American Alpine Institute Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership

I just returned from another trip to the mountains.  This time it was a climbing course catered toward more advanced climbers.  The Alpine Mountaineering and Technical Leadership course at American Alpine Institute is a three part course that covers most aspects of climbing and can take a beginning climber from top roping basic climbs to summiting some of North America's most sought after peaks in under two months.  This course was part two of the series where we teach students how to lead safely on alpine rock and ice climbs.  

For more on the course click here: http://www.alpineinstitute.com/catalog/alpine-mountaineering-and-technical-leadership,-part-2/

These are some of my favorite courses to teach due to the fun objectives we get to climb and it always gives me great photo opportunities.  

We started the course with four days of rock climbing.  We split our time between Leavenworth and Index, covering the basics of lead climbing, multi pitch anchors and basic rock rescue techniques.  

On the fifth day we heading into the Colman Glacier on Mount Baker to learn some more advanced glacier travel techniques, crevasse rescue and ice climbing.  The first day was amazing and after hiking in we managed to do a very technical tour through part of the Colman Glacier Icefall using good glacier travel techniques. 

The next day we woke up to rain.  Lots and lots of rain.  We were able to cover ice climbing, crevasse rescue and ice anchors and then made the call to hike out rather than spend a wet night in the tents.  

We drove to Mazama to cover alpine rock climbing, but had to start the next day with a little gear drying.  The Washington Pass area contains some of the best alpine rock climbing in Washington and despite a less than perfect weather forecast we managed to get some pretty good climbing done in the area. We climbed the classic Beckey Route on Liberty Bell.  The following day we climbed the 11 pitch route Prime Rib on Goat Wall and then the amazing 5.8+ SE Rib of South Early Winters Spire the following day.  All of these routes were climbed with students leading.  Its not often guides get to sit back and climb on top rope all day, but thats exactly what I got to do on Prime Rib.  

For the final two days of the course the weather dictated our objectives and we ended up in Washington's desert climbing area near the town of Vantage Washington.  Here we worked some more of some difficult rappelling problems and lead climbing.  

Overall this was an amazing 12 days and despite some weather challenges we covered a huge amount of material and climbed a lot of objectives.  I look forward to teaching another one of these soon.  

All images ©Alasdair Turner Photography.  Please go to my website if you would like to purchase images.  www.alasdairturner.com

American Alpine Institute Denali Prep Course

I just returned from teaching a six day Denali Prep course on Mount Baker with American Alpine Institute.  To learn more about the course click the link below.

http://www.alpineinstitute.com/catalog/denali-prep-course/

Denali from the west.

This print can be purchased at http://alasdairturner.com/order-prints/

The conditions we had on this course were perfect preparation for a group planning on spending time on North Americas highest Mountain.  We managed to get good weather for the first two days allowing us to hike in and build our first camp under sunny skys, and then walk through the technical skills needed to climb.  We covered techniques for hauling sleds, roping up on the massive glaciers of Denali and crevasse rescue techniques.  

On day three of the trip we packed up camp and moved to a camp higher on Mount Baker.  The weather had started to deteriorate as we were walking to the camp, so we had some practice building a camp in less than perfect weather.  This included building a snow wall prior to putting the tents up.  Over night the weather deteriorated more and the next day was spent in camp digging out, eating in the cook tent and discussing conditions likely to be encountered on Denali.  We also covered traveling on fixed lines and some other technical skills needed for the mountain.  

That night the weather deteriorated more still, requiring digging out of the tents at 2am (perfect training for Denali).  Continued winds and heavy snow helped us make the decision to hike out the next day and head for Mount Eire on our final day of the course to cover crevasse rescue in more detail.  Here we covered the complexities of what really happens when a person falls in a crevasse with a 60lb pack and a 60lb sled.  This is a much more complex scenario than most people think, and makes getting out of a crevasse much more difficult.  If you are going to Denali and have not thought about these issues then you should probably spend some time training before you leave!

The hike in to our first camp.

Moving on steeper terrain to our second camp.

Building

Our cook tent.

Building walls to protect the tents from wind.

My tent early

Our camp.

Blaine

Steven

The hike out.

Prussik practice at Mount Erie.

Adding a sled makes things complicated.

Denali from the west showing most of the West Buttress route.  

