olyclimber

View from Hawk Peak: excuse the heavy breathing...it was probably my climbing partner.

Here is what I saw in the sky Friday night: https://westseattleblog.com/2022/08/heres-what-that-bright-streak-in-the-sky-was/

I saw you were passing along a few things to the next gen. Love it Wayne!

Trip: Welsh Peaks > Sillver Peak > Hawk Peak > Tull Canyon - traverse Trip Date: 08/20/2022 Trip Report: My climbing partner and I did this little traverse on Saturday morning. We camped at the Silver Creek trailhead, in a tent next to my truck. Every night, like Cato attacking Inspector Clouseau, my climbing partner tests my resolve. He waits till I'm most vulnerable and unsuspecting and attacks. I held him off again, this time in a little BD Firstliight. Later I saw a remarkable "shooting star"...a band of iight moving across the sky rapidly until it disappeared over the eastern horizon. I thought I had seen nothing like it before, but then I remember the Space Shuttle when it fell...it looked liked that, but just the one band of light. My climbing partner woke up at 3:30 and told me he was ready to go now and to stop fucking around, lets go. So I obliged and we got under way at 4am. We reached the summit of the taller Welsh peak right before sunrise and witnessed a glorious birth of a new day from there. Then we moved on our little high country traverse, following game trails and an occasional footprint, moving south, staying high on the ridge as possible. Eventually saw a couple down at Silver lake camped with their dog from our ridge vantage point. We continued on to Silver Lake Peak and then dropped down to the gap between that and the start of the ridge up Hawk Peak. There are several ways up Hawk peak, but we stayed on the south side as much as possible to soak up as much of the views of Constance, Warrior Peaks, the Brothers, Mt Anderson, Mt Jupiter, and others...truly a great vista. The Puget Sound below remained carpeted in clouds. We made our way up to Hawk Peak, which is an incredible vantage point. Then we left, but I forgot my trekking poles so we had to backtrack and go get them from the summit. We dropped down to the basin of Tull Canyon, which is very beautiful. Unfortunately you have to drop quite a ways before finding water, and not long after that we were at the plane wreck in Tull Canyon. You can read all about it here, a fascinating story. What I found most interesting is that only three of the crew died, listen to this account: We visited the wreck for a while and then continued down the trail to the Tubal Cain trail. We ran up to make sure the main mine was still open (it is!) Then we hiked down and out via the Tubal Cain trail, and then the mile back up to the truck. A fun 6.5 hours moving time/ 8.5 hours total. Milage was a little less than 15 miles (including back track to get trekking poles). We saw people first up by the plane wreck which appears to be growing in popularity like everything else....and there was a conga line going up Tubal Cain trail. Didn't go to the back of the main mine at Tubal Cain as my climbing partner wouldn't let me, but if you go up there do it...it's an adventure. photo dump: Gear Notes: trail running pack, trekking poles Approach Notes: drive to the end of the dungie road

Hell yes! Das Toof Wand! Been a while. Thanks for the info.

Since out of all people on here you pretty much only do FAs, I’m just added the “item prefix” using the “first ascent” tag to the TR to make us show up in the TR listing like that. you two are my heroes and role models, but I will never aspire to your level.. “The uphill was all downhill from there.”

do you or Rolf have a favorite?

I haven't travelled either but 6 miles versus 4K elevation. I'm probably putting in my ear buds, zoning out, and doing the 6 miles.

https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/crimeandjustice/bend-firefighter-killed-in-idaho-plane-crash/article_86b64238-1cec-11ed-8e19-0f7e41feef1c.html

Terrible news about @DanielHarro ...you may know him from here and his wlfe @ElisifHarro

https://snowbrains.com/denali-ak-not-everest-is-the-tallest-mountain-on-land-in-the-world/ the tallest mountain is the one having the most fun

That face looks fun to play on. That first pic though….

It’s a lot of great telling to get through. I’m looking forward to actually reading all of it. But I’m feeling it’s gonna be a “best of TR” for sure.

Nice! Thomson from Red Mountain: cool looking peak.

the cabin at Flapjack lakes.

This book https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3627331-early-hiking-in-the-olympics-1922-1942 is the best read I've ever had for hiking/exploring/climbing history of the Olympic Peninsula. I'm pretty sure my parents had this book so not sure how I missed it but glad I found it. Written by Paul Crews who went on to found the Mountaineering Club of Alaska. http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201214718/Paul-B-Crews-1917-2017 Lots of stuff stuff about my stomping grounds that actually have a fair amount written about them, but that I somehow missed: There was a Boy Scout Camp, complete with a bunch of cabins and a doc, etc up at Lower Lena Lake called Camp Cleland. I believe it was at the South end of the lake? There was also a forward camp up at Upper Lena Lake near where Milk Lake drain into it. There were also scout camps at other locations on the Peninsula I never knew about. Camp Cleland went away because the adult leaders were lazy and didn't want to have to hike up into the lake it sounds like lol. Mt Cruiser, named by the club Bremerton Ski Cruisers, had a cabin and a ski bowl up by Flap Jack lakes. It went away after the Park was created and people stopped going to it because of easier ski access at Mt. Rainier. The clubs in the early days (the Mazamas and the Mountaineers) would put the Mountie crag take overs to shame. They would roll up to Mt Olympus with 65 people in 1907, or in 1913 traverse traverse the Olympics from north to south with 106 people,, these type of outings.... sounds like some real solitude. This book also led me to finding this thread on NWHikers that has tons of pictures of old structures in the Olympics This picture of a the scout camp at Lower Lena!: I haven read it but a 1/4 of it, but really cool book. Check out this early map of the Sawtooth/Flapjack Lakes/Mildred area:

Holy moly a novel! I am bookmarking to read later….the garbage! Damn. Thank you for sharing your experience!

But…. @jon fixed it! Thanks for sticking with us..

Its Emelio with those stylin glasses again! Looks like you had a great trip, you should be proud. What a beautiful place, eh! At least you didn't break your leg, like the guy did when I was up there with the scouts. We had to carry him across the Blue Glacier and he got picked up by a chopper the next day off the moraine. Sounds like you need to make it a yearly trade of doing hay for another week in the mountains!

and theses ones for Fejas

Found this pic the other day and it reminded me of Slothrop.

These guys haven't been on the site for a long time, but Fejas and Slothrop (did he get his user name from that Pynchon novel?) Anyone left here know those guys?