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Hike Of The Month 2011

TotemLake

By TotemLake
in Northwest

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Love

Love

Posted
Posted

What a great HOTM! I really need to come along on these more often - maybe that should be one of my resolutions for 2011. :) It was nice getting to meet Krauss-McClurg and jim_carson. Glad we got an early start on the trail too as it was nice not seeing so many people on the way to the first cache. The trail was a bit of a snowshoe superhighway on the way back. Anyway, I posted some pics to the cache page but I have them all up here.

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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It was a lot of fun. I did a little snowshoe 101 out there on how to pick yourself up in soft snow and talked about tree wells. I was very flattered to have the video team come out on the hike and film it. Reid did an awesome job capturing the adventure. My hat's off to them for having to carry that extra camera equipment out and back on snowshoes.

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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I kept looking for more snow to fall, but it doesn't look like much more is going to be added. I looked at the avalanche danger and it is really low to moderate. With that being said, I'm very interested to visit a historical location known as Wellington.

 

On the way, we will also be going past Old Cascade Tunnel - West Portal .

 

This shouldn't be too difficult as we'll be on a railroad grade for most of it. It is between 2-3.6 miles one way depending on our route. The longer one will be to follow the historical switchback all the way down.

 

This Saturday, 2/12 I expect to be there by 8:00 and ready to go by 8:30AM. I will try to be parking across the highway from the turn off.

N47° 44.7123'

W121° 5.6286'

 

or by Green Egg...Without Ham. I will have my radio tuned to FRS 2.

Edited by TotemLake
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MtnMutt-ProDuckShins

+MtnMutt-ProDuckShins

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AHH..Darn it!

 

I sure would like to go on this exciting Venture but my Schedule sucks. I have just been able to grab a easy one here or there over the last year.

 

Once I can get everything in accord maybe I'll grab the pack and join you on a HOTM.

 

Are you going to make your World Famous Frito Pie :P , it has become the legend of HOTM's everywhere?

 

In the meantime I'll just be happy to read about the Adventures.... <_<

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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I'm in!

 

Anyone know what the expected road conditions are like getting there via I-5 --> Highway 2? I have a Camry with studded tires, hoping I'll be able to get there with that. Looks like about a 2 hour drive from Seattle.

 

Edited: after a bit a research it looks like this is near Stevens Pass. Although I'll be tempted to ditch the hike in lieu of skiing I'll try to stay focused on the joy of hiking. Pass cams: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/stevens/#

On any typical winter day, it usually is wet and clear, but it is subject to all of the winter conditions one would expect. If you want to carpool, let me know and we'll meet up.

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verygeeky

+verygeeky

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Posted

LandRover, I know! Aluminum body panels make for expensive repairs, though. She's a '94 Disco I with ~150k miles on it. Insurance is making it difficult to resist: I can buy a Disco II that doesn't leak through every window, door, vent, and pore (and doesn't smell like a fish tank) for less than what they'll pay out if I agree to total it.

 

GreviousAngel, TotemLake mentioned to me that REI rents snowshoes, but that Sports Authority might be less expensive.

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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Have you ever considered doing a hike of the month on a Sunday? There are so many events coming up, but they all take place on Saturdays. Also are you planning on another Snowshoeing event? I would love to try snowshoeing someday. Thanks Totem Lake for organizing these hikes. We really hope to make one. :D

It isn't frequent, but I have held hike events on Sundays. The reason I hike on Saturday is it doesn't take (much) time away from my wife. She's out seeing her Dad and perhaps our daughter and Sunday we have each other. When she has a hobby meeting on a Sunday afternoon, and weather is balking making Sunday look better than Saturday, I tend to schedule a hike then.

 

I'm hoping to plan out another snowshoe hike possibly in the area of Verlot on the Mountain Loop Highway. The avalanche danger is so high right now I'm waiting it out to give the snow time to age and reduce the potential of a slide.

Edited by TotemLake
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Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma

+Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma

Posted
Posted

Have you ever considered doing a hike of the month on a Sunday? There are so many events coming up, but they all take place on Saturdays. Also are you planning on another Snowshoeing event? I would love to try snowshoeing someday. Thanks Totem Lake for organizing these hikes. We really hope to make one. :D

It isn't frequent, but I have held hike events on Sundays. The reason I hike on Saturday is it doesn't take (much) time away from my wife. She's out seeing her Dad and perhaps our daughter and Sunday we have each other. When she has a hobby meeting on a Sunday afternoon, and weather is balking making Sunday look better than Saturday, I tend to schedule a hike then.

 

I'm hoping to plan out another snowshoe hike possibly in the area of Verlot on the Mountain Loop Highway. The avalanche danger is so high right now I'm waiting it out to give the snow time to age and reduce the potential of a slide.

 

I will keep watching for the next one. :D Thanks for the reply. :D

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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Finally got my brakes fixed. Now I can focus on setting up a hike; hopefully a snowshoe one. Avalanche danger keeps bouncing around on a day to day basis with all the storms dumpnig fresh snow on top of unstable layers. The notice will probably be a week's worth. Keep an eye out.