This print can be purchased at http://alasdairturner.com/order-prints/

Overall this was a great course and we covered a huge amount of information in addition to the  regular course curriculum including menus, strategies for climbing the mountain, altitude preparation and illnesses, and tips and techniques for making tent living more enjoyable.  We even threw some photography and camera tips in.  For more on cold weather photography click here.

Antarctic Heritage Trust Conservation Work

While working in Antarctica last season I was asked to do a project for the Antarctic Heritage Trust NZ.  This non-profit organization is the group who is responsible for the restoration and continued upkeep of the the historic huts and monuments located on and around the Ross Sea.  The request came after I offered some photos to the Trust which I had shot the previous season.  These photos were mostly of the outside of Captain Robert Falcon Scott' huts at Cape Evans and Hut Point and Ernest Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds.    The project was to provide some photos of the conservators working on the huts and artifacts.  It turns out that conservators are really good at shooting photos of the items they are conserving, but not of themselves conducting the work.  I was able to shoot these photos on my free time and donated my services to the Trust.  Without the work of the Antarctic Heritage Trust these huts would not be in the amazing condition that they are in today.  

The first part of the project was to shoot photos of the major restoration project being undertaken at Scott's Discovery Hut located on Hut Point.  Information can be found on Scott's Discovery Hut at: http://www.nzaht.org/AHT/HistoryHutPoint/  The restoration of this hut includes removal of the floors and leveling of the entire structure that has been damaged by snow and ice buildup beneath the building.  In addition it included removal of all the items inside the hut and the cataloging and restoration of each.  

In addition to the work being conducted at the Discovery Hut, work continued this season at Captain Scott's second hut located at Cape Evans.  The Terra Nova hut has undergone a similar complete restoration over the last several Antarctic summer seasons and work this year focused on restoration of items within the hut and return all of the items that had been removed for restoration over the winter.  The number of items that have been restored and cataloged in this hut is staggering and has been an huge undertaking for the Trust.  One can get a sense of the number of items in some of the photos below.  This is also the hut where the long lost negatives were found that made news earlier this year.  Info on the negatives can be found here.  My work was to shoot some photos of the conservators returning the items to the hut and some of the restoration being done on items removed.  

This was an amazing project to be a part of and I want to thank the NZ Antarctic Heritage Trust for all their hard work preserving these buildings for future generations to enjoy.  I have an agreement with the Trust that 50% of any photos sold of these three buildings will be donated to Antarctic Heritage Trust, so please order one of the prints below and support an amazing group of people doing amazing work.

Earnest Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds, Antarctica.  

Inside Earnest Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds, Antarctica.  

Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Hut, Cape Evans, Antarctica.

Captain Scott's Discovery Hut, Hut Point Peninsula, Antarctica.  

The website for the Antarctic Heritage Trust can be found here: http://www.nzaht.org

The Discovery Park Lighthouse

I spent an hour at the Discovery Park Lighthouse a couple of nights ago.  This spot is one of the best places to watch the sunset in Seattle, and although we did not get to see the sun set due to the weather we did at least have some pretty light.  

The two photos below were shot about a half hour apart.  The only differences in processing was the first one was desaturated slightly and the second had saturation increased slightly.  What a difference a little light change can make.  

Photos From The Air

I just got done reading this great post from Twisted Sifter about why you should always get the window seat on an aircraft.  It got me thinking about how many of my favorite shots have been out of the window of aircraft.  I know, I spend a lot more time on aircraft than most people, and many of those aircraft are not your typical airliners, but several of the photos below were shot out the window of commercial airliners and are proof that you can get a good shot while flying ignoring the annoying person sitting next to you.  

Mount Saint Hellens - Shot from a Dehavilland Beaver

The Mooses Tooth, Alaska - Shot from a Dehavilland Otter.

El Alto, Bolivia just after takeoff.  Shot from a 767.  

The Aviator Glacier, Antarctica, from 30,000ft.  Shot from an Airbus A-319

Pack ice on the Mawson Coast, Antarctica from 20,000 ft. Shot from a LC-130.

Wallabies Nunatacks, Antarctica.  Shot from a Bell 212.

Blood Falls, Antarctica.  Shot from an Astar B2

Mount Adams, Washington.  Shot from a Dehavilland Beaver.

The Wright Valley, Antarctica.  Shot from a Dehavilland Otter.  

