Catch-up, Ketchup, and Cat-sup on Rainier

It has been a long road from GNP to Boulder, and it was difficult to decide where to pick the stories back up. Geographically Seattle was next on the map, and there are hundreds of blog worthy adventures that the northwest corner had to offer.

Our dear friend and colleague, Lester McGuire set us up with the nicest people (and coolest K-9) in Seattle: Corey, Natasha, and Nola. They would act as our base camp family for our bid at the summit of the mighty Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainier is one of the most coveted peaks of recreational mountaineers, and was on the top of our list for must-have-adventures. The active stratovolcano is home to 26 glaciers, making it the most heavily glaciated peak in the United States. The peak is also the highest point in Washington at 14,410 (or 14,411 if you want to believe Corey) feet above the Pacific Ocean.

We finished packing for our first fourteener around 10pm, and decided to get a jump on getting to the park before it opened to try to secure our chances at a permit. While the plan to beat the rest of the climbers to the park was meritorious, the only thing we ended up beating them at was lack of sleep.

As the clock approached four (in the a.m.) we cruised within 12 miles of the park before realizing that the fuel light was turning on and the only place to fill up within 60 miles was at the local gas station/grocery/pizza shop/only-real-store-in-town. The pumps, sans card readers, were shut off and we were forced to wait two or three hours until they decided to show up to work. This minor set back could have proved disastrous, but luck always seems on our side.

When we finally made it to the climbing station to register, Phillipe, the ranger informed us that we (were two very lucky dudes and) were the last people who would granted access to climb past Camp Muir for the day. I was ecstatic as we geared up for the 5.5 mile jaunt up to the Ingram Glacier where we would camp that night.

We set up shop around 6 pm, and tired to get a bit of sleep before our summit 1 am summit bid. Corey impressed me with his ability to catch some z s despite the wind beating the side of the tent like Lars Ulrich. Although sleeping is fun and all, he missed out on all of the exciting rock falls and running around double staking down the tent. One thing about rock falls-- they make wearing a helmet not seem so uncomfortable.

We left the shelter of our REI Mountain 3 at 1:15 am with headlamps blasting though the windy night. We roped up to ensure our safety if one of us fell into a crevasse, but I recently learned the real reason mountaineers tie themselves together is to keep the sane ones from going home.

The road to the summit was a slow trudge up steep switchbacks, and over giant crevasses. The trains of other climbers headlamps and the shining stars faded out as the sun peaked over the horizon; one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen. At 7:08 am we ran out of mountain, and reached the 14,410 foot point. Elated, we snapped a few photos, signed the climbers log, marveled at the volcanic crater, and headed back to base camp.

Rainier was truley an amazing mountain, and the satisfaction of crossing that peak (or at least that route) off my life list cannot be underestimated. But mountains are addicting, and I cannot wait to blog about the next bigger adventure.

(For some reason the pictures are uploaded in reverse order, hope you enjoy anyways...)

Feels Like Home...

As Corey so eloquently put it: Thank You!

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of you as well. I am so grateful for meeting you and appreciate you opening your hearts and homes, as well as sharing your time. This has been so much more than a road trip; it is a glance into the beauty that America holds within its people and the natural world.

I cannot thank you enough for all the support. It has been such a luxury to get away, but still feel at home in your home.

You all have a friend in CT, and if you ever need a favor-- just ask.

Thank You!

Before we move along any further, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to those who helped us out along our journey thus far. From Chicago to San Francisco, we have experienced nothing but the sincerest hospitality from those who willingly took us into their homes and gave us not only a safe place to stay but also full use of their household amenities.

Since before we left the Hartford Area there has been one individual who continually and enthusiastically gave us advice, guide books and outdoor gear as to maximize our experience out west, he kindly utilized his fabulous networking skills on a moments notice and gave us the royal hookup for both Seattle and San Francisco. Ladies and Gentlemen, Lester McGuire is a saint!

If it wasn’t for Lester we would have never met up with Corey, Natasha and Nola. (Hope I spelt your names right) Without ever having met in the past, these wonderful people offered us full use of their beautiful house in Seattle while we did some sight seeing and geared up for our Mt. Rainier summit bid. Their generosity allowed for an extremely pleasant visit to the area and left us with a good taste of all the wonderful things the Seattle area has to offer. I hope you guys decide to head to New England some time so we can return the favor.

