The Early Bird gets The Tooth

Our lives are made up of the path we forge from the opportunities presented to us in our own set of circumstances. Had we never moved to Washington, I doubt whether I'd ever taken up mountaineering or with this weekend dabbled with alpine climbing (be it ever so small). A short 40 minute drive from my house is Snoqualmie Pass and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of the Mount Baker Snoqualmie Forest. Beautiful trails and lakes are surrounding by majestic granite peaks of the cascade mountain range, the great secret of Seattle. Was there not this opportunistic field of possibilities, my development in the outdoors would have been much slower and required greater effort.

Tucked away up a small narrow valley is Alpental, a ski resort in the winter and a magnificent trail head in the spring, summer and fall. Guye Peak, Snoqualmie Mountain and Snow Lake are all within a few short miles of the parking lot. At the upper end of this valley below the ridge line sits Source Lake, the beginning of mighty South Fork of the Snoqualmie River which carved the canyon that I-90 follows. Above Source Lake is Chair Peak and a beautiful ridge line of peaks that circles back down to Denny Mountain above Alpental itself. In the middle of these is The Tooth which sits above Pineapple Basin. The Tooth is probably many folks in Washington's first alpine climb as it was mine. Proximity to Seattle with an easy approach and a short climb (4 pitches) with great views of the surrounding area make it extremely popular.

Seth and I started out early. We met at the Safeway in North Bend at 5 am and were at the upper parking lot in Alpental and on the trail by 5:45 am. We followed the trodden trail up the middle of the valley staying to the left of the creek. The week prior J.K. had climbed the Tooth with the WAC and we were thankful for the foot path. The snow was firm in good condition and we made good time to the end of the valley and the "big hill" where we turned south-westerly and waded up through the deep snow. Purchase was hard to come by as each step sunk and fell out from underneath me in the snow. Finally frustrated I stepped in the glissade paths of the previous days and made good progress to the top.

At the top of the ridge line is Pineapple Basin which is framed by Chair, Bryant and Hemlock Peaks. At the far end of the Basin is the Tooth and the pointy fang of a gendarme that guards Pineapple Pass. We made good time up the basin, watching our shadows grow as the sun crept over the ridge behind us and to our left. Midway up the basin a cornice broke off atop Bryant and slid down over the rock and came crashing down into the basin below us. Watching in awe I caught it on video, as I just happened to have my camera out. Even had we been lower in the basin the slide petered out well before the climbers path. After the snow settled Seth and I both turned back around and looked at the ridgelines above us scouring for cornices. None to be seen we carried onward and upward. As we approached the final steep slope before Pineapple Pass we looked behind us to see small figures of climbers moving just into the Basin behind us. The early bird gets the Tooth I thought and we hurried up the steep snow over Pineapple Pass where we traversed north around behind the base of the gendarme to the base of the southwest face of The Tooth.

We stashed our snowshoes and Seth's pack and got out my brand new rope ("pretty" was how another team described the bright orange color) and we put on our harnesses and tied in. I carried my pack, stuffing my camera in side with Seth's bag of food. As we were getting ready the first of the party we'd seen down below arrived. They were with the WAC and had a group of 8 students they were taking up. On belay I fed out the rope while Seth led. As he reached the belay position and after taking up rope, yelled down "On Belay" and I yelled up "climbing" and up I went until I reached his position. Where again I belayed and he led. I am sure my form wasn't pretty, that I used my knees in a place or two but I got myself up without Seth having to pull. I had a bit of difficulty removing the anchors Seth had placed in a couple of spots. The second pitch had a particularly stretching move just below the belay where I had to wedge my left foot on a small ledge and reach my right arm up into a large crack to pull myself up. The last pitch with its airy catwalk ledge took some nerve to step across the break in the ledge, but firm cracks for handholds above and the rope assuaged the fear and beating heart.

In a short 60 minutes were were on top the Tooth. Alone on the summit with amazing blue sky, high clouds and stellar views for 360 degrees from Denny Mountain, to Mt Adams, Rainier, Granite Mountain, Glacier Peak, Stuart, Lundin, Red, Thompson, Snoqualmie, Guye and on and on. We unroped and sat on the bare rocks and took in the scenery while eating some food and drink. We spent another 20 minutes taking photos, including the requisite summit shot.

Before anyone else arrived we roped back up and prepared to rappel down. First Seth and then I would follow. This was an interesting process of navigating among those who were coming up. In a few places at belay stations Seth or I waited on climbers ascending so we could freely rappel down. Along the way I met Carlos a friend of Ingunn and JK's. I also met Nadia Hakki a friend of Geroge and Cherry's from their days in the WAC. A small world even up in the mountains.

After reaching the bottom we gathered, stored and loaded all the gear and made our way back to the top of Pineapple Pass. A few short glissades later we were in the flat section of the Pineapple Basin and in the middle of a group of Mountaineers who'd been practicing self arrest on the hillside above. Everyone was swimming in snow with postholes often up to your mid thigh. Seth and I threw on the snowshoes and we stayed on top of the snow and made excellent time, passing all the Mountaineers and beating them back to the top of the ridge above Source Lake. We glissaded down to the valley floor and then stumbled, slipped, fell and postholed our way back to the car. We arrived at 1:45 pm 8 hours after our start. Seth jumped on a con-call and we headed down the pass to the North Bend car swap rendezvous.

Reflections

Some thoughts about the experience looking back. I'm amazed that such an experience is to be had in such a short distance from my home. I'm grateful to Seth for taking me up, for bringing the rack and leading the climb. He's either introduced me to or been with me along most every step of my mountaineering and alpine experience. Its a pleasure being in the mountains with such competent and friendly hands.

