Little Si, 24 December 2009

Looking for something quick and easy to access from Seattle, Jenny and I drove up to North Bend with the intent to do Rattlesnake Mountain. When we got there though, we were somehow drawn to Little Si, which Jenny had been wanting to do since September. So on to Little Si we went. We had bluebird weather and very reasonable temperatures. At the summit, we found outstanding views of Mount Si as well as the Snoqualmie River valley towards Seattle. Feeling spry on the way down, we opted to add the Boulder Garden loop which roughly doubled our elevation gain for the day and took us through some stunning forest scenes. We spotted a few places with evidence of sport climbing and noted them for summer use once things dry out. A great day out!

More photos can be seen HERE.

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Shimano American Corporation "STEC Workshop"

Hey just wanted to share some takeaways from the Shimano-TEC Workshop I attended at the end of March as part of my STEC Forum Moderator participation. This was the 2-day class and took place in Irvine CA at Shimano's North America headquarters. I have added links to images where appropriate. The pics linked directly below are only the technical details. The gallery these pics live in also has a bunch of "look inside Shimano" (warehouse, shipping, etc) and "experience at STEC Workshop" (hospitality, tour, instruction facility) stuff in there that you're welcome to browse by clicking HERE . I don't have the email addresses for the newer guys at ECBS Roanoke but feel free to share with them. Again, LOTS OF IMAGES WITH NOTES HERE . Tool Tips: JIS Screwdrivers . Far superior to Phillips in terms of not slipping/stripping. I know there are a couple in use at the shop but the amount they reduce stripping of screws means we should be ONLY replaci...

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I've heard of Mount Ellinor from locals. I've read about it on SummitPost . I've seen it poking out at the south end of the Olympics. Needless to say, we have been wanting to do this since we knew about it. So with a beautiful forecast, Jenny and I readied our packs and headed to the Olympic Peninsula. We took the Fauntleroy-Southworth Ferry for a quick ride across Puget Sound and then headed directly for Hoodsport on US101. From there, a meandering road through the hills and we found ourselves skirting beautiful Lake Cushman. Eventually we turned onto the gravel Forest Service Road 24 and began winding our way steeply up to the trailhead, peering over the steep edges of this narrow road - only minutes before, we had passed a tow-truck with a 'victim' of the terrain in tow. A dodge pickup had tried to turn around in a bad place or had been going too fast. Either way, the evidence of rollover was clear. Hearing the gravel crunc...

Dungeness Spit, 3 January 2010

Not wanting to limit ourselves to hills alone, we decided to see what a hike along one of the many scenic shore areas of Washington would be like. Consulting our copy of Dayhikes On The Olympic Peninsula, we chose Dungeness Spit right at the NE corner of the peninsula and plotted our course. The views from the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry hinted at the views we'd have for the rest of the day. Once we got on the trail, we soon realized it was going to be something of a sand slog along this 5.5mi spit of shore that protrudes deep into the Straight of Juan de Fuca. We were instantly gratified with a beautiful view of Mount Baker far in the distance. Our target was the lighthouse at the end. After a couple hours of skipping stones, pointing out sea birds, and inspecting the myriad things washed up on the shore, we arrived at the end. We were greeted by the lighthouse keeper who gave us a tour and several minutes in the top of the lighthouse. Looking back to...

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