Mount Shasta, California.    Shot from a 737.

The Bay Bridge.  Shot from a 737.

Huyana Potosi, Bolivia.  Shot from a 767.  

Clouds fall over Minna Bluffs, Antarctica.  Shot from a Twin Otter.  

The Trans-Antarctic Mountains, Antarctica.  Shot from an Astar B3

Crevasses in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains, Antarctica.   Shot from a Bell 212.

The Trans-Antarctic Mountains.  Shot from a C-17.  

Mount Hunter, Alaska.  Shot from a Cessna.  

A snowy Minneapolis St. Paul just after takeoff.   Shot from a MD-80;  

Avalanche Course at Mount Baker with American Alpine Institute

I spend last weekend teaching an avalanche course in the Mount Baker backcountry.  We had some great conditions for teaching an avalanche course with many unstable layers and lots of new snow.  The avalanche problems included storm slabs, wind slabs and a deep persistent slab layer.  The touring day made for some of the best skiing I have done yet this year.  Some amazingly deep snow that stayed light despite some warming temperatures.  

Leavenworth and Stevens Pass Avalanche Course with American Alpine Institute

Last week I worked another avalanche course for the American Alpine Institute.  This turned out to be a great weekend and a great location for an avalanche course since there was some instability in the snow pack.  We were able to view some of the instabilities and find some great snow for a nice ski tour.  Some photos of the weekend are below.  

A think layer of buried surface hoar is located about 40cm below the surface in many parts of the Cascades.  

A close up of the crystals.  

Skiing the trees

Skiing the trees.

An 80th Birthday to Remember.

Last night I had the opportunity to shoot an 80th birthday party at the China Harbor Restaurant here in Seattle.  It was quite an event with as much joy and dancing as the most boisterous weddings I have been to.  A whole lot of happy people made for some great photos.

American Alpine Institute Avalanche Course

The last couple of weekends have been spent teaching avalanche courses for the American Alpine Institute.  Although the snow pack has been a little boring, the weather has been great and it has made for some great courses.  Below are a few photos of the last two trips.   

Early morning skiing in some nice light.

Route finding and some wet surface conditions.

Although most of the snow was pretty solid,  Small areas of instability were found.  Here we conduct compression tests on the snow.  

Failure layers in the first 20cm.

Time to ski. 

A little route finding practice.  

South slopes with lots of sun showed evidence of recent slides.   

Mount Baker in the distance.  

Skinning to find good snow.  

Good snow had been located.  

Antarctica Photo Showing - Globe Gallery, Pioneer Square, Seattle

Please stop by the Globe Gallery in Seattle to view some of my latest photos from Antarctica.  

Tofino, BC

We just got back from a trip to Tofino,  British Columbia, where we spent the week between Christmas and New Years day.  Most of the time was spent relaxing, and for me that means at least some time shooting photos.

The first few days were exceptionally rainy an windy.  The sheet of paper taped to the door of the lodge upon our arrival read

"Vancouver Island's Pacific Rim National Park are warning visitors about massive waves, gale force winds and hazardous surf conditions this holiday season."

Prefect for me who does not really enjoy the warm and sunny beaches of the world.  The forecast turned out to be fairly accurate...

Chesterman Beach in a driving rain storm.

With the amount of time I spend in the mountains, I get the chance to see a lot of very interesting cloud formations.  My early morning walk to watch the sunrise from the beach produced one of the more interesting cloud photos I have ever shot.

What would a trip be without some bird photos.

Not a good photo, but apparently eagles enjoy seagull snacks.

Fox Sparrow

Yet another bad photo of an oyster catcher.  I will get a good photo one day.

Driftwood on the beach.

What would a family trip be without some family photos.

The last night of the trip I shot a couple black and whites.

AIARE Avalanche 1 Course with American Alpine Institute.

I just got done teaching my third AIARE Avalanche 1 course of the season.  these courses have one classroom day in Bellingham followed by two days in the Mt. Baker ski area backcountry.  For the most part the weather has been pretty cooperative, and despite the low snow pack, we have managed to get in a few good turns.

Route finding in the backcountry.

Terrain trap.

Navigation in poor weather.

Skinning uphill

Rimmed trees.

Rimed trees at Herman saddle

Not the best skinning conditions.

