain with our day packs.  Hiking is hard work and Tyler had spent the past month getting in shape for this were Sam and I spent the last month doing nothing and it showed.  Unfortunately we were not able to reach the summit, some bad weather was rolling in near the top and we were loosing sun light, so just below the false summit we turned back.  It was a smart and safe choice. 

So close to the false summit

The best part of the trip down was glissading.  It was a blast and in a way made all the work worth it.  After receiving the suggestion to slide down on a Frisbee we decided to go cheap and bought some thin plastic plates at a gas station on the way up.  They didn't work out and we all just ended up riding down the mountain on our butts.  It was a lot of fun while the steep slopes lasted, but when we had to get back on foot the work began again.

Some parts of the hike down where just as hard as the way up, partially because we had to hike back up due to overshooting our camp.  This is what really made the hike hard on our bodies, it was killer.  When we finally got back down to the truck we determined that we had been hiking for a total of 12 hours that day. 

Each of us still want to summit Adams, but we all have learned that we should do it later in the season. 

Cape Alava Hike

Annie and I took a pleasant little hike out on the peninsula for the first trip after graduation.  If you ever want to find out info about the hike or go on it your self, just look up info about Lake Ozette in WA.  There is the basic 9 mile loop that is an awesome day hike with the two main hi lights being 6 miles of board walk through the rain forest and the tide pools at low tide.

Hike on the board walk

 

baby seal just chillin'

The two of us wanted more of a over night thing so we hiked a little further south to Yellow Banks where we stayed for the night.  After about the first mile of hiking on the sand I quickly remembered how miserable it was and we both looked forward to getting to camp which was a nice surprise.  Over the years people have decorated the camp sites with beach trash, it was fun to see some of the things people found.  So we posted up in one site that had an area for an illegal fire pit (fires have to be bellow the tide line) a drift wood fort and a homemade hammock.

Camp

The highlight of the trip was probably the ginormous beach fire we had.  We got caught by a little rain while we were building up the beach fire with drift wood so we were a little discouraged thinking that it would never light.  Then Annie found a giant plastic stake that we put in our little fire, it was determined to burn until it was all melted away so we transferred it to the the big fire.  The pictures will explain the rest, but the fire kept us occupied for the rest of the night. 

We had some amazing views the entire trip but the sunset was great.  There was a little weather in the area so parts of the sky were crystal clear.  

From camp looking North West

Moab, UT

Heres the new game plan.  When ever I forget to make the time to actually write out a post I'll just list all the thinks I did to make the trip memorable. 

-On zero hours of sleep boarded the plane

-free upgrade from a Yaris to a Rav4, $10 a day, uninsured proven 4x4 capable 

-ate at one of four cracker barrels state wide, we made sure to ask about that one

-had to turn around twice before we got on the right road 

-survived Wellington aka: drove through it without getting a ticket 

-discovered that Memorial Day weekend is the busies weekend in Moab

-ate at the Moab Brewery

-hunted for camp sites, found one on the side of the highway

-went to sleep with the line of: "bro, they're chopping fire wood." While talking about our neighbors camping next to us. 

- explored Arches natl. park

-hiked to the waterfall as suggested by Tyler, great choice!

-missed the turn to the falls and hiked 8 miles in the wrong direction but discovered petroglyphs on the walls

-then directed to the falls (beautiful)

-jumped off the 30 ft cliff there

-continued the hunt for a camp site by driving up a scenic byway and found a spot to camp by castle rock's trail head

-attempted to camp at the base of castle rock

-after coming close to heat exhaustion from 2 hours of hiking we failed to find a camp site at the top due to 80 mph+ winds (Sam still thinks his tent could have withstood it)

-humbled ourselves and hiked back down to camp next to the car

-decided to sleep with no rain fly so that we could see the stats at night and sleep cooler 

-instead we spent most of the night awake being pelted by sand from the on going dust storm

-Rocked slick rock on mountain bikes.

-I (Dane) blew by the warning sign telling riders to beware of the trail for advanced riders only

-Only went over the handel bars once

-Drive up to Layton to stay with G&G Stevenson

-Wished Vic a happy birthday and meet his beautiful new fiancee Imara

-Went to the cemetery where Sam learned all about the Stevenson family, Thanks Grandpa 

22 to the U

The big event finally came and now its finished!

