4 posts tagged “kevin”

Hitomi and I skied Mount Hood on Saturday.

The pictures are trapped inside Hitomi's new camera.

Here's a synopsis: Hitomi signed up for Nintendo's (cheap) ski trip to Mt Hood. Or as she explained it, managed to get to the top of the waiting list and somebody dropped off. Ultimately, to get there and back, we spent more time on a bus than on the mountain itself. Still, the trip was fairly enjoyable, better in the sunny morning than later when reduced visibility, more snow, and flat lighting made it a difficult afternoon. I enjoyed my new skis and boots, both a bit lighter, thus a little harder to control than the heavy rental setup I was used to.

Hitomi had a tougher time with her longer and stiffer skis, I think. Still, she made it down the same slopes as I did, a little more carefully and gracefully.

The runs on Mt Hood aren't as steep as Crystal's, at least the "blue" ones felt more "green" to me. We dipped into some steeper, less groomed terrain. At some point I hope we can transition over to the "blacker" runs. It's not as if I need more challenge to have fun, but I feel to learn better control in the backcountry and build confidence I need to try less forgiving conditions.

Case in point: The following day, Kevin, Hitomi and I went up to Snoqualmie Pass and skiied some backcountry. First we (Hitomi and I) practiced "skinning" uphill and steep terrain, making kick turns and AVA turns. Conditions were wet. Unbeknownst to someone like me, the snow was super-saturated, thus heavy and hard to turn in. Or, you could turn but you couldn't turn back the other way. Luckily we had been near an old logging road, so the return was straightforward through snowmobile "groomed" terrain. I managed I crash a number of times, mostly through experimentation. Even the littlest of slopes made it near impossible to turn. It would have been fun and fast to return through the trees, but even Kevin decided against that.

Speaking of trees, yes I did wrap (hug) a little 4' tree, at low speed. And on a downhill section I was struck by a bough of fir in the mouth. Yum.

Pictures are here.

Unfortunately, since Hitomi uploaded them all to her account I can't embed them all...

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I copied one here so you can see a representative image. Please enjoy the slide show.

Quick recap: Initially, Ian wanted to have a trip to the Canadian Rockies with Kevin, Stacy, and myself since last summer. So this was our big trip of 2008. We've had trips in the past together with us three (including Mike Bloch when he still was in Seattle, it was four) since our high school days and through college.

Kevin planned the trip. Later, Ian dropped out due to illness. Hitomi was invited but instead went kayaking instead. So it was us three in the end.

There were basically three parts to the trip.

First we spent two nights in a cabin called Icefall Lodge, following a layover night at Robson Pass. We had car trouble - a punctured oil pan - and got the car transported by the lodge owner on his flatbed trailer. We were 100km from where AAA (or CAA) would provide us a tow, so we were fortunate to be taken down the logging road. We spent one night at the side of the road near the Trans Canadian Highway waiting for a tow to Golden, B.C. We were fortunate as well to find a shop which managed to do the repair that day and also could coordinate with a neighboring aluminum welding shop, actually a fabrication company, to patch the hole in the oil pan.

I managed to build my second bicycle wheel in about half the time as the first. It was built with a plain cross-3 pattern, which made it a little easier to lace, but basically I just knew more about what to do.

And then in the course of about an hour, I bought enough parts to transform my carbon fiber Giant bicycle into a Fixie or single speed bicycle. I could always use this wheelset on my main road bicycle, if I wanted to do a conversion of it, for some reason.

I had the bike finished on Tuesday since Kevin was over on Wednesday. I got him a spot for the ride to Vancouver event and I wanted a partner for once. And since Kevin's bicycle is an inefficient mountain bike, unsuitable for long distance riding, I felt he needed a road bicycle. So there I was setting it up on the trainer when he rang the doorbell.

One problem with the ENO hub is that the rear brakes don't really reach with the wheel rotated down, and when rotated up the 25mm tire hits the seat stays. So, I'll either need to get new brakes, change the gear ratio, add a half-link or remove a link and add a half-link. Still, with a bit of vigorous filing I got the pads to mostly reach the rim, but they still brush the tire.

Kevin came by to discuss potential trips this summer. And I got to share my photos of Vietnam and Taiwan.

Kevin sounded inspired about someday building a cabin up in the Bella Coola valley and someone involving the community with outdoor activity and trail building. He wants to have a grass-roots organization based in the area, as well, that got people interested in hiking the area they live in. Also, the local economy, he feels, could benefit from a little eco-tourism and attention from the outside world. Through Google Earth, Kevin showed me the mountain ranges he wants to be by, and going west, he showed me potential kayaking routes. There's hot springs and lots of mountains to look at, but honestly the kayaking would probably not be that interesting from a technical point of view.