The weather for this last class was forecast to be awful (mid 30's and raining).  Saturday turned out pretty nice.  Sunday had such a bad forecast I made the decision to not take my camera out.  Turns out it was a pretty nice day also.  All these photos are from near Artist Point on Saturday.  

Skinning toward Artist Point.

Erin's Group on the ridge getting ready to head down.

Erin, showing us how its done.

Kurt

Nice turn!

Skiing off Artist Point.

Ski weekend in the North Cascades.

Spent last weekend skiing around Mt. Baker.  The skiing on Heliotrope ridge was great.  The skiing in the Mt. Baker back country is not.  We still need a bit more snow to make the skiing a little better.  

Photos from the Baker Ski Area back country...

Jason skiing rocks

American Dipper

Heliotrope Ridge...

Justin

Luna the super dog

A Quick Trip Up Ruth Mountain.

A couple of weeks ago I did a trip to Ruth Mountain.  It was one of the more perfect fall days I have seen in the mountains.  The most incredible thing about this trip was the views of the North Cascades.  It is very clearly winter in the North Cascades.  October has in the past been my favorite time of the year to climb in the mountains.  There is already too much snow in many places.  

Hannegan Pass.

Flowers still peaking out of the snow.

Snow on the summer plants.

Bird in the snow.

Bear tracks at Hannegan Pass.

Skiers heading up to Ruth.

Mt. Shucksan in the distance.

Skiers on Ruth Mountain.

Wind patterns in the snow.

Perfect weather.

A Few Photos from a Weekend on the Hood Canal.

We spent the weekend at a house on the Hood Canal with several other new parents.  Here is a few photos.

Forbidden Peak North Ridge Climb with Mountain Madness.

I just got back from a climb of Forbidden Peaks north ridge with Mountain Madness.  I have been wanting to climb this ridge for over 10 years and after looking down it after my west ridge climb a few weeks ago it was more on my list of things to do than ever.  I got a call on Wednesday asking if I was interested in working a north ridge climb and I jumped a the chance.  

The north ridge is not one to be taken lightly.  Just getting to the ridge can feel like a climb in itself since it involves a climb up loose rock and a rappel down the other side of sharkfin col, followed by a walk across a big glacier, and then another climb over a ridge on the other side of the glacier.  

We spent the night at the base of Sharkfin Col with the intention of climbing over will full packs and then spending the night somewhere on either the north or west ridge (our descent route).  We woke up the next morning at 5 am and made the quick decision to go for the whole thing in a day and leave our camp at Sharkfin Col.  

Sharkfin col.  The notch we used to get to the Boston glacier is  located directly above the finger of snow on the left side of the photo that points up and slightly right.

The rappel down the other side of Sharkfin Col at 6:15.

It was looking to be the best weather day of the year so far.

Our objective in the distance.

Crossing the Boston Glacier

There were not to many crevasses on the glacier so it was fairly quick moving.

The north ridge col is located at the lowest point in the ridge on the far west side of the Boston Glacier.  Many people miss this and go up one col too early (south).  This also works but requires a rappel or two on the other side.  I did not like the look of the standard crossing due to a large chunk of snow that needs to fall off, so we climbed up the col just to the south of the standard one.  After we got there we made one rappel and I changed my mind about the route variation choice.  We climbed back up the col and reassessed our situation.    We were planning on climbing the NW facing snow slope that takes you to the north ridge, but after having a better look at the complete north ridge I decided we might as well just start climbing from where we were.

I was very worried about time, since we were not carrying any bivy gear, and although spending the night on the ridge would not have killed us, it would have been a very uncomfortable night.  I figured we really needed to be at the summit between 12 and 1 to get down at a reasonable time, and right now (9:30) we were quite a bit behind that time.  I put the camera away and we got serious.  We climbed the ridge with a few short pitches and a whole lot of moving together on whatever terrain looked to be the easiest.  We bypassed a couple of steep snow sections by downclimbing around them on relatively easy ground.  The climbing was easy, and very enjoyable.  After an hour of climbing we had made it to the snow crest where the NW variation usually joins the ridge.

The only photo I shot on the lower part of the ridge.

The NW facing snow slope that gains the ridge does so at a point where the ridge builds up a lot of snow over the winter.  There were still some cornices on this ridge so we had to traverse the slope lower down where it was a bit steeper.  We did three full pitches on firm snow with picket anchors.  It was now time to relax a little since I was sure we could make it off the peak before dark.  