Starting 0000 on Sunday 22 May the 22 to the U kicked off with two AFROTC Det 910 team, one with 4 and one with three 3 members, and one large PLU AROTC team of about 8 people.  The task of the event required the team to ruck 45 miles from the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron (STS) on McChrod Field at JBLM with a 45 lbs. ruck on their backs.  Some teams did this in a relay style where one cadet was rucking at a time while others were all in it together and each cadet had their town 45 lbs. ruck.

I was tasked with driving my truck as suport with Mike a volunteer medic assigned to the 22nd STS, and Phil Tsui who took pictures the whole way.  Driving through the night took a toll on us and we all struggled to just stay awake, but it was nothing compared to the individuals who actually had the rucks on their backs and went the distance.

The most inspiring part of the event was the last 11 or so miles where every member of the two Air Force teams got out of the support vehicles and ran to the Medal of Honor Memorial at the UW.  The last 11 miles was the only leg of the route where there were any hills, but it allowed the teams to finish together in 12 hours and 56 minutes.

Here is a link to the fund raising page with a description of the event:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/222U/special-operations-warrior-foundation

We didn't raise as much money as we had hoped to but every dollar donated still went to an amazing cause.

Here is a map showing the route we took:

View Larger Map

My first big run.

Last week on Saturday my friend Jamie posted on her facebook that she had just ran 18 miles in preparation for a marathon.  For some strange reason I commented on her post saying:

"Your crazy! The next time you want to run 18 miles I'll go with you..."  

The following Saturday rolls around and I find myself out at Golden Gardens in Ballard at 9:30am getting ready to run 15 miles.  My main goal was to just finish the run not really knowing how to gauge my ability for that kind of distance.  I have never ran anything over 5 miles and those runs usually have been with a group of guys whose ability is well beyond mine where we ran around a 7min./mile pace with hills. 

We started out at a nice speed and maintained around a 9:30 min./mile pace.  The first half we pushed all the way through only stopping for crosswalks and I felt great.  Then on the last mile and a half I decided to open it up and run.  I didn't have any fancy way to measure my pace but I probably ran that last little bit at a 7 min./mile pace and it felt great.   I thought at the end of it all I would have died and my legs would have fallen apart but I'm still walking.

In conclusion to the run Jamie made the two of us a big batch of creeps.  Not really knowing how many I ate, we measured my creep consumption by noticing that I had enough to eat half stick of butter, while leaving about four for her. (that's all she wanted.)


All I'm trying to say is, I think I'm ready for a half marathon...

Here's the route we took there and back:  

View The First Big Run in a larger map

Why We Serve

Basically the best web site in the world: Why We Serve

Its a user generated site so if you "have a picture that defines your rationale for service? Want to see it on the blog? E-mail the photo and a short explanation to whyweserve@gmail.com and you could see your patriotic dreams realized."

What do you know about bro tanks?

Just spent the last week in Maui... it was amazing, nuff said.

A few things to sum it all up:
- Swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first time
- I showered once the whole trip, unless you count the showers at the beaches (Brigham didn't shower once, I let him down)
- I went surfing and discovered that my shoulders are not in any shape to do so
- I love snorkeling even though I didn't see turtles at turtle town (saw them at other places though)
- I wore the same outfit everyday the whole trip consisting of board shorts and a bro tank
- That same bro tank's outline is sun burned on my chest
- If water gets in your sinus cavity it will flow out at any random time no matter who's watching
- Saw humped back whales full on breaching over and over again
- Helped the rest of the crew limit their vocabulary to "bro", "statement", "fact" and "what do you know about..."
- Went on the Rambo and the Bamboo hikes consisting of swimming through dark caves, rock climbing, jumping and tripping off water falls (scared a few people with that one)
- Picked up a hitch hiker.
- Drove/rallied the road to Hana
- Watch the sunrise from the top of the world
- Got rocked by 10 ft + breaks on Big Beach
- Avoided Little Beach
- Ate Hawaiian BBQ
- Went to church and saw the congregation sing and say good by to a family moving away (Sheena cried)
- Watched Kham snorkel with his iPhone in his pocket at Molokini
- Ate taro pie