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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Since the start of the HOTM, I've had the great fortune of a lot of cachers joining me on the hikes. I just wanted to remind everyone, when you've hiked 10 HOTM hikes, you receive a custom HOTM signature item as a Charter Member.

 

The following members are Charter Members including 2 honorary members:

Charter members

AndrewRJ

Criminal

Ironman

LandRover

SquareBear

CurmudgeonlyGal

Cstmfrmr

 

Honorary Members

Ambrosia

Pyewacket

 

If you have hiked an HOTM, I have kept track. :) If I missed you, please feel free to let me know which hike you were on.

…The Girl, 1

B+L, 2

Belleterre, 3

Belleterre's Dad, 1

Blooming Idiot, 4

Butcher49, 1

CacheAhead, 1

Celtic-Cacher, 1

CompassRoseMaestro, 1

DrakeBrimstone, 2

Dsvaughn, 2

EraSeek, 1

Evergreenhiker!, 1

FluteFace, 1

Gary, 2

Geo-Ignorant Spouse, 1

Globalgirl, 1

Gordy, 1

GrievousAngel, 2

GrnXnham, 2

Grumblecakes, 1

Hydnsek, 8

Inmywoods, 1

Jcar, 1

Jester, 4

Jim_Carson, 1

Johnny Cache 79, 1

JustMike, 1

K-Ddid, 1

Kealia, 1

kelita13, 1

Krauss-McClurq, 1

Legion, 1

LittleBlue, 3

LogbearJim, 1

Love, 1

Luckykoi, 1

Lucy, 2

MarcusArelius, 3

MattAlbertson, 1

Max-X, 1

MtnMutt, 3

NWCREW, 2

Patudles, 1

Pcakes, 2

PinkPachyderm, 1

Plaidguy, 6

Poodleranch, 1

Princess Trouble, 2

Prying Pandora, 7

punk rocker, 1

Pyewacket, 2

Recdiver, 1

ReidSomething, 1

Rickie, 2

RikaMarika, 4

Robinego, 2

runhills, 1

RWW, 1

Sassy, 1

seattlegeekgrrrlz, 1

Smylegirl, 1

Snowwolf75, 1

Square_Peg, 1

SudsyMaggie, 3

SuperHoser, 1

Team Jac'd, 1

The Cascade Corsair Team, 1

The Leprechauns, 1

Thing1, 1

Tink, 1

Unknown, 1

v-doggg, 1

WeightMan, 1

Witty50, 1

Wrastro, 1

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Dgwphotos

+Dgwphotos

Posted
Posted

Since the start of the HOTM, I've had the great fortune of a lot of cachers joining me on the hikes. I just wanted to remind everyone, when you've hiked 10 HOTM hikes, you receive a custom HOTM signature item as a Charter Member.

 

The following members are Charter Members including 2 honorary members:

Charter members

AndrewRJ

Criminal

Ironman

LandRover

SquareBear

CurmudgeonlyGal

Cstmfrmr

 

Honorary Members

Ambrosia

Pyewacket

 

If you have hiked an HOTM, I have kept track. :) If I missed you, please feel free to let me know which hike you were on.

…The Girl, 1

B+L, 2

Belleterre, 3

Belleterre's Dad, 1

Blooming Idiot, 4

Butcher49, 1

CacheAhead, 1

Celtic-Cacher, 1

CompassRoseMaestro, 1

DrakeBrimstone, 2

Dsvaughn, 2

EraSeek, 1

Evergreenhiker!, 1

FluteFace, 1

Gary, 2

Geo-Ignorant Spouse, 1

Globalgirl, 1

Gordy, 1

GrievousAngel, 2

GrnXnham, 2

Grumblecakes, 1

Hydnsek, 8

Inmywoods, 1

Jcar, 1

Jester, 4

Jim_Carson, 1

Johnny Cache 79, 1

JustMike, 1

K-Ddid, 1

Kealia, 1

kelita13, 1

Krauss-McClurq, 1

Legion, 1

LittleBlue, 3

LogbearJim, 1

Love, 1

Luckykoi, 1

Lucy, 2

MarcusArelius, 3

MattAlbertson, 1

Max-X, 1

MtnMutt, 3

NWCREW, 2

Patudles, 1

Pcakes, 2

PinkPachyderm, 1

Plaidguy, 6

Poodleranch, 1

Princess Trouble, 2

Prying Pandora, 7

punk rocker, 1

Pyewacket, 2

Recdiver, 1

ReidSomething, 1

Rickie, 2

RikaMarika, 4

Robinego, 2

runhills, 1

RWW, 1

Sassy, 1

seattlegeekgrrrlz, 1

Smylegirl, 1

Snowwolf75, 1

Square_Peg, 1

SudsyMaggie, 3

SuperHoser, 1

Team Jac'd, 1

The Cascade Corsair Team, 1

The Leprechauns, 1

Thing1, 1

Tink, 1

Unknown, 1

v-doggg, 1

WeightMan, 1

Witty50, 1

Wrastro, 1

 

I was on the Cache machine/Fathers Day one at Cougar Mountain.

