Josh Lewis

Don't worry, what ever I don't write in my book(s) I can put here.

Sounds like an impossible request! If the people I am going with are at all considered not "a lot of experience" then it will be extremely difficult to find such a thing. But I do believe I am with experienced people (including myself in being experienced). The maturity issue is probably not going to change much, in years to come I do not expect it to change, but as time progresses people will noticed that I have already changed from stuff like this. Also I don't much of my less adventurerous reports here because I figured climbers might find them less entertaining.

Mark nice catch, I communicated that wrong. What I more ment was either if I was to rewrite the story I would have made it longer, or if I did another big adveture (Baker, Rainier, ect) I would probably have tons to say. I will agree with much of what was said but I will say this much, even now that he is dead, in ways he has more influence than some that are still alive... or atleast the entertainment factor. You could say the same with some of the dead climbers who were responsible... but yeah leason #24 Let people know where you are going. Yup! You got it. Even before I knew a thing about McCandless I wanted to go on this adventure, but I very much liked his quote because in some areas they are true. On this adventure the words came to mind "You will never find me" because I did not want anyone to know where I was to perhaps reduce the risk of search and rescue coming for me. Obviously now days I would, and ever since October or so I have never went for a solo trip again (I've only done 2 in my life, this one, and another which I told people where I was going). I had no appointed destination, I was pretty sure it was Columbia Peak although had mixed plans. I had no turn around time, which is another reason I did not tell anyone about my where abouts, I wanted to atleast once experience an adventure where not only would I not rely on transportation, but also not feel the restrictingness of time, and I could atleast say in one point of my life I was a free man. All has changed after this trip, and I have gone a long ways in making better choices.

Bingo! Because many here have not seen this story.

Yes, I was quited saddened by that. Do you think his story would have been as famous if he was alive? I'm sure I would have liked his version of the story better, but a friend of mine told me the mistory of what happened contributed to the story fame.

True, true. So far I would say I'm a experienced hiker and scrambler.

I've already taken a navigation course ;-) http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7982399 This trip happened almost a year ago. As for the Cathedral rock thing, I only went a few hundred feet across the Cowlitz Glacier, not too far, perhaps was below Camp Muir. I don't think the permit thing had anything to do with it, because first of all they did not check me to see if I had one or not, second they sent me a letter explaining why and that was not listed. I plan on rejoining them when I am 18 years old.

Indeed! I have gotten some minor sun burns on hikes before this, and some bad sun burns at the beach, but this was a true lesson when it comes to this stuff. Its fun to be able to tell stories, why hold them just to myself? If that is the way some of the greatest mountain book writters felt, I would not be as interested in reading books. There are consiquences to sharing my stories, the mountaineers basic climbing group kicked me out after being in, but before even meeting them! And it had to do with two things, the trip reports, and because I was younger than 18. I guess I don't like holding out on details, in a pinch I would feel guilty for leaving out a mistake I made. A lot of people who post trip reports leave out mistakes they make so that there public reputation does not go down, but if people want to think poorly of me for saying the truth of how it went, thats there deal. I've gotten critisism for even the little things, and some times people have made up stuff that I did and I would end up having to come in saying "I did not do that", which I'm guessing they assume I'm leaving out other mistakes which I usually don't. Another advantage about mentioning your mistakes is it can sometimes remind others of what not to do, or what to be careful of.

Thanks. Glad you like my site, they still need some fixing to do, but is good enough for now (I work with css and that kind of stuff to make it, so some fixing takes longer than you would think and it gets complicated). As for McCandless, he was a interesting person, I do not believe you when you said was not too smart, according to the book "Into the Wild" he was said to be very smart, but what appealed to me even more than that was his way of thinking, I will admit, sometimes I found out when you over think stuff it can become dangerous. But he perhaps lacked some judgement and was a little bit of an idealist (in ways I am, but am also a realist). But what did disturb me about him was the fact that he never told his parents, sure I fulled off a smaller version of what he did and did not tell anyone in fear of not being able to do this, but he could of atleast sent a letter telling them he was ok. The storie "Into the Wild" was both encouraging and discouraging for adventures like his. But on this trip, is finally when I snapped, I could no longer endure living a normal life style. Perhaps at times when at home I might, but never will I ever be able to live a "normal" life style, or atleast one that is casual. As for the quote at the start I do not fully agree with it, but there are some aspects I do, and part of the message of it was seeking new things. I'm excited to make a movie based on this trip, I started some of the filming yesterday biking 20 or so miles, and I have many more.