As I sat in a belay position below and watched Seth lead the climb, over the past day or so I've had had some thoughts about the process. While by no means is the climbing on The Tooth extremely difficult or long I was still struck by the lessons to be had in climbing. In the context of this story of The Tooth I share them, with apologies for my naivete in terminology and description.

Lead vs. Follow

When rock climbing, the goal is to make your way up a rock face while ensuring you and your partners safety. One leads the climb while the other belays, both wear harness which encircles the legs and the waist. The person in the position of belay has three points of contact. First his/her harness is anchored to a immovable station, Second his/her harness is tied into one end of the rope, and third a belay device is attached to the harness via a locking carabiner. The lead climber also has three points of contacts. First his harness is also tied into the opposite end of the rope. Secondly his rope adjacent to his end is fed through the belay device attached to the partners harness. As the lead climber begins climbing, the belaying partner plays out the rope, but holding it in a locking position. The lead climber's last point of contact is as he climbs he periodically places anchors (protection) into the rock and clips his rope through them. Thus should the lead climber fall, he will not free fall because of his partners belay on the rope and he will only fall as far as he has climbed above the point of his last anchor.

Having said this its important to understand the distinction between the climber that leads and the climber that follows. He who leads truly leads. He begins ascent without protection at all. Confidence and care are required because until that first anchor is placed, a fall is a fall all the way to where he began and there is no safety from the one on belay below. Immediately after placing the anchor (usually just above or level with him) the lead climber stands safe as he is immediately adjacent the anchor and his rope is clipped in. Should he fall at this point he will fall no distance, as the rope is taught between his harness and the anchor point above him. However from this position again the climber must lead out above the anchor point. The further he climbs before placing an anchor the farther he will fall. And while the rope and belay offer protection, the fall will still hurt and each lead out requires an act of will of pushing up and beyond the safety point in search of the next anchor.

I never led on this climb. I only followed. Following is done after the lead climber reaches a belay point, which must be found prior to the length of the rope being reached. From here the lead climber anchors himself via the harness, and pulls up the rope till slack is consumed, then feeds the rope through his own belay device and clips into the carabiner. The climber below begins climbing up and as he does the rope slack is taken up. The climbing follower is never in any real danger of a fall, should he slip the rope is always there to catch him. As he makes his way up the route he removes the anchors placed by the lead clipping them to his harness as he goes. While both climb, one leads and the other follows. And like many of the paths in life, either metaphorical or real, the roles should not be misunderstood, taken for granted or confused. One leads; the other follows.

Memories of Miles

I got this idea from a lot of the meme's that have been making their rounds on Facebook recently. Things like 25 random things. I thought I'd start keeping track of little stories about my kids, anecdotes of life. Here are some of Miles, I'll keep updating this blog as new ones come along.

• Age 5 : Miles said to me the other day : "Dad I'm starting to think that Batman isn't real". This is at the stage of Miles life where his favorite toys are : Transformers, Legos, Bionicles, Batman, Lincoln Logs and Ben 10 Alien Force. He's a boys boy. He had a cute worried tone to his voice. I told him : "Your right Miles, Batman isn't real, but he's still cool and I like him and his movies"
  
  
• Age 5 : Sometimes its too easy to give into Miles request for another toy from Target because they keep him entertained for so long. He can really go off into his land of imagination and play and play. We've been trying to teach him the "cost" of these and have been making him earn money before he buys a new toy. We've been giving him chores around the house to make money. He has also been collecting all the change that I put on my night stand or he finds in the dryer. Tonight as he took some change to put in his money box he shut the door and said. "Dad give me one second". Then immediately after he shut it he said : "Actually give me two seconds". I knew something was up. So I gave him 5 seconds and then peeked in the door. He was madly stuffing bills into his money box. I went in and we talked.... I found $69 in bills in his box. He'd taken 2 twenties and 3 fives from my wallet. (He had legitimately earned 14 dollars in chores). He immediately started crying and ran and hid in the closet. We talked about how he can't take any bills from anyone else but change is ok. I pocketed 55 dollars and left him with the rest. Little stinker. :)
  

Anonymous Ramen

After eating soba for lunch on a wild hair we decided to try the other famous soba shot just around the corner. Unfortunately they were closed for some construction so we headed off for the subway. Along the way Sano asked us if we wanted to try a really good ramen place near Shibuya which was right by the office. Already in the second noodle mood we agreed.

Outside the Shibuya station along a main road we came to a sign for 24 hour ramen and stairway descending into the dark. A quick turn to the right brought us a vending machine where you purchase the basic ramen ticket 720 yen. From there there is a very short 12 foot wide hallway/entrance where people lined up with a turn at one end. The immediate wall had a bunch of paper slips were you can specify additional customizations to your ramen : garlic, hot spice etc. This 12 foot entrance is divided into three equal sections. The middle section has a split door that is closed, behind this is the kitchen area. On the top side of the split door is a white sign with 21 square electric buttons in two lines, 10 on one side and 11 on the other. They represent the left and right narrow hallways on either side of the kitchen that house 10 on one side and 11 booths on the other. Occasionally a square will light up blue and a person will emerge from the hallway and the next person in line will enter.

