Leg extensions and chest press

In today's weight training reached a big milestone. Feeling awesome

Leg extensions 75 pounds 10 reps each.
Followed by 50pounds 10 reps , 35 pounds 10 reps and 15 pounds 10 rep
and repeat the above 4 times

Chest press: 45 pounds 15 reps , repeat 4 times
 

beginning of busy April

Busy April begins...

• Snow skills training class -part 2
• Cable line
• Mt Si
• Mailbox/ Microsoft Lake serene
• Mountaineers Rock climbing class

Mt. Si hike 3/23 and Navigation

29pounds starting backpack weight.
2 hrs:55 min up ; 2 hrs down
Nice sunny day but ice and packed snow last 2 miles requiring microspikes.

Thought of taking advantage of  the great weather by practicing my navigation skills today.
1. At the Mt Si trailhead, set compass to obtain bearing towards the snowqualmie view point on the map. Got bearing at 328 degrees. When I reached the viewpoint, it was still pointing towards the haystack which is the right direction. My compass had the declination set.

 

2.At the snowqualmie view point,thought of identifying an unnamed nearby peak on the map. From the map contour lines identified that peak was at 4500 ft elevation. Steps to locate the peak:
1. First oriented myself with the compass and map to all point north. Had the compass N at the pointer.
2. Set it on the map at the snowqualmie view point and angled compass towards the unnamed mountain. Rotated the bezel until the meridian lines were parallel to the map's grid lines, all the while maintaining the N of compass pointing to the North of map.Found bearing of 50 degrees
3. Keeping the compass on the palm of my hand moved until the "red fred was in the shed". The peak was located.

 

 

 

more gear

Excited about my shiny new backpack and crampons. courtesy of REI 20% off discount..

 

Cable line hike 3/27

First time with a 30 pound backpack
1hr:30mins up, 1hr down
Two weeks ago took 1 hr:15min for a 16pd pack. Today it is just 15 min more but with a 30pd pack :)

Weights used:

• one gallon of water :     8 pds
• 2 liter hydration pack:   4 pds
• 2x 1 liter water bottle :  5 pds
• 1 dumbbell:                : 5 pds
• backpack itself  with other items:8 pds

 

First woman to summit Mt.Rainier

http://visitrainier.blogspot.com/2014/03/rainier-notable-fay-fuller-first-woman.html

Glacier travel training

Spent the entire day in mountaineering school learning glacier travel skills.
Started off by driving up to Alpental snowqualmie ski resort and hiked up to a nearby slope. Slope was moderate around 25 degree gradient . First task was learning glissading and then arresting while glissading. It was so much fun!!.
We then put on our crampons, roped up to a team of 4 and we completed 3 rounds. We had to switch sides whenever we took turns always making sure rope is down hill while ice axe was uphill.
Then the leaders made it tougher by actually have someone pull on the rope while we were all going uphill and we would all immediately jump down and arrest!!!. Or the leader would yell falling and fall down making us go into an arrest.
That part was really scary.  Was really interesting to think about how to keep the ice axe while I am climbing up with ice axe to my left Vs when it is to my right Vs when I am going downhill.!!!.
I did some awkward arrests followed by some more good ones :). Feeling more confident about my skills now than I did 10 hrs ago :)

Few pics from Aplental.

 

comparisons

I am reinstating a previous post :)

A coworker who has climbed Rainier a dozen times mentioned a good yardstick for conditioning includes being able to climb up Mt.Si with a 40 pd backpack in 1:45 mins!.
This is a mountain with elevation gain of 3100ft in approx. 3.5 miles.

So I am having concerns regarding my own conditioning at this point :(

 

Cable line hike 3/12

1hr 15 min up; 1 hr down ; 16 pd pack

Exactly 4 mo's to go from the big climb !!!

Mt. Si hike 3/9

Part of Seattle Hiking meetup group outing.
2hrs 30 mins up, 1hrs 55 min down with 20 pd pack

Camp Muir hike -attempt 1

Started off at Paradise (5444 ft) destined to Camp muir (10080 ft).
Started off the day at 9am when park opened and we could see Mt.Rainier at a distance.

 

However decent early day weather gave away to white out conditions and  high winds as high as 45mph. We were able to climb up to  Panorama point (at 6800 ft).  Visibility was less than 30 ft forcing us to turn back.
We were climbing up/down 35 degree gradient slopes.  On our way back were hit with ice crystals blowing from the peak due to high winds.

It was my first time snow shoeing.:)

 

 

cable line 3/6

1hr 15 min to go up and 55 min to come down

Quote by Helen Keller on security

Came across this quote while reading the book "Mountaineering-The Freedom of the hills" . As Helen Keller observed in 1957 in The Open Door," Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing ." !! So true for me right now in my journey to summit Mt. Rainier...

Mt Si hike 3/2

Mt Si hike today as part of Mountaineers alpine scrambling course. The criteria for getting credit included carrying 25 pds or higher and complete the hike up to Haystack on Mt Si within 21/2 hrs. Beginning elevation 660 ft. Ending elevation approx. 3500 ft. Total elevation gain : 2840 ft.

To get the 25 pds weight used 1 Gallon water jug along with 1 liter water bottle. This is separate from the 2 liter water bladder I carried for my own consumption.

The trail had snow right at the trail head. within 1 mile into the hike, trail turned icy requiring micro spikes..

I did not complete the climb within  2hrs 30 mins. Rather completed it in 2hrs 50mins. The leader felt that was good enough and gave me a passing score :)

However this is a big step up from hike back in November last year when it took me 3hrs and 25 mins to go up and  1hr 40mins to come down, with a light back pack and no ice or snow. Time taken this time with 25 pd backpack and snow & ice trail: 2hrs 50 mins to go up and approx. 2 hrs to come down :)

View from the top of haystack:

 

 

It's all coming together..

Crampons, mountaineering boots, mittens, 160lumen headlamp, ice axe...Bought a major chunk of my technical gear today.. Still remaining to be purchased: harness, helmet,second pair of gloves