Trip: Camp Muir White Out Date: 4/25/2010 Trip Report: This was one of the more intense hikes I been on, on a normal day it's just a simple walk across the Muir snowfield to the Camp, but in a while out, it's not so simple. The idea came about April 23 on Thursday when I really wanted to get out. Unfortunatly we could'nt leave early Friday because of a lot of problems that came up which included my brother Michael's college. Unfortunatly on the way there he sorta spraint his ankle. This really worried me because it could have blown my chance to go to Camp Muir. Fortunatly it did'nt. The main part of the trip takes place on April 25, 2009. We had a late start out, around 5 or so in the afternoon. Our first intentions were to spend the night at the camp, but a broken tent would'nt do, especially being 10,000 feet on Mount Rainier. We were worried about the Ranger's closing the gate to Mount Rainier National Park, but fortunatly it was open (which it is pretty much always). Unfortunatly our golden pass was missing so we had to pay like everyone else. On the way we stopped to get a shot of Rainier which reminded me of K2. The gate at Longmire was closed at night so we had to sleep in a parkinglot which was ok, but which meant no early start. Around 5:50 in the morning I woke up to great weather, but the gate was still closed so we woke up again around 8 and it was, but the bad part was the weather was turning on us. I encouraged my brother to going to Paridise (which is the trailhead to many hikes at Rainier including Camp Muir) telling him we could always do an easy hike. Of coarse that was'nt what I was acually hoping for. When we got there it was snowing and very cloudy which was worry some to my plans, but the osat group came and my brother agreed with going to Camp Muir. We started off on a diffrent trail than the original or last time we went here. We followed some snow prints with a few hikers and at first it was nice and easy, but soon it got steep. It was a bit steeper than I remembered it, obviously it was not the real trail, but it would have to work. We did'nt bring our snowshoes which fortunatly we did'nt because it would have been dead weight, and the snow was icy and I started to have to use my ice axe. We later got away from the woods and walked into what I call the unkown because it was a white out. White was pretty much all we could see, perhaps a slight shadow of foot prints which even those were not very visible. Most people would have turned around at this point, but we were ambisious to make it! The only way we had a clue were we were going was by following the very faint grey color of ridges through the fog. The fog looked so much like snow that at one point there was a huge snow ridge in front of us that I had to be right in front of it to notice it, before it looked like the rest of the fog. At one point I heard voices which I yelled "Are you guys on the trail" and they yelled yes, so I followed and went down hill until I realized they were going back. The fog was so intense that the only way I was able to know were I was is because of my foot prints which the wind and snow were slowly making disappear. The thought came back again, "why do I get myself into these situations" but it's because I need excitment in my life, to live a life without anything is not really living a good life. Although this was probably a little extreme, but hey what can I say, mountains are just too much fun. I caught up with my brother and we followed the ridge until we got to Panorama Point, which was a panorama of fog and snow and rock. We took a break and ate some food and drink, and by this point my hair was frozen. When looking at the plants, it's amazing how they survive such an intense enviroment of snow, wind, cold, and lack of sun. As we started back up we got to a point were there were two ridges. "Uhmmmmmm which one?" So fortuantly my brother made a good call to pick the one on the right. You might think were you guys using a map? We had one, but it does'nt do as much good when you can't see much, but it did help us a bit at places. Even to this moment I am unsure if we ended up on the Paridise Glacier or if we were on a snowfield on the right side of the ridge. As we kept going up the ridges there is a clear spot which then the summit of Rainier is visible. This brings much hope to us but then it gets foggy again. Hiking through the Storm After a few minutes in the fog it clears up again, but this time it's for real! I could see Rainier in it's beautiful wonders, although to be honest it was'nt as snowy as I expected, but all the wind it gets up there much be part of the reason for that. The clouds above kept swirling and mini clouds kept passing over us creating interesting shadows. One thing I learned during this part of the trip is that if you take your time going up to 10,000 feet, it makes a big diffrence when it comes to altitude sickness. I'm not saying we took our time because we had to get down before they closed the gate again. There are in some cases were altitude sickness is unavoidable but having strong lungs help. Even though I have asma, the altitude did'nt have much effect on me, perhaps this is because I go on runs at home, last time I was here we went fast up and had some major effects on me. When nearing Camp Muir, someone who was passing me asked me if I was going to Cathedral Rock which you have to pass the Cowlitz glacier which I had no ropes but gave it some thought. The clouds kept chasing us up, the higher I went, the higher the clouds went, but fortunatly I eventually got past the clouds. I decided to put on my sunglasses which hurt because my hair was frozen so I had to crumble off some of it to get them on. When we got to Camp Muir we ate and drank and rested. We caught sight of a small bird which we threw a banana chip and it dove after it. I never knew birds flew up here, especially at this time of year, because it is far from any forest or tree's. We did it Buddy! Here is a video on the view at Camp Muir: http://www.flickr.com/photos/josh_lewis/3478447064/ When I felt energized again the guys that passed me were going to cross the glacier to Cathedral Rock, he was without rope. He told me it was fine to cross the Cowlitz Glacier even without a rope and they offered me to come along with them. "Well how could I decline such a wonderful offer" I thought to myself. In the mountaineer's it's against Mountaineering protocal to go on a glacier unroped, but the upper part of the Cowlitz Glacier was in a sense like the Muir snowfield. The Muir snowfield is like a friendlier version of a glacier, in