Peak Training The Triathlon Way

It was pointed out to me yesterday that my last post was in January.  I guess I felt like since I’ve been focusing on getting into top physical condition and not climbing peaks that posting a blog in regards to climbing Oregon’s highest peaks wasn’t appropriate.  Appropriate?  This is my blog and I can post whatever I feel like posting so I’m going to start posting on everything it takes to get up the highest 100 peaks, or at least what it takes for me.

2012 USMS Zone Championship Meet, Moscow, ID.

Over the last four months I’ve been training hard for an upcoming local triathlon called the Onion Man.  Yes, it’s located in the city of Walla Walla which is famous for its’ Walla Walla sweet onions hence the name “Onion Man”.  For those of you that personally know me, when I make my mind up and set a goal I put everything I have into the project to finish it to the best of my ability.  The Onion Man is an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5 k swim, 40k bike, and a 10k run).

When I finally made up my mind to participate in the triathlon I realized I had a lot of training ahead.  In February I started in earnest to ramp up my training efforts.  I all but stopped hiking and focused on the three disciplines that make up a triathlon.  Swimming wasn’t a problem; I’ve been swimming 6 days a week on a consistent basis even participating in a couple USMS swim meets this last winter/spring.

My work would be focused on biking (I didn’t even have a road bike when I made up my mind on the Onion Man) and running while maintaining my swimming fitness.  I’ve always loved cycling and after I purchased a new road bike (prices have gone up since the last time I purchased one…ugh) I began putting on the miles.  Walla Walla has a great biking community and after solidifying my cycling fitness foundation I hooked up with the local shop rides to increase distances and speed.  I’ve come to fully enjoy the shop rides which occur a few times a week.

Tuesday evening shop ride.

The discipline I dreaded the most was the running.  For some reason I’ve never enjoyed running like I have with swimming and cycling.  It seems a little crazy that someone who will hike mile after mile day after day would hate running.  My excuse has always been “It will hurt my knees”.  My beautiful wife Romy pushed me to start logging the miles it would take to be ready for the race.  She’s been heading to the track on a consistent basis for the last few months and we started going together on Saturday mornings.  Those Saturday morning runs were not only mentally painful but surprisingly enough, enjoyable as well.  Now I’m running the 10 k distances on a consistent basis and oddly enough I’m starting to enjoy it.  Running is my weakest of the three disciplines and is where I can make up the most time.

As part of my training plan I participated in two Sprint Distance Triathlons the Snake River Sprint Tri in Lewiston, ID and the Spring Whitman Sprint Tri in Walla Walla, WA.  I had an amazing time in both and I can’t wait to compete in the Onion Man next weekend!

So, how does this relate to climbing Oregon’s highest peaks?  February 12, 2012 to today I’ve logged over 1,100 miles in training, I’m physically in better shape than I have been in some time and I know I’m ready to take the peaks head on.  On the 28^th of May, the day after the Onion Man, we’re planning on heading down to south central Oregon to attempt Deadhorse Rim, Gearhart Mountain, and Yamsay Mountain.  If all goes well with those three we might add a couple more to the trip.

Taken by my beautiful wife at the Snake River Tri in Lewiston, ID.

Training And Beyond

It’s update time!  I’ve been a little lazy posting lately, but I haven’t been lazy training for the peaks.  January started with a bang, within the first 31 days of 2012 I’ve managed to hike a total of 65 miles with a max elevation gain of 15,000′ and I swam over 50 miles.  I know you’re thinking it…crazy, right?  All of the effort is geared toward hitting the peaks hard this year and it all starts this weekend.  I have a couple ideas in mind for this weekend, I’m either heading off into the Wallowas to attempt Granite Creek East Peak or over to the Cascades to attempt Ball Butte.  Granite Ck East is over 8600′ with a 10 mile ridge approach while Ball Butte is just over 8000′ with an approx. 5 mile approach.  I’m leaning more toward Ball Butte, but the drive over from the east side of the state isn’t too thrilling.  The weather looks awesome at this point so let’s hope it holds!