Where Kevin and I disagree is this: Kayaking (or cycling, or whatever) is just transportation and not a terribly interesting activity by itself. Really, the only interest he has in kayaking or bicycling are places he can go with them. And so a road bicycle might seem pointless, when a car can be used with less effort instead for travel.

My theory explains how Kevin disregards the often unpleasant mode of journey itself when focused on the destination, or whatever interesting might be seen along the way. Off-trail bush-wacking is his reputation, though luckily he has enough sense to not drag his friends through difficult routes.

Recently about 15 feet of new snow fell in the passes and I-90 was closed because of avalanches over the highway and other snow-clearing. So, after the snow cleared on Saturday, it seemed like a fine opportunity to enjoy some high quality powder. Kevin offered to pick Hitomi and I up. Waking up Hitomi at 7AM was impossible and we negotiated a later departure until 10AM.

I used Kevin's Alpine Touring skis. The boots fit me well. It was about two years since I last skied, but I balanced and climbed uphill just fine. However, downhill was difficult to control. With Hitomi and Stacy on snowshoes, and Kevin on Telemarks, we headed into the old growth forest. Trees everywhere meant not a lot of maneuvering room for a beginner. It was fairly steep and the powder was very deep, which also meant it was difficult to plant my skis. So I ended up in the powder in various twisted positions. Still, I got a couple of turns in there.

Hitomi grew up in "snow country" and has an easy time in snow and enjoys teasing me about my lack of skill. I was a yuki-daruma, or snowman, she said.

One of the first "fall" overnight hikes I ever did was back in 1998, after I had returned from Japan. Kevin, myself, and two others from the outdoor club at the University of Washington, spent a night at Horseshoe Lake. (This is me on pretty much the same trip eight years later.) I recall Kevin taking my picture, with me posing in from of the golden larches, wearing my orange, factory-outlet bought Land's End fleece jacket with one pocket sewn on backwards. Last year I had a orange Salomon ski jacket that was paired in Kevin's fall color photography. I've since progressed to a proper down jacket -- green this time.

Hitomi did not go. She had the (lame) excuse of having a hair cut appointment on Saturday. The weekend forecast was excellent: A break in the cloudy, rainy weather of the past month and a half, with sun on both days. Like last year, and the year before, Kevin, Chris Cass, Cinnamon (real name), and Jessica (?) were in attendance. Along this year was a couple, John and Becky, driving in from Spokane. The plan was to hike 10 miles out, over Cutthroat Pass, to Snowy Lakes on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). I did this hike with Hitomi (and about 10 others) August, 2003 and we got rained on, while my cook stove malfunctioned in the wind. The hike is easy, only on a few thousand elevation gain. But this year, there was a lot of snow already. And for those people who hiked in tennis shoes and untreated boots were soon hiking with wet feet. (I lacked gators but only ended up slightly damp socks.) With a large group and slow progress as well, it was also clear we wouldn't arrive at camp before 6PM, dusk. At the pass (Cutthroat Pass), the group decided to end the hike early and make camp.

The view was fine, but we were camping in snow. It seems most were unprepared for the early snow, and John and Becky in particular lacked a change of socks or warm enough clothes for the night. On a couple of bare rocks we set up our multiple stoves, making hot food, melting snow for water, soup, tea, etc., passing around bottles of wine, whiskey, or gin in lightweight plastic bottles. When we finished with dinner it was dark. The sky was full of stars, the Milky Way a glowing stripe over the sky, the moon somewhere on the other side of the planet. What a rare sight! But it was around 9PM and time for bed.

We brought three tents for seven. It was thought Jessica's two-person tent might actually fit yet another person and if so we might as well share space to stay warm. Though three inside was overly optimistic: When I put my ground pad inside, the pad itself took up more than half the space, and there were two more pads to lay. Still, Kevin, Jessica (in the middle) and I all managed to wedge ourselves inside the structure, with Kevin's feet stuck out the door. I'm not sure who was sleeping on who's pad. We kept warm, however.

Breakfast another meal where everyone trying to keep warm, though the clothes began to come off, rather than the opposite during the night. I brought a variety of food: donuts, fresh fruit, freeze dried soup, teas, cheese, etc. The sun was out, then it grew cloudy, then it was sunny again. We walked around the pass for pictures.

The hike down went quickly. I pealed off layers of clothing as the elevation dropped. We met at the car for beers, donuts, and farewells.