late season there's crevasses in both. Michael was'nt to happy with the idea, but he could tell I would be disapointed if I could'nt go. At first I was a bit nervous going on a glacier for my first time, especially unroped, but the two climber guys were in front of me. All they had were a pair of spiky snowshoes and ski polls, and they shared back and forth a pair of ski goggles. Halfway across the glacier to be honest was a lot more beautiful than Camp Muir, it had a very mountainous look to it, but I noticed there were lots of rocks from rock falls around the glacier. It started to become icy at one point, I forgot my crampons from home which were to be used to Camp Muir. I was a bit nervous because a ways down the glacier indeed had crevasses. At the time I did'nt notice the ones above me as well and I had to ice axe arrest to safer snow below. One of the climbers turned around, and recommend I do to due to steep ice above, but I wanted to go further. It started getting icyer and my brother came on to the Glacier as well and told the other climber guy something and he yelled for me to come back, which I did. Michael said he saw a boulder come flying down from the steep place I wanted to go to, which was a good call. It was most certainly worth going across, although perhaps a little bit dangerous. I had some nice conversation with the climber on the way down, his buddy went further up and later told me it was even better up there. At Camp Muir we gathered up our gear, took a few photo's and got ready for the decent. The decent ended up being more worry some than the ascent. As we were going down, we could see that the storm was bigger than it was before and we went once again into the thick fog. We got to glassade a little bit, but was'nt as good as we hoped. There were some problems, not only would we have to stay near the ridge so that we did'nt end up lost on some glacier, but at many parts the snow was hard and bumpy. At first the way down was easy to navigate and follow the Muir Snowfield but then got harder as the Muir snowfield ended. We got up onto the ridge to stay safer and followed tracks but at one point the foot prints lead to a steep down hill which did not seem right. At first we were gonna go right which fortunatly as we were going down we changed our mind because it is possible that it would have ended up on the Nisqually Glacier. I started saying some prayers that we would be able to get down safe and know the way. I believe those prayers were really answered that day because we had much difficulty navigating the ridge. At one point it was questionable to even ice axe arrest down so I climbed up on some steep rock on the ridge. My brother went around the ridge on the snow and started going up hill. I was quite worried because gripping the rock was hard because I got caught between a plant but managed to get over it and climb over the rocks, falling could have been quite serious at this part. After going up a ways then I had to climb down the rocky ridge which there was an ice shoot if I fell. Getting to the Storms Edge We went down to the left of the ridge and ended up at Panorama Point, what luck! After Panorama Point once again we became lost again. I kept hearing voices, by this point I was tired and I could'nt tell if it was a hallucination or the wind or perhaps if it was real. It was a creepy enviroment, in a sense had a ghost like feeling, the voices had seemed so real that even after the trip I remember well what they sounded like, but no real words, and some laughter almost like childeren with wind sound added to it. As we waited for another clearing we saw faintly some trees with a ridge. This excited us, we had to carefully get down to it, and then we found some foot prints. We followed these until it got to a steep part again which was questionable. We went down the hill on the right, which at first I was worried because it looked like the hill would go down into the Nisqually Glacier, but fortunatly it was the right way. The snow tracks were extremely hard for me to see at one point and I was left on a steep hill by myself, until my brother came back and told me that it was safe to glassade down. On the way down I did not turn my head away while ice axe arresting and hit my nose with my axe. Fortunatly it was'nt too bad, but it hurt. We came up onto another ridge and as I was walking it was so white, I almost walked off a cliff and stopped about two feet from what might have been a cornice cliff. Small clearing, enough to make it down the next section Sudden Clearing I heard the osat group coming which from here they helped guide the rest of the way down, we almost took another wrong turn with the group but fortunatly knew better. We almost took a "wrong turn" which would end up at the same place, but we did'nt want to upset the osat group. When we saw the parkinglot, I could hardly believe it! On the way home we saw a fox and a racoon, and I had one of the best milkshakes I have ever heard. To me this trip was worth it, even though it was tough, worry some, and now painful. I got a terrible sunburn or as my mother calls it sun poison, it hurts to eat because of my lips being hurnt, I can't touch my face because it is so swollen and sun burnt. Also I have this nasty blister which I believe not only was this cuased from sun but also wind and cold. Anyone going to Camp Muir, be careful of whiteouts and know the route before you go here. This trip was just what I needed, an adventure! Sun burn before I went to bed The next morning I woke up (it looked worse in person) The aftermath: I lost a lot of respect from people on this trip partly due to the fact I did not turn around, the osat kicked me out, and after all this happened I was even more desparate than ever to get the mountains. This was the trip that was leading to my bike ride into the mountains. After this trip it was nearly 2 months of no excitement and that is when I could take no more! My choices in the mountains now days have been much better, I had to miss a few days of school because my face was leaking with oils that would get my shirt all sticky, and even when I came back to school people asked "what happen to your face?". Part of the reason I did not turn around was because I knew that if I did, this could be the last trip... for a long time, and sure enough I was right. I will admit, as long as it is done safely, I think a white out is something every mountaineer should experience atleast once because not only would they get a good feeling of the danger reality of getting lost, but it some how has an emotional excitingness to it.