Looking across the first pitch of the snow traverse.  My crampon marks visible in the bottom right of the photo.

The second pitch.

The final pitch back to the rock ridge.

John maybe wishing he was somewhere else.

The upper part of the ridge was amazing.  Super fun and easy climbing.

Climbing the upper ridge with the snow traverse visible in the background.

The last few moves to the summit.

The entire ridge can be seen below in this photo.  We joined the ridge just after the farthest tower visible in the photo.

Opps,  I forgot to shoot a photo of us on the summit.  Someone else did, so when he emails them to us I will post them.

I took a second to shoot a photo of the n. face of Mt. Buckner.

Much to my surprise we were the first party on the summit, followed shortly after by another guided party.  It was 1:00.  We were soon warned of the large number of parties heading up the west ridge.  We took a short break on the summit and started down.  We down climbed and made 3 rappels on the descent to the top of the gully.

The crux of the west ridge on our descent.

We also passed 4 parties still heading up.  At the top of the gully was a large group of people who had decided to turn around and were trying to figure out how to rappel (or something like that, I don't really know what they were doing).  We walked past them and headed directly to the first rappel station on the right of the gully.  After a little route finding and several raps we made the final rap to the snow below the gully and were surprised to find that were also the first group off the peak.  We decided not to camp at Sharkfin col where all our overnight gear was, so we dropped a pack and ran up and retrieved our gear cached there.   At 7 pm we rolled into the lower Boston Basin camp and started cooking a very needed dinner.  It would be somewhere around 2am before the final group on Forbidden passed our tent heading back to camp.

All in all this was one of the best alpine routes I have done in the Cascades.  It has everything.  It is never difficult, but its length, remoteness and variety make it quite serious.  It is a route I highly recommend, however only to experienced parties of very competent climbers.

Back at the car.

Golden Eagle Nest Work with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

For the second year in a row I spent some time working with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on a Golden Eagle project.  This work mostly consists of going to eagle nests just after the young birds have fledged and picking out all of the remains of prey that the birds have brought back to the young.  Golden Eagles nest mostly on cliffs and that is where I come in.  Most of the nests are accessed by rappelling from above down to the nest.  Occasionally there is no place to anchor above the nest or it is easier to climb to the nest.

Earlier this year we placed a trail camera on a nest with some young birds in it. The first part of this work was to retrieve that camera and collect any prey remains that were left in that nest.  Right when we got to the nest a juvenile bird flew over.  It is quite common for the juvenile birds to stay around the nest for a while after they fledge.

Juvenile Golden Eagle above nest near the Tieton River.

We collected prey remains and the camera and headed to the Wenas wildlife area to spend the night.  This area is one of the hidden gems of Washington.  I was amazed by the amount of birds in this area.   Unfortunately a very noisy great horned owl kept waking me up throughout the night.  I can't really complain since being woken up by an owl is a lot better than being woken up by my neighbors at home.

A night hawk at Wenas Wildlife area.

A house wren also at Wenas Wildlife area.

The next morning we headed the the next nest just south of Ellensburg.  This nest was in a beautiful area and despite a little bit of rain and a few ticks the half mile walk was very enjoyable.  There was no sign of the birds when we got close to the nest, but after rappelling to the nest it was clear it had been used that year.  The nest  contained several coyote legs and deer legs.  As we were driving the road out of the wildlife area we saw a juvenile golden eagle, but I was not able to get a shot of it.  I was able to get a shot of this deer that was a hundred yards down the road from where we saw the eagle.

We made one quick stop to shoot some osprey before we got to Ellensburg.

From there we headed to a nest south of Ellensburg close to Puget Sound Energy's wind farm (also known as bird killing area).  After what seemed like several hours of driving on must be Washington's single worst road we arrived at the most unique area of Washington I have been to so far.  The top of this high ridge was mostly rock and sand with the only vegetation being some desert plants and cactus that I did not know exist in Washington.

A horned lark on sagebrush on the way to the nest.

Pediocactus nigrispinus - Hedgehog Cactus

The young bird had still not left the nest, so we could not go to the nest to collect remains.  Instead we spent a few minutes shooting photos and then left.

