I felt this strong desire to escape the city. Couch surfing on the road is just grand, but while on a long term stay it loses it's charm. Like the old saying goes: after 3 days, guests are like dead fish, they both start to smell. Trying to avoid this, and feeling the need to roam, I drove first to Seattle to exchange a few things at my storage unit and next to Mt Ranier National Park (MoRa in Park Service speak).
While tanking up at a gas station in Portland, I learned from the attendant that the tags on my car had expired on June 30. Shit! Damn! I fretted over this the entire way to Seattle. I don't even have an address! From the coffee shop next to my storage unit, I did web research on the Alaska DMV. They don't even have a phone number, just e-inquiries. Thankful, someone responded within 30 minutes, for I did not want to go away for the weekend without having this resolved. $177 dollars later and the new tags were being shipped to a friend's house in Portland. BIG relief! I don't usually screw stuff like this up, but since the post office will not forward DMV info, it is easy to see why I had forgotten. Now I will be an Alaskan living abroad for the next 2 years. The downsides I foresee are not be able to vote locally or procure a library card plus a constant threat of jury duty in Alaska.
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| The view on the drive in of Mt Ranier |
With the ugly business squared away, I headed for the Park. I reached Cougar Flat campground at dusk, quickly set up camp, cooked a dinner of wheat free pasta, chicken sausage, spinach, and parmesan cheese and relaxed with some wine. I slept exceptionally well in the cool weather. I had arrived in the Park with some lofty goals of climbing in the Tatoosh Range solo, but the amount of snow thwarted the possibilities. I was told by the rangers that certain peaks would be real route finders owing to the snow. Since I didn't have a map and no one really knew where I was, I decided to stick to moderate objectives. After gathering info, I did a recon of Castle and Pinnacle peaks. There was snow right out of the parking lot! I soon donned crampons and ice axe and trudged up to the saddle in incoming weather. Again, no one knew where I was, so I thought better of pressing on in what could soon be white out conditions. I returned to camp and went on another hike up to some falls along the Wonderland Trail. This was snow free being at lower elevation. I ran into some old friends who were doing a Mazama climb on Saturday. So, that evening, I ate dinner in their company and also met some newer generation Mazamas who were also doing that climb.
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| Handsome grey fox along the side of the road |
On Saturday, I decided to get some exercise and hiked up to Camp Muir from Paradise. Paradise was covered in snow- no flowers in July! The hike is about 5000' feet of elevation gain. It was still the slog I remembered but it much easier without a 50+ pound backpack. I longed to climb the peak and had even briefly entertained a solo venture but it seemed like too much effort to be bothered for a wimpy route. I plodded up to Camp Muir in 3.5 hours. Not a record breaking time, but respectable. I moved at a continuous pace pausing only to watch skiiers come down the glacier with envy. Why hadn't I taken my skis out of the storage unit? The direct sun on the snow felt like being in an oven. I was thankful that I brought my white button down "glacier" shirt to shade me. After a few minutes at Muir I bombed down the mountain in 1.5 hours (good speed!) without ever glissading.
There was a potluck in the campground hosted by the Mazama group. What great contributions there were! I cobbled together some chips, mini carrots, and tofu pate, but others had made Morrocan stew, 3 different quinoa salads, desserts and more. How great is that!
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| View on the way to the Camp Muir |
The next day, I went with a subset of the Mazama group to climb Castle Peak. I led the charge up the approach to the saddle of the mountain having just pioneered a route through the snow days before. We walked at a casual speed, no one was in a hurry, though we needed to be back in the parking lot by 2:30 and we hadn't began until 9:30 or 10:00. We made our way over the saddle then upward on a snow finger on the back side. We scrambled up some rocks on the ridge to appreciate the view while 2 of the guys found the remaining rock pitch to the summit. All 7 people roped up and climbed to the top then rapped off. Car to car in 4.5 hours. Super fun and great to catch up with old friends M&M (one of my climbing instructors when I was a beginner) and Griff as well as meet new folks.
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| With M&M- my original climbing mentor |
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| Ranier under partly cloudy skies |
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