Thanks! Glad to hear so, my life is full of fun stories. And yes I plan on getting into the higher country some day, you know the bigger stuff. Can't wait to start writting books. I kept this one simple, I could have loaded this one with way more details, but decided to keep it semi simple. Next time I do anything like this, it would probably be the longer version with more photos! Exactly. At the time, this was the only way, it was strange that I had much of the hiking community worried when I went and told people about this story. Atleast one of my friends said they thought I was dead or was gonna die with this adventure, fortunatly I didn't do anything to crazy. ;-) Thanks, it was tons of fun, even though I got much harsh critisism for this trip, I say it was well worth it. Someone told me "that trip was a retarded idea"... for some reason those words were hurtful to me, because if they experienced what I did, had the same motivations and problems I had been encountering as I did, I think they would have atleast eased up those words. I guess after all, I personally perfer the edge.

Trip: Into the Mountains - Keep in mind, this was written the day after the trip was over, I had much time since then to think over the trip, I would have probably put in more details if I were to have written it now. Any ways it was a fun adventure! Time: 63 Hours and 15 Minutes (Tuesday Morning from 9:15 P.M. to Thursday 11:30ish P.M.) Distance: About 130 Miles (Home to Columbia Peak Ridge) Elevation Gain: About 4500 Feet (From 500ft. -5,000ft.) Gear I brought: Tent/Tent Cover, Ice Axe, Crampons, Duct Tape, Wool Socks (My only pair I brought which I wore the whole time), long underwear, the obvious... clothes I wore to start which were shorts (which have leg pieces that attach to make snow pants) and a t-shirt and boots (which had holes in them), food, two maps of Columbia Peak (One of the Peak, and another of Poodle Dog Map which they both have parts of each map on each), packback, long sleeve shirt, jacket, face mask, gloves, knife, toilet paper, some plastic bags, and 6 or so water bottles. "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, awake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it reality." -T.E. Lawrence This was my most interesting adventure in my opinion, and unusual. It was a trip of long endurance, time after time I was exausted and had to continue. I been wanting a trip like this for atleast two years now, and never really acually did it, perhaps I never felt the courage or perhaps now I was more experienced with bikes and mountains than ever. The week before school was out I wanted to, but I resisted temptation, and decided well I might as well let school be out before I try something like this. On Sunday Night, June 21 I had my brother Michael help fix my bike brakes. A few months before this me and my friend Sean went on a bike ride to Snohomish which then I switched a gear too fast and some how bent one of my main gears, also Sean dared me to bail my bike into a lake and I ended up messing up and messing up the tightness of my brakes, and had a few scatches from that. The brakes were only sorta fixed, my front ones still did'nt work, and the back ones were ok, but for steep hills needed my feet to stop. My boots have holes in them, just the slightest wetness on the ground gets my feet wet, so it wasn't exactly the greatest decission to go with my boots, but I wanted to go with as little as "other people's gear" as possible. I wanted to go because I wanted a new experience, I have'nt been able to hike since Camp Muir, and it's been months since I went out hiking, and I been wanting one so badly. I need excitment in my life, or else I start to well not be as happy. Also my mother has been out a lot, and has'nt well been around as much, when I spend the night at friends I've had it be days before I would speak to my family again, so I figured I would be fine when it comes to my family. I did'nt leave Monday because I did'nt have everything together, Sunday night was the last my brother saw me until I got home. Friday night I nervously get a map of Columbia Peak, hoping not to get suspiciousness towards me. My mom was gone, Michael was away, and I decided now was the time to act. What acually fueled my idea of the trip is the quote "The littlist of actions is better than the greatest of intensions" which if I just intended on this, and never acually did it, then I've never experienced it. And if your wondering, yes reading the book Into the Wild did have a little influence on the trip. "So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situationbecause they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and diffrent sun." -Christopher Johnson McCandless I felt a bit unsatisfied with my current situation, and felt the need for an adventure, a challenge. The reason I have'nt been able to get out is because of money problems, my mom has had bills and we did'nt recieve our monthly check, so dept has been building up, which makes the situation at home worse. Gimpilator and me were going to go for a hike Tuesday, my mom said yes, but all changed when my momther mentioned that her car brakes were bad. It's not like they are sorta bad, but it would be very risky for me and Gimpilator, so I was very disappointed, and also Mike (iron) was busy so Mount Adams looked like it was out of the plans. Although I heard about what happend to Mike and I feel very sorry for him, when it was me that more deserved it. I have most the food packed up by night and sleep. Tuesday morning I woke up around 8:00 P.M. and grabbed some peanut butter and jelly, bread and frosted shredded wheat, and the night before I grabbed three apples, two bananas and two packs of rits crackers. Tim and Howard were at the living room table so I had to be very sneaky about getting my stuff, and I did'nt want to suck to much time out of my scehdule. After getting everything and after they left as I was leaving out the door the clock said 9:15 A.M. which was easy for me to remember. I went down the drive way