On the way back down the "road from hell", we stopped to check out a coyote carcass and found another interesting Washington species...

A horned toad.

Driving past the windfarms I shot this photo.  I guess they haven't killed him yet.

Kestrel

From there we headed north to Wenatchee to return to a nest we did last year.  From a climbing standpoint this nest is probably the most interesting.  It  is located on a small basalt cliff that if you look at the wrong way might just collapse and kill you.  I think this cliff would win the medal for most unstable rock in Washington.  There are also not anchors above the cliff so rappelling to it is not an option.  I climbed along a small ledge and through a constriction (covered in mouse crap) to get to the nest.

Me in the nest last year.

From there we headed north to Twist and Winthrop to look at some more nests.  One of the nests was located up a very steep slope a long way from the road so we decided to skip it an continue on to the next.  At the next nest in the Metow Valley west of Winthrop  there was still a juvenile bird.  We were planning on tagging that bird the next day with a radio tracking device to gather more information on the movements of the birds.  On the way back we stopped at a tree nest in Entiat and collected some prey remains below the nest.  After that we headed back to Twisp for the night.

The following day we headed to the Cheif Joseph Damn to meet with some folks from the Army Corp of Engineers who would take us by boat to a nest just upstream on the Columbia River.  We visited a different nest from the same birds last year.  They biologist for the area had told us that he had not seen any birds since they had fledged a few weeks earlier.

Eastern Kingbird at the boat launch.

Me sitting in the nest collecting prey remains.

We found the carcass of the bird that had fledged in the bushes below the nest (apparently the victim of a coyote).  I found a second carcass of a very small bird on a ledge just below the nest.  That bird was likely pushed out of the nest by the other one.  For the second year in a row it appears this nest failed to produce any young.  The nest however had more prey remains than any other nest that we had been to so far.

The pile of prey remains from the nest.  Including lots of deer legs, coyote parts, a snake skeleton and the carcass of a small golden eagle.

The carcass of the other eagle.

We were supposed to capture and tag the eagle at the last remaining nest, but when we got there the bird had fledged and was nowhere to be seen. We collected the prey remains from the nest, and headed home.

Mount Rainier Climb with Mountain Madness on the Emmons Glacier

I just got back from a climb of Mount Rainier with Mountain Madness.  It was a return group of folks that I climbed with in Bolivia last year.  The Mt. Rainier climb starts with the drive to Mt. Rainier National Park and then a short hike to the Glacier Basin camp.  We spend the night there and continue up to Camp Sherman the next day.  Although some people choose to climb from the trail head all the way to Camp Sherman the same day the break at Glacier Basin makes for a much more enjoyable hike and an overall better experience.  

Wildlife at Glacier Basin camp.

Danny learning the details of the First Light tent.

We got an early start the following morning and headed up the Interglacier to the ridge below Camp Sherman.   

Looking at our group heading up the Interglacier.

Once at Camp Sherman we had the option of climbing to the summit the following morning or taking a rest day and heading to the summit the next day.  Given the unstable weather we decided to take a rest day.  

The view from my "alpine office".

Mountain Madness guide Jamie.

An RMI group heading up the mountain.  Although the weather looks good in this photo, the group turned around before the summit due to bad weather.

The ranger hut at Camp Sherman.

Two climbers arrive back at camp after turning around before the summit.

The next morning was clear and  cold.  The weather forecast for most of the Puget Sound was for rain.  We were above that rain, so we roped up and headed for the summit.

Camp at 4am.

A rope team heading to the summit.

Rick, Nancy and Jamie on the rope in front leaving camp.

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Traversing above a crevasse.

Feeling the altitude on a steep slope around 11,500ft.

Rick enjoying the day.

Nancy and Rick with Little Tahoma in the background.

It is always worth taking the time to stop and fix blisters before the get worse.  Guide extraordinaire Jamie doing some blister maintenance

Jamie's rope team at about 12,000ft.

Nancy enjoying the weather.

Nancy.

Mt. Rainier is not an easy climb.  Danny takes a few minutes to reflect on that fact.

Danny looking a little better after a Cliff Bar and some water.

Danny, Margen and Nancy all went to the summit with Jamie.  Rick and I turned around and headed down.
   

Rick heading down after a long battle with blisters.

Heading down for me was a good excuse to concentrate on some photography, which is always a good way to spend an afternoon.  

