We hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day weekend, despite the crummy weather in the Northwest. This past weekend we got in a little bit of training, some family time and even gear shopping.
The weekend started for us on Saturday with a hike to Mt. Ellinor. We woke up pretty early to catch the 5:45am ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, and then had about an hour and a half drive to Hoodsport. The weather was dismal when we woke up, very rainy and gray. We packed all of our rain gear and lots of layers prepared for the worst. As we got closer to the trail head the clouds were starting to part for glimpses of blue sky and sunshine. We met up with several other Mountaineers, representing both the Seattle and Olympia branch, at the Hoodsport Ranger station and then caravan to the trailhead. By the time we hit the trail (~9:15am) the clouds were back, and as we climbed the clouds just got thicker, so much for the chance of sun. It never really rained, but the air felt quite moist. Once at the top we had a little snack, which included a gourmet treat from our trip leader, Curt. He made pumpkin scone like cookies with lemon frosting, delicious! We hung out awhile hoping for the clouds to break but without much luck and the wind picking up, the best choice was to head back to the cars. The climb up was steep and in several feet of snow, a lot of work, but also a perfect setting for being able to glissade down. We glissaded down about 1500ft of our descent, what a ride, and it only took us about 20 minutes! The hike overall was great! We have plans to return in nicer weather to see the acclaimed views.
Mt Ellinor Stats: Highest point - 5944ft, Elevation gain ~ 2300ft, Time to hike up was ~ 2 hours and the descent took ~ 1 hr.
Close up of me, with a good angle of how steep the climb was behind me.
Heading up the last part of the climb, in soupy weather.
The entire group standing at the very top of Mt. Ellinor.
Ryan and I at the top of Mt. Ellinor. Apparently behind us is an awesome view of the Olympic Mtns(we will have to return to verify the rumors). Also check out those cornices, can you believe this is the end of May! Lastly, lets address the diaper like outfit I am wearing, the "shorts" are made of a trash compactor bag and duct tape intended to save my pants from being shredded on the glissade intent. Not only did my pants stay intact but I did not get any snow down my pants (due to the high-nerdy waist line) and it made me a little faster. Although dorky they worked perfectly, a special thanks to Amy and Tash for helping me make them.
The rest of the weekend we had a great time with my dad and my brother Troy. Sunday we did some work on my brother's house which is going through quite the remodel. Ryan got to knock down his first wall with a sledgehammer and crow bar! We took out three walls and a set of stairs, and had to put it all into a dumpster that had an opening about a foot over my head. Quite the unintended upper body workout! After helping out a little bit at my brother's place we took dad shopping in preparation for the climb. He is now loving First Ascent gear as much as us and got just as giddy in REI as we do!
Overall a great weekend, I just wish we had more time with dad and Troy, to take them in the woods for a training hike.
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