in a hurry, but had to go back up to fetch the camera which well if you know me, you know I love photography. I asked my mother the night before I left if I went to Mount Adams if I could borrow her tent and she was fine with that, I choose her's because it was light weight. I choose Columbia Peak because someone recommend it to me, and I thought well it ought to be worth a try. When leaving the final time from home it felt like I was freeing myself from the world. The pack was a bit heavy, I would have used my big pack, but it would look to suspicious to other people. The first seven miles was acually not too hard, although when going down the Snohomish valley down the hill of Highway 9 I was a little worried, because my brakes were'nt quite good, if I had them attached, they would slightly constantly brake, so I took them off, I used my feet as the brake. The tire started to wobble, and I prayed that the bike would'nt fall apart on me, and my luck was in. When I stopped I had to tighten the tires which fixed the problem, and had me less worried. I had to get off highway 9 because of construction and follow a country road. Later I got back onto highway 9, and crossed the only accessable bridge over the Snohomish river, which it's a bit worry some with all the cars going by and how close they are, especially semi trucks. After this, then I biked up past Highway 2 and yet more construction came, and I had to go off the road, into a swamp like area under a bridge and up a narrow gravel spot to get back on the road and take a detour. By this point I was getting quite tired, and I thought "is this worth it?" but logic did'nt seem to get enough to me, and I decided well it would be a disappointment to turn around now. By this point I got into Lake stevens and going to Taco Bell was nice and refreshing. After this I continued and before getting to the highway 92 exit there was a up hill which I started getting something similar to a side ache and I prayed for it to go away, and fortunatly it did. Going down highway 92 to Granite Falls was'nt too bad, although when most of the way there, there was a very bad accedent, several cop cars, ambulances and even a helicopter flew over, and this worried me. I had to take an alternative road called crooked mile road which had very little side walk so I had to walk my bike, and because this was now the only way cars could get to Granite Falls from the South, it was a crowed road. After this I went up another hill and ended up in Grantie Falls. Much joy to me was felt, so far I had riden around 30 or so miles, and I had to stop and filled up water at a gas station. After this I rode on past Grantite Falls and to Verlot, although the big Hill was hard to get up, and sucked up much time and energy and by the time I got over it, it was getting late. The ranger station was closed, and I needed to find a camp to sleep at. A mile or two down the road a found a camp, great spot, not only was it free, but sandy and soft. Slept good that night, and got up the next morning and could'nt quite make up my mind.... I could go up Pilchuck, call it good, or I could go further. I had already been up Mount Pilchuck 6 times, so I decided it was time to do something new, and besides, I have a map of Columbia Peak. Before I left the camp, a lady pulled in and I asked if she had any extra water because I was running low, she gave me a bottle, and told me that on the way there were camp grounds that provided water, which thank goodness there were! It felt so good to be free, I mean some might call me crazy, but you know when always being a captive of home, it feels sickening after a long time. Perhaps I'm untamable, some might say that's a bad thing, but I don't nessisarly agree. After that it was'nt too bad of a bike ride to Barlow Pass, a light rain, which was sorta warm and better than being sunny, because biking in hot weather is not good in my opinion due to heat. As I was nearing Barlow Pass I kept wondering when I would acually get there, I kept getting closer and closer, but it would never seem to end, even after passing Sunrise Mine Road. At first I was thinking of turning to Vesper, but been there, and also Morning Star, but I hear from Gimpilator that at this time of year it was dangerous. Finally I get there, although I had to walk my bike a bit, I am very pleased, and was'nt sure before if I was even capible of accomplishing this. I started to realize that sometimes limits are a mental thing, something that people just put upon them selfs, but it was later that day that I realized, I most certainly have limits which are there, but the point is that if you endure, have faith, and keep pushing, you can really accomlish your goals, I still believe that even now, but sometimes though it can get a bit out of control, this trip is an example of that. The Monte Cristo Road was acually in pretty good condition compared to when I was there a year ealier with the trip with my cat, although there were some spots I had to walk my bike. I had to choose again which one.... Del Campo or Columbia...... and I hear that there's some danger near the top of Del Campo, plus I been to the lake, so I decided on Columbia Peak. When I got near the river, there were lots of hikers behind me, it was like a parade of people, and when trying to get to the crossing log to go across the river, I felt like I was apart of a train. I had to go across twice because I had my gear, and my bike, which was a bit neverousome crossing the river with, although not that bad. From here I continued biking, and walking depending on if the road was chunky, or steep. At a clearing I got a great view of Del Campo Peak, which was gorgous, I almost regretted going to Columbia, but then again when I looked ahead, it too looked so cool. Once I got into town I found a place to stash my bike and continue on into the mountains. I wrote my name in the trail register and as a comment I wrote "I went to the mountains because I was BORED!" The weather looked like it was slowly turning, the peaks started to have a darker look