A rope team arrives back at camp from the summit.

An icefall on the Emmons Glacier meets the clouds.

Interesting patterns on the glacier.

I have spent a lot of time over the years shooting black and whiter photos of glaciers.  Much of this was in Alaska from the air.  If you have not seen those photos they are posted on my website here.  The Glacier photos are under mountain images in the "glacier project" gallery.

Jamie, Margen, Danny and Nancy returning to camp from the summit.

Margen and Nancy drinking tea after climbing Mt. Rainier.

Jamie making it look easy.

Anyone who knows me understands that it is really not possible for me to go anywhere these days without shooting photos of some birds.  This bird is a grey crowned rosy finch.  They are common in Washington's alpine areas, and very common at Camp Sherman.  

Grey Crowned Rosy Finch.

The following day we headed down, getting an early start knowing that food, and beer were waiting for us back in town.  

Animals and Birds of Washington's Alpine Environments

I have been trying to photograph all of the wildlife I have seen in the Cascades for a while now.  Although my photo collection is far from complete, I do feel it is large enough for a blog post.  So here it is. wildlife of the Cascades Alpine areas.

Pika

The Pika is a small mammal in the lagomorphs family (rabbit and hare) found both below tree line and in the alpine regions.  It is rat sized and can often be seen and heard in scree and boulder fields.  Their call is best described as a loud squeak.  They are pretty hard to get close to so I don't really have many good photos of them.    Pika do not hibernate, they live under the snow all winter continuing to feed on the vegetation on the ground.  

Hoary Marmot

Marmots are common in alpine areas of Washington and I have spent many hours photographing them.  Their call is a loud whistle, which serves as communication and more importantly a warning to other marmots about predators.  

Cascade Fox
The Cascade fox is a common resident around Mt. Rainier as many of them are habituated to humans.

Deer Mouse
Any climber who has spent any time at a popular camp and did not clean up their food properly has paid for it with less sleep due to the constant nighttime movements of the deer mouse.

A deer mouse hiding the the bottom of my tent.

Bushy-tailed Woodrat
Any nighttime encounter with a deer mouse pales in comparison to the legendary bushy-tailed wood rat.  There may be no other animal quite as persistent and capable of ruining a night of sleep.  My encounters with this large rodent have always been memorable.  I once had a pair of socks stolen by one of these guys in the middle of the night.  We were in the Picket Range and I had not brought a second pair.  In another encounter I had some crawling all over my truck while I was trying to sleep in it while on a trip in Eastern Washington.  It was an evening of almost constant banging and loud scurrying.  These things certainly do not have much grace.
I dont have a photo of one of these alive, and I cant really bring myself to post a picture of a dead one.

You can find a photo here


Mountain Goat
One of the more lovable of our alpine dwelling friends.  It is rare that I do a trip to the Enchantments, Washington Pass or the Cache Col side of Cascade Pass without seeing some goats.

Black Bear
Yes they do spend time above tree line in the alpine areas of the Cascades.  No I don't have a good photo of one.

Grizzly Bear (Brown Bear)
It is now official that there are grizzly bears in the North Cascades.  The photo that confirmed them was shot on Sahale Arm near Cascade Pass.

Chipmunk
Found at most camps in the pacific Northwest at or below treeline.

Varied Thrush
Often heard, but rarely seen, the varied thrush is one of the most common birds that climbers will share the approach trail with.  They are about the size of and have similar shape as a robin (which is also a thrush).

Click here for a page at which you can hear its call.

Anna's Hummingbird

I am kind of lying here, because it is more common for climbers to see ruby-throated hummingbirds, but I don't have a picture of one.  Hummingbirds are very common in alpine areas of Washington.  

 American Crow

Crows are less common visitors to the alpine than ravens, but do occasionally make their way above tree line.  

Winter Wren

I am still working on getting a photo of a Winter Wren.  They do not tend to move above tree line, but are very common in sub-alpine forest.
This is another bird with a distinctive song that is often heard on approach hikes.  More information, a recording of the call, and a photo can be found here.

Hermit Thrush
The Hermit Thrush is another bird that is often heard but rarely seen.  Their call is one of the most beautiful and haunting of all the northwest birds.  A hike in the northwest would not be the same without the sound of this bird.  It is most often heard right at treeline in the mountain hemlock and sub-alpine fir.
Click here for a link to a page where you can hear its call.

