Camp Muir Hike, July 2021

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Rick Freeman

For my 61st birthday I decided to hike up Camp Muir. It was also a way to test out my new right knee replacement that happened on March 1st.

I asked a bunch of people to celebrate my birthday hike with me, but only Tao Song, Craig Schilling and Mike Curry took the challenge. We arrived at Paradise parking lot around 6:30 a.m. with only about twenty cars in the parking lot. We started up the trail around 6:45 a.m. and stopped after we crossed Icicle Creekâ€¦pretty much where the snow started. We had a snack and put on our traction devices before trudging on.

Tao lead the way to Camp Muir making sure she maintained a lead of 100 yards from of us tired boys. I have done this hike about 10 times now and it never gets easier. We all know what the last mile feels likeâ€¦pure hell. At least we had beautiful clear sky and a warm sun beating down on us, no jacket required on topâ€¦just a dry shirt.

On the way down we made sure to hit every snow shoot there was. I brought a heavy duty garbage bag and it worked well for glissading. After descending and a change of clothes we stopped in Ashford for pizza and beer.

My support group: Tao Song, Craig Schilling, Rick Freeman and Michael Curry

Freeman on the death march up to Camp Muir.

Tao Song Glissading

Rick Freeman & Mike Curry Glissading

Georgia & Armenia Trip, July 2019

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Rick Freeman

For my 59^th birthday, my wife Linna worked with local Georgian guide Davit Berishvili to provide a well-balanced 10 day journey that included hiking, site-seeing, food/wine tasting and culture gathering.Â We invited our good friend Michael Curry to join us on this truly once in a life-time vacation packed excursion.

This will be our first vacation/journey that we hired a professional guide for the duration of a trip and looking back at it now, I am so pleased that Linna organized it that way.Â There would have been a language barrier at many of the locations and restaurants we visited.Â Also, there is a unique way of driving in Georgia, similar to Chinaâ€¦.there are no set of road lines or rules.Â People will pass with on-coming traffic and at the same time deal with local cattle wandering on the road.Â But, we were so fortunate to have the best tour guide in Georgiaâ€¦Gaga Chechelashvili.Â Not only was he a safe aggressive driver, but also a fun tour guide and a true gentleman.Â Gaga picked us up at the Tbilisi airport in his 4×4 right hand drive Mitsubishi Pajero.Â Not sure, but maybe 1 in 10 cars were right hand drive purchased from Japan because of their excellent condition and reliability.

Beautiful village of Mestia, Georgia. The Svan tower homes were family living quarters and offered protection to their owners and to their livestock. Usually 4 to 5 floors with the first floor lacking of doors or windows.

Rick Freeman & Mike Curry hiking from Mestia to a tiny village of Tsvirmi.

Having beers with Gaga Chechelashvili and Mike Curry at the farm house in Tsvirmi.

We toured Baia’s Winery. Once the grapes are harvested, everything (seeds, stems, skins & juice) is tossed into a Qvevri which a very large clay pot buried in the ground. This method of wine making in Georgia has been recorded by archaeologists back to 6000 BC.

I purchased a bottle of Tsitska Tsolikouri at Baia’s Winery…this is a dry white wine. I am with the wine maker Gvanca Abuladze.

Mike Curry, Rick Freeman and Linna Freeman in front of Shkhara Glacier. We hiked from the village of Ushguli.

The Bridge of Peach that is 490 feet long that connects the old Tbilisi with the new district.

Many of the farm/guest houses that we stayed in had wood fired stoves for cooking and keeping warm.

Winthrop Trip, February 2019

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Rick Freeman

Our good friend Jim Darmiento was celebrating his 50th birthday in Winthrop, Washington and asked a few friends to come along. He rented Hazel’s Overnight rental right across the street from Copper Glance restaurant in the heart of Winthrop. In fact our first night we had dinner and drinks at the Copper Glance. Due to a late night, we headed out snowshoeing Patterson Lake next day, followed with drinks and appetizers at the Sun Mountain Lodge.