Images from January:

Out toward the Columbia Basin

South Fork Walla Walla River

Looking Forward

I honestly had visions of finishing the project last year, then reality hit hard.  Early season access to trail heads was a huge issue with the cold spring and a snow-pack that took its sweet time melting.  The realization hit around mid summer that I would be spending another year (possibly two) climbing the remaining peaks off the list.  I did however finish off the the remaining peaks located in the Strawberry Mountains and put a big dent into the remaining peaks in the Wallowas.

(An image of each trip can be seen below)

5/12/11 - Pueblo Mountain

5/13/11 West Pueblo Summit

6/10/11 Cougar Peak Summit

6/13/11 Pelican Butte Summit

6/14/11 Mt McLoughlin (From the summit looking towards Pelican Butte)

6/16/11 Mt. Bailey

6/17/2011 Warner Peak

6/25/11 Mt. Melissa (One of my favorite peaks of the year)

7/2/11 Elkhorn Peak

7/9/11 Hurwal Divide

7/21/11 Graham Mountain - West

7/21/11 Graham Mountain

7/31/11 Hurricane Divide - South

 

8/26/11 Cusick Mountain

8/26/11 Sentinel Peak

9/2/11 Berry-Norton Peak

9/2/11 Pine Creek Mtn - East Peak

9/2/11 Indian Creek Butte

10/7/11 Arrow Lake Peak

I ended 2011 with a total of 19 peaks off the list for the year and an overall total of 66 peaks which leaves only 34 to go.  I covered most of the state in 2011 climbing in the southeast corner of the state in May to the southwest corner in June, then back to the northeast corner for the rest of the year.  This winter I’m planning a couple of trips into the Wallowa Mountains to attempt winter ascents on Twin Peaks and Granite Mountain.  I’m done making predictions of when I’ll finish the project, I’m planning on taking it one peak at a time with the focus of enjoying the unique nature of each peak left to climb.

66 down 34 to go!

 

 

 

Winter Summer Winter

There’s no such thing as spring or fall! 

Arrow Lake Peak Summit

It’s been awhile since my last post and no it’s not because I’ve been sitting on the couch at home ignoring the 100 peaks project.  Let’s see, I did climb the remaining 3 peaks in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness Area, and I did make an attempt at a couple peaks in the Wallowas back in September in which I had to have my car towed home. (I’ll write more about the “Killing The Car” trip in the future when it’s not so raw.)  So, it’s October, a new month and with September in the rear view mirror I knew that I’d have an excellent October in which I’d hit over 70 total peaks setting up a manageable 2012 with 30 peaks left to summit.  I have a feeling I was wrong about October.

The Plan

Arrow Lake Peak, Cached Lake Peak, The Needle, Hidden Lake North Peak, and Eagle Lake East Peak.  I had even thought that if everything went right I’d bag a sixth peak Culver Lake South Peak.  Yes, an ambitious plan, but I felt like I was due for a good trip.

The Results

Summited:  Arrow Lake Peak (In the middle of a snow storm in whiteout conditions)

(From our camp at Arrow Lake)

Attempted:  Cached Lake Peak (I was within a few hundred feet from the top before having to turn around due to treacherous conditions.)

(I snapped this footage before turning around just below the summit of the peak)

 

Yes, one peak…one out of five.

I’ll be honest, I’m at my wits end in regards to this year.  It started with a winter season that wouldn’t end and now the two month long summer in the mountains is coming to an end by what could be an early winter.  I’m at 19 peaks off the list for the year when I hit over forty last year and yes I really thought I had a shot at finishing the project this year.  I’m getting a little concerned that I might not make it next year.

The Future

One peak/mountain at a time.  Even though this year hasn’t gone as planned it still has been an amazing year and I’ve seen spectacular mountain landscapes.  I’ve worked hard to complete all of  the peaks in the Wallowa Mountains from the list, it appears that I’ll fall a little short, but I did give it an amazing effort.

I’m off to dust off my snowshoes and make an appointment at the local body shop for the car.

66 down, 34 to go!  (Yes, in the video above I say 66 down 36 to go, I was a little sleep deprived that morning.)

