New Gear and lots of Lessons Learned! * Warning long post but worth the read if you want to learn about gear

This weekend was not an outdoor weekend.  I was assigned to work this weekend, supporting 787 airplane 2 in flight test.  We wound up doing house errands on Saturday and I worked all day on Sunday.  The best part of the weekend was Friday night, which was spurred by Monday evening.  So let me go briefly to Monday evening. 
Monday Evening 1/25/2010
Ryan and I attended the first of three lectures for a Mountaineers' class called Alpine Scrambling.  At the end of the class we will feel more comfortable fording our own path to high peaks with ice and loose rocks.  The lecture covered required gear, physical conditioning, and what the class will be like.  The lecture was overall nothing new for us but it remind us of gear we may have to buy $$$.  For Mt. Rainier's climb we had planned to rent boots, helmets, ice axes and perhaps even borrow some gear too.  By the end of the evening we were rethinking the "plan".  This leads to our fun urban adventure on Friday.
Friday Evening 1/29/2010
We got home from work beat but wanting to get our errands done Friday night, (Outdoor stores, Ikea, World Market and Pier1 to look at house decorations for our newly painted walls), so that just in case I didn't have to work Sat. or Sun., we would be able to go play outside.  Well we only got to the outdoor stores because we spent over 3 hours gear shopping!
First stop was Second Ascent in Ballard.  Fabulous customer service, and great selection of gear.  We only walked out with a used ice axe for me but we tried on everything!  First thing to learn more about -Moutaineering boots.  We tried on really stiff boots, lighter boots with full shank soles, and thick, stiff warm boots too.  All were different and good in their own way but for the cost (>$250) we decided that the plan to rent for Mt. Rainer would be best and that our current boots will be great for scrambling.  In fact the guy helping us out goes scrambling in the same boots Ry owns.  Score, huge savings!
LESSON 1 -The boots we have will work just as well if not better because they are already broken in.  I have Asolo TPS 520 GV Hiking Boots and Ry has Vasque Wasatch GTX Hiking Boots
After trying on all the boots we could and exhausting all our questions/concerns we briefly looked at ice axes.  We determined that the one dad bought years ago for me will be long enough for Ry and that I needed one, so first purchase of the evening was a great priced used ice axe.
LESSON 2 - For the Alpine Scrambling we are doing the best length is to hold the head of the axe in your hand, pointy end towards the floor, with arms at your side and have it be no longer than to your ankle.  This is so that you can walk with it in your hand and not scrape it against the ground or loose rocks, preventing exhaustion in your arm.
LESSON 3 - The shorter the ice axe the more bad ass you are in the mountaineering world.  Don't believe the wild stories of a guy that looks rookie and is carrying a long ice axe.  (There are a few exceptions to this rule, so don't get to judgemental)
Next area of the store - DAYPACKS!  The last daypack Ryan used was a school bag that I nixed shortly after we started dating. The daypack I was using that we now share is very small and really only better because it has comfortable shoulder straps.  Although a real sturdy bag just too small.  For the past 4 years we have made it work and, pp until now we really didn't need anything more, especially one for each of us.  The Mountaineers require that all hikers/climbers carry our their own first aid, their own water, and their own gear.  Ok, ok, ok twist our arms we will get new packs.  Talk about kids in a candy store!  We must have tried on, tugged at, stuffed, and analyzed over 20 bags.  The changes since we bought our backpacking bags in (1997/1998) are just unbelievable.  I would still agree with anyone that we didn't have to get new bags but after serious examination we decided it would make trips much more enjoyable and we would be best prepared with better bags.  Also this allows for both of us to train for Mt. Rainier since we can each load up our own packs, and not worry about borrowing the weekend of the big trip.  Unfortunately Second Ascent didn't have exactly what we were looking for, but after a quick Google on the trusty iPhone we saw that REI does have what we are looking for.  Off to REI we went after profusely thanking the staff for all their help. 
Now take these two gear adrenaline pumping goons already excited and put them in the Flagship REI store!  Yeah we had to remind ourselves when we were going in why we were there, and yet we still wind up buying more than daypacks!  Don't worry the extras were on the list and now we are both much safer with helmets and a 3 liter camelpack to go in my new daypack!
LESSON 4 - Decide what you are looking for, what is most important to you.  This daypack is going to be carried for several hundred miles (hopefully) and will be something you only have to purchase once.  (i.e.our backpacking bags circa 97/98)
LESSON 5 - Make sure you do not change your mind about what is important to you in a pack because of something superficial like the color, brand, model name, etc. 
LESSON 6 - Do not go to REI without a list, thank goodness for dividends!
OK so now what bags did we get and why?
Our requirements were:
1. Side pocket on each side of the pack for water bottles
2. Camelbak bladder holder
3. Ice Axe loops
4. Easy access to the inside of the bag from two angles, not just the top.
5. Want ability to hold trekking poles and/or snowshoes, maybe even skis for later down the road.
6. Side straps for making the pack smaller when needed. 
7. Comfortable hipbelts. 
With these requirements the only brand that matched was Osprey.  All the other brands while great packs in their own right only covered 6 of our 7 requirements.
I got an Osprey Kestral 38 Pack-S/M, pretty bag, super useful, great match for me, Even comes with its own rain cover!

