A Hike To Make Your Day

On Saturday, March 13, Dad and Henry did the "Dirty Harry Balcony" hike, to a ledge midway up Dirty Harry Peak in the Cascades close to North Bend. 

The first 2.2 miles up were fairly steep, and led to the aforementioned ledge. It was fairly crowded - both the hike and the ledge. We stayed for a bit, and then went off on a spur trail that led to a second ledge, another 0.75 miles along. 

While there was some snow at this point of the season on the initial portion of the trail, the trail between the first and second ledges was entirely snow-covered. Henry used the microspikes that he got for Christmas, Dad used his Yax Trax (because he couldn't find his microspikes) and we both used our hiking poles. We followed footprints in the snow, crossed a few streams, and a snowfield where a few times we sunk in nearly knee-deep into snow. We were the only ones on this part of the trail, and had the second ledge entirely to ourselves. From there we hiked back down (and Henry found a geocache on the way down). Great first hike of the year as we enjoy the shoulder season between Winter and Summer with a mix of activities for both seasons!

Sunny Day at Snoqualmie

On a gray, snowy Sunday, John went up to Summit East and skied for a few hours in the morning. Before leaving, the sun started shining, showing all the snow on the nearby mountains as well as a big rainbow!

 

Trip to Whitefish and Schweitzer

For February break, our ski trip this year was just three of us - Henry, Mary Jo, and John. We decided to do a more low-key trip, with no flying and drove out to Whitefish, 8 hours away in Northern Montana. It turned into a challenging drive with a big snowstorm hitting Seattle right before/as we were leaving, but we managed to make it over the pass and arrived in Whitefish Saturday night. 

We spent two nights in Whitefish, which is a very nice town and a ski resort worth returning to. A lot of good skiing - nice wide Blue runs and some Greens for Mary Jo, as well as a comfortable lodge. 

After that, we drove to Spokane, a somewhat difficult drive, and stayed in downtown Spokane for the night. Mary Jo flew back to Seattle the next morning, which Henry and John drove up to Schweitzer. This was the second time we went there, though the first trip was a short one-day trip marred by heavy fog. There was cloud cover at the summit again this time, but we were still able to get in some good runs - a solid day on Tuesday, and a half-day on Wednesday. We left by noon on Wednesday to be sure to get back over Snoqualmie Pass before it got too late, and, while the pass had been closed for much of Tuesday, it was open and fine by the time we got through Wednesday night.

All in all a nice trip, though a bit rushed and full of driving, it was great to explore around two new resorts!

Summit Lodge at Whitefish

Mary Jo is skiing - on the left (second person from the bottom)

Day One at Schweitzer was socked in with clouds ... not quite as bad as when we were there in 2018

Day Two at Schweitzer was much clearer with lots of Blue Skies

For much of the day on Wednesday we were above the clouds

Video of Henry skiing off Stella Lift at Schweitzer

February 2021 Snowstorm

Right as we were preparing to head out of Bellevue for our annual February ski trip, the Seattle area got the most snow it had gotten in a single day in around 50 years! We were lucky to make it out, leaving Saturday morning after we'd already gotten about 8 inches at our house, and made it over the pass to make it to Montana!

Jack Heads Back For Semester 2

After a long break at home, Jack finally headed back to Boulder in early February to live in his dorm. He'd been taking classes from his bedroom here since they resumed in January, but with cases down the University said students were welcome to return.

Jack timed his drive back with a stop at Snowbird in Utah to get some skiing in, though he hit a bit of a windstorm on the way, delaying his return to Colorado by a day. But by the following Monday, four days after leaving Bellevue, he arrives safe and sound!