 

 

Cusick and Sentinel Peak (August 25-27, 2011)

Cusick Mountain was one of the peaks off the list that I was looking forward to climbing.  Due to its location access to the peak requires a little planning and if you’ve read my other posts, I love the planning aspect.  I actually thought I could climb Sentinel, Cusick, and Marble by hiking the ridges that connect all three peaks, but the ridge which connects Cusick and Marble looked a little sketchy to attempt solo so it’ll have to wait for a future trip.

Route

Thursday August 25th

I left work late in the afternoon and made the 2.5 hour drive to the Wallowa Lake Trailhead.  When I left the car I actually thought I would hike into the late evening after dark by head lamp as to reach Tenderfoot Pass and set up a camp for the evening.  The hike went well and I gained a decent amount of elevation and distance in a relatively short period of time.  As the evening wore on I began to think a good nights sleep would be more beneficial for the long day I had planned for Friday than to hike late into the evening.  I found a nice campsite close to a small creek just to the east of Aneroid Lake which was a few miles short of where I had planned, but I was still happy to get the main part of the approach out of the way on Thursday.  I ate a cliff bar and some almonds filled my water containers and slid into my sleeping bag for a restful night.

Friday August 26th

I woke up to my watch alarm at 5am and of course I turned it off and fell back asleep for another 30 minutes before I finally sat up and began to get things packed for what I knew would be a long day.  A cliff bar was on the breakfast menu so after a quick snack I started packing up camp and after 35 minutes I was ready to hike.  The walk up from Aneroid Lake to Tenderfoot is fairly easy with only a few sections that could be considered steep, but with the good trail it goes by quickly.  Once at Tenderfoot pass the trail descents a few hundred feet to the junction with the Polaris Pass Trail.  From the junction the Polaris Pass Trail ascends up to the pass in what felt like a couple miles.  I found a small snow field where I stopped ate another cliff bar and relaxed for a few minutes enjoying the amazing view into the North Fork Imnaha River valley.

North Fork Imnaha Valley

From the top of Polaris Pass the route leaves the maintained trail and follows the ridgeline from Polaris to Sentinel Peak.  There’s a faint trail from mountain goats and other hikers that’s fairly easy to follow.  I found a large snowfield .25 mile from the summit of Sentinel Peak so I decided to stop and fill up my water containers by melting snow and again had a cliff bar and a little trailmix.  The view from the ridge is spectacular and one could spend all day just relaxing and snapping shots of all the high peaks located in the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area, but I knew my main goal was still a couple miles away so I didn’t stay long.  After I had my fill of water from the melted snow I pulled the pack on and continued up the the summit of my first peak for the day, Sentinel Peak.

Sentinel Peak

Even though Sentinel Peak isn’t that spectacular it’s still over 9000 feet in elevation which puts it in the top 20 of the highest peaks in the state of Oregon.  I searched for a summit register for a few minutes, but I couldn’t located one so I had a few handfuls of trailmix, drank a little water, and snapped a few shots before I continued on my way to Cusick Mountain.  As I was descending along the ridgeline from the summit of Sentinel to Cusick I noticed someone walking toward me way in the distance along the ridge.  After 10 minutes of hiking we met on the ridgeline.  The hiker was on his way to Cusick earlier in the morning, but decided to turn back after making the decision not to descend down into Honeymoon Basin.  We talked for about 5 minutes before we said our goodbyes and continued hiking in the opposite directions.  It wasn’t long before I was looking down from the top of the ridge down into Honeymoon Basin and could understand the hesitation the hiker had in wanting to ascend down into the basin, especially since he was out from his camp for a day hike.

Honeymoon Basin is one of the true wonders in the wilderness area.  The basin was carved by the glaciers that covered the wilderness during the last ice age and is devoid of any form of large vegetation.  It appears as if the glaciers melted out the day before and had left behind a couple small alpine ponds/lakes.  There’s a central ridge from the summit of Cusick Mountain that points to the north northeast  down into Honeymoon Basin.  I studied the ridge for 10 minutes trying to visualize each section to determine if there was any impassible sections along the ridge.  Feeling satisfied that the route was safe I started up from the basin towards the summit.  There were short pitches of smooth limestone that were surmounted without any issues and it wasn’t until I was on the upper section of the ridge that had to do any scrambling on class 4 rock.  I was standing on the summit of Cusick Mountain in about an hour from the bottom of the ridge route.