Ryan found that the Osprey Talon 44 pack was more to his liking, his favorite color is orange so I had to be sure he wasn't just drawn to the color.  it does make sense that he go up a size since his gear is a little larger and volumous than mine.  Besides the size, the bag is very similar to mine.

To end this very long post just in case all you do is look at the pictures I post here is a picture of Ryan leaving the store.  His quote of the evening is "I do not plan on taking my new pack off, I am going to wear it everywhere", including out of the store, yes we were those goobers, but we were happy goobers. 

Tonga Ridge...Well the Fire Road to Tonga Ridge

After quite a busy week at work, and evenings spent painting our home indoors, we were ready to get outside and away from town. 
Sunday morning, our good friends Jacob and Natasha met up at our place, loaded up the Skybox (car top storage) and we headed off for adventure. 
Side Note-This was our first trip using the newly acquired Skybox for all our gear, Lily had the entire back of the Tribute to herself, and all 4 people rode with plenty of space.  Thanks Mom and Dad!
The best thing about traveling with J&N is that they are up for just about anything and will push to see around the next turn just in case there is a perfect vista! 
Today's hike after starting to drive north; we decided on doing Tonga Ridge.  The snowshoe book does mention that this trailhead may be hard to reach after the early season because of too much snow.  We decided although we are in the middle of winter that the chance was worth it because the book also mentions superb vista views.  After about a hour and a half of driving we reached Tonga Ridge Rd.  Unfortunately we only made it about 4 miles down the road before we were stopped by a lot of snow on the road.  We parked the car and decided to just walk along the road.  The first half of our walk was without snowshoes, because although our car could go no further there were tire tracks that had flattened the snow making it quite walkable. Since we knew at some point we would need the snowshoes, I got a little pack training in too.  I hauled both Ryan and my snowshoes along with all our clothing (because Ry can sure sweat when he is going up) in my pack. 
Side note- I think that we learned a little lesson on this hike.  If we want to really condition for Mt. Rainier we are going to need to both carry our own packs and make them heavy with a gourmet lunch or something else fun like that. 
About 2 miles or so on the main road we took a right as the book says to do and tried to find the actual Tonga Ridge trailhead.  We did have the option to go on a more leavel trail or head up towards the trailhead.  Without even really thinking Natasha says lets go up.  I love Natasha's attitude!  This is one of many reasons I love hiking with J&N.  We have a mountain to climb in July and we are going to be prepared.  This side road (we think it was #310) required our snowshoes, so we strapped them on and up we went.  A little over 3.5 miles we came to the trailhead for Tonga Ridge.  Well at least we know where it is and perhaps we will visit again on a sunnier day for another chance at some good vista views.  Today we got a glimpse at a few jagged mountains for a moment, but mostly we enjoyed the solitude of just us out in the snow with pretty evergreens looking even greener in the grayish background.   The hike back to the car was just about all downhill and sure seemed A LOT easier then the way up, we made it back in just over an hour. 
To end a great hike we stopped for some burgers, fries and shakes, and still had time to make it to church.  Great day!