I know this photo is terrible, but its a hermit thrush and they are hard to get close to.

Gray Jay

Known to many back country users as camp robbers.  Chances are if you have stopped for a snack on a popular trail you have had one of these birds land close to you.  

Pretty much the easiest bird to photograph.

Clark's Nutcraker
Similar in color to the grey jay and often mistaken for them.  They are a bigger bird and do not do as much scrounging for climber food as the jay does.  They are more common on the eastern crest of the cascade mountains around Colchuck Lake and Washington Pass.  They are also very loud squawking birds.

For more information and to hear their call click here.

Dark eyed Junco
I can't really believe I don't have a photo of one of these yet.  They are all over my front yard and they are super common visitors to the sub-alpine fir and mountain hemlock.
More info and photos can be found here.

Mountain Chickadee
The Mountain Chickadee is a close relative of the black-capped chickadee.  It is pretty common in the sub-alpine areas just like the Dark-eyed Junco.

Horned Lark
Horned Larks are often seen on glaciers in small groups feeding on insects in the snow.  This bird fits in the often seen but rarely close enough to identify.  Some day I will get a good photo of one, but until them I will stick with this one.

Ok, I have an updated photo from Eastern Washington.  I left the original bad one because it shows a bird feeding on the glacier.

American Pipit
The American Pipit is a less commonly seen bird in the alpine areas where climbers go.  They breed in above tree line.  I have only seen them on occasion and usually only in places where climbers do not go very often.

Mountain Bluebird
A fairly common resident of the Eastern Cascades.

Grey Crowned Rosy Finch
The Grey Crowned Rosy Finch is also seen fairly often on glaciers feeding on insects.  Its a little smaller than the Horned Lark.  It looks a lot like a sparrow until you get close enough to see the grey coloring around the back of the neck and on the cheeks.

Raven
It seems every climber has a raven story.  These are usually related to some type of amazing feat where the raven has opened up a zipper and removed some food.

Sooty Grouse
Common in alpine areas in the late summer.  It seems like Mt. Baker is a pretty common place to see these guys.

White Tailed Ptarmigan
White tailed ptarmigans are fairly common in the Cascades above tree line.  Their distinctive chicken like call is often heard right at dusk, as the birds come together in pairs and move to the center of glaciers or snow fields to spend the night.  In the winter these birds have completely white plumage.  Unfortunately I don't have a photo of any in their winter plumage.
A site with more information and a recording of their call is here.

Golden Eagle
Maybe it because I am better at identifying them, but in the last few years I have have seen a lot of Golden Eagles hunting in alpine areas.  Each time I have seen them there has been more than one and they have been hunting as a pair.  Marmots seem to be a favorite food of these birds.

Northern Harrier
I have only seen a norther harrier once, and it was on Mt. Baker.  Like the Golden Eagle it was probably hunting marmots.

Peregrine Falcon
More common at popular rock climbing areas than in the alpine areas.  It is still not unheard of to see a peregrine falcon above tree line.

Osprey
Although not common on the west side of the Cascades the osprey is a very common bird of prey on the eastern slopes.  They will sometimes fish in alpine lakes along the eastern crest of the Cascades.  I have seen them above Blue Lake at Washington Pass and in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area.  They are very common at Colchuck Lake.

West Ridge of Forbidden Peak Climb with American Alpine Institute

I just got back from a climb of Forbidden Peak over the Forth of July weekend.  Conditions are about as good as they could be right now, with the coulour still completely filled with snow, and the ridge mostly bare and dry.  We dropped our campons a couple hundred feet above the top of the coulour and then continued in our boots from there to the summit.  

Two Skiers in  Boston Basin.

We did not seem to bother the year round inhabitants of our camp.

Pika

Marmot

 We did not get a super early start, and were at the base of the coulour by 8.

Starting up the coulour.

Above the shrund.

Somewhere on the ridge heading up.

Seen somewhere on the ridge.  WTF was someone trying to accomplish with the blue cord added to this anchor?  Thanks, I can add this to my collection of crappy anchor photos.

Summit

Heading down.

Another party below us on the ridge.

James down leading.

Another Pika back at camp.

Skiers with Johannesburg Mountain in the background.

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