Patiently you wait in line as one by one the squares light up and the rotation occurs, one full happy ramen customer emerges and another hungry intiate enters with their ticket and paper specifics in hand. Regardless of whether you come alone or in a larger party, only one person enters at a time and when you do your isolated from everything else but your ramen confessional booth. Each booth is literally just that, a small space maybe 3 feet across with a dividing wall separating you and the next booth. In front of this space is a red stool that you sit upon. Directly in front of you is a red cloth and a small 9 inch space where you see the mid sections of people scurry back and forth. Hands appear, place some chopsticks and a small glass on the counter; take your ticket and paper and you wait. A short while later a steaming bowl of ramen is pushed through the open space and a mat is dropped down closing the space and your in solitary ramen confinement. No neighbors. No talking. Just steaming ramen and you. Your primary purpose to eat.

After finishing you stand, a sensor in the stool turns on the blue light outside and the cycle continues. It was a strangely surreal eating experience, one that I enjoyed immensely as the ramen was not only tasty but the delivery was an odd social experience as well.

Full set of photos on Flickr

Griffith 2008 Christmas Letter

Hard to believe another year has passed since the last one. For some reason I feel slightly melancholy for not sending cards this year, even though I've been sending the electronic version for several years now. Regardless as we wait on Christmas Eve for the turkey to cook and I've had my afternoon nap, I pause to compose the years review. For me the four word summary is : family, outdoors, church and work. More details below, here is the video version of our holiday photo.

Family

In early January Mark started off the new year with a replacement camera for the one stolen last Christmas eve, just in time to travel to Beijing for work. January is a cold cold time to visit Beijing, the food however was fantastic and the highlight was a a trip to the Forbidden City. Back home we also got a new pet a snake! (Though in December while climbing around outside her cage she disappeared in a hole in the built in shelf's and we haven't seen her for two weeks!)


If February the mountains continued to get dumped on with snow and we got a snow storm or two in our lowland hills. Mark went on a fun hike with the kids up over Cougar Mountain, he didn't tell them how far it was shhhh. The family took a long weekend and visited Anacortes and Whidbey Island, our favorite part was visiting the fabulously beautiful Deception Pass where the kids piled rocks on Mark while he took a nap in the sun.


In March the mountains kept getting dumped with snow (we had record snow falls). Mark kept hiking with the kids, they had a very Calvin and Hobbes moment at Rattlesnake Ridge. On the first day of Spring Mark went on a still very winter expedition to Mt. Daniel in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, it was 10 degrees at night and it snowed the entire time. At the end of the month 3 days early, Kiah went on her first date with Christian Rennie to girls choice. Over 40 kids got together for pictures and went to the dance together.


In April Kiah turned sweet 16. Scary! They grow up way too fast. For Spring Break the family headed for Southern Utah. We love the lush all year green of the Pacific Northwest but longed for the dry red rock of the southwest. We visited Zions where Mark took an early morning hike up to Angels Landing and the family went on several great hikes together. We then headed to Bryce where it snowed on us, we then spent a magical afternoon at Goblin Valley. We then drove up to Cache Valley to see Stac's Mom who wasn't feeling well and Mark very cold hike up the Wellsville Mountains. Before we returned home we saw Linda and Doug in Salt Lake, as well as Shari.


In May spring started around the lowlands in Seattle and Mark went diving in the sound where he saw a huge Moray Eel. Mark kept on hiking, sunrise with the Markiewicz's and barefoot on Bandera Mountain. The family had fun celebrating Memorial Day. At the end of May Mark headed out (again) with a bunch of friends try to get to the top of Mt. Adams, they had a great time but didn't make it to the top due to almost getting struck by lightening!


June was a busy month! Things started out with Miles and Mark attending a late rendition of our annual Father and Son's trip out to Ocean Shores. Things were a bit windy, but we still got to some great jumps in. Mark and Stac marked the their 19th anniversary with a nice dinner (more celebrating later). Mark got up stupid early to hike to the top of Snoqualmie Mountain. Stac turned 40(!!!) and Mark threw her a big party with smoked ribs and pork shoulder. Mark had a recruiting event in San Francisco so the family got a wild hair to see old haunts and friends and decided to drive down. Over the weekend we saw Rona and Holli (and little L), the Barentsen's and Mark went to lunch with some old workmates in the city. Mark of course managed to sneak in a run over the dry hills of the East Bay. On the drive home we stopped to visit Stac's good friend Alison. At the end of June (told you it was busy) Mark got a chance to meet up with one of his Flickr heroes : TellyTom and they went on a hike with Miles up Denny Creek, the best part was the sliding down in the snow (video!!!).


In July, Jessie Smith, a good friend from church got married. The family had a grand time celebrating the 4th of July with fireworks and the big swing! And then the vomiting and diarrhea began in earnest for Mark. After two weeks it turns out he had giardia (don't drink the water unfiltered from streams!). Mark finally got some medicine the night before Stac and he headed out to the San Juans to celebrate their 19th anniversary. They had a wonderful relaxing time without the kids (Thanks Megan), and Mark started feeling better in 24 hours as the medicine kicked in. Summer began in earnest with jumping and swimming. At the end of July Mark took a 4 day trek with his brother and good friends through the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Most of this was off trail. They had quite an adventure (and no we didn't almost die!). You can see the best photos from the trip or read the 3 blogs, though the greatest moment had to be bathing in a tarn.


August the snow continued to hang on in the mountains with force. Mark hiked in the middle of the night to watch the Perseid Meteor shower with the Hancocks. We finally got the boat out on the lake. After Kiah's girl's camp the family set out for their summer vacation trip to Utah, where they had a busy time : Went to dinner with Faye and Sharon. Took a trip to Bear Lake. Mark and the kids went on a one night backpacking trip to White Pines Lake with Uncle Doug and Aunt Julie and Lauren and Garret. We went on many hikes. Mark and the kids went canoeing on the Little Bear River. Mark hiked the entire length of the Wellsville Mountains (16 miles and a skunk) from north to south. And finally the family went to Mitchel Zollinger's wedding. On the drive home we reached the brink of insanity and Stac got her sweet revenge. Sofi turned 9 years old! To close out the summer the family went boat camping at Lake Kachess. Mark brought the tent cabin, but left the poles at home! Luckily he was able to rig the tent before it got too dark to see with rope from the boat. Sofi declared the roast corn and the tinfoil dinner the best she'd ever had.