to them, and it gave me some worry, but I was encouraged when come one told me that the weather was supposed to be better the next day, unfortunatly he was wrong. Going up to Poodle Dog Pass was enjoyable, exept those annoying misquitoes, which were all over the mountain loop highway. As I was walking I cam across a creek which worried me a bit, as I went though it, my feet got soaked due to holes in boots, which was the turning point in the adventure. As I went further up I had to pull out my ice axe, not that it was needed but nice to have on a steep slope off to the side. Once reaching Poodle Dog Pass I looked over at the Monte Cristo Peak and they had a very dark formidable look to them, one of them especially comes to mind reminds me of the Trango Towers in the Himilayas. I decided perhaps Twin Lakes or Columbia Ridge would be a good place to camp, so I climbed up the steep snow slope, and either God was helping guide me, or I have gotten good at navigation because as I was going up in the snow I would end up on the trail again, and this would keep happending, unintentionally.... well atleast that was'nt my main purpose. It began to rain lightly, and I acted quick to find a camp, I headed up the ridge more and more, and found a flat region and called it good, because not only was it getting dark, but the rain was getting worse and worse. The tent I had was easy to set up, so I put it together, and put all my gear inside, and put on all my clothes. One moment I was in shorts and a t-shirt, and the next in double pants, jacket, face mask, sleeping bag, and in a tent shivering, when I was not layered up, I was'nt cold. That night was cold, and wory some for me, to me it changed the way I think of mountains. Before I went to bed, I reached to put my socks back on, and I had very bad cramps, and I was laying there in pain, and it felt like the size of my leg was changing, fortunatly I prayed fast and it did'nt not get to the point of crying, but still much worry. It kept twitching and it was hard to get my other sock on, I'm not sure how I did it, after that, I drank and went to sleep having the sleeping bag as tight over my entire body as much as I could like a mummy. I kept waking up shivering, wanting somehow someone else to be there, at first I did'nt believe that I would feel alone, but I think I acually did that night. I hardly dream when I sleep, but that night I did, I kept dreaming that someone was rescueing me, and when I woke it scared me, because I coulld hardly feel my feet because it was so cold, and it was windy, and raining. The snow below me was slowly melting letting off cold air constantly, and I did'nt bring a tarp, nor a pad. I realized that night that not only do I have limits, but also why people turn around even if the danger is low, that it's just not worth the risk, spending the night up in the mountains should really pretty much be done only if your not just sorta prepaired, but pretty goodly prepaired. (I used the word goodly on purpose.) I was worried what perhaps what my family was thinking, wether they thought I was at a friends house, or if I was in danger, I prayed and shivered a lot and hoped for morning to come. Morning was hardly diffrent, just brighter.... it was still very cold, it was still raining, windy, misty, and semi bad visibility, although I could see about 1000 ft. which was'nt that bad. My feet were so cold that I decided to use duct tape on them, and one of my boots. After packing up the tent and such I headed out, and one way I could figure out were my old prints were was the ice axe holes I left the day before. I decided again summiting, not because I could'nt, which I strongly believe I could, but it felt like the right thing to do, the weather was bad, I was super cold, tired, low on food and water, and time was another factor, if I wanted to get home before anyone would worry. I looked across and Silver Tip Peak looked dueable (not that I acually planned on doing it) but there was a frozen creek across from it, which would make it way to dangerous. But after decending down to Poodle Dog Pass, I felt much better, and started to feel a bit more joy. I started singing and going down with excitment, although I did not summit, I got what I wanted. An adventure. There's a big diffrence between a goal and a purpose..... although I did not fufill the goal, I did indeed fufill the purpose, which also was to gain an understanding of challenge, adventure, endurance, faith, myself, mountains, and good judgement. I was wet going down, but it was nice and I had a snack at Monte Cristo. Pretty much the only guy who knew of this trip was a stranger, I told him that I was biking home which was 60 miles.... and he seemed pretty nice. As I kept heading down the road, the misty mountains were so beautiful, I could see layers of mist and see foggy forest and it felt amazing to be out in the mountains. Going to Barlow Pass was not very eventful, but going down Barlow Pass was fun! Going up seemed like forever, but going down was a breeze, although I worried at times because water kept spashing into my eyes and had me have to look down. I made way more distance easily than I had the other days, this was day three, which I made half of the distance of pretty much the entire trip. I filled up my water with good water rather than melted snow with little particles in it, and headed for Granite Falls. Once again I had another big hill that I had to go up. I prayed that the way home would be easy, or atleast doable, because it was either I sleep at home or Verlot due to not really any camping spots the rest of the way, I decided the sooner the better. The way down the big hill after Verlot was worry some, it was big, so I constantly braked, it was wet which did'nt help, and I used my feet as well which even both feet and max brakes I could'nt stop, but it did help slow me down. I was worried about a couple horrible senario's.... if I had my legs down to much, I would worry about flipping which could be fatal, also worried about turning too much which could cause