Bandera Mountain - Part 3

I REALLY REALLY wanted to go hiking today, but the weather is terrible. Weather.com says that there will be scattered thunderstorms right about the time I would have summited whatever peak I chose. Seriously, I'm not really excited about the possibility of getting struck by lighting. This is major setback because I only have a few weekends left to hike before school starts up again. To reach my Summer of Summits goal I'm actually planning on doing two mountains in one day, climbing Silver Peak (5603 ft.), and then Mt. Catherine (5052 ft.) or Tinkham Peak (5295 ft.). This is possible because they are all along the same trail.

But since I'm stuck at home today, I might as well post the final set of photos from my hike up Mt. Bandera. The first five pictures were all taken from the summit of the mountain, and the very last image was taken during my descent. Snow is a feature in images one and two, and I had a fun time sliding on my butt down part of a slope (hiking back up was another matter). There was snow on part of Mt. Si too back in may when I climbed it.

If you haven't already, click on the pictures themselves to see them in their full size, and then go back and do the same with the last two posts. You will be taken back by the beauty of the mountain presented in such detail! Enjoy!

Bandera Mountain - Part 2

Here are some more spectacular images from Bandera Mountain! I've been delayed in posting these due to a busy school schedule (full time work + class = not fun, and no hiking too!!!). Now I'll have some time to tackle a few more peaks, but in the mean time, I'll post parts 2 and 3 of my Bandera Mt. adventure.

The photos below were taken mostly from the beginning of the true Bandera Trail, as it leaves the Ira Spring Trail and climbs a super steep set of switchbacks to the summit. Photos 1 and 3 should give you an idea of just how steep it was. Some (IMHO "crazy") people hiked up the slope just fine, but I opted to use my hands for most of the way. Photo 4 was taken, I believe, near the summit, and it is one of the best pictures of Rainier this trip produced. Photo 5 was taken from the Summit of Bandera Mt., looking at the backside of the mountain. I believe the peak in that photo to be Mt. Defiance, and the pleasant pool below it is called Mason Lake.

In my next entry in this series I will show you some of my best summit photos! The world is absolutely beautiful above 5000 ft!

The Ira Spring Trail/Bandera Mountain - Part 1

There were so many amazing photos from my trip up Bandera Mountain that I can't easily put them all in one post. So what I'll have to do is break them up into 3 different entries and show only the very best pictures. The photos will be presented in basically the order I took them as I traveled up the mountainside. These spectacular images will only get better and better with elevation, and the picture of Mt. Rainier is literally like the tip of the iceberg. All of the pictures in this entry are from the Ira Spring Trail. This path is named after a famous Washington hiker and wilderness photographer who passed away in 2003, and it leads up to the Bandera and Defiance trails, as well as several mountain lakes (sadly, I wasn't able to visit any of these lakes). Enjoy!

The Summer of Summits 2009

I have just returned from an amazing hike up Bandera Mountain, and while I was traversing this beautiful wilderness, and mastering a challenging peak, I had an idea. I decided I would make it my goal this summer is to climb five peaks that are over 5000 ft. tall! In fact, I am actually hoping for seven summits, but five is simply a more reasonable goal. Bandera Mountain was the first of these hikes, and at the top I reached an elevation of approximately 5150 ft. I'll tell more about that adventure when I release the photos from that climb, hopefully later this week.

This is a fairly ambitious goal, but its very doable considering that I live probably within an hour and a half from two dozen of these mountains. In fact, according to one website, there are 113 5000+ ft. peaks in Washington State! So let the Summer of Summits begin! Also, I would like to encourage my fellow ATCOTAT writers to conquer some of their own summits and share their adventures here. Tim & Jessica, consider Clingmans Dome (4,503 ft.) and Thunderhead Mountain (5,527!). Mom & Dad, perhaps you should try Mount Arvon, the highest point in Michigan (which is actually a very sad 1,972 ft., but we can still show some Michigan pride, right) or Giant Mountain (4,626) in New York. Truly, there is a Summer of Summits waiting for everyone.

As for me, next up is Mount Defiance (5,584), an adjacent peak to Bandera Mountain, complete with its own mountain lake, and in late July I hope to tackle the American Ridge (6,946!!). Also, Granite Mountain , McClellan Butte, and Silver Peak are on my short list. This inaugural Summer of Summits is going to be spectacular!

Mount Si.

This trail dog has summiting into his blood. Last Memorial Day I ventured once again to North Bend, Wa, this time to climb the big brother of the previous hike, Mount Si, one of Washington's most popular trails. The trip is 8 miles long, four up and four down, and it was extremely challanging for this vetern hiker but novice summiter. Different sources argue for different final heights, but I'll use one source that says 3900 ft. (there is some evidence that its actually more than 4000 ft.) , with an amazing 3150 ft. elevation gain.

So here are some of the best pictures from the trip:

The picture of me was taken atop the true summit of Mt. Si, called the "haystack", a scramble

that is several hundred feet tall. Climbing the haystack was tricky and very scary, but definently worth it for the accomplishment alone.

My next hike will either be a sunrise hike up Mt. Si, or possibly a trek up Little Bandera Mountain, which is supposedly 5000+ ft. tall! Also, in the near future I will be releasing Notes from the Log Episode 2, detailing my entire adventure on Mt. Si.

Notes from the Log - Episode 1

Well friends, here is a video I produced about one part of the Sheltowee Trace. It's one of a series of log entries I made while on that trail, and this one reveals a certain 100 foot stand alone rock face next to the Cumberland River. I must apologize for the graininess of the images (I am in desperate need of better equipment). But the excitement of the journey is not lost in the footage and I hope to produce more films about the Cronkright family's adventures in the Wild places of America.



Enjoy!

March 2009: Sheltowee Trace Trail

Sections 33-28, Yamacraw Bridge to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, near Whitley City, KY. Approximately 30 miles.
Trail notes: poorly marked, ambiguous, dead leaf covered trails
Weather: low 30's at night, 50-60 during the day. No rain, sunny most of the time
Advice: there may not be any mosquitos but there are ticks. A good map is a must if you want to walk this trail.
Highlights:
Day One: the adventure of getting a back-country camping permit. we hadn’t thought about the fact that it was Saturday and the Ranger Station might be closed. Oops. Thankfully, we had enough phone numbers and were able to find a place: the FastWay Marathon in Stearns.
Day Two: waking up this first morning to ice on the food bags. Spending lots of time puzzling out the trail as the markers were few and far between. A mixture of diamonds and turtles.
Day Three: As we broke camp, two stray pups came running out of the woods. A little later an older "trail hound" joined us near a trailhead. We nicknamed the older dog "Chubby P. McFatso" . They followed us all the way to the end of the trail. We took Chubby back to the trailhead where he joined us and took the pups back home with us.
Getting separated into two groups (Tim/Jess/Dave, Mike/Lynn), climbing to tops of hills to leave voice mail for each other. Figuring out that it would probably have been a good idea for each person to carry a map. Still being separated at days end. Good thing each group was self-sufficient except for a map!
Day Four: long trek through dry country. Coming out on a road and seeing smoke across the way. 20-30 DNR/volunteer fire vehicles passing us over the next hour as we (Mike/Lynn) trudged down the road looking for the next trail head. Spending an hour at the bridge by the river de-ticking. Getting a ranger to take Tim to where we left a vehicle since Mike/Lynn had all the keys to the one parked at trail end. Some of us never seeing Cumberland Falls after all. Too tired to walk down to them. Pizza, beer and a long drive home for the designated drivers.