September started out with a labor day hike up over Denny Creek to Alpental. And of course the return of the first day of school. Mark had to travel to Beijing again for a project launch. So Stac and Mark took the opportunity to travel to Beijing together for 12 days with no kids! (Our good friend Amy watched them back home). Mark and Stac lived in Taiwan twice during their first couple of years of marriage and it was fun returning to Asia together. While Mark worked the first half, Stac traveled all over the city with Beth (wife of a workmate). After the project launched Mark took a few days and Stac and he went sightseeing to the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. The food was fantastic though they must have gained 10 lbs. Mark too over 200+ photos but you can see the shorter version in 25 best. Kiah made the Drill Team at school and we started going to football games with regularity. Mark kept hiking (imagine that) and saw a bear eating berries at Granite Mountain. Kiah went to homecoming dance (ahh memories). The family went once again up to Snoqualmie Pass to pick huckleberries. As September faded the Pacific Northwest enjoyed beautiful weather and Mark went for a gorgeous hike up to Maple Pass with his Flickr buddy Greg.


As October came the first snow in the mountains seemed to foretell an early winter, but that was the last snow we'd see until the end of December. Mark took a day off work and he and Stac and Miles spent a day in Paradise on Mt. Rainier. The family had a great time on our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch with the Bratsmans and Sundelins (sans Tore who had to work). Miles and Dad hiked up to see the sunset and the Harvest Moon rise. We continued to enjoy a beautiful fall, we enjoyed more football and Miles and Dad went camping with the Scouts up at Commonwealth Basin. The family had their annual pumpkin carving and photo night. Mark enjoyed the most beautiful sunrise on Snoqualmie Mountain with JK (video). Halloween was great fun and the kids got great hauls of candy.


November the girls went down to Vancouver Wa to host a baby shower for Alison and Miles and Dad did whatever Miles wanted for the day. Miles wanted to go ride a ferry so we rode out to Bremerton. Miles turned 5 on the 6th! Kiah had her first drill performance at Lake Washington High School where they took 3rd. Mark went on a 20 mile hike with the scouts up and over all of the 3 mountains in Issaquah : Cougar, Squak and Tiger. Mark turned 41 (oh joy!) and celebrated by hiking to the top of Mailbox Peak (again). (Don't miss Mark and Kyle singing Happy Birthday to Mark). For Thanksgiving the family traveled to Idaho to Doug and Julies house, we had a great time visiting with them and Danny, Aunt Marcia and Uncle Wayne, Sara and her family and Josh.


In December Kiah had three Drill performances, first at Issaquah High Schools State Championship in Tacoma, at the Shorewood High School and Liberty High School. The best part was when Mark got the times mixed up and they arrived 2 hours early to one. The Santa photos at the Church Christmas Party were fun, you always get at least one screamer. Finally in the middle of December the snow started in the mountains and Mark went snowshoeing with the Markiewicz's back up at Commonwealth Basin. The snow didn't stop falling and we had a record 14 inches of snow in the lowlands that stuck around for 9 days! (That's about 13 inches and 8 days longer than normal). School was canceled early for the holidays and Seattle and the area pretty much shut down for a week. We got a new kitty to replace Oreo who went missing. (Probably Cougar or Coyote :( ) Mark went snowshoeing again in waist deep powder. Stac's parents made the trip up from Utah. Christmas Eve morning Mark and the kids made potato donuts, that evening we had nice dinner with Stac's folks and Mariana and Dashiel. We had a white Christmas as the snow fell all day long. Mark spent 4 hours putting together Miles 693 piece Bionicle and everyone enjoyed naps and a peaceful day. Finally the rain returned and washed away the snow in the lowlands. News Years Eve we spent the morning making dumplings with the Currits and that evening we spent at the Browns with the Ellis's.

Mark

(Here it goes in third person) Mark had a great year. He completed another 1000 miles under his own steam. Along the way he saw so many beautiful places and he took a couple of photos (he posted 3250 on Flickr, though he selected a few favorites). Mark continues to enjoy reading and seeing movies, though he seems to have less time for those activities with all the hiking and his serving in the church. The highlight was the High Alpine Traverse he did with friends. Mark got a new camera right before going to Beijing, the Nikon D90 and he's loved its video feature. He's enjoyed shooting and learning how to edit together movies. Work continues to go well at Amazon, where he still works on the Fulfillment By Amazon program. He got to travel to Beijing twice with work and loved being able to reconnect with China. (He graduated in modern Chinese history). Mark ended the year with not only 1000 miles completed but an amazing record 11 work days of eating Pho in a row. He looks forward to next years adventures with friends and most of all family. Mark is looking forward celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary with Stac in Mexico this June (don't you love frequent flier miles) and is threatening spring break somewhere outdoors (though the family wants Disneyland).

Stacey

This is Stacey(I'm going to speak in the first person, none of this 3rd person stuff). I discovered blogging this year! Mark has been trying to get me to blog for a few years now. His wish came true. I've already written 41 entries in 2008. I've connected with many friends on Facebook that I haven't spoken to in over 20 years. I love Facebook for that reason. There have been many highlights for me this year. Mark has already written about a few of them so I will just list mine(maybe repeats) and why.

