Wednesday, July 29, 2015

2015.7.29. Jessica Jackley speaks at Powell's

Wednesday, 7/29, at 7:30pm. Jackley is on tour for her book Clay Water Brick. She talked about how she started in the line of work of promoting entrepreneurship, and of course Kiva. She talked about 2 stories in her book with two different outcome of two small African entrepreneurs. Being a co-founder (with her ex-husband), Kiva remains a constant topic in tonight's discussion and questions. She talked about the partnership with field partners (the local lender), funding, and sustainability of any organization.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

2015.7.24-26 South Sister and Broken Top from Green Lakes

~28 miles, maybe 7000' accumulated gain. The basic route is similar to this loop.

Friday 7/24, left my office before 2pm. Traffic. Only arrived at Green Lakes TH (5400') at 6:30. Hiked along Fall Creek to Green Lakes basin (6560'). Gentle slope, pleasant 4.5 miles. Saw deer a couple of times. Arrived at Green Lakes basin at 8:10. Even armed with the campsite map, it still took us almost an hour to find a legal site (#9 close to the trail junction just south of the southern lake. Slanted ground - no wonder not taken). Quite a few good ones out of 28 designated sites were closed for restoration, but the map posted at the basin boundaries dosen't mark that: wasting hikers time to look for them. Met a park ranger checking the sites, who gave us some clue which sites might be available. By the time we settled down, I was too tired to cook. Cleaned up, went to bed at 11pm. Stars were not the best, because the half moon was still shining. Didn't feel like waiting an hour for the moon to set.

Saturday 7/25, up at 5am. Shot some nice sunrise photos. My hiking buddy for this weekend is an amateur photographer, who spent quite some time patiently waiting for light changes. We left for South Sister climb shortly after 7am, following this non-official route. The summit is maybe 4 miles (+4000') from here. We crossed the outlet of the lake, soon found the climber's trail by the creek. A waterfall, some flowers where there's water. Not long after, one definite trail becomes multiple. As ice is thin we chose to avoid all snow and ice. Very loose rocks. At one point, I rolled down a loose creek bank towards the water. Luckily my tumble was stopped by a rock. Jerri came over tried to help, and in the process kicked off a boulder of the size of a dorm fridge, which landed < 1' away from my feet. He was shaken. Me too a bit. Luckily only bruises and scratches. Maybe some long-term damage in my head, as I hit a rock at my cheek. My sunglasses were broken and Jerri only found one of its legs. After some rest, against his persuasion, we continued up. No more drama. Clouds rolled in. We went up as high as we could see, but still short of the junction to main trail. Didn't even see the little lake below the junction. Saw lots of purple penstemon, Moraine Lake, Spark Lake. Waited for 20+ minutes for the clouds to go away, but only more coming in. Decent cell reception: Jerri txt-ed his wife and talked to his grandma. According to his iPhone GPS app, we did 2200' gain till 8750' and 5 miles RT.

Had a late lunch back at the camp. Around 3pm, we decided to check out Golden Lake where Carlene's group was based at, this weekend. It's on the trail to Park Meadow, with an unmarked side trail, total about 3 miles one way. Walked north along middle Green Lake's eastern edge. I also checked out campsites at the north end. At one of these investigations at the north Green Lake, I lost Jerri. I waited here and there, not sure if he was ahead or behind me. By the time I reached Golden Lake, it was almost 6pm. This lake is lovely, sits NW of Broken Top, with large flat meadow that was still green. Camping is at wish. I saw at least 5 tents. I also txt-ed Zach (part of Carlene's group) and Jerri. Signal is low. No response. I followed the trail due north of the lake to get back on the main trail (did a cut off when I went in). Gentle grade up to a flat sandy plateau (7000', good cell reception again), then dropping down to Green Lakes. When I returned to the camp, Jerri had a nap and was eating dinner. He was relieved to see me but also upset. We hypothesized how we missed each other. I suggested Golden Lake the next day, if it'd be cloudy. Both S. Sister and Broken Top were buried in thick clouds ever since the morning.