No pictures from our trip, in our excitement to go we completely forgot the camera. 
Here is a picture from Washington Trail Association of what we should have seen had the weather not been so socked in and we had actually started at the trailhead.  Definitely a reason to go back, who wants to go?

 

"ALL IN for CHARITY" - Our First Fundraiser!

Saturday evening, our friend Joel hosted a poker party at his house in honor of our fundraiser.  All entry fees went towards the American Lung Association and our climb. 
The night was a great success with some great poker players, $300 was raised by the end of the night!  A fun night overall, we even had a little pie contest to celebrate National Pie Day.  With 4 entries, 2 berry pies and three apple pies, the obvious winner was Jon K with his perfectly soft apples, just the right amount of juice and the tastiest crumb topping.  The prize for the pie contest was that we all got to eat pie!  Mmmmm.

The night started with 21 players at 3 tables, and ended with just one winner.  The final table was as follows, with the first place trophy going to Martin.   
1st Martin P
2nd Joel P
3rd Penn P
4th John W
5th TJ W
6th Katie Y
7th Jon K
8th Sue P
9th Jill M
10th Diane F
Thank you to all for giving up any winnings for such a great cause!

Here is a picture of the top 3 poker players of the night (L to R, Martin, Penn and Joel) and the real winners (Ryan and I) for getting the cash to put towards The Climb.

 

Snoqualmie Pass Snowshoeing

We made it out for our first trip of the year!  Our friend Amy and her pup Sammy joined Ryan, Lily and I for a snowshoe adventure.  We had a nice start to the day with bagels from Noah's Bagels in Kirkland.  Any day that starts with delicious carbs is destined to be a good day.  The weather was very warm and even slightly rainy the entire drive to the pass.  We were definitely wondering if there would be any need for all the layers we were wearing and if snowshoes would be wanted.  By the time we got to Gold Creek Sno-Park (exit 54 off I-90) the rain had subsided, snow looked deep and slightly soft from teh warm weather making it nearly perfect snowshoe conditions.  Not only were the conditions looking good but there were almost no cars in the parking lot, the day just got better!  We strapped on our snowshoes with the pups hurrying us along, and headed off to the trail.  The route selected for the day was to start on Fire Service Rd 9090 and then venture off the main trail at some point.  We walked for about 45 minutes before heading off the main trail to a side trail that was not marked in my snowshoe book but looked safe to travel, and the best part was no snowshoe tracks!  We ventured for another 45 minutes in fresh snow enjoying the serenity, new tracks and watching the pups bounce through the deep snow.  The weather started to get more gray than at the start of the hike, so we opted to turn around.  On our way back after returning to the main trail we saw tons of people some were snowshoeing but most were looking for the perfect sled hill.  Good thing we started so early, about halfway back we had to leash up the dogs because it was so crowded. 
Overall a nice easy start to the hiking season of 2010 with great company.

Amy and Sammy having a good time

Ryan, Katie and Lily taking a break

Christmas Break

We had a great Christmas break.  My parents joined us for the celebrations all the way from New Jersey.  We spent December 24th to 28th at Mt Hood, Oregon.  My parents, my brother-Troy, his fiance-Samantha, Ryan and I along with 3 pups (Lily, Oliver, and Joey) shared a cabin in the woods and enjoyed the mountain's outdoor splendor. 
We went hiking near the house, snowshoeing at two different sno-parks and skiing at Ski Meadows.  It was an amazing time to be at Mt. Hood, nearly everyday was sunny, with one day where it snowed.  The free time with family and playing with them outdoors was the perfect end to 2009.  It was so relaxing that we felt prepared for quite a busy first week back to work in 2010.
It looks like our next training hike/snowshoe trip will be this weekend, January 16th and 17th.  Until then the gym stairclimber and treadmill will have to do for cardio.

 Here is some of our great vacation in pictures:

Dad and his new climbing helmet, one step closer to the big climb!

The family went for a walk in the snow, not sure it counts for training but it was a great photo ops.  Here we with Mt Hood in the background. (From L-R, Katie, Jim, Celeste, Troy)

Sunset Christmas Day from Mt Hood.  Lets hope we have weather like this when we climb Mt. Rainier.

Now this hike/snowshoe counted as a training hike.  Dad was in the lead most of the day so it looks like we won't have to worry about his cardio ability too much.