1. Going to Southern Utah. I loved the weather and all the beauty that is in the dessert. Going on hikes with the kids was a lot of fun. They are so adventurous.
   
   
2. I turned 40 and Mark put on a great party at the church. A lot of friends came, we had good food, two yummy cakes and dancing to 80's music.
   
   
3. Going to Orcas Island for our 19th anniversary. Mark had giardia which wasn't great for him. It was a nice relaxing mini trip though and the Ferry ride was amazing. We had perfect weather, a cute little cabin to stay in and no plans whatsoever. We read and lounged. It was great.
   
   
4. Going to Utah in the Summer to see family. We stayed overnight at Bear Lake, played in the water, had raspberry shakes and tots with fry sauce. Going to Mitchell's wedding was another highlight from the Utah trip. Watching Mitchell and Becca dance to the theme of "Twin Peaks" for their first dance together, was great. They are a very cute couple.
   
   
5. Going to China with Mark might have to be the top highlight for me. Being back in Asia with him was so much fun. The two weeks away from the kids was hard at times but I knew they were fine. Seeing the Forbidden City and the Great Wall are two things I will never forget. I will never forget the way I felt while there. Unbelievable is all I can say."
   
   
6. Watching the kids learn and grow is a highlight that's right up there with going to China. They amaze me and make me laugh. When I have time with each one individually, like if we go out to a movie or shopping, is such a treasured moment for me. I don't want to brag but I'm going to. I have a wonderful husband who supports me, 3 kids whom I love and who love me, we have a roof over our heads and Mark has a job. I can't complain about anything. Life is good. I'm excited for this new year and I pray that you and yours have a wonderful 2009, that you are safe and well. Happy New Year!
   

Kiah

Ahh Sweet Sixteen and in her Junior year at Issaquah High school. This year Kiah tried out and made the high school drill team. This has kept her very busy, going to practice and memorizing her routines. She's often seen in the house paused in front of the fridge going through a drill move. She's enjoyed the aspects of competition and looks forward to going to State competition in 2009. This was a year of firsts for her : first job, first date and since her parents got tired of shuffling her between drill practice, work, school and early morning seminary she got her first car (spoiled!). Kiah does well in school and is such a beautiful mature young woman. She manages her time and life so well, we never have to bug her about doing her homework or getting up at 4:30 am to go to early morning seminary (though Dad does have to wake her up) and she's such a well balanced teen, especially given the way Stac and I rebelled. She's looking forward to turning 17 and summer time already.

Sofi

Sofi is 9 and boy has she got a strong little personality. Mark has a tradition of stealing the kids Halloween candy and taking it to work. He let Sofi pick her 20 favorite pieces and then put the rest in a bag in his pack. The next day when he got to work and went to take out the candy he pulled out a green towel. Sofi had done a switchero in the middle of the night. :) For her birthday party she had a Camp Rock themed party, where she had a pinata and a sleepover with 5 girls. She loves the Jonas brothers and has their poster on her wall. She is our artist in residence, she loves to create and has an amazing imagination. She'll draw for hours and can make an art project out of anything. Sofi is also quite the little cook, she is always ready and willing to help Dad in the kitchen and can make a mean risotto.

Miles

Miles has finally outgrown his love of Thomas the Train, though he can't yet bear to part with them. Now its full on Transformers, Ben 10 Alien Force, and Star Wars, Legos and Bionicles, Spiderman and Batman. His favorite though is Batman and he enjoys dressing up as Batman, though he also has also been known to make Iron Man costumes as well. Miles has a late birthday in November when he turned 5 though many kids cried at the games Mom and Dad picked, (pop the balloons : too loud! and musical chairs : everyone hates getting out). Miles started pre-school at St. Lukes Lutheran church. The teachers were determined that he would participate in art, though Miles just liked playing with the Legos and trucks. Funnily enough Miles came home now thoroughly convinced due to this education that food that falls on the floor is dirty and has germs. Miles still enjoys going on hikes and camping trips with his Dad. Dad still carries Miles on some parts of their hikes, though they've made an agreement that now that he's 5 he has to travel on his own two feet. We'll see how long that lasts.

We had a great 2008 and look forward to 2009! You can find us on the Internets... Mark on Facebook and Mark on Flickr. Stac on Facebook and her blog

Happy Holidays!

Welcome to the Christmas edition of me writing this down on my blog just for the heck of it.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping Paper all the way. Gift bags are only for kid birthday party that you only remember the day of and you buy a present an hour before dropping your child off at the party.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
100$ real. Growing up we always had a fake tree and while I don't think I really cared much as a kid, I love the smell and picking out the tree.

3. When do you put up the tree?
First week of December. Usually on or around the first. This year we were late, we didn't get it up until the 7th.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Sometime around New Years.


5. Do you like eggnog?
I do. But I find have to cut it with milk, otherwise its too thick.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
The two I remember. The year we moved from Golf Street to Krug Park Place, a 3 story turn of the century mansion. We didn't have a lot of money, and all the kids got a single present : ice skates. I remember us kids knowing it was a tight Christmas and us wrapping some of our toys to give to each other. The other is the year later I got a chemistry set and microscope. I remember fondly sitting in my room burning sulfer and looking at the single cell ameoba from the pond.


7. Hardest person to buy for?
Hmm. Probably me for other people. Stac is easy, jewlry from Sundance.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
Miles

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, more than one but I honestly don't know how many.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Email all the way! Its like asking me whether I write snail mail letters any more? No! I'd never get it done otherwise.

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I think it had to be when I was 21 and I got home off my mission after being gone for 2 years right before Christmas and I didn't get a stocking cause my Mom thought I was too old. I was way dissapointed.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
A Christmas Story. "You'll shoot your eye out!"

