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Alisse

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Posts posted by Alisse

  1. Trip: Wahpenayo Peak - West Ridge

    Trip Date: 02/23/2024

    Trip Report:

    Alex and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and ventured out to an area that I've wanted to visit for a few years: Wahpenayo Peak, in the western part of the Tatoosh range. It was amazing and I will definitely be back! The basin was beautiful and held fantastic cold soft snow on the north facing slopes, we had clear views ranging from the Olympics to four volcanoes to other Tatoosh peaks, and what I think was Tookaloo Spire. The ridge travel was certainly engaging and the mountain let us pass safely to and from the summit -- and not another soul in sight all day!

     
    The tour starts at the Eagle Peak trailhead outside of Longmire (no pesky gate concerns) at a whopping ~2800'. We carried skis up to around 3800' and then were able to continuously skin the trail and then it was up the avalanche debris to the saddle south of Chutla Peak; still in the shade, we had great skinning conditions (soft debris but very supportable snow).
     
    IMG_20240223_114447984_HDR.jpg.3331354acc4b189907ee7395ca4caf5e.jpg
    Some of the first fantastic views
     
    IMG_20240223_115411748_HDR-EDIT.jpg.b8adcafabb9de05e356c2b3a3009ea78.jpg
    Skinning up to the saddle
     
    IMG_20240223_120702988.jpg.cad9a30c897d31ec28d77ba009bd1265.jpg
    Cool rock feature
     
    IMG_20240223_120849100_HDR.jpg.70b908cd309dc6eb6ac6554840ec44f0.jpg
    Other Tatoosh peaks (Lane and..?)
     
    IMG_20240223_120851286_HDR.jpg.0efa0ea5fe1d05c8ab2073200d84307e.jpg
    Woohoo!
     
    IMG_20240223_122004315_BURST007-EDIT.jpg.765fdd259ec8e38a9bac3be105fd4f40.jpg
    Yahoooooo!
     
    IMG_20240223_122011723_BURST005.jpg.ffb5314ce682972c66ad5e254a50a4f0.jpg
    Alex gets sick airtime
     
    With huge smiles, we made our way around and up... we weren't feeling much time pressure so took a sort of roundabout way, fully enjoying the scenery, to the NE ridge that one source suggested as the best (maybe with a ton more snow? ...it might have been easier to have just gone in with no beta for this one). After booting the ridge, using the trees to our advantage and an undercling, plus a short in-your-face steep snow climb, we decided that we'd reached an impassable notch for our gear and headed back down and around to the other ridge.
     
    IMG_20240223_132544070.jpg.499bc8752a5321187d012b0aca61f5f7.jpg
    This ridge did not go.
     
     
    That one was also engaging -- decided to go up a short gully after soft shallow snow on heather and rock seemed pushing the limits of what made sense. After a bit of large tree assistance, we were on the summit (6,231')! Amazing views....
     
    IMG_20240223_150401400.jpg.38f136330f1405f24649614592cc9bdf.jpg
    From the summit looking west
     
    IMG_20240223_152150555.jpg.307269f89cd5c00d59c736414afa5f11.jpg
    From the ridge looking east toward the summit
     
    We headed back down the ridge carefully to where we'd left our skis and skied more fantastic dry snow back into the basin, then headed back up to the saddle, and made a long traverse which resulted in only a short section of side stepping/shuffling to get back to the trail (felt like spring for sure), back to skis on packs, and back to the car, in base layers, vents open, no gloves. Felt so much like a spring day.
     
    Special place! I'll be back!

    IMG_20240223_125335310.jpg

    Gear Notes:
    Skis. Brought sharp things but did not need them!

    Approach Notes:
    Enjoy!
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  2. Skiing IS still pretty darn fun, isn't it?

    My photos can't compare to @JasonG's, of course, but a little farther south, we found some pow pow too, and some sun breaks and better vis than expected! A discerning eye will pick out @Hoo and a magic eye would pick out @aaronohn (not pictured) :)

    IMG_20240107_104722432.jpg.2c5b3fe1db7158d498844bae92114a0c.jpg

    IMG_20240107_103058765.jpg.8abcbb4962822a7c0796eee9b7a8e21b.jpg

    IMG_20240107_102612593.jpg.22a7ac795b46a8f258da615a90cea49d.jpg

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  3. 10 minutes ago, olyclimber said:

    Obliteride went well!  I had a great ride.

