It's that Time of Year...

Actually, it's always that time of year. I am that dork who has her short and long term goals posted on the refrigerator year round. But since this is a hiking blog and I know some of my handful of like-minded readers enjoy stuff like this, here's my 2014 goals list.

1. Buy a house by spring. Cough.
2. Run the San Francisco Marathon on July 27th.
3. Start the Court of Master Sommeliers program in March (now that I passed my WSET Advanced!) and get certified.
4. Summer Hiking (let's face it, the rest of this stuff is just filling time until the snow melts).

       The big hikes:

• July - lead return trip to Mount Adams w/Steve and Helena
• Summer Shasta climb, nontechnical Clearcreek route 
• August Enchantments Traverse
• August Climb Mount Daniel 
• August/Sept Tank Lakes via Necklace Valley
• Aug/Sept Mt Baker/Shuksan long weekend: Ptarmigan Trail to the Portals; Chowder ridge or
  Chain Lakes Trail above Bagly Lakes; Heliotrope Ridge
• Aug/Sept/Oct Squamish/Garibaldi long weekend trip

      Any of these:

• Partial Bailey Range Traverse, Olympics
• September Rachel Lake/Rampart Ridge/Alta tarns - requires fording creek
• Mt Hood Hogsback
• Tattoosh Peak/ Plummer, Rainier
• Spray Park, Mt Rainier - off trail to alpine lake below Observation Rock 
• Yellow Aster Butte, Shuksan
• Vesper Peak scramble - very late season
• Matterhorn, Wallowas
• Indian Bar, Mt Rainier
• LaBohn Gap
• Snow caves on Mount Hood
• Middle Sister, Bend 
• Gothic Basin/ partial scramble up Gothic Peak? late season
• Maple Pass Loop, North Cascades
• Goat Lake, North Cascades 
• Barrett Spur, Mt Hood - late season
• Minotaur Lake, Stevens Pass
• High Pass
• Hidden Lake Peak
• Spectacle Lake backpack

I've got 2015 planned, too, but I'll spare you.

Loving Each Day

This week was pretty horrific for a lot of people in different parts of the country, and I spent a lot of time on my runs and rides thinking about how lucky I am just to get to do simple things like run down a country road for three hours listening to a podcast, or ride bikes for 45 miles with my husband, climbing hills together and coming home safely to a bottle of wine. It's a tough world out there, but as cheesy as it sounds I'm glad I get to experience it every day.

Rode up McNamee, up Rock Creek. The hardest part? Coming down Logie.

The .28 is the distance from my car into Starbucks.
Otherwise, I finally ran 13 miles and don't feel too shabby.

Despite my words of gratitude in this blog post, here I am telling Dr. B
to go straight to hell when he suggests we add Dixie Mtn road to our ride, already my longest
and most elevation of the year. Hey, you can't be gracious all the time.

Stats: The Rock Creek ride was only 25 miles, 1800 or so ft of gain. But, the Rocky Point Road ride was 45 miles and 4,500 +/- ft of gain. Starting to feel ready for our annual version of Tour de Blast and the soft opening of McKenzie Pass!

Iron Constitution

Being productive right now is a huge effort. I tagged along on a rainy wine country ramble with my husband and his biking buddy the other day, and while I didn't embarrass myself completely, I was certainly tired with only 28 miles and 1500 feet of climbing. The only reason I even thought I could keep up is because it was supposed to be an easy ride due to our friend being "injured." And it was, objectively, an easy ride. But I have a long way to go before summer to get where I need to be, even to where I was in 2011. With that in mind, I hit the running trail again today. Only did three miles, but it felt good. Afterwards, I read another chapter in my Ben Franklin biography - in the winter I like to read about badasses with iron constitutions to inspire me. That's a good phrase, that one. A coworker described me that way last week -- but he's from New York, so he doesn't know that I'm like the first or second rung on the ladder above pussy compared to all these hearty Pacific Northwesterners who triathalon to work and rappel into bed. But I'm going to try to be inspired with that image of myself as the season progresses.

Doldrums

Biking on Sauvie on Christmas Day and it's 35 degrees out.

Lolo Pass shenanigans.

What? I am perfectly comfortable like this and do not miss the sun at all.

Christmas Eve Wish List

2013

• Blanca Lake via Stevens Pass West, WA
• Colchuck Lake via Stuart Lake TH, Leavenworth, WA
• Gem Lake via Alpental with options for Snow and Source Lake, WA
• Yocum Ridge, Mount Hood, OR
• Middle Sister Summit backpack, OR
• Spray Park, Mt Rainier, WA
• Skyline Divide, Mount Baker, WA (weekend trip)
• Heliotrope Ridge, Mount Baker, WA
• Kendal Katwalk, Snoqualmie, WA
• Lyman Lakes/Spider Meadows/Phelps Basin (backpack) via Spider Gap, WA
• Indian Bar, Mt Rainier
• Mt Pilchuck, WA
• Lake Serene via Stevens Pass West, WA
• Illumination rock, Mount Hood, OR
• Robin Lakes trail, Snoq. Pass; Salmon LaSac/Teanaway, WA (backpack)
• Maple Pass Loop, North Cascades,WA (views of lake Ann)
• Goat Lake, North Cascades, WA
• Gothic Basin, North Cascades, WA
• Glacier Nat'l Park Vacation (day hikes)

