Colorado Trip, July 2014

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The last time Linna and I hiked in Colorado was two years ago during my birthday week where I summited Colorado’s highest peak Mt. Elbert. This trip we flew an early morning flight from Seattle to Denver via Alaska Airlines. Once we landed we still had a 4 ½ hour drive from the Denver airport to Crested Butte…this can be a little tiring after a while driving two lane highways behind large trucks and RV’s.

This year we met up again in Crested Butte with basically the same group of friends but with a few more people this time. Our group rented a huge house in the Mt. Crested Butte area overlooking mountains and the Crested Butte village.

We spent four relaxing days enjoying fabulous homemade Chinese food, local hiking and the mountain scenery. Our first group hike was off of CR734 on Augusta Mountain with an elevation gain of 3,000 feet. This was supposed to be an easy hike but we took a different route and ended up adding more adventure to this hike with a river crossing and some rock scrambling.

Our second hiking day was the opposite, it was supposed to be the longer hike up to West Maroon Pass but was pretty much a photo shoot of beautiful wildflowers on West Maroon Valley. An easier hike was totally cool with me especially with the first few days consisting of flying, driving and hiking.
The four day trip ended up with a stupid move on my part by leaving our car keys in the vacation rental house…our car was parked at the SeaTac airport; I called a good friend of mine Mike Curry for a ride home.

Bandera Mountain Hike, July 2014

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Bandera Mountain
Date: July 4, 2014
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,400 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 45, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to the top
Hiking With: Mike Curry, Rick Massie, Jim Powell and my dog Macho.

I didn’t hike Bandera at all last year, but for some reason I have already hit the top of this hike three times this year. What I like about this hike it gives you a mile of warm up on easy grade going into a moderate grade and then onto a thigh pounding son-of-bitch ending with magnificent views with the bonus of Mt. Rainier in your face.

Mike Curry, Rick Massie and Jim Powell joined me on a beautiful July 4th holiday. We started on the trail around 8:00 a.m. and made it to the top less than two hours. For some reason this hike is becoming a lot like Mt. Si…voluminous of people on weekends and holidays. Totally recommend starting before 8:00 a.m. on weekends or you will be parking along the dusty road.

I brought up a quart of homemade chicken rice soup that my wife Linna made that I warmed up on my trusty MSR stove/pan. After a nice lunch, rest and photo-ops it was time to descend and weave through the masses of people heading up. We ended with a cold pitcher of Mac & Jacks at Sure Shot Tavern in North Bend, Washington; this wasn’t our normal watering hole…North Bend Bar & Grill was closed due to the July 4th holiday.

Shanghai Trip, June 2014

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This was my third trip to Shanghai this year and traveling in the raining season worked out just fine for this Northwest Seattle boy. It rained every day I was there which created horrible traffic but also provided clean fresh air.

If you looking for huge views and a hotspot for a cocktail with friends or guests, you will need to check out Cloud Nine near the Bund. You will need to step on 3 different elevators to reach the 87th floor in the Jin Mao Tower, this sky lounge will give you a 360-degree view of Shanghai from one of the highest points in the city. After a cocktail was dinner at Mr. & Mrs. Bund with friends enjoying the French cuisine from Chef Paul Pairet.

Mount Ellinor Hike, June 2014

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Mount Ellinor
Date: June 6, 2014
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 6.2 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,200 feet
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: Near Hoodsport, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to Snow-Pack
Hiking With: Jim Darmiento & Macho the dog wonder.

This is a short but fairly steep hike with 360 degree views, unfortunately the summit was socked in so we stopped short and had a quick lunch. As we were putting our backpacks on and getting ready for our descent, along came a huge ass mountain goat on the trail.