**Jimmy fell victim to a fast down slope on cross country skis, found himself face planted in the white stuff.**

**Paul Shinners having a blast on his first time on cross country skies.**

**Paul Shinners, Jim Darmiento, Rick Freeman, Linna Freeman, Mike Curry and Emelie Espling.**

**Totally recommend Hazel’s Overnight Rental. Located downtown Winthrop, 5 bedrooms and dependable fast internet**.

**Emelie Espling getting down in the tracks.**

**Michael Curry screaming for the love of life!**

Granite Mountain Hike, September 2018

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Rick Freeman

Linna wanted to complete another fall color hike before the season was over and from the WTA trip reports, Granite Mountain was reaching full peak.Â We met up with Mike Curry at the trail-head at sunrise and got an early start on the hike knowing that it was going to be a busy day on the mountainâ€¦especially on a beautiful fall sunny day.

The reports were accurate, vibrant fall colors decorated the mountain.Â Near the pond area and the back side were abundant with thick flamboyant fall leaves.Â We had lunch near the look-out tower huddle by some of rocks to protect us from the chilly wind.

On the decent we ran into hordes of hikers seeking the same pictures we took.Â Chloe Wei, Rick Freeman and Mike Curry enjoying another hiking day.

Rick Freeman & Mike Curry

The colors we were seeking…..near the pond.

Mike Curry, Linna Freeman and Rick Freeman loving Granite Mountain

Linna Freeman overlooking Mount Rainier

Mike Curry hiding from the brisk wind

Granite Mountain Sunrise Hike, May 2017

Posted on May 27, 2017 by Rick Freeman

Granite Mountain
Date: May 27, 2017
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8.6 miles / 13.8 Kilometers round-trip
Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet / 1,158 meters
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to Snow Packed
Hiking With: Mike Curry, Linna Freeman, Matt Kerby, Craig Schilling, Tao Song & Macho

: Look-Out Tower

: Curry, Kerby, Freeman & Schilling

: Linna With Sunrise

: Magic Hole

: Sunrise On Mt. Rainier

: Matt Kerby

: Macho The Dog Wonder

: Sunrise

: Descending

Seven of us decided that getting up at 1:00 a.m. to summit Granite Mountain to see the sunrise would be worth itâ€¦and we were right. Our group consisted of Mike Curry, Matt Kerby, Craig Schilling, Tao Song and my wife Linna Freeman. This will be the first sunrise hike for most of us and probably the earliest start for a hike too.

I am not sure how we decided on Granite Mountain for a sunrise hike, but we all knew they would be a lot of snow on top left over from a very wet/snowy winter. After reading the WTA trip reports, the avalanche conditions were minimal and post holing wasnâ€™t an issue. We had to be a bit more cautious on the snow when it started to open up on top, there were numerous foot trails going in different directions, but I have been up Granite so many times I had a good feel for our direction to the summit.

Matt Kerby reached the summit in time to snap some beautiful sunrise pictures, some of the photos posted will be his art. There were many groups coming up as we were descending and by the time we got back to the parking lot it was nearly full.
Craig and Tao invited us back to their house for breakfast. Of course when we got back home Linna and I took a long nap.

Mailbox Peak Hike, April 2017

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Rick Freeman

Mailbox Peak
Date: April 22, 2017
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 5 miles round-trip
Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry
Hiking With: Mike Curry, Matt Kerby, Craig Schilling and my dog Macho

: The Boys

: Rick Freeman & Matt Kerby

: Rick Freeman

This will be the second time this year I conquered the Mailbox.

Norway Trip, February 2017

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Rick Freeman

Really? A Norway trip during the winter….just what I thought when my wife Linna wanted to visit the Lofoten area for her February birthday. We invited a couple of other friends, Mike Curry and Emelie Espling to enjoy this winter wonderland with us.

We spent two nights and a full day in Oslo before flying up to Leknes via Bodo. More than two days in Oslo would be just a waste of time.