    My collarbone injured shoulder has actually gotten kind of worse, but was just at the doc and he thinks it just has a bunch scar tissue that I need to work through.  MRI and then maybe cortisone shot next.  We'll see but I'm going to get more aggressive with my PT.

    Good luck with your organization efforts!  I do see a more women doing the gravel races and cyclocross, so there is hope.  Its just so many things going on for cycling these days and I guess the time investment into bikepacking races might be a factor.  Have you looked into that one down in Oregon? Called the Big Lonely I think....may have just happened.

     

    Sorry to hear your shoulder isn't 100%! I hope you can change that.

    I hadn't heard of that one, thanks for putting it on my radar! 

  4. On 5/3/2023 at 8:12 PM, olyclimber said:

    Let me know if you want to join the team im doing it with 

    How was your Obliteride and how's your collarbone?

    In other bike news, I am trying to encourage more women and gender-diverse people to participate in the bikepacking races we have in Washington! I've been bikepacking for just a couple of years and last month I rode the Washington High-Lite race. It was fun and interesting in some unexpected ways and I learned a ton. But only two other women joined the race! 😭 If you know any non-dudes (or maybe this describes you, dear reader) who enjoy bikepacking or gravel riding in a "try to keep moving at a good steady clip" kind of way, or might be interested in it, I want to talk with them! I think in April or May there will be a group weekend bikepacking ride coordinated by these people https://thetownbicycle.com/washington-bikepacking-women-group/  

    My goal is to bring three people to the next race I do (May or June).

     

    Thanks for reading!

    Alisse 

  5. It was a dark and scary night... Wait no, it was a beautiful sunny day, around dusk. We passed the gate plastered with signs warning us.... we noticed many good sketch camp spots along the nice gravel road.... we kept going... we stopped when we saw all the Stuff Showing Activity, had a discussion about the alternatives, Cassidy and I brow-beat Aaron into agreeing with us, then the three of us crept -- somehow -- on bikes, pedaling silently and slowly, past a large black truck with two of its doors open... somehow unspotted, we wove our way through the gravel labyrinth roads... finding a dead-end (huge mountain of gravel) yet with some expert sleuthing (e.g., heading up a different road for two minutes), found a way through! There was SOME hike-a-bike-ing but not much. SUCCESS!

  6. 18 minutes ago, olyclimber said:

    As one motivation to get back on my bike, but also to support a local and amazing cause, I'm riding in the Fred Hutch Obliteride this August doing the 100 mile ride.  Consider supporting my ride if you can and want to:



    I want to share some good news with you. At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, more than 5,700 clinicians, researchers, and staff are working together to improve cancer prevention, detection, and treatment that improves and saves lives. Thanks to research like this, there are already cures for some cancers — but Fred Hutch will continue this work until there are treatments and cures for EVERYONE who needs them. That’s where you come in! Please take action by donating to my Fred Hutch Obliteride fundraiser right now. Every dollar you give will go right to work at Fred Hutch.

    Click here to donate now. https://bndfr.com/2Q2mm

    Click here to go to my personal page: https://bndfr.com/2Q2mn
     
    Fred Hutch helped my neighbor and a close friend become cancer survivors, it is amazing how far some treatments have come.  But there is still a lot to be done.  
    Thank you.
     
    /porter
     

    Thanks for posting this, Porter. I think I may join you in fundraising and riding the century.

    • Like 1
  7. @olyclimber HEY we were both bikin' around Goldendale on Sunday! I was just looking through the pics and I was like HEY that guy looks familiar and looked you up on the time score list. DNF! What happened? :(

    It was my first ever timed bike "race" (we did it non-competitively), had a really fun time. #68 out of 87 finishers on an 89-mile course with no training, no long rides in the couple months beforehand, and having fun the whole way -- success!

     

  8. 16 hours ago, OlympicMtnBoy said:

    Looks great, I’ve been meaning to ski that, did you park at the new sno park (Anetter Lake) or could you get farther?

    Humpback wasn't our initial plan and we didn't have a sno-park pass with us, so with a little work, we were able to drive up the road toward the trailhead just a bit to park there. With a higher-clearance vehicle, we could have gone much farther up the road (there was at least a Jeep up there).

    I'd really like to go back and explore the options across the drainage that you can see in my second photo...

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