Labor Day Weekend

I really need to keep up with postings. I have a lot to update and I haven't been getting on it! I need to make a goal of actually getting a few posts on here every month.

First off I managed a backpacking trip with Amy and Maggie up in the Cascades just outside of Leavenworth. We went on Labor Day weekend to get in three days and two nights of goodness. Amy had done all the work for this one figuring out where we were going and camping, so all I had to do was show up. That was a pretty sweet. Well the week of the trip I kept checking the weather to see if it was going to be nice. I really wanted to take my bivy because Amy and Maggie were taking their dogs which would be sleeping in their tents. This means I either need to take a tent up just for me or else I need to check out the ol bivy. Since the weather looked nice I decided on the bivy.

The problem here is that whenever I do a trip, any trip, something goes wrong. As soon as I decided to take the bivy I knew the weather would turn and it would rain. I just knew it would. When we started hiking on Saturday it was great weather, not too hot but sunny. We went about 11 miles in to the campsite right along a lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. It was a pretty amazing spot. Definitely can't complain about the location.

Once the girls set up camp and we start cooking it starts getting a little colder... After dinner we hike up to another lake right in a very tight cirque and it was gorgeous. Quite the setting... After we hike back to camp and sit down for a few minutes I am getting cold. Anyone that knows me knows I am always hot. Always. Once the sun starts setting the girls head for their tents and I start to set out my bivy. As I'm doing this what happens? Yep, it starts raining. This means I'm in a glorified sleeping bag trying not to get claustrophobic while trying to stay dry at the same time. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep. I woke up at one point and the continuous rain was getting louder... and yes it was snow. What backpacking trip with me is complete without snow?

When we woke up it was raining and continued to rain throughout the day. It would quit for a while here and there and slowed up quite a bit, but it was still wet. Well we packed up camp and headed to another lake to make our hike out of this loop only 10 miles. This means it is up and over a pass and down into a huge valley. This was even more gorgeous than the other camp. It was such a great area....

Well, by this point I'm getting cold as everyone is setting up camp so while the girls go on a short hike to get the blood flowing I hop in my sleeping bag knowing I don't have enough calories to keep trying to make me warm and/or hike more (you would think that since I had a strong hunch it was going to be raining I might have packed more food in preparation of being cold and burning more calories). So I sleep the afternoon away and wake up in time to cook dinner with the girls and promptly take off to my bivy for a night of sleep in the rain again.

The next day was pretty nice and we hiked out in pretty nice weather. It seems like we were caught up in the storm at the higher altitude and if we had just hiked a couple more miles we would have been in the clear. Interesting weather....

The hike out was pretty uneventful other than once we got back to the car it did start raining again.

The last bad part of this story is that I don't have any pictures. I managed to lose my camera in the move and I had been looking everywhere for it. I knew I packed it somewhere but just couldn't figure it out before the trip. Low and behold after all this I finally find my camera while I'm looking for my bike tool. So the point is I didn't have it for the hike but I have it now.... Yep......

Surprising

I've had a week of surprises. First off, I've been getting very excited for an Ironman 70.3 next year and have started a training schedule that will take me to August of next year. I'm really dreading all the miles on the trainer and treadmill in the coming winter, but I really want to get back to doing triathlons again. There's something so amazing about going as hard as you can for as long as you can in a balled up sport. There's so much to train for and to be excited about, but it is also quite draining. Sitting inside on a winter evening pedaling a bike on the trainer is great to get the frustrations of work out, but is incredibly boring. It's the mental stamina that I've had the hardest time developing. My muscles are easy to train and my lungs are coming back already... but my mind is still having a hard time.

The big surprise, though, is that I have now changed my buying habits. What buying habits? Well, I used to spend money on climbing and camping gear... because I lived in my car and would climb a lot. Pretty easy to explain. But now that I am being civilized I am buying suits, collared shirts.... and... ties. Yes, I know what everyone is thinking and yes I did cry a little bit. Well, only a little bit. I just bought a few more shirts and ties and am looking at buying a couple more suits. At which point I start to wonder "what just happened?" I was a bum in every sense of the word and I am now trying to be a respectable part of a community. It's wild. How times change!

Anyways, things have been going well over here. I still haven't met many people, but that's how it goes. It'll be slow to get integrated into this community. I'm still trying to get in with the cycling club so hopefully I can finally find this mythical club.

Better get back to doing laundry so I have nice smelling clothes for work!

Olympic Coast

Timing

Sorry it's been so long but I haven't had much to post the last while. There hasn't been much to discuss until lately. I had been running around Washington trying to get a job and finally found one. I'm a Regional Labor Economist for the state of Washington. It's an awesome job and I'm pretty excited, but pretty nervous at the same time.

Well, I am now living in Wenatchee. A small town at the base of the Cascades. Pretty sweet location for various reasons: great biking, good hiking, great skiing, some good climbing, and best of all is the fresh fruit right from farms next to town. The only down side is there isn't a great beer store around. There are some good finds here and there, but nothing consistent.

I've also been spending the last two weeks in Olympia for work. I really liked it in the "rain forest". Plus it got me away from the 100 degree weather here... which was nice. And since I had two weekends over there I managed to get two weekends of backpacking and camping in

Olympic National Park hiking and camping on the beach. That was one for the bucket list. I've always wanted to hike and camp on the beach, and now I've finally got to do it. I don't really know how much more I really have on the bucket list, but there are some good ones left. Anyhow, back to the beach: it was amazing! Great weather... good friends... and a nice easy trip. I rarely go on easy hikes and I actually found this quite enjoyable. There's something about being on the beach knowing you're at the edge of the U.S.

Here are a few pics from Olympic National Park. I have more coming, so check back soon.

So Much...

It's been interesting around here lately. I've been throwing out applications hoping someone bites and trying to force my way in to other places. It's been a bit rough, but I'm making a go of it. "A go of it" you ask? Yeah... a "go" of it.

I managed to make a quick trip over to Seattle to see a few long lost friends and also to pester a few businesses and try to convince them to hire me. There's nothing like running around a city with a suit then sitting down at a beer bar to throw back a couple Belgians at the end of the day. How is that for a businessman cliche?

Anyway, nothing turned up of the job hunt but I've got a few leads and made a few contacts, so it was more than worth it.

More importantly post avalanche activities have been going well. I think I'm only writing this because last night I had another one of "those" nights. It will always be weird to vividly picture being buried as I'm lying in bed trying to fall asleep. I'll just be laying there listening to music when I feel a little panic creep into my head.... then I can see these thick slabs of snow bury me. It's the exact scenario of where and how I get buried; there's no change to the situation at all. Then of course I sit there in a panic for a few hours trying to get the picture out of my head so I can sleep. I hope with time this avalanche will fade into the background. I feel like I always say this but I'm going to be hopeful because I honestly have no other way to deal with this.

Here's a few shots from Seattle:

How awesome is this?

I don't know why, but I was very intrigued by this.

Right at the Market and they had a few awesome Belgians made with yeast from the Westmalle Abbey. There was also an awesome double IPA that I had with fish and chips.

Exposed this shot for almost 2 minutes around 11PM. Turned out well.

The safety measures of the ferry.

This was a great spot right when you get into Olympic National Park from the north. Pretty cool park, but it was raining... and cold... and some seriously shady towns along the way. But of course I want to make it back to do a sweet hike along the beach. Looks amazing.