13. When do you start shopping?
Not till mid Nov through first of December.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
No. Wedding presents yes, but Christmas never.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Pumpkin Pie

16. Lights on the tree?
Absolutely! What else would you put on your tree?

17. Favorite Christmas song?
I love the "oldies", Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole. I grew up on all of those. But I love love love Charlie Brown Christmas.

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home?
When we finally got a home in California. I decided that "home for the holidays' was our house. No more traveling. I wanted our kids to have their own memories and traditions in our own home. Come down our stairs in the morning etc.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?
On Dasher and Donner. On Cupid and Blitzen.... um nope.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Saar

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
One gift Christmas Eve : PJs and everythign else Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Commercialization

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
Red

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
Just like Thanksgiving. Turkey and all the fixings.


25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Nothing really I pretty much already have everything I like.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this?
I don't really care. :) I am doing this to record my Christmas thoughts and memories this year.

27. Who is least likely to respond to this?
See #26.

The Last Great Sunrise

Any fool can stay awake to watch the sunset, 
but it takes determination to see the sunrise, 
especially from the high country.

This is a way way tardy write up, but given the long late wonderful fall, how the rain has now returned in force, and the fantastic trip it turned out to be I figured I'd write this up anyway. Here goes....

For those looking back years from now reading this, and I surely hope that this stuff is still around for you to read, I'll give you a bit of insight into some of my motivations. I realized in my 30's after very little activity over the last 15 years that I'd become, in the word of Paul Simon, "soft in the middle". I needed to get into shape. I didn't even consider a gym, I'm more of a private person and none of the machinery and "working out" in public was appealing to me at all. I started riding my mountain bike along the paved trails that ran beside the waterways in Pleasant Hill. I remember the first time I started out, exerting myself too hard and leaning over the bars dry heaving. I thought to myself, "clearly I am doing something wrong". I kept at it. Shortly thereafter a friend, Becky Johnson, took me and my family on a hike up to Briones Regional Park, which was maybe 3 miles from our house. A whole new world opened up to me and I started mountain biking on the trails. I began to realize that I could not only exercise but at the same time take journeys through beautiful landscape. I mostly did this before work as it was the most convenient time, as after work was about fixing dinner and being with the family. The morning time became my time and I liked it. The world is fresh and new when its waking up; the light is nice, but most importantly I enjoyed the solitude whether alone or with a few close friends. Most people don't seem to like mornings, but I relished in them.. Soon thereafter I augmented my biking with a weekly hike with Becky's 70 year old Father Curg. He could hike circles around me in my out of shape state, but I slowly improved. A couple of years later we moved to Seattle. One of the reasons was the outdoor activities that our specific little town, Issaquah had in the local "mountains" of Cougar, Squak and Tiger and the larger area of the Cascades. Because of my location, I-90 became my main corridor of exploration, I could get up and out quickly and back.

Last year, at least from my perception, rain and snow invaded early, and cut the fall short. This year the long sunny and dry spell has allowed the leaves to fully mature and the color and the weather has been amazing for Seattle. I've tried to get out and take as much advantage as possible. Looking at the forecast for the last week in October, I saw three clear days and decided to try for one last non-rainy Dawn Patrol. One benefit of pushing daylight savings all the way to November is you get some ridiculously late sunrises. Sunrise proper was 7:50 am, but it was getting light around 6:45-ish. I wanted to get away by 4:45 am, which is almost sleeping in from the 3:30 am start I had in June. The destination was Snoqualmie Mountain, because its one of my favorite hikes along I-90, mostly because it has so few people and such great views. JK was the only taker and we met at Target and by 5:30 we were starting up the trail in the dark under the bright full stars.

I think Dawn Patrol in the dark would be difficult if there isn't a well defined trail or you haven't been down the path before. Luckily I've been up Snoqualmie Mountain many times and the "trail", what there is, is well defined; mostly following the snow melt creek and boulders up to where you cross the creek above the waterfall. At the falls the creek was bone dry, not a drop of water trickling over the rocks. I don't think I've ever seen it without water, a testament to the dry fall we'd been having. We crossed and made our way up through the steep rooty forest band above the dry falls and started climbing what you think is the last long ridge to the summit. Finally the sky began to lighten and it was clear it was going to be a great sunrise. We stopped a couple of times for a brief moment to capture the silhouette of the sky as the morning dawned, but mostly we just hurried to try to reach the summit by the time the full color came on.

We made it as the to the summit as the sky lit up in bright red, as Red Mountain was dark with its distinctive triangular profile. The gendarmes along the ridge from Snoqualmie toward Lundin stood in dark start contrast to the dawn. We put on a warm jacket and enjoyed the world waking up in a fantastic display around us. We scrambled all over the summit area taking photos of the sea of peaks around us. I kept waiting for the strong alpenglow to hit Rainier, but it was a bit muted. Glacier Peak though was majestic draped in sunrise pinks. After the requisite jump shot, we packed up and started thumping quickly down the trail to try and make it into work by 10 am. Took us around an hour to get down, and by 9 am we were in the car listening to the Into the Wild soundtrack riding back down the highway. My legs hurt a bit the next day from the constant pounding of the down down.

As the rain and gray returns, I often think of that sunrise. We saw it from a vantage point that very few others did that day and we still made it into work. The early start and effort were worth it, but then when it comes to early in the mountains they usually always are.

Photos and Video

Snoqualmie Mountain Sunrise from mbgriffi on Vimeo.

