One cannot grow up in the Pacific Northwest without spending some time in the mountains that live there. The Cascades, the Olympics, the smaller ranges, all captivate the imagination. Perhaps it is because I grew up there, in the shadow of those far away, so close, snow covered peaks that I can imagine no more beautiful thing than a glacier on a clear blue day.
I began a long life in the mountains the winter after I turned two. My earliest memory is of my father's leg, clad in wool socks and GoreTex knickers (then quite the thing to have), and the odd, long and narrow boards strapped to my feet. I waddled, got cold and went inside. As my mom and dad went back outside, leaving my twin brother and I with our grandparents for the afternoon, I remember feeling that outside was the place to be, and that feeling has never really left me. It has taken me to many places, brought out of me every aspect of my character and every emotion I know.
The photos below and the narratives of various memorable trips cannot but give you a glimpse through the keyhole in a much bigger door. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy them. And if you too are a mountaineer-in the broadest sense-perhaps they will remind you of someplace you long to see again. I know I lose myself in another, more real world when I look back at these...
General Climbing Photography: A small collection of photos, not all mine, that I like or tell some tale.
Liberty
Ridge, Mt. Rainier, July 2000
THE classic glacier climb of the Cascades! The mountain gods rewarded us heartily for our patience with the weather and our efforts to pack light. Three perfect days on one of the big routes up one big mountain!
New
River Gorge!The following trips are from my vacation home in the summer of 2002.
At
Home in the Cascades 2002
Return
to Ingalls Peak
Visiting Outer Space