Sunday 7/26. Woke up at 2:30am for a bio break. Excellent night stars. Clear Milky Way, no moon. Clouds were edging up from the sides. I didn't get up till almost 6am. Thick clouds. I found Jerri with his tripod at the lake shore. After breakfast, Broken Top seemed clearing up, so I told Jerri that I intend to follow my original plan. He wasn't comfortable going to the Catwalk carrying his camera equipment, so we decided to meet at camp at 1pm.

Shortly after 7am, I headed to climbing Broken Top alone. Found the obvious climbing trail by the southern Green Lake (turn @about 44.0831306,-121.7262474). The trail is well established all the way to the NW ridge of BT, passing through some dry meadows. The slope is gentle at first, and the steep and sandy when close to the ridge. I was passed by a PCT hiker (trail name Concrete), who carried a helmet, that got me worried. In ~1 hour, I reached the Catwalk. It's not as bad as I thought. The rocks are not as loose, the slope not as steep, reasonable width on the top. The view is stupendous. The higher I went the better. Saw 3 hikers coming down. They confirmed of what I heard: the summit block is more dangerous (a 10' rock to scale, and very exposed loose scree), but up to that point, it's about the same. Clouds were rolling in. I waited, and ate my sandwich. More and more clouds. I turned around after seeing Concrete coming down - don't want to be stuck here alone. Overall ~2 hours on the ridge. As I walked down, saw a group of 4 heading up. Concrete joined them back up. The clouds cleared quite a bit as I approached basin. Arrived at camp ~11:20am. Ate, packed everything, and waited.

At exactly 1pm, Jerri marched in. He told me to go ahead with my original plan, and he'll return to the car the same way we came in, so he wouldn't be distracted too much time taking photos. We set our meeting time at 4pm. My returning route: Broken Top trail (2.8 miles) - Todd Lake trail (0.8) - Soda Creek trail (3.7) took me 3:10 hours. Broken Top trail is open, sandy meadow with leaves now an autumn red. Walked by more reddish cones. View of Spark Lake and Mt Bachelor. This short stretch of Todd Lake trail has greener meadows and a running creek, with Broken Top in the backdrop. At the junction of Soda Creek trail is a vast meadow, great view, dry by the trail, but seems to have some waterhole in the middle. Soda Creek trail is boring in comparison. At first, it was going down in zigzags, gentle enough, no sign of any creek. Quite a lot of white yarrows blooming on the high slopes. View of Spark Lake at times. Then occasional view of the creek. ~50 minutes south of the junction is a nice green meadow with a running creek. The last mile is completely flat and dry, in the sand. I arrived at the same parking lot, at a different end 15 minutes late. Jerri was eating instant noodle.

I really enjoyed this weekend. A very scenic basecamp, multiple hiking options. I'm able to do what I set out to do. Will try this again next year, when there's more snow (up S. Sister might be easier on snow), and when grass is greener. If the weather is not favorable, I would like to hike further along Broken Top trail to Hidden Lake and Park Meadow.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

2015.7.18-19 Lakes of Three Fingered Jack

Another weekend over 90F. Our original plan is a loop around Jack, using an off trail shortcut across its eastern ridge, a saddle of colorful rocks, camp at Canyon Creek Meadow, then join PCT south.

7/18, Saturday. Sunny. We started from Portland ~6am. Arrived at Santiam Pass TH before 9am. PCT north, 5 minutes later, turn right to Square Lake (a very nice campsite right by the lake, by the junction. Of course now occupied), then north on Summit Lake trail to Booth Lake. Lots of dead trees: it's all in a burned area.
Dusty, feels like beach walking at times. Hot, no shade. Views to Sisters unobstructed. Undergrowth is healthy. 10 minutes later, we cut cross the span of fallen trees towards east flank of Jack. It's more interesting than following a trail, but I was glad when it was over. We crossed some small meadows, with 1 creek barely flowing, some place completely dried. Then it's rock and scree going up. View gets better the higher you go. At the ridge, view north to Jefferson and Canyon Meadow below. Don took a nap here. The pond at the foot of Jack is a dusty yellow. Not much ice left on Jack. Met people coming from Canyon Creek and Jack Lake. I walked up the colorful eastern hill for better photos of the ridge. A smoke is bellowing up just NW of Canyon Creek. someone called authority : cellphone works here. Shannon, our organizer was concerned that if no water at the meadow below, we would have to walk extra 3 miles to xxx lake. But people at Wasco Lake (next) was being evacuated. She decided to walk back to camp at Booth Lake. Even though I don't like the idea of going back, swimming in the lake is refreshing (not cold). But I hit my right foot on some rock in the lake. Limping the rest of the evening. Also saw a tiny snake in the water!