Set on www.flickr.com

Commonwealth Basin

The scouts have a goal of camping out once a month. It doesn't often happen due to competing priorities and interests. Its especially hard during fall and winter months when the days are shorter and sports are in full swing. We've been blessed with gorgeous clear fall weather this autumn and Paul Currit and I discussed possible locations. I usually choose lakes, because there are so many within short hiking distance of I-90, and I suggested Mason Lake. Given the short days (dark falling around 6:30) Paul countered with the idea to go to Commonwealth Basin because it was closer than Mason and we could build a fire. I readily agreed.

Strangely though I've been hiking in the area for four years I've yet to make it up Commonwealth Basin. I'm not sure why, I've hiked all around the area, often returning to the same places multiple times, but never explored Commonwealth. I usually don't like taking the scouts, or even my family, to a location without having been there myself. I like being able to have done a recon trip before hand, and at the very least having good beta on the area. I wasn't able to get up to the area beforehand, but Paul was able take an afternoon off the Friday before with Eleanor and his son Alan and hike up to the area to scope it out. He found a great campsite and mentioned possibly hiking Red Mountain the day after our campout.

He hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and took the cut off to the Commonwealth Basin. I knew from reading trip reports on nwhikers.net that there was an abandoned trail. Some purusing of reports discussed the directions and conditions of the abandoned trail and the two main benefits where around a mile shorter, and with less traffic than the PCT. I also read up on the description of the route up Red Mountain and quickly ascertained that the ascent was beyond the capabilities of the young scouts and especially my 4 year old son Miles. But there was discussion of a trail up to Red Pond, a view point and Red Pass, so I planned on this as a destination.

Friday night we met at the Front Street Market and by 3:50 we were off up I-90 with a party of 10. Four adults : Me, Paul Currit, John Gillmore and Kevin Brown and 6 boys : Keagon Brown, Dashiel Johnson, Parker Phair, Stewart Dronen, Gavin Gillmore and my son Miles. We we at the PCT trail head and off by 5:30. Directions to the Abandoned trail are to travel a hundred yards or so until you see the "Most Difficult" sign on the right and then there is a side trail on the left that is the classic grown over logging road; grown over in the sense that the two tire ruts were down to a single track with slide alder and bushes. We started up the trail, which makes its way up gradually before starting up the ridge scattered with vine maple and Doug fir. The higher we climbed the sounds of I-90 eventually faded and were replaced with the cascade of Commonwealth Creek.

The boys spread out as they naturally do, the strong and eager bound ahead and the slower plodders struggle behind taking breaks and complaining of heavy packs and tired legs. We'd instructed the boys before leaving that when they came to a fork in the trail they were to pause and wait for the rest of the group to catch up before proceeding. An adult was with the forward vanguard and we had an adult at the rear to bring up the sweeper position. My goal was to keep Miles moving. Hiking with youngster's is often an exercise in distraction, keeping them talking about some topic to focus on anything other than how far there was yet to go. Miles was a trooper and made the entire hike to our campsite without having to be carried except for creek crossings.

As the trail attains the top of the ridge it flattens out and runs adjacent to the creek. Eventually the trail reaches a point where your at a shallow portion of the creek and you can cross to the left on a line of well placed rocks or continue right on a fainter trail. By this time Parker and Keagon were well ahead of even the vanguard adult. As the rest of arrived at the creek they sheepishly were returning back from the faint trail. They argued that the creek crossing wasn't an obvious fork, so they'd hadn't crossed and had gone up the faint trail next to the creek but eventually it got fainter and fainter so they turned back. Cautioned and warned again, I threw Miles on my shoulders and we crossed the creek and continued up the basin which was wide and flat.

In a short while we crossed the creek again, this time the river was deeper, but there were several places to cross : large rocks, or logs. From here the trail enters old growth spared by loggers. A short while further and we crossed the creek again, this time on several well placed logs and a few rocks. Miles made his own way down the main log and with a helping hand across the rocks. A couple of hundred yards and there was a central campground with several campsites among the large Doug Firs. We spread out and hurried to pitch tents and set up camp as dusk was setting in. The fire ring that Paul had seen the week prior had been dismantled with a vengance, I noticed several fire stained rocks strewn about through the huckleberry bushes. This is probably the right thing to do in the spirit of leave not trace, but where fires are allowed and established I am torn about proper etiquette. As we got ready for dinner darkness had fallen. Kevin primed his whisperlite and I fired up my jetboil. Hot water was all that was required for our freeze dried meals. John and Gavin attempted to start a fire. The ground and wood was wet from dew and a bit of snow that had fallen a few days before and still littered the ground in places. They must have worked on the fire for an hour and they had a tiny little smoking mass of embers and woood. They had brought up spicy hot links and were dead set on grilling them over the fire. Eventually they worked up enough coals to cook a few, but that was long after everyone else had eaten. After Miles at his beef stroganoff he immediately wanted to get into his sleeping bag. The temperature had dropped down to the mid 30s and he was cold. However when the hotdogs where done he heard there were extras and he sat on the log in his sleeping bag and ate one.

Time to stoke the fire. I had the boys go around to the huckleberry bushes and pick up branches that had fallen from the trees and were off the ground resting on the bushes. These branches tended to be dead and therefore much drier than. Though small we were able to gather large armfuls and soon we had a nice roaring fire. We sat around the fire had a Scout Masters minute by Paul. Afterwards we sat around the fire and chatted for a bit and the boys had fun playing with my camera taking some photos. Miles and I headed off to the tent and we got situated in our sleeping bags, I read Outside magazine for a bit as miles slept and I followed him.