Cusick Mountain and Honeymoon Basin

The summit of Cusick is truly amazing, peaks in all directions and the definite feel of isolation.  I found the summit register and spent a little time reading the other entries and too my surprise I noticed an entry of a close friend who climbed the peak back in 2007.  I snapped some shots and video then directed my attention to the long ridge out to Marble Mountain.  I examined every little point along its ridge line and after about 30 minutes I decided to end my ridge run at Cusick.  The ridge from Cusick to Marble looked to sketchy to attempt on my own and if anyone out there has climbed along the ridge I would love to know the details.  I felt at ease with my decision not to continue toward Marble so my attention was switched to focus on my route out.  I looked at the topo map and it appeared that I could descend off the northwest side of Honeymoon Basin down to Frazier Lake which is right next to the West Fork Wallowa River Trail.  If I could descend down to the lake I could hike out the West Fork Trail to complete a long loop back to the trailhead and my car.  The descent back down to the basin went quickly and once back in the basin I hiked over the the small lake at the base of Cusick Mountain.

As I hiked closer and closer to the edge of the basin I began to realize that my plan to drop over the edge to Frazier Lake might not be possible.  I started working down the side of the ridge and ran into my first cliff face.  I dropped my pack and started looking for any passable line down the side of the ridge.  The last thing I wanted to do was to get halfway down and run into a dead end cliff face and climb all the elevation back up to Honeymoon Basin.  After about 10 minutes I found a line that looked passable, but there was one section that I couldn’t get a good view of that could potentially put an end to my decent down.  Ugh, it wasn’t an easy decision, but I knew if I could get to the lake my hike out would be a breeze so down I went.  I felt like I was putting a puzzle together, down one section shift to the right, down a moderate crack/gully in the limestone then shift back to the left, on and on.  Before long I realized that the steepest part was behind me and the only thing left was to drop my pack and take off my shoes so I could wade through the outflow from the lake…I did it!

Rock Cliff route down from Honeymoon Basin to Frazier Lake

There were numerous camps along the edge of the lake, but I was able to find a small level spot close to the lake.  It was 6:30pm when I finally had my pack off and tent up and I could finally relax.  I pumped water out of the lake and cooked a dinner which consisted of Ramen and mashed potatoes, I know, yum!  I took a short walk after dinner to take a few shots before dark.  I slid into my sleeping bag and was asleep by 8pm.

 

Saturday August 27th

Even though I set my alarm I ignored it when it went off and slept in until 6am.  You guessed it, my breakfast consisted of a cliff bar and trailmix which I ate while I was packing up camp.  I was out and on the trail hiking by 6:30am.  I had the trail to myself for the first 5 miles and it wasn’t until I passed the trail that heads up to the lakes basin that I saw another person.  The West Fork Wallowa River Trail is one of the busiest trails within the wilderness so as got closer to the trailhead I started passing one group after another.  I was back at the car before 11am.

 

This trip by far was one of my favorites since I started working on the Oregon’s 100 Highest Peaks List.

Check out my summit videos!

Two Out Of Three…

First of all, I had an amazing hike into the Wallowa Mountains and even though I fell a little short of the three peak goal the trip was a success.  I’m planning on posting pictures and information about the trip in the coming week, but for now check out the 360′s from the summits of both Sentinel Peak and Cusick Mountain.

62 down, 38 to go!

Cusick Here I Come!

The Big Three

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be setting off to attempt Cusick Mountain, Marble Mountain, and Sentinel Peak, three peaks in the center of the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area.  The isolated nature of the peaks means a long approach which I plan to get out of the way tomorrow afternoon/evening/night.  My goal tomorrow is to make it close to Polaris Pass where I’ll camp for the evening then after an early start on Friday morning I’ll summit Sentinel Peak and Cusick Mountain then head over to Marble.  I’m not sure if I’ll make it up to the summit of Marble on Friday, the ridge that connects Cusick and Marble looks problematic so I might have to descend off Cusick into the S Fk Imnaha River valley then find a route up the side of Marble.  More than likely I’ll be climbing up to the summit of Marble on Saturday morning then hiking out to the trailhead that afternoon.

Wish me luck!