A trip with Kip and Max to climb a mountain of vast proportions! Story below pictures.
The View from Strawberry Lake
No Ice now :(
Wait there is some... Just we can't get to it.
Kip near the summit
Max gives the mountain a blessing of peaceNot the fruit the mountain! One night when the climbing bug got the better of me I decided to head out to Strawberry Mountain.
Strawberry Mountain is located in Eastern Oregon in the
Blue Mountains. It is Oregon's 28th highest peak at 9038ft. I recruited local climber Max who not only owns a car but has the spirit of the mountains. After a Mountain Dew to keep me up we were off. The drive although a bit long and curvy went by quick. We arrived at the trail head at about 1:30 A.M. Not bad. As Max hit the sack I bundled up in every piece of clothing I had. I forgot my bag. So while I'm chattering my teeth Max is kick'n it with his -20F deg bag. No worries.
Morning comes and we kick off the day with many an oatmeal packet. Brought to us by our sponsor "Grandview Food Court". The hike is good and we even spot ice. This time it isn't for us. That climb is a WI5+ (hard and scary) and known as a "full alpine endeavor". We spot Strawberry Falls which we plan to come back and climb "once it freezes".
As we near the summit the T-Shirt weather quickly turns to 50mph winds and the "holy crud let's get down weather". As I dream about climbing the ice Max envisions hitting the powder slopes. Max, a Jackson Hole native, was once ranked 33rd in the nation for Nordic Ski Racing. After getting out of the wind we stopped and ate some Strawberry Jelly sandwiches. Jelly brought to you by our sponsor "McDonalds". Yes they have jelly packets!!! The whole hike took us only 5hrs round trip. Not bad considering it is 13 miles and 2000+ft elevation gain. The 3.5hr journey home took a bit longer this time. We wanted to get back for dinner so we booked it back. We made it with ten minutes to spare!
Stay tuned for the recon mission- Ice Climbing in the Strawberries -coming soon!
A great climb with Kip, Gabe, Matt, and Max. To read the full trip report, with more/different pictures included, check out my cascade climbers post. This was my second time up Broken Top. Previously I did the NW ridge aka "dog route" with my track coach Mr. Spink. This route (South Face Gully) was much more interesting and exciting. Most every thing went well. It was our first climb together (all four of us). Apart from one 80 meter traverse that was very loose it was a really fun climb. Because I was one of the more experienced members I felt the need to assume more of a leadership role. As far as the climbing goes there was some moderate snow (nothing over 35 deg), exposed walking/scrambling, and some fun/easy 4th or 5th class rock. All in all a great climb and we once again made it back for dinner! Nothin like a good burrito after a day in the mountains. Yum!
Kip shouldering The Pack for the hike in to base camp
Camp with bachelor in background
Looking down our route (red line)
Summit Shot- left to right; Gabe, Matt, Kip, and Max.