Knowing that you’re heading into one of the most raved about cities in america is pretty darn exciting, but knowing that your visit will also allow some time to catch up with an old friend just makes it that much better. Needless to say Portland, Oregon was everything we hoped it would be, but having the infamous Tuuli Hakala as a personal guide in the city for four days made it even better. As if seeing Tuuli in the city that she now calls home wasn’t enough, her roommates, Rubin and Michele are also super cool and even let us barrow some bikes for the duration of our visit. Thank you all for a wonderful visit.

After a nice hike along The Lost Coast in Mattole, California, we thought it would be worth stopping in San Francisco for a couple days. Once again Lester pulls through and hooks us up with Frank, a man whose name is associated with many tales. With only a couple hours notice we were all set with a place to stay in the city along with a couple bikes and a map marked with all the hip places to check out. I now see exactly why Frank’s name is held with such high regard. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you and sleep on your floor.

Seriously everyone, we can’t even begin to express how thankful we are for all the hospitality we have received in the past few weeks and what a pleasure it has been to meet every single one of you. If anyone ever needs a place to crash in CT, either Joe or I will do all we can to help.

More is on the Way...

Contributing to this epic blog has proven to be increasingly difficult. Lack of Internet access, combined with all of the distractions that America can throw at a young adventurer, make sitting down to type out stories an arduous task. I certainly do not want to complain that we are having too much fun to blog, so I will get down to business.

Corey and I left off our blog at the beautiful GNP. Glacier is one of the most incredible National Parks I have ever seen, and at this point I feel almost as knowledgeable as a park ranger—without the cool ranger hat.

Within the first few hours at Glacier we saw more wildlife than we have seen at all the other parks combined. Just driving on the auto road to get to our campsite, we saw a grizzly bear cub, followed by a black bear cub, mountain goats, big horn rams, and there were even a few cougars with large Coach purses who were trying to pick up Corey.

GNP is truly an amazing place with emerald and blue lakes, and mountain vistas that were almost unbelievable. We are on our way to California and need to eat some delicious Portland food before the next blog update. Trust me, we have some amazing updates on the way. Including the mighty Mount Rainier, and the Oregon Brewers Festival. There will even be a special feature video, available shortly, showcasing our enthusiasm for Going the Distance.

As I Climb Upon My Trusty Jackalope...

Updates from the road, and the pictures to prove it:

Sorry for the lack of contribution on the worlds most epic blog, but I have been very busy saving the world (yes again…). This time I was at the worlds largest drug store, the infamous, I mean world famous, Wall Drug in beautiful South Dakota. I was sitting down getting ready to finally blog about our excellent adventure, when a terrible prehistoric roar erupted from the Wall Drug backyard.

I jumped out of my chair and ran out of the café arming myself with Wall Drug memorabilia. I had a sweet set of replica pistols and a cowboy hat on before Corey reminded me that I needed a shirt and shoes to be in Wall Drug. After conforming to South Dakota health codes, I ran to my trusty Jackalope and hopped (very manly hopping mind you) around looking for the source of such a menacing growl.

I was rounding the corner between the replica Black Hills gold mine, and the world famous five-cent coffee, when I spotted the world’s last remaining Tyrannosaurus Rex. I don’t want to spoil the flow of the story, but it is worth mentioning that everything in the North West U.S. is world famous, or biggest, or only. Like the world’s biggest purple spoon, or the world’s biggest bull head.

My trusty Jackalope and I battled the world’s last T-Rex for twelve straight minutes (twelve minutes is all he wanted, and happens to be the exact amount of time between T-Rex attacks at Wall Drug.) before he retreated and hid behind the giant concrete barrier protecting him from my deadly wrath. After Corey got tired of telling me to get off the Jackalope, and security finished helping me find my car, we were off to Glacier National Park to once again save the world, and enjoy one of America’s most epic places.

Howdy Yall!

Leaving Wall, South Dakota was sad, in fact it was down right heart breaking. But Joe and I both knew we had bigger things ahead of us. We drove through the very diverse state of Montana, eventually ending up in Missoula at around 4:30 am and slept on our thermarests in a Wall Mart parking lot for a few hours.
After waking, we ran some errands and got our gear ready for Glacier National Park which is were we have been for the past few days.