A deer came to check us out around dinner time. I didn't put up rain fly, so I could see stars from my tent. It was a good idea. Nice stars, no condensation.

7/19, Sunday. Got up at 6. Only Jerri the amateur photographer was up. Sunny, no clouds. I typed this blog waiting for the others to rise. Hiking out at 8am. It's straight forward. More runners churning up dust. At Square Lake, Uday decided to rest. I dropped my backpack, took water and food, followed the rest of the group. We did in and out to Round Lake. It's just outside of the wilderness boundary. A red road. A cluster of cabins with a large gate "Wilderness Land Retreat". Long Lake can be viewed earlier, but unaccessible via trail. Back to trailhead at noon. Driving back is straightforward.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

2015.7.11-12 Snowgrass Flat - Nannie Ridge Loop

I have a visitor in town (we met in Columbia over 3 years ago) and I decided to show her what's true backpacking. Two more ladies joined us on this trip: one young and adventurous, the other as slow as my guest. Both very amicable. We started on Friday ~6pm near downtown Portland, fought some traffic out of the city, reached Chambers Lake Campground in dark, ~9:30. The agenda is Snowgrass Flat - Cispus Pass - Nannie Ridge, a one way hike.

7/11 Saturday. ~10 miles. We started hiking around 7am. Due to the slowness of half of the group, we arrived at Snowgrass Flat after 10am. Lisa and I headed forward along PCT to the junction of old and new PCT (side trip to Old Snowy). However, by the time we got there, it was completely foggy. Saw some horses, 1 marmot, no goat. Flowers are on their last leg. Gentian is blooming. Most lupines are in seeds.

After picking up our packs at the PCT & By Pass trail junction ~1pm, we headed south to Cispus Basin. It was so foggy that we couldn't see more than 10m. I could smell the rain coming, but it didn't. I desperately looked for camping sites, but couldn't see much. At Cispus Basin, we dropped our packs, and scattered around hunting for camp sites. I walked up a plateau and saw 3 tents. They weren't welcoming 3 more tents. As luck have it, the fog dissipated, and we saw a nice area south of the trail, close to the creek. It's a bit small for 3 tents, so I pitched mine outside of the protected woods. Here's a photo of my guest, taken from the camp.

After the late lunch, we rested and chatted, watching clouds rolling in and out. Around 4pm, without immediate rain, I decided to look for a way of going up to Gilbert Peak (the tallest in Goat Rocks), even though it looks menacing. I set out by myself to Cispus Pass. There, followed the loose rock on the northern ridge. Met 3 guys coming down. At the top, it was a flat area with a nail ~2' thick. At the 2nd peak, apart from another thick nail, I saw this survey marker. The view is quite good, however, the Goat Rocks are shrouded in clouds again. I waited for quite awhile, in vain. More clouds rolled in, so I hiked down directly, instead of retracing my steps, as I don't like the first scree area. Going up to Gilbert is beyond my ability.

We turned to our tents after dinner. ~7:30pm, it started to drizzle. Rained more the next morning.

7/12, Sunday. ~7 miles to Walupt Lake TH, ~6 miles on 7A to fetch the car. We hiked out early (~7am). Going along PCT over Cispus Pass. Two "do not trespass" signs telling us that the Klickitat basin belong to the Yakima tribe. The view is outstanding for awhile. More and more clouds until we reached Sheep Lake (junction of PCT and Nannie Ridge) at ~9:30. It's a big pond, with quite a few nice campsites close to shore. Many side trails dead ends at some site.

Along Nannie Ridge, either due to the clouds or trees, not open enough for a good view. Lisa and I took a short scramble halfway to Nannie Peak. Left our packs at the junction for the rest catch up. Much better view of Adams, and we could see the Goat Rocks behind us. Lisa and I reached the trailhead at Walupt Lake Campground at noon. Pit toilet, drinking water. I occupied a lake side picnic table and waited.

