Looks like that must have been fun, but where was I?
Looks like that must have been fun, but where was I?
Woke this morning with a brutal hangover and a huge goose egg on my head. Last thing I remember was driving in the rain, amazed at that because rain wasn't in the forecast. I needed a hike with zero chance of eclipse traffic insanity. Picked something that's been on my to-do list since I did a variation in 2011 and decided this would be worth a follow-up. I started in the dark, struggled a bit with a confusing network of social trails, and finally resorted to GPS to confirm I was going the right way (only the second time I've ever done that). After that, it's all a blur. Fortunately, I kept notes associated with my pics, so at least I have some clue what I did Saturday. Take a look at the two sets of pics below and see if you can figure it out.
- Attachments
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- Strange little orphan. Wish I had a second axe so I could do a little ice bouldering. Nice sandy crashpad below.
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- More color in here than I expected. Nice little bonus.
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- Love the way this creek winds around, braids and converges, drops in little falls and cascades. No wonder I put it on my to-do list. Routefinding is just enough of a challenge to keep it interesting, but never a hassle.
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- Almost to the portal (dark spot upstream). Will there be a creek above that point?
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- Stopping here. No more ice, no creek ahead. Boring beyond here, but also dangerous. Constant rockfall, some small but some huge.
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- Unbelievable luck. Don't have to retreat, just have to climb straight to the side to escape the canyon. But sand, sand, and more sand. Deep. Demoralizing. Sunny now, and starting to get warm.
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- That's the next canyon over, not the one I ascended. It would be so much easier to follow that snow down there instead of this crumbly medial moraine, but just getting to it would be a challenge, and once down there the rockfall danger would be unacceptable.
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- Notice the dark spots following the creek, corresponding to mantled ice. Also, a little higher, parallel to the creek, there's a layer of logs, which couldn't possibly have come to rest there. Almost certainly grew there, and were buried by huge landslides or volcanic activity.
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- I didn't record any notes for this pic, but there's no need. It's obviously a tragically bad picture of a lovely snow grotto. Time stamp shows it was after sunset, so low light may have been a problem. This may have been the source of my head injury, possibly a rock dropping out of the ceiling. Last pic found on my phone.
Re: Looks like that must have been fun, but where was I?
the manmade stuff:
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- Okay, this is just weird.
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- Sometimes these clearly state the location, but no such luck here.
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- Apparently I brought a 40 lb bag of salt with me. Maybe a wacky stunt, or maybe I anticipated sweating a lot.
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- Somebody must recognize this.
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- Aha, another clue! Notice how the curved top of my jar catches the blue sky...so I was someplace where it rained before sunrise, but was sunny later. That should narrow it down. By the way, 14%ABV? Wonder how many I had.
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- Hoppy eclipse!
Re: Looks like that must have been fun, but where was I?
If I read the story correctly, it ended with a big bang! Get well and stay safe, I love entertaining tales.
Some people are really fit at eighty; thankfully I still have many years to get into shape…
Re: Looks like that must have been fun, but where was I?
The Ball Pit at the Chuck E Cheese on SE 92nd & Sandy. I've awoken the same way there as well. I'm contemplating a return visit in four years when my 20-yr ban is lifted.
Re: Looks like that must have been fun, but where was I?
Even without your other post I was guessing Clark Canyon. Your first "man-made trash" picture looked like part of a pully system that must have gone to Mt. Hood Meadows ski lift apparatus.