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GrnXnham

+GrnXnham

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What an awesome list! I had no idea so many different people had participated in these hikes.

 

But I am curious about the person named "Unknown." Did they hike but wished to remain anonymous? :) Or was there a quiet person who tagged along with the group and nobody had a clue who it was?

 

It looks like there IS a geocacher with the screen name "unknown" but they quit caching several years ago and don't live in this area.

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AndrewRJ

+AndrewRJ

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You know, I have all my tags on the wall and I am sure I am missing some. Any chance you could tell me how many I have. I would love to try to figure out what ones I am missing.

 

Or how is the new website going? I checked there first but it looks like there is a bit missing still. Admittedly I haven't looked in a while.

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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What makes someone a Honorary member?

Their courageous ability to go on the hike when physically they probably shouldn't have; making them an inspiration to others... particularly to me. They will likely never be able to make 10 hikes.

 

Ambrosia did the Ebey bluffs loop. I forget the mileage on that hike.

Pyewacket did 6 miles in snowshoes.

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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I was hoping to get one last snowshoe hike in some of the deepest snow we've seen in years, but weather conditions are rapidly wiping that out and keeping it pretty hazardous. I'm hanging up my snowshoes for the year and will be planning on a boots to trail hike for April.

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robinego

+robinego

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Posted

Since the start of the HOTM, I've had the great fortune of a lot of cachers joining me on the hikes. I just wanted to remind everyone, when you've hiked 10 HOTM hikes, you receive a custom HOTM signature item as a Charter Member.

 

 

Ha! I read that quickly and somehow inserted the word SUCH to read: "you receive a custom HOTM signature item SUCH as a Charter Member". Makes ya think doesn't it? :P

 

Robin

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The Jester

+The Jester

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Posted

I was hoping to get one last snowshoe hike in some of the deepest snow we've seen in years, but weather conditions are rapidly wiping that out and keeping it pretty hazardous. I'm hanging up my snowshoes for the year and will be planning on a boots to trail hike for April.

No kidding.

Should we hang up our hiking boots too? The 'other' slide didn't involve snow... :rolleyes:

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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Well the avalanche risk is now back to normal levels (and I gotta tell ya, I haven't seen as much Level 5 danger as this week) I may try to sneak in one more snowshoe on the Mountain Loop Highway on Saturday. As this is not enough time for an appropriate announcement, it will not be an HOTM, but rather get out and enjoy the white stuff at least one more time. More information tonight on the cache I am targeting if anyone is up for it.

Edited by TotemLake
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TotemLake

+TotemLake

Posted
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Posted

Since the start of the HOTM, I've had the great fortune of a lot of cachers joining me on the hikes. I just wanted to remind everyone, when you've hiked 10 HOTM hikes, you receive a custom HOTM signature item as a Charter Member.

 

 

Ha! I read that quickly and somehow inserted the word SUCH to read: "you receive a custom HOTM signature item SUCH as a Charter Member". Makes ya think doesn't it? :P

 

Robin

Speaking of which, I'll be targeting the dry side this year providing the Jeep doesn't break down and the water line doesn't perforate on me. :) (knocking on veneer to keep the evils at bay)

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robinego

+robinego

Posted
Posted

Since the start of the HOTM, I've had the great fortune of a lot of cachers joining me on the hikes. I just wanted to remind everyone, when you've hiked 10 HOTM hikes, you receive a custom HOTM signature item as a Charter Member.

 

 

Ha! I read that quickly and somehow inserted the word SUCH to read: "you receive a custom HOTM signature item SUCH as a Charter Member". Makes ya think doesn't it? :P

 

Robin

Speaking of which, I'll be targeting the dry side this year providing the Jeep doesn't break down and the water line doesn't perforate on me. :) (knocking on veneer to keep the evils at bay)

 

Would be very nice to see you and I hope to get out and play in the desert before the snakes decide to awaken.

 

-R-

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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I'm using (Another) Bridge over Untroubled Waters as a destination hike of abuot 2.25 miles in.

 

If you aim for The Snowball you'll be able to find some parking on the side of the road. If you cross the bridge, you've gone a bridge too far.

 

I plan on being there about 10AM.

 

There was good snow the last time I was there in February. I have my fingers crossed for a decent snowshoe hike.

Edited by TotemLake
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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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I'm watching the Avalanche hazard, but I'm planning on a possible snowshoe this Saturday, the 16th. Last chance to hit the white stuff before it gets too warm this late in the season and in record breaking snowpack. Finalized plans to be announced Wednesday with a backup plan if a warming trend makes it too dangerous.

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TotemLake

+TotemLake

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I'm watching the Avalanche hazard, but I'm planning on a possible snowshoe this Saturday, the 16th. Last chance to hit the white stuff before it gets too warm this late in the season and in record breaking snowpack. Finalized plans to be announced Wednesday with a backup plan if a warming trend makes it too dangerous.

Changing the date to the 17th, Sunday to move away from CITO conflicts.

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