The next morning I set my alarm for 6:15 to wake and maybe get some photos of the sunrise from the basin. I woke up to gray skies and after wandering down the trail for 5 minutes or so I could tell the morning was going to be gray, so I climbed back into my tent and sleeping bag to read and stay warm. 30 minutes or so later I smelt fire; Gavin and Paul had resurrected some embers deep under the ash more small dead fallen branches. I got up and we started priming stoves for breakfast. John's famous breakfast burritos, he'd stepped it up a notch. First some red onions, sauted in butter then add in the sausage, then eggs with some milk, and cheese before wrapping them in a tortilla that we'd warmed over the fire. Delicous. John's wife had also sent up a package of bacon so we fried that up and everyone got a piece. After cleaning up, some of the crew began breaking down camp, they had morning commitments to return home early for while I wanted to stay and hike up to Red Pond. We did a sweep of the campsite for garbage or any man made trace and after the boys had scoured the adults checked and any piece of garbage required a push up by each boy. We only found 1 item and they only did a push up a piece. John then left with Kevin, Keagon, Dashiel and Paul and I stayed with Parker, Stewart, Gavin and Miles. We poured buckets of water on the fire and then head up the trail.

After leaving the campsite the trail quickly starts up the lower ridges below Red Mountain. The trail switches back and forth on the eastern side of a drainage and breaks out with views of Lundin Peak and Snoqualmie Mountain and what must be an impressive waterfall when there is water flowing. Miles by this point was getting tired of hiking and so he wanted me to carry him. Usually he prefers the sit on shoulder position, but since I am doing the carrying I now bargain that if he wants to be carried I get to use the fireman carry, its much more comfortable and besides he weighs 55 lbs now. As we paused for a break on the switchbacks, Gavin threw a small softball sized rock down the slope. Two hikers below yelled "Rock!" as it tumbled down the slope, luckily missing them. Gavin and I talked about why we don't ever kick or throw rocks down slopes and I told him he'd have to apologize to the hikers when they caught up with us. Gavin told them he was sorry as they climbed into view, they were understanding. The trail climbed up the ridge line and crossed over the drainage above the waterfall and then eventually came to a small shelf below the rising peak of Red Mountain.

Here the trail split to the left and right, one of the hikers said the left led to Red Pond and he though the right climbed the ridge a bit and then cut back west towards the pass between Lundin and Red Mountain. We started up the right fork, but after a couple of hundred feet it was clear this boot path was making for the summit of Red. We stopped for a break and then headed back down and took the left fork to Red Pond. The southern end of the shallow pond had a gray thick sheet of ice. The two hikers were above the pond and said the trail to Red Pass was just to before the Pond. However a large talus field stretches above the pond and since Miles loves climbing rocks we scrambled up the talus till we reached the trial and then headed up across the rock to the small stand of trees at the top of the pass.

Red Pass is a knife edge ridge on one side with sheer drop offs and views down across Burnboot Creek, the Middle Fork of the Snoquamlie and Mt. Thompson. I hadn't really seen such great views of Thompsons its profile is impressive with its dark gray horn of rock sticking up. Clouds blowing across the mountain tops caught on Thompson's peak. A couple of other parties came hiking up. A hyper active lady tried to tell me that Red Pass was still at least two miles away. She got cold and her party left to find Red Pass. The other party had a dog with them and his name was Miles as well. We laughed as both my son and their dog got confused as each of us gave instructions. Me telling my Miles to sit on the rock and stay away from the edge and them entreating their dog with snacks. We took a few photos from the pass and then set off down the trail back to camp. Miles made it most of the way down before wanting me to carry him again, luckily this was pretty much near the bottom and the flat bit before camp.

We broke down camp and then scoured the camp one more time for garbage. We poured water on the fire one more time, scattered the few remaining sticks far and wide and then swept up some needles and dirt from under a few of the large trees and spread them over the fire pit remnants leaving no trace. Threw on our packs and started back down the trail. We made the creek crossings with no event, other than me getting my feet wet while trying to get some shots of the creek. The last 1/2 mile as we tromped along the logging road Miles really wanted me to carry him again so I threw him over my shoulder, but it really hurts the neck with my pack on as well. As we were almost to the Pacific Crest Trail here came the boys from a side trail that led to the horse parking lot for the trailhead. They had taken the wrong fork again. Once again we reiterated the importance of waiting at forks and made our way down the last few hundred yard to the trail head.

We got back to Issaquah around 3:30, after dropping off the boys Miles and I went for food. First we stopped at McDonalds where he got 2 plain cheeseburgers, fries, apple juice and chocolate chip cookies and then we headed to Chipotle where I got a chicken burrito bowl.

In doing research after the fact I was happily surprised to learn of the history of the trail up to Commonwealth Basin and Red Pass. In the early 1900's, Fred Cleator supervisor of Washington and Oregon region, laid out a trail that followed the spine of the Cascade range from Canada to the Columbia River. This was known as the Cascade Crest Trail, this eventually was linked together to form the Pacific Crest Trail. In the 1970's the PCT route was changed from Snoqualmie Pass around Kendall Peak with its infamous Kendall Catwalk and the Commonwealth Basin trail and Red Pass were abandoned and were dropped from the USGS topographical maps. You can still find Red Pass on the Green Trails maps though. Others have told me about trips on the trail as late as 2004 through Commonwealth Basin to Goldmeyer Hotsprings. A journey I'd love to explore someday.

Stats :

2 miles from PCT trail head to Commonwealth Basin where we camped with 1091 foot elevation gained.
1.5 miles from our camp to Red Pass with 1846 foot of elevation gained.

Total 7 miles


Commonwealth Basin from mbgriffi on Vimeo.

Set on www.flickr.com