crashing or flipping side ways which could also be fatal or very serious, so I tried to hold the steering wheel as strait as I could, and held on tight, until it got flatter. A little while later the nice guy from Monte Cristo drove by and stopped and offered me a ride, which was mighty desent of him, but I declined his offer, because I thought of the quote in the book into the wild when Chris was offered a flight ticket to Alaska, but he said that would be cheating, so I sorta went with the idea, plus just to stay safe, they say your not suppose to get rides from strangers, although I trusted him. After this I came into Granite Falls, had a McChicken and hurried for Lake Stevens. When almost to Lake Steven's I took a turn off the main road because I was tired of going up big hills, but this was'nt exactly what one would call a short cut. I had to travell though naborhoods and almost got lost doing so, but happend to go the right way, but ended up having to go up a huge hill anyways. By the time I got to Taco Bell I was very very hungry and even though my cheesy bean and rice burrito was hot, it was soooo good, and the cinnomon twist were good too. By this point I was very cold and weak but had to endure. I biked the detour again, and went under or next to the bridge wamp and up a hill and down past highway 2 and went toward Snohomish. I became extremly tired, I would sorta go towards the road, and be caught in a day dream until a car would come near and I would go further into my thin bike lane..... or side of the road..... and from there on dictated my mind that day dreaming is not ok (I have the ability to dictate my emotions and thoughts, although it's harder when I'm tired). I got past the Snohomish River Bridge and by this time it was past sunset, although I could see much pink at the horizon, but it soon turned to evening, and I travelled again on the country road to avoid construction. After going up the hill I became more and more crazily tired, the pack was wearing down on me more and more, until I was worried because my heart started to feel wierd as well as my breathing. It was dark by the time I got off highway 9, just in time to get to a road with street lights, I did'nt bring a flash light. I had another hill to go up, but this one was hard for me, very hard. I can make lots of distance going flat or down, but I have to walk up hills, because of how tired i was and my pack. It got to the point were I was worried if I had to find some bush to spend the night behind, but I still kept going. I was upset at myself and wondering "WHY, WHY DID I NOT EXCEPT THE CAR RIDE FROM THAT ONE GUY" Eventually I layed down to rest, and fell asleep for what I believe was 3 seconds when I heard some crazy teenagers driving by fast yell "Wake Up" which I did, and as I was crawling towards my bike, a lady comes parking into a parking spot near by me. She asked if I was alright and I said hopefully, and she offered me a ride, this time I accept, she seemed like a nice lady. Not to sound against genders, but if it were a guy I probably would'nt have excepted because usually there's more male creepers than females if you know what I mean. I was only about 7-8 miles from home, but I was abolutly exausted, she was very nice and talked with me a bit, and I said if you don't mind dropping me off near my home rather than at it so that I don't look like I accepted a ride from a stranger, which she was fine with. To be honest that was an exuse to perhaps not be caught, and somehow me get home without trouble. I was wrong. As I was walking my bike to the house, a cop car was there, I was nervious.... it could be for me, my brother, or I saw my Michael's friend though the window which it may have been for him. I tried rubbing some of the dirt from my face which probably was'nt very effective, and as I walk in Kerry tells me I have to go to my brother's room..... oh boy I thought. I went in quitely and said "Is everything going ok Officer" and he said there's the guy we been looking for. What was interesting to me was I think they been recently been called, and I thought at this hour? Oh well, and I told everyone that I went to Monte Cristo and everyone gave me a look of shock. The officer handed me a tooth brush which I was excited and said it's mine, which I never knew I had a tooth brush..... turns out, it was'nt mine. I explained to Michael and Kyle and offered them some punishments, because in all honesty you can't really ever punish me, well unless you have me captive, which is what Michael was suggesting, which I thought to my self...... "Man I already regret coming home!" but that's sorta a joke. I was happy and smiling because I was so happy to come home. Although there may be some consiquences involved, the lessons learned were very important. I had to promise not to do anything like this again and that I was sorry. I did'nt realize my family would worry so much, I've had it were no one noticed me gone for days at friends, but my brothers were watching over me which made a diffrence. I'm thankful that they acually did care, I do feel sorry that I worried so many people. I figure I'm responsible for myself. It felt unfair that people can go out on weekends and that I'm almost always stuck at home, it sometimes drives me crazy, very very crazy, but people only know about how crazy those emotions are until I act. Fortunatly now I feel at peace. No need for me to stress, if I did, it would'nt do me any good... because I have already learned my lesson. But this was truely a fun and exciting adventure into the mountains. After Story: I learned that I should tell people where I am going, I should always bring a sleeping pad when over night camping, to always stay hydrated (although at one point it was hard to do so due to lack of water scources). There is so much more to say, but you get the idea. After all that goes on with me in this crazy world, I am still tempted by adventure to this day... I been on the edge of doing this again many times, but resisted, after all I promised my mother I would not.

