While Andy was on his climbing trip to Banff, Alberta, Vic headed west to meet Seattle Buddies at Lake Wenatchee. For those of you not familiar, it's truly one of WA states most beautiful areas located amidst the Cascade Mtns. In order to get a lakeside campsite, Gary arrived on wed and secured a site as the rest of us arrived on fri or sat. The campgrounds were a complete sell-out...and too crowded for my liking, but the beauty and relaxing with buddies was well worth the trip. Except for the persistent winds into the night, the weather was nice despite the forecast of showers in the area.

Typically if you camp with the Andy and I, burgers and weenies are the fare of the event. Not this weekend. Our excellent meals were prepared by Chris and friends from Seattle. The menu included such decadence as Eggs Benedict for breakfast, stuffed huge tomatoes, and one lunch included burgers with, of course, what else but Prawns! I never ate so well camping-out! I've eaten at plenty of restaurants, and this food would have put to shame some of the big city and overpriced restaurants! Kudos to Chris and all who helped prepared the meals. A magnificent job...hey, when are you camping again?

In attendance were mostly new buds I hadn't met from the Seattle area: Joe and Pascal, Fred and Mike, Joe and Chris, Colton, Arnie, Bill, Gary...and let's not forget Spanky and Dutch. I can't remember the other dog, but he was a trying to be friendly with Dutch, but Dutch was not in the mood to meet new friends.

Three miles. That's how far the climb was. An elevation gain of about 5,000 feet. So one mile up. Three miles over and one mile up. Didn't sound so bad. So how did it end up being the most physically challenging thing I have ever done? I've been taking a mountaineering class with The Spokane Mountaineers over the last two months. We've learned the basics of rock climbing, rope safety, belaying, map and compass, wilderness first aid, weather, and Glacier travel. This weekend was our graduation climb. Our goal was Mt. Athabasca in Kootney National Park, Alberta. Athabasca sits in the Columbia Ice Field, large areas of glaciers that flow between the mountains like giant rivers.

As we drove into the park just outside Radium Hot Springs, the valley opened up huge. Running north-south, the wide valley is flanked by white capped mountains. After a beautiful 8 hour drive from Spokane, we arrived at the campgrounds where we would make our base. After setting up camp and attending a meeting where rope team assignments were handed out we settled into our sleeping bags to try and actually get some sleep. It wasn't easy, it was only 7:30 pm and the sun was still about 2 hours away from setting. My rope team was leaving at 12:15 am so I struggled to get some rest.

12:15. We piled into a fellow climber's SUV and headed up the short drive to the parking area. We got out and shouldered our packs. Turning our headlamps on, we walked out onto the scree that is the mountain itself crumbling apart. Picking our way amongst the rocks ranging in size from pea gravel to dorm refrigerator, our slow ascent began. Moving through the scree is slow going, especially in the dark and we had a good hour hike until we reached the toe of the glacier. Finally we were on snow. Time to rope up. Most people (myself included before taking this class) think you just hike along on glaciers, but glaciers are melting during the late spring and early summer, in what is prime climbing season. Crevasses develop where ice melts out from under the top layers of snow. Cross one of these snow bridges that has gotten too thin and you can plunge in to your waist, or worse, all the way down, 10, 20, 50, 100 feet or more. This is why you rope together. There were 5 of us on our rope team. We spaced ourselves evenly along the rope and tied it into our harnesses. Ice axes in hand we started up the glacier, following our lead rope teams steps, their lights dancing conga-line in the distance. We followed their steps in the snowpack, and as we approached the headwall the sky began to gain a little light. The glacier we were on was only about a 30 degree slope. The headwall sloped up past 60 degrees and stood somewhere over 800 feet tall. The weather was with us and the air was SO still and really quite warm (still above freezing). Things slowed as we climbed the steps our lead teams had kicked in the snow. Stop and go, stop and go. Above 9,000 feet now. Without much acclimatization, I was beginning to feel how thin the air was. Plant your ax, take a step, take another step, repeat. Cough and you interrupted your breathing enough to cause it to speed to catch your breath. Topping the headwall gave an incredible view as dawn crept into the eastern sky. Now we were up where it was below freezing and the wind would kick up occasionally. We stopped to put on our down coats and gortex shells, and our crampons. It was cold enough that the snow was very firm and the chance of ice dictated crampons. We headed out along the ridge, still going up and after some steep snow, out onto more scree. Slowly picking our way among the rocks and snow, up to Silverhorn, the 'false' summit. Topping Silverhorn we were buffeted by more wind as we crossed the snow saddle towards the summit ridge. Now the sun was up but thankfully a few clouds to the southeast kept the strong rays of this altitude off us. We were on the home stretch as we passed the lead rope teams just heading back down from the summit.

11,400 feet. Our campsite from last night looked so far away down there. To the west, a glacier cut a huge river through the mountains and then it was row upon row of mountains for as far as the eye could see. It was stunning. I was feeling a little nauseous from the altitude and probably a little dehydrated from sweating so much. It was 7:30 am. 7 hours of slowly plodding up. The joy of the summit was dampened by the thought that it was at least another 4 hours to climb back down. After a short rest and celebration we turned around and headed down. My rubbery legs were tired hours ago and I feared how stiff and sore they would be tomorrow. As we started down the headwall, the sun broke out and it really started to warm up. We were cruising down the glacier, only slowed by the fact that the snow was getting soft enough to plunge past your knees in spots. Now was the time to be alert for small crevasses opening up. At the toe of the glacier we un-roped. The bottom felt so close but there was still quite a bit of scree to hike down. When we finally emerged from the scree onto the paved road, tourists snapped our pictures as they waited for the busses fitted with monster truck tires to take them out onto the main ice field.