After taking water and water shoes, and left the pack to the other two to look after, Lisa and I headed towards her car, follow the instruction at WTA: walk 1.6 mile paved road past the horse camp, turn right (north) on Trail 7A (hint: the south side has an obvious trailhead of 7A). One mile into trail 7A is the river, now about 1 foot high. Don't take the first river access trail. Follow the orange ribbons for a few more minutes before fording the water. It's refreshing.

Across the river on a tree is a very tiny sign that says 7A. Again, look for the orange marking tape. Hit a forest road. Turn left for ~1/8 mile until you see the 7A sign on the LEFT side of the road (same side as you reached the road). 0.5 mile later, another road; the trail continues straight across but is not marked. Soon, you will come to a third road. Take a right down the road and the take your first left in ~50 ft. Continue on this road for some time as it becomes quite overgrown in places, and will eventually connect with the wide gravel road you drove in on. Go right (uphill) to get back to the Snowgrass trailhead. This is the worse. ~1 mile in the sun, and dusty.

Driving back to Walupt Lake. All this took ~3 hours. The camp host kicked our friends out of the nice picnic table and day use area. That's quite rude. We had Mexican dinner at Morton before continuing home. By the time we reached town, I realized that I have lost my keys!

Sunday, July 05, 2015

2015.7.2-5. Spider Gap - Buck Creek Pass loop

This classic 44 mile loop has been on my bucket list ever since I first laid eyes on Spider Meadow 9 summers ago. My original hiking buddy that time and I started at Phelps Creek TH around 4pm Thursday at 91F, back at Buck Creek TH ~11:30am Sunday at ~80F. I only walked out on the road to the junction (3/4 mile), and my partner walked to the car (2.3 mile, luckily was picked up by an earlier hiker on his way). Adding Phelps Basin (~1 mile RT) + Miner's Ridge Lookout (~2 miles RT) + Flower Dome (~1.5 mile RT) + secret camping spot (~1 mile RT), I totaled ~47 miles, ~10k feet gain + a few mosquito bites.

Day 1, 7/2, Thursday. I took a 6:30am bus from Portland to Seattle. Lunch, repack. We drove out of Seattle ~noon. Temperature rose as the day went on. At Stevens Pass, it was 88F. 15 minutes east, and the temperature rose to 97F. The last 9-10 miles of the road is rough, sometimes very rough. We arrived at the sweltering dusty parking lot just after 3:30pm. The car says 91F. No shade. There were about 6-7 cars already parked there. Thankfully the trail is in the woods. Quite a good view from the TH. We reached Spider Meadow in less than 2 hours. It's a lovely place: lots of flowers (we were a bit too late for the peak this year), circle of towering peaks with water cascading down. Saw a few tents. We marched across the entire meadow. Half of the meadow was already in shade. Very pleasant walk. Took the side trail (overgrown at places) to Phelps Basin at ~7pm. Only 0.5 mile out, and NO one else. A different, smaller circle of peaks. Plenty of flowers here. Perfect camping.

Day 2, 7/3, Friday. Up to Spider Gap is steep and relentless. Air is still cool. Still some snow fields to cross. Put crampons on. All the way, very scenic. Taking photos as my excuse to rest. As you crest the pass - THE GAP, you'll be greeted with the most exhilarating view. Green Lyman Lakes below, Lyman Glacier (broken in two pieces), a meadowy valley below, and more snowy peaks ahead.

Coming down to the lake isn't straight forward. We should have hiked down the snowfield (since we have crampons), but were led stray by faint old mining trails. Scramble down the rock is somewhat dangerous. I don't know how I managed, was fear of falling multiple times. My buddy said he saw 3 separate shoes where he went down. The lakes are beautiful. Had a long snack break by the first lake: still has iceberg floating in it. North of here is easy trail in lush meadows with larch trees, and small ponds that breeds mosquitos. Need to come back in fall. Plenty choice campsites, if no mosquitos.

After Lower Lyman Lake, it's all in the woods, and going up. Noon has come and gone, temperature rising noticeably. There's a side trail that goes further NW of the lake for a waterfall, need to check it out next time.