I was there that day going up and down Mount Si over and over, I gained 7,000 feet that day with 18.4 miles of distance. I wonder if I saw you up there.

I'd be willing to join on glacier trips, I can do easier class 5, but once I get to around 5.7 my arms tire out. Let me know if I could join you.

I'm down for biking, but would it be icy biking? I've biked on ice once and slipped, never tried it again.

I could settle for any of the given routes, but perferably Sherpa Glacier via Mountaineers Creek. Right now conditions are looking horrible so I'll give it a while before wanting to do this. When avy conditions go down to a 1-2 then I'll be wanting this.

You access this route through Leavenworth.

I would have loved to go... except for this: http://www.nwac.us/forecast/avalanche/current/zone/3/ Here is a trip I was with late last year going here: http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/587004/not-the-wright-mountain-an-avalanche-tale.html Although I could settle for something with less avalanche danger. Right now is the time to avoid the higher peaks, perhaps one of the worst times of the year to go to the mountains. If you are stilling going out to a lower peak or even overnight trip I would love to join, I just don't want to encounter avalanches.

Sounds good to me. That would be greatly appreciated!

I have a whole week off from today until April 4th. I am wanting to climb Mount Stuart the Sherpa Glacier Route, although I could settle for the Cascadian Couloir. This route looked like very much fun. Here's some route info: http://www.summitpost.org/route/164046/sherpa-glacier.html My email address is joshlewis4@gmail.com

I have this Friday as a half day at school, then I have all this weekend, next week and next weekend off and am very much wanting to get out as much as possible although Monday and Tuesday I might be climbing with a friend, but would love to have some overnight scrables or glacier trips. Mount Stuart is on my to do list as well as Cadet and some other peaks. Let me know if anyone is interested. If I end up on a multpiple overnight trip, even better!

Nice trip report! Who am I kidding, I gotta come back here next chance I get! Seems like a fun trip. I hope to make mine an overnighter and summit Sherman Peak.

I'm assuming your in good shape, as long as you can use an ice axe decently as well as crampons, sure I would love to join! Although the downside is I would need to figure out getting a ride down south, which might be possible. PM me if your interested in me joining. Also you gotta let me know when you want to climb it.

If I did not have mofa I would love to go, but my first aid class is important, perhaps another weekend if your willing to have me tag along.

Note: I do not plan on doing the Nisq. Ice Fall this year, but am asking for advise for someone else. He wants to do it with one ice axe and one ice tool, is that enough or is it better to have two ice tools? Just thought someone here might know whats best for this route.