Currently Joe and I are at little eatery in the town of Kalispell, Montana called Gresko's. Since we are both very excited to get back on the road and head for Mt. Rainier in Washington, I will let the 388 pictures I took from Glacier National Park speak for themselves. (for now)

I will be updating again very soon once we get to Seattle.
A few things to note about Montana:

The sun doesn't set until 11:30
There are a lot of Meth Labs cleverly disguised as beehives.
Its big, really big.
The city of Butte rocks my socks off. (when I'm not wearing Chacos)
It's Beautiful and there is still snow here.
Everyone reading this needs to go to Glacier National Park ASAP.

Here is the link to to Pictures from GNP, I hope you all enjoy.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Corey.James.Adams/Montana#

P.S. I'd like to extend a big old Rocky Top wave to Mark and Tracy, our new trail friends from East Tennessee. I hope you both had a wonderful time on your GNP vacation.

A Few More Pictures From the Road

Goin Straight to the Wild Wild West

As we left Chicago on the afternoon of July 10th, we dazed and amazed our fellow traffic sitters with an impromptu dance party which erupted in the CRV as a result of our silly moods and a hip Beck song. We cruised along interstate 90 until we reached the Mississippi River on the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota. As luck would have it, not only is camping allowed on the river, its also free. Neither one of us wanted to pass up such a great opportunity, and since it was getting late we decided to set up camp for the night.

On the morning of the 11th we packed up and headed for South Dakota. Minnesota had some nice farms and all that jazz, but ultimately we didn't find much to do there. South Dakota on the other hand is doing all they can to ensure that tourists have plenty to do on the way to their destinations. As we drove deeper and deeper into the black hills we found ourselves being greatly entertained by the abundance of wacky billboard advertisements. Among them and the two where we actually stopped, were The Corn Palace, The Badlands National Park and Wall Drug.

As we approached the town of Mitchel SD, we couldn't help but pull off to experience The Corn Palace, the worlds largest and only corn palace. From all the advertising, I was expecting to see a palace made entirely out of corn, but i was quite disappointed to see that only sections of the building were in fact made of corn. Actually they weren't even made of corn, it looked like they just stuck the corn on the walls to make it look like they were corn walls. Even though the palace wasn't actually made out of corn, it was still very impressive. Each wall has a huge mural of the many destination locations in the United States, a theme which coincidentally fits in perfectly with our EPIC ADVENTURE! The theme of the corn murals change every year, and inside the palace you'll find pictures of the palace and themes from every year since its creation. Approximately 275,000 ears of corn are used to create the murals for the palace each year. If your into wacky tourist destinations, this is a great place to stop.

In case you were wondering, we did not chose to drive through South Dakota because of the many wild and wacky tourist destinations. In fact South Dakota is the home of one of Americas finest and most underrated destination spots, The Badlands. As we approached Interior, SD the land was as flat as it had been for the past 1700 or so miles. But as we inched forward toward our first outdoor destination, it became more and more apparent of the stunning beauty of The Badlands.

Looking back about two days when we were parked at a rest area in Indiana (The Amish one)and having lunch. We were approached by a fellow traveler and lover of the outdoor setting and we got to talking about our trip. When the guy heard that we were heading out to The Badlands he got very excited and began describing his own experiences there. He tried to explain how the massive formations just popped up out of nowhere and began describing how you can see the erosions effect on the creation of the entire park by the rings that wrap around the massive clay peaks. As we arrived we finally got a real sense of the imagery that this guy was trying to explain. It simply is not something that can be explained, you just have to go there.
One of the coolest things about the park is that while there are designated trails and overlooks from the loop road which provide some pretty amazing vistas, the real magic can be seen when you venture off trail and do some of your own exploring.

Everywhere you go in the park there are peaks, plateaus, valleys and prairies that invite you over for a visit, and when you arrive they treat you to yet another amazing view. The tricky part of navigating the park on your own is not so much getting lost, but rather not breaking apart the formations that you scramble along. The whole park is made of a tough clay that if pulled on to hard will fall apart or crumble, and although your average visitor might not be able to notice, every time it rains the park is reshaped ever so slightly.

The wild life here is also amazing. In one day I was able to view from a very close distance (less than 20 feet) an array of animals that I have never before seen in person. First on the list was a porcupine which was spotted by Joe as we scrambled down and away from a trail to check out a valley. After that we came across what we think might have been a marmot, but we didn't get a good look before it scurried under some rocks. We also saw some birds, I know nothing about birds so ill skip the description. One of the things that I was really looking forward to was seeing some Bison, and boy were we spoiled. At first we came across a few bison grazing in a field which was wonderful to see. But as we drove on we came across an entire herd that had taken over one of the overlook sites. It was a truly amazing experience and surprisingly enough this was exactly how the guy from the rest stop in Indiana described his encounter with the bison.

