Cascadian Tri-Sport Traverse
Cascadian Tri-Sport Traverse
After graduating with a Masters of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from UW, I set off on a four-part human-powered three-sport adventure. I began on foot at Cape Flattery, the northwestern most part of the contiguous US on the Makah Reservation. I traveled south on the rugged wilderness coast, abiding by the tides for three days before reaching the Quillayute River. From there I walked to Forks to stock up for my largest unsupported stretch of backpacking yet: ~200 miles and 45,000 feet ascent in 10 days (9 nights) crossing the Olympic Peninsula, entering the Bogachiel river and exiting the South Fork Skokomish. On the way I progressed in my long term goal to summit every notable peak in the Olympics by climbing 9 peaks, the most notable of which being Mt. Anderson, the hydrological apex of the Peninsula. Foul weather and soft snow thwarted other objectives, but I'm at the point in the project where leaving some for later is welcome so that I can continue to enjoy the pursuit for longer. This was my longest and most challenging crossing of the Olympics and I'm glad to have crossed in entirety.
Paddling Puget
On day 12 of the journey I arrived at my friends' farm that lies at the confluence of the two major forks of the Skokomish. I had stashed my sea kayak there along with some food a week before I began the journey. Upon arrival I had a thoroughly debilitating ankle problem, so I rested up for two days and made friends with the farm hands. Fortunately the pain had subsided after the second night, and I set off down the Skokomish River. This was my first time kayaking a stretch of real wild river, and the stakes were high as a capsize would be catastrophic since cached in the hull of the boat was all of my backpacking/mountaineering gear. I was able to handle the few more treacherous rapids just fine, and the main difficulty was without a doubt a surpise logjam that completely crossed the river for ~50 feet. Upon reaching the mouth of the river at the Hood Canal, it was smooth sailing (paddling) from then on to my first campsite near Blefair. Along with me I brought a small cart that allowed for portaging with relative ease, enabling me to drastically shorten the journey back to Seattle by 'cutting off' the Kitsap and Key peninsulas at Belfair and Vaughn on day two. Undoubtedly a bizarre sight, I used a backpack fitted with climbing slings as a harness to pull the front of the kayak without needing to use my hands. I did this for a total of ~6 miles, much of which was on the horribly narrow highway shoulder of SR 3. I finished the portaging day on the beautiful and tiny Cutts Island. Day three was relatively straightforward paddling, the highlight of which was traversing the Tacoma Narrows and into Colvos Passage. On the fourth and final day of the kayak leg of the journey, I made landfall at Alki for lunch before continuing across Elliot Bay. Dedicated to the human-powered theme, I portaged the boat through Seattle Center to Lake Union and landed again at the UW after passing through the Montlake Cut. There, Aisling was awaiting me to accompany for the final portage home. We stopped at Ravenna Brewing, of course, on the way. To my surprise, there was ample kayak parking.
Cycling the Cascades
Shortly after arriving back home in Seattle, the preparation for cycling commenced. For this leg of the adventure Aisling and my dad, boththoroughly accoladed riders, accompanied me. On day one we left home for Snoqualmie Pass where we stopped for some nourishment and anti-nourishment (beer) before surmounting Stampede Pass and encountering a meadow on the Green River that served as a decent camp. Day two we all agreed was the most difficult cycling we've ever done: STEEP gravel roads connecting Stampede Pass and the Chinook Pass highway, all in 90+ degree weather. We ended in the old growth forest of the Ohanepecosh river within Mount Rainier National Park. Upon awakening and some convincing of my dad, he headed up the 3000+ ft climb to Paradise to start the day. Since Aisling only had a 3-day weekend, she departed us at Longmire and we continued that day to the Goat Rocks where we camped at a pass that proved to be a mosquito hellscape. On day four we descended the pass and traversed around Mt. Adams to Trout Lake. The heat was brutal, about 105 degrees, but we continued on until we reached the Klickitat River. Following the glacial waters to the confluence of the Columbia, we blasted upriver with 20+ mph winds at our backs to The Dalles where we crossed the mighty river. Plans to ascend the hills west of Mt. Hood were scrapped due to an obvious fire in the area with a massive smoke plume and evacuation orders in place nearby. Instead, we followed the Columbia to the Mt. Hood Highway where gorgeous views of the glaciated peak were plentiful, as well as camping. On the final day of this Tour du Volcano as I came to call it, we skirted around the south end of Mt. Hood at Barlow Pass and then flew downhill to the Portland area. Amazing bike paths took us to our friend's sanctuary in Tualatin.
Oregon PCT Section
A large section of the PCT in Oregon from Pamelia Lake to Timothy Lake was closed when I did my Oregon-Washington-Coast thru hike in 2021. So I decided I'd end my Cascadian traverse on foot hiking from Mt.Hood (Barlow Pass) to Santiam Pass. My Tualitin friends had been storing my backpack so I was equipped and ready to go from Portland. The first day was a lovely, flat, 30 mile Oregon forest cruise. Along the way south I scrambled a bunch of crest volcanic peaks that gave awesome vistas. I attempted Mt. Jefferson, but I didn't have traction and the traverse to the summit block was insanely steep snow, so I just enjoyed the view from Red Saddle. On the final night, a major lightning storm pounded central Oregon and I watched fires get ignited to the south. On the final day I really loved skirting around Three Fingered Jack and its unreal volcanic strata before getting met by my mom's old Bend friend. Glad I wasn't continuing south! The fires were crazy. Instead, I bussed out to a family reunion in Boise.