Alpine Lakes Wilderness, WA
The Enchantments Core Zone
Permit-limited backpacking in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The lottery is competitive; the terrain is worth the planning.
Field notes
Climb for meaning,
not guarantees.
Let effort clarify desire.
What you're willing to work for tells you what actually matters. Admiration is not a reason to commit — the willingness to be in it, in the weather, at the hard parts, is.
The Cascades since 2022. Before that, the Blue Mountains outside Sydney. Different terrain, same habits of preparation.
"Distance lies. Closeness tells the truth. Only judge what you've walked on, not what you've looked at."
Field log
Selected expeditions.
Olympic Peninsula, WA
Olympic Peninsula
Temperate rainforest, alpine terrain, and a dramatically different feel from the Cascades. The Hoh and Hurricane Ridge on the same peninsula.
BC · Alberta · California · Oregon · Washington
A winter on skis
This year covered a lot of ground: Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, and Revelstoke in the Canadian Rockies; Mammoth and Palisades Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada; Mt Bachelor in Oregon; Crystal Mountain and Snoqualmie Pass close to home. Each mountain has its own character — Revelstoke's vertical, Mammoth's high-altitude light, Bachelor's uncrowded runs. Working on technique more than ticking names.
AIARE Level 1 · Pacific Northwest
Avalanche training — AIARE Level 1
Completed the AIARE Level 1 avalanche course this year. Snowpack assessment, terrain reading, rescue protocol, beacon/probe/shovel practice. A lot of it confirmed instincts already built on the trail — build an honest model of conditions, don't let objective beauty override objective hazard. Good preparation for the backcountry objectives on the list.
North Cascades National Park, WA
North Cascades — Multi-day Routes
The remote north. Fewer permits, longer approaches, less forgiving terrain. The kind of wilderness that requires actual navigation decisions, not just following a trail.
Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Blue Mountains, Sydney Years
The walks that introduced me to serious hiking while I was based in Sydney. Sandstone canyons, eucalyptus forest, dramatic valley lookouts. A different kind of beautiful than the Cascades, and a different kind of hard.
Next
On the list
Vesper Peak. Trapper Peak. Black Peak. Glacier Peak. The list grows faster than the schedule allows.
A note on why
Use challenge as information.
The mountains are an honest feedback system. Difficulty reveals something about the terrain — and something about you. A system under pressure tells you more than a system at rest.
Restraint is intelligence. Not every peak is meant to be climbed. Knowing when to turn back — before conditions force the decision — is a skill that takes longer to build than technical ability.
Fall in love with the process. Joy in the climb sustains you longer than any view.
Most of this applies to people and to life in general.