But what good are bison, marmots and porcupines when you don't have any prairie dogs to chuckle at them? No good at all, thats how good. Luckily we had more than our share of prairie dog encounters and while i could talk about the cute little creatures all day, Ill just let you all view the photos and videos once we upload them all.

So after we camped for free at a wonderful campsite at The Badlands's, which is just another reason why the park is so great, we headed over to where I am currently sitting right now and blogging from. With advertisements as far as Kenya, Wall Drug attracts people from all corners of the world. Why stop here, you might ask? well there are way to many highlights to list so ill just say because there is no other place like it. This "drug store" is about four blocks long and sells everything from ancient Indian artifacts to modern day cowboy gear as well as 5 Cent coffee. There are also many things to do within the walls of Wall Drug including shopping for three wolf T-shirts, (please read review of said shirt here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Mountain-Three-Wolf-T-Shirt/dp/B000NZW3KC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1247342569&sr=8-1
)you might also choose to dine, ride the jackalope, or hang with the T-Rex. Thats right folks Wall Drug is home of the last remaining t-rex and jackalope.

After a full day of exploring the town of Wall, a destination in and of itself. We are on our way out to Glacier National Park.
I hope you all are enjoying our notes from the road.

Chicago Pictures

"God came down and shit."

After sleeping for about 3 hours and leaving from the apartment of Will Walker (Joe’s brother) in New Haven CT around 5 A.M, The ride to Chicago from Connecticut to Chicago was undoubtedly long; it took about 16 hours of driving with minimal traffic to reach our first destination. Luckily the time zones are on our side as we head west.

There’s really nothing to exceptional about driving through the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana on route 80, but there’s two things I feel are worth mentioning. The first being that Ohio has a huge population of trailer parks, I think we counted upwards of eight or nine trailer parks that you could see off the highway alone. The other thing that really sparked my interest is the Amish people we ran into at a rest stop in Indiana. I don’t know about everyone else but the last place I expect to encounter a traditionally dressed group of Amish people is at a rest stop. These folks rolled up to the rest stop in style with their Honda minivan and enjoyed an afternoon lunch of fast food from burger king which was conveniently served in disposable plastic containers.
Perhaps my view of the Amish lifestyle is skewed, but what happened to the days of horse and buggy?

As we approach the outer city limits of Chicago we receive word from Sophia that she has a friend in the area who is willing to be our hostess for the evening. This is great news and really beats sleeping in the airport for the night. (Brilliant idea by Joe)

Extremely excited, we arrive in Chicago seeing our first ever glimpse of the unique Chicago skyline. As the rain begins to diminish, the sky opens up into a majestic blend of gentle yet radiant reds and subtle blues, allowing only the slightest bit of sunlight to interrupt its exhibit. It felt as though the city welcoming us as into its borders and allowing us to see it in its most distinct form. Excited yet exhausted from the ride and lack of sleep the night before, we headed over to the pay site where we parked the car and threw some money on the parking meter. Across the street was a large fountain which put on a display of streaming water flows and a rotating light show. Looking at the fountain the downtown skyline stands tall as the clouds begin to wither away. As we stand back and enjoy the view of the skyline, the distant sound of cameras flashing transforms the portrait of the night into an image in the photo albums of the many tourists surrounding the area.

Apparently there is quite a bit of political turmoil amongst architects and the size of their “buildings.” As Priya, one of my lovely hostesses for the evening informed me, the size of your building has a direct correlation to how much “street cred.” You have within your circle of colleagues. The diamond building is the currently the largest building in Chicago that was designed by a female architect.

Just up the road we checked out Millennium Park, “an award-winning center for art, music, architecture and landscape design. The result of a unique partnership between the City of Chicago and the philanthropic community, the 24.5-acre park features the work of world-renowned architects, planners, artists and designers.” http://www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/
Put simply, the place is friggin sweet. The mini amphitheater is architecturally different than any I’ve ever seen. A flat field with a small pavilion/seating arrangement just in front of the stage is accented by the large aluminum tubing that wraps the entire area in a way which highlights the parks contemporary style. Just beside the amphitheater is “The Bean,” a large metallic structure in the shape of a bean, which fits in perfectly to the areas style. I’d say the bean is about 30 or so feet high and just as wide.
I will definitely be visiting Chicago again.