That night was spent in Banff, in a hotel room, recovering from too much sun and not enough water (3 liters!). A leisurely drive home the next day found me home before dark, and to my surprise my legs never did get sore.

For more pictures click here.

The weekend found Andy and weary-eyed Vic heading to Seattle for the sold-out 3-game series against the NY Yankees.  Securing tickets was an ordeal in itself, but with the help of a cooperative seller on E-bay, we were able to get four tickets for saturdays match up.  Unknown to us was the fact the tix ended up being handicap seats with plenty of room to stretch-out...and just like an old time baseball game we had salted penuts in the shells, great until the wind shifted 180 degrees and blew our shells out onto the crowd below! A great view of the entire stadium and far out in right field, our bleacher seats gave us a complete view of the action, and with the aid of binoculars none of the highlights were missed.

Arriving in Seattle with plenty of time to spare, all of us met at Bill's house.  Ray had driven-up from Portland the night before.  The weather was typical Seattle.  During the game we were hopeful for full sun, but the height of the stadium along with increasing winds made for a chilly last half!  Meandering around for the last inning, the game went into an extra inning when the Mariners allowed the Yankees to tie-up the score 1-1 by allowing a stolen base.  The 10th inning ended with another loss to the Yankees, 1-2.

A caffeine recharge was in order and the late afternoon was spent at Animals, a rather hip coffee shop with unique fixtures and artwork made by it's owner.  Highly recommended by Bill, we enjoyed the refreshment and light conversation before a busy evening on the town.

Leaving Bill's place once again, our foursome's destination was the Timberline in downtown Seattle. Ironically, the building was the home of the former Swedish Lodge. Now nicely converted to a western tavern and dance-hall, the attendance was light, but Ray was eager to dance and quickly volunteered to give Vic a lesson in the two-step.  Ray continued to rip the dance floor with not only the popular steps, but the obligatory "Wild Wild West".  I thought this song by the Escape Club in 1989 had long disappeared, but others informed me that many gay, western dance bars now frequent this tune...go figure!  Capping-off the night was a visit to our favorite haunt, The Cuff.  Saturday night was "Buzz, Boots and Uniforms". The scenery was top drawer and Andy and Vic were finally able to meet a new bud we had conversed with; Jim. Jim bartends at The Cuff and is one friendly, rugged and handsome musclebear.

We met another bud, Alfonse, a good friend of Bill's and a real nice guy from the Los Angeles area. Over breakfast sunday morning, Bill's neighbors Arnie and Mike, along with Alfonse helped us end the weekend with a hearty breakfast and jovial conversation.

Not wanting our weekend trip to end too quickly, we drove home on route 2 through the majestic Cascades and Steven's pass. This route has become heavily congested with weekenders jamming the road, and lucky for us, all the traffic was heading back into Seattle, so we cruised through the town of Monroe with little delay and plenty of open road to the east.  One of our stopping points included Deception Falls. This fast moving set of falls crosses underneath hwy 2 and is a favorite rest area of travellers. Andy recommended stopping, and we were able to get plenty of pics for the site. In this same area the Skykomish river confluences with the Tye river along the route to make a scenic backdrop against the Cascade range.  Farther east, we stopped for a "Blizzard" at the local Dairy Queen in Leavenworth. This very picturesque, but even more tourist-trappy town is Bavarian themed with all the trappings including the worldy availability of fast food outlets and souvenir shops.  Wanting to skip the crass commercialism and family stroller brigades, I told Andy to drive onward.

Another great weekend adventure.  All of us wish to thank Bill for hosting us once again for a fun weekend in the city.

For more pics of our Seattle trip click here.

Sunday found the road calling and Vic and Andy seeking an adventure. The road we answered was Hwy 2 westbound towards the great Cascade range. Not before passing through the rolling, wheat filled prairie of Central Washington, our chosen destination fell short. Vic's curiosity was the famous Grand Coulee Dam. Driving westward through Lincoln and Grant counties, the landscape appeared endless with fields dotted with an occasional abandoned building and farm equipment. It's obvious the area had been more prosperous in the pre-commercially owned farms when generations of families worked the land. Although family owned grain crops are still grown in this area, the small and previously bustling towns have given way to rusted hulks in wrecking yards and "For Sale" signs on many old businesses on the main drags.

The town of Grand Coulee would not be in existence if not for the Dam itself. Almost lost in time, the town is a serene mix of perfect houses with perfect picket fences and limited amenities of the current age; no Fast Food, no Strip Malls, but an old Safeway exists and must be the meeting place for most of the town's 1180 folks. Most people in the West probably have never heard of this place, but yet benefit from the one commodity so highly prized by the efficiency of it's generation capacity; electricity. Grand Coulee is directly connected to the power-grid supplying not only WA, OR, ID, but power needy California.

The Dam itself is almost an L-shape with a portion added in the 70's. It's an amazing site and very accessible to the public. Vehicles are allowed to drive across and guided tours are scheduled regularly depending on tourist demand. Unfortunately, we arrived late in the afternoon and missed the last tour into the innards of this awesome monument of engineering design.

Afterwards, a short drive south brought us to the foot of Steamboat Rock State Park. This rock is the result of Basalt being eroded away by the massive prehistoric floods across the plains of western Montana, Idaho and into Washington. Folks camping, boating, and hiking can be found along with some extremely friendly deer! Nothing like a nice relaxing drive to new places to renew the soul! A day well spent and logged.

For more pics of the Grand Coulee trip click here.