Two years ago an older gentleman was killed by a mountain goat on this very mountain so this was in my head during the ascent. As we were approaching the summit, three young men was descending and they stated they saw a lot of goats and mentioned they were not afraid either. After hearing that…I was being cautious. So when my friend Jim Darmiento bellowed out the word “GOAT”, that was all I needed…I quickly grabbed my poles and jumped on the snowy slope and glissaded to a safe distance. Mr. Mountain Goat had a baby goat with him and when we looked back up the slope he was proudly staring down at us.

We finished the day at Jim’s cabin on Lake Panther where we cooled off with a nice swim and a few beers around the campfire.

Bandera Mountain Hike, June 2014

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Bandera Mountain
Date: June 1, 2014
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 7.6 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,400 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 45, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to the top
Hiking With: Mike Curry, Linna Freeman and Macho the Dog Wonder

What a beautiful day to hike Bandera with a bunch of friends.

Mount St Helens Hike, May 2014

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Mount St Helens
Date: May 28, 2014
Difficulty: 9 out of 10
Distance: 10.8 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 5,700 feet
Time: 8 to 10 hours
Location: Near Cougar, Washington
Users Group: Hikers Only
Permits: Permit Fee Required (100 per day)
Trail Conditions: Damp to Snow Pack
Hiking With: Dr. Robert McElroy & Dr. Adrian Hillyer

Dr. Robert McElroy was kindly nice enough to ask me to join him and Dr. Adrian Hillyer to climb Mount St. Helen in the middle of the week. Since I have never attempted to summit this mountain, I said to myself….”oh hell yes!”. Our climbing permit was for Wednesday so we drove down to Cougar, Washington on Tuesday afternoon and pitched our tents at Marble Mountain Snow Park just South of the base of Mount St. Helens. I jumped into my sleeping bag at 8:45 p.m. with my earplugs in and was fast asleep with a little help from one Advil PM.

We woke at 3:00 a.m. and the first thing I did was boil water for tea and for my Mountain House freeze dried beef stroganoff. After packing up the tents and everything else back in the car we took off on the Worm Flows Route in a light rain. The first couple of miles were fairly easy with mild elevation gain. As soon as we hit the snow the elevation became steeper and the heart rate and breathing increased. At times you were digging in with your toes heading straight up.

After 5 hours of grueling fun we made it to the crater rim with no visibility. As we were gearing up for the descent we had a couple of minutes of a sunbreak and were able to see the new dome…totally cool. We tried to glissade as mush as possible but the snow was getting softer later in the day, it still helped quite a bit and we made it back to the car in 3 hours.

Mt. Washington Hike, May 2014

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Mt. Washington
Date: May 24, 2014
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 9 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,200 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 38 near North Bend, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to Damp at the top
Hiking With: Mike Curry, Linna Freeman & Macho the dog wonder.

My wife Linna organized this Mt. Washington hike with a few of her friends. Anytime you have a large group it takes a while to get everyone on top and some of them haven’t hiked in a while so it took a good 3 hours to summit.

This was a fun group and I was able to burn over 3,700 calories for the day! We finished the day off with a few cold beers.

Hawaii Trip, May 2014

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Most Seattleites either fly south to Mexico/Arizona area or off to Hawaii for a warm weather vacation. For some odd reason this will be my first visit to the Hawaii islands. My good friend Jim Darmiento set the ball a rolling by finding an enormous house on the beach in the town of Hana on the island of Maui for all of us to appreciate. When I say all of us I mean Linna Freeman (my wife), Ione Darmiento (Jim’s wife) Rick Massie (friend and co-worker), Scott and his wife Jesse (daughter and son in law to Ione).

We all flew the same airline and flight over to Maua on Hawaiian Airlines for only $300. After landing, we drove to Costco to pick up groceries for the week; we had no preset meal plan so we all just grabbed something we wanted to consume or cook up.

Once on the road the adventure begins right away with the famous twisty rode to Hana with hundreds of tight curves and single lane bridges. We just happened to hit a huge rain storm all the way to Hana; the torrents of rain was crashing down between the hillsides which was totally awesome to witness the power of rain-water. The guidebook stated that “Hana as a reputation for being a rainy place and receives over 80 inches of rain yearly”, our first two days clearly lived up to that.