One hour later, we emerged from the woods to a big meadow. Breezy, and nice creek full of monkey flowers. Refill water. More camp sites. Cross this flat meadow to the west, until Cloud Pass. A good camp site, now has a snow patch for water. Unsurpassed view to both sides, enough breeze to chase the flies away. We debated whether to camp here. Worried about the long miles ahead, I pushed onwards to Suiattle Pass. Took the hiker's shortcut to connect to PCT. This pass isn't obvious, nor grand views. We found a decent campsite just south of the pass, and decided to take a break. Filtered water, pitched the tent (due to the multitude of mosquitoes) and napped/rested for 2 good hours. It was too hot to hike.

At 6pm, we packed up and hiked south on PCT. Met a couple on PCT, consulted their detailed map (first time today that we saw anyone). They pitched their tent at the trail junction of PCT and Miner's Ridge. We turned to Miner's Ridge to Image Lake. The first half is in the woods, quite boring. Once on the ridge, it's a flower heaven. Not really a ridge, but a wide blooming slope. Sun was setting over Glacier Peak. Saw at least 2 other tents at Image Lake. The lake is just a big pond. A bit anti-climatic. Went for a short swim (cold) to cool down. Quite a bit of mosquitoes here. Too dark to take any photos.

Day 3, 7/4, Saturday I got up at 5am, and walked to the north side of Image Lake to take this photo. On my way back, saw a couple hiking out west (opposite direction as where we came in). After talking to them, I decided to head west to the lookout, about a mile away. The tower sits on a plateau with views both south and north. You can walk up. On my way back, a grouse tried to chase me away by fanning out his tail. He followed me for a good 5 minutes.

Packed and started hiking before 8am. Going along the same flowering slope is a delight. Then it was a chore going to Middle Ridge, as the temperature started to soar. Otherwise, it would be a nice hike. Good view back at Miner's Ridge. We didn't linger and pushed on to Buck Creek Pass. Saw an old couple hiking in opposite direction who gave us a tip on tent site. Two more parties of 1 hiking in the hot sun in opposite direction.

At the next trail junction (not named) 1/4 mile before Buck Creek Pass, we pitched the tent for another siesta, in a good camping area (but no water). Simply too hot to hike in the afternoon. Only this way, we saw more hikers going in the same direction as us. At about 6pm, we side tripped to Flower Dome. It's true to its name. The lupines were so dense, I could smell it.

We continued south, shortly, passed Buck Creek Pass, many sites and trails to the right (west), now all occupied. We looked for the secret site the old couple told us, and we found it, over a very steep trail 1 mile or so further south. Again, perfect, no one else. Lots of white paintbrushes.

Day 4, 7/5, Sunday. I was up again around 5:30am to take photos. Only saw one couple as we headed south. The trail followed Buck Creek, good view to what-else-but Buck Mountain. The trailhead is 9 miles from the pass, all downhill. Easy, but as the elevation dropped and sun rose higher, it was hot. Finally reach the big bridge by the trailhead. 11:20am. Met some hikers coming from Suiattle River trail. We refilled water, freshen up a bit. A young boy arrived, then, the couple from Suiattle Pass. Now it's walking on road. At the road junction, we left our pack by the road, and me, waiting. The rest walked up to fetch our cars. I didn't have to wait long. Thanks to the guy we met this morning. I was told that the parking lot was full.

Driving back was long and hot. Traffic jam in Index. Stop and go speed. Who would have guessed. I tried to look for a ride back to Portland via Craigslist. Contacted 3 leads, and finally confirmed one. The guy was traveling around in his converted van. He's maybe 30 years-old. Affable. He showed up later than our agreed time, and we walked in the hot sun to where he parked his car. Then we drove to U. District to pick up his other 2 passengers. The van was nicely done, has an LCD TV, a futon turned bed bolted down on the floor, a small fridge. The two "performance artists" we picked up are interesting looking. One carries a makeup, somewhat feminine. The other a burly guy with tattoo all over his body (at least whatever is exposed), big earrings and wears a pair of tight mesh shorts. They have loads of luggage. Took awhile to get the futon to sit up, and piled all the suit cases in. The two "artists" seemed quite nice and easy going though. We drove straight to Portland without further stop. Our driver smokes some electric substance from time to time to stay awake.