Note: The quote in the title came from Jandra when she saw the picture on the top right

The Trip of a Lifetime

A while ago Joe and I got to talking about how much fun it would be to do a road trip out to the western portion of the United States and do some climbing. I'll be honest here, I don't exactly remember how we starting tossing around ideas to take a trip like this. But for those of you who know us on a personal level, I'm sure its easy enough to imagine how we might have come to this. (maybe Joe can chime in here)

Anyway with the idea and ambition in place, we started coming up with a bunch of places we wanted to visit which eventually turned into a HUGE itinerary with a short amount of time allotted for each destination. Initially the main focus of the trip was rock climbing and we had planned on doing some serious multi pitch routes in places like The Needles in South Dakota, The Tetons and Devils Tower in Wyoming.

I think today Joe and I would both agree that our ambitions here far exceeded our actual talents. Being a novice to the climbing world I was especially worried that my limited ability and lack of experience could get us in some serious trouble. Joe however seemed confident that we could pull it off with just a couple months of serious training and developing/dialing in our trad climbing abilities. After expressing my thought about concerns with Mr. Walker, fate (also known as a small scale boulder) stepped in the way and broke Joe's middle finger, and just as the doctor ordered, no more rock climbing for Joe.

So while we were both upset about this, we took it as a sign and revised our agenda. So here it is loosely:

Leave CT on July 7Th and drive straight to Chicago. Why Chicago? I don't really know but neither one of us has been there and it sounds like a nice place to crash.

From there we travel northwest to the Badlands area in South Dakota. Some warm up hiking and maybe some sightseeing will take place here. Mount Rushmore's just up the road and Wall Drug will tame my caffine fix with some 5 cent coffee.

Once we get tired of cowboys and sand we will drive on over to the legendary and beautiful Glacier National Park in the Northwest corner of Montana. After seeing all the incredible pictures that Mr. Brad Poer had from his visits to the park, Glacier (GNP) made its way on my life list of places to go. The plan is to bag a couple peaks in the park and do some quality backpacking while taking in the views of the incredible landscapes and wildlife which GNP has to offer.

Speaking of bagging peaks aka summit bids or climbing mountains for all you traditional types. Next on our list is the mystical and enticing Mount Rainier in the state of Washington. Often referred to as the Mount Everest of the United States, Mount Rainier has made its way to the top of my agenda for the summer, and yes we do plan to climb this monster of a mountain.
Side note: Rainier cherry's are amazingly delicious. Thank you Mrs. Walker.

From there we will head on down to the lovely state of Oregon where our plan is to climb Mount Hood and spend some time in the Portland area.

Making our way south down the pacific coast we will make stops for redwood trees, possibly Yosemite, and then hike up to the summit of Mount Whitney (the highest peak in the lower 48) before we do some surfing in southern California.

From here we have a couple options before we make our way out to Utah for some Canyoneering/hiking at Zion/Bryce/Canyonlands. Its entirely possible that we will end up at the Grand Canyon or caving in New Mexico. This is entirely dependant on how much time we have left before we both need to get back to our obligatory lifestyles here in CT.

I hope I have left you extremely excited now that you have an idea of the adventures that will take place in the upcoming weeks. If anyone has any advice for us as we approach any of our destinations please contact us.

The Send Off

Ahh... the 4th of July. A time for BBQ, fireworks and cow crap? Seriously what better way to celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence than with a big old farm party.

Thanks to Mr. Joseph Walker, his wonderful family, and his amazing property, we were able to celebrate our independence from Great Britain and have a proper send off for our big summer road/trail/climbing trip. Everyone who attended seemed to have a stellar time and I can't even begin to explain how excited I was when people started showing up with their families and children, a family friendly event indeed. Granted things got rowdy towards the end of the night, but by then most of the youngsters had departed or had fallen asleep. (just not on the pong table like some people)

Unfortunately I overlooked the camera sitting on my dashboard and didn't take any pictures. But I know there were plenty of you out there putting your photography skills to use. So it is my request that you folks with the cameras shoot me an email either with the photos attached or send me a link to where they can be viewed and I will gladly post them here. Family friendly photos only please!

To everyone who came, thank you for making a great day even greater. You are all wonderful and I feel blessed to have such great people in my life.

Side note: We came across a few things that were left behind including a large blue cooler, an interesting blanket, some sort of ball hauling contraption and a baby bottle. These items can be picked up @ the REI break room table.