We chose Hana for more a peaceful serene setting without the tourist influence. Our house was perfectly located near the famous Hamoa Beach…considered one of the best beaches in the Maui for body surfing. Our crew woke around sunrise (06:00) each day to start the day with a hot cup of Kona java and a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs that was cooked up by our own Rick Massie. After breakfast each day was a short walk to Hamoa beach; most mornings we were the first ones enjoying the fine salt and pepper sand and the powerful waves.

We left our perfect location one day to hike the Pipiwai trail to the Waimoku waterfall. This is a very easy 2 mile trek of only 600 feet gain with a mystical 400 foot waterfall that awaits your arrival. Another day excursion we were off to one of the largest and coolest freshwater pools called Waioko by the Hawaiians or the Venus pool by others. You will find numerous deep spots to dive or jump in…depending how courageous you are. Jim Darmiento and I were the only daring among us to make the plunge in the darkish colored water from being so deep.

We had the pleasure to witness a beautiful marriage ceremony right on our own beach house. Scott and Jesse decided exchange wedding vows in Maui after being together for over 10 years.

Shanghai Trip, April 2014

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A trip to Shanghai in April can be a bit cool for most people, but high sixties during the day was fine for me. This was a 6 day visit which is almost perfect for an international trip. I stuck around Shanghai most of the time except for a day visit to Wuxi and Xuzhou via train and car.

Australia Trip, March 2014

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This was my first trip to Australia and we all know it takes a long flight to get there. Linna (my wife) and I flew Delta down to Los Angeles from Seattle and then onto Sydney, Australia. Due to strong tail winds our flight from LA to Sydney was less than 13 hours, not bad for 7,500 miles. Going through customs was a breeze, we might have spent a total of five minutes. After only a 5 minute wait at customs, we took the train from the airport to our hotel which was surprisingly very easy and only a two minute walk to our hotel. We were way too early to check in so we headed off to Chinatown and had Dim Sum at the Emperor’s Garden Restaurant www.emperorsgarden.com.au that was just a few blocks away from our hotel.

After checking in and a needed nap we were off to the famous Sydney Opera House www.sydneyoperahouse and Harbor Bridge for a few tourist pictures. We ended up buying tickets to La Soiree a sexy circus cabaret type vaudeville show for the next night at the Opera House, it was fun and naughty…right down my alley. Next day was a ferry boat ride across the bay to the famous Taronga zoo; this place was actually entertaining and fun with every type of reptile, mammal and sea life imaginable.

We spent 2 ½ days in Sydney which we feel is enough time for any city in the world. We drove South from Synday along the beautiful East coast for a ½ day until we hit the town of Bega and then drove Eastward toward the Blue Mountains. We stopped and hiked along the 3 sisters peaks via the Grand Stairway which consisted of 900 staircase steps. Our drive and day ended up to be a much longer then I wanted after driving 400 miles. We finally stopped for the night in a small village of Crackenback for the night Linna found this cool little hotel along the beautiful Alpine road called The Farm. This place was an old sheep shearing barn converted into a spa/resort. www.crackenback.com

After a hearty breakfast we headed off to knock off one of the seven summits or at least the highest peak in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko. This was easily done by starting at the Threadbo ski area and taking the ski lift up to the main trail. This trail mainly consist of 5 foot wide steel mesh that protects the plants and vegetation from the 100,000 people that makes this trek yearly. It was warm enough to wear shorts to the summit, but cool enough to trick your sense of putting on sunscreen. Both of our legs from our knees down were burn…not smart! We had a perfect day with gorgeous views with warn and sunny weather. With a sense of accomplishment we headed to our next destination, Wodonga. It was the biggest city along our route that we felt we could find a decent hotel and restaurant for the night.
More to come…..