Life List (in order from most to least realistic):

• Garibaldi Provincial Park, BC
• Ptarmigan Ridge, North Cascades, WA
• Wonderland Trail, Mt Rainer, WA
• JMT from Red's to Mt Whitney 
• PCT Section K, WA
• Telluride/Durango, CO and 14ers
• Chasm Lake, Longs Peak, CO
• Kootenay Rockwall Trail/Skoki Lakes/Lake O'Hara, BC
• Routeburn Trek, NZ
• Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
• Salkantay Trek, Peru
• Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
• Zermatt, Switzerland 
• Tank Lakes via Necklace Valley, WA
• Mount Hood Summit, OR 

Willamette Valley Whirlwind Tour

Wine tasting day at DDO, Patton Valley, Stoller and Winderlea. That's a whole lot of pinot.

Silent Spring

Things may get a little quiet around here until the nice weather kicks in. I started school this month, and I'm learning to balance it with work and getting fit for the summer. I've gotten on the bike twice since starting, and both were strong rides, but there's been little hiking to speak of. So, since you don't want a picture of my stack of notecards and heavily-tabbed Business Law book, here's a picture of Dr B's new bike with the troll wall on our Sunday ride. Here's to next Sunday!

Coping With Winter

When the weather changes directly from summer to winter in Portland, I start sleeping late, reading more, and trying to come up with ways to combat seasonal affective disorder. The last few winters were relatively fine until about Christmas - I can't stand the holidays, and by that point there's usually been at least three solid months of gray and wet. This year was disappointing despite a lot of fun, since about half of my hiking to-do list remains unchecked and sitting for next year.

This year, I've resolved to start xc skiing, indoor tennis, riding Saltzman and the West Hills with Dr B., and bike commuting in the rain once or twice a week. I bought a hybrid-esque Trek (the bike snob in me feels weird about it) to replace the old commuter, and it's ready to go. This will no doubt be miserable, and the comfort of the Subie will tempt me every time I haul that thing downstairs, but I think I'll feel better overall. I'm always tempted by cyclocross, but realistically I just don't think it's going to happen. I have been making some progress with a diet, though, so I hope that I can hit the ground running in the spring, ready to take on challenges like STP in one day, RSVP and Tour de Blast. And there are those hikes I can't wait to do, including getting a true summit of Mount Adams under my belt, a visit to the Wallowas, the Enchantments, and Mount Baker. They're saying already that this winter will be like last one, and I honestly don't know how I'm going to deal with another short summer like this if so.

In the meanwhile, I'm watching a lot of Universal Sports television, surprisingly. The only televised sporting event I've ever enjoyed has been the Tour de France, but I've been tuning in to watch everything from triathalons to adventure races, as motivation. I'm also reading a lot of mountaineering lore, one of my favorite winter hobbies. Right now I'm reading The Ledge: An Adventure story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier. It's not the most well-written book ever, but I'm eating it up. Review to come when I've finished it. On the other hand, The Last Season, by Eric Blehm, was much more my style. Actually, it was much more John Krakauer's style, and the ending dragged on a little bit, but as a portrait of the uncompromising Sierra Nevada outdoorsman Randy Morgenstern, it was fascinating.

So the posts may be sparse around here for a while - it takes me a while to get motivated to do those rainy Gorge hikes, which, though beautiful have mostly become season-openers for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go drink enough coffee to make biking over the West Hills in the rain seem plausible.

2010: All These Worlds Are Yours

2009 is over, in all its ups and downs. It's the year I:

1. Turned 30 on the Green Sand Beach on the Big Island

2. Got married to the love of my life at 14,000 feet on a volcano

3. Planned and attempted the JMT

4. Climbed South Sister

5. Took a rad mountain biking vacation to Central Oregon

6. Started and stuck with Pilates, which has led to greater fitness overall

7. Enjoyed a family trip to Vancouver, BC and seriously considered becoming Canadian

8. Hiked Ape Canyon, the Timberline Trail and new spots in the Gorge

9. An old friend relocated to Portland and merged my old world with my new one.

10. Mr A changed jobs after 5 years (woo-hoo!)

On the other hand, it was also a year of regrets, confusion, loss of identity and disappointment. One of my closest friends moved away, another lost his job. I don't think I need to even mention the economy at this point, since the recession still weighs on everyone I know. I am fortunate to have kept my job, but I did take a significant hit and was lucky enough to pick up a second job.

I want 2010 to be a year of clean slates and opportunities taken. So far, it's shaping up that way. I'm excited and hopeful, and my husband shares the sentiment. We're in the process of deciding whether to move to Hawaii, like for good. It's awesome and scary, and a lot of my feelings about this year are playing into our decision to start a new phase of our lives.

So, give me about a month and hopefully I'll have some new adventures to write about. In the meanwhile, here is a photo recap of things I'm have no words to write about:

Hawaii Wedding

Well, that was just the best time I've ever had.

Dr. B and I flew to Hawaii, backpacked on the Big Island and snuck in a marriage ceremony on Mauna Kea. Then we explored Kauai, car camping, swimming, eating shave ice, and generally feeling dreamy every minute of every day. Here are some pictures: