First Podcast

            The podcast is now published onto iTunes so it’s time for me to introduce myself. My name is Austen Hiatt and I am from the Pacific Northwest.  My days are spent pursuing outdoor activities such as riding my dirt bike, fishing, hiking, mountaineering, backpacking, or rock climbing.  My experience being outdoors is a direct result of my childhood. As a youngster, I ventured out backpacking, and hiking with my father. My dog Sport normally goes on all my adventures and is a great companion when I need to escape into the forest.

First podcast: As many you know, the podcast that Mike and I created is now published onto iTunes. The first podcast recording consisted of the discussion of our Mt. Rainier trip and preparation. Before recording the podcast, we decided to go on a mountain bike ride. After the mountain bike ride we stopped at the local store to buy some beers and reminisce after the fun day of riding. It was after a couple beers (or more) that we decided we were finally going to record our podcast. We set up the computer and microphone in the loft (attic above garage) and decided to “wing it” and start recording. Our late night podcast was finished as I nodded on and off between sleep up in the loft.

                The next day after listening to the podcast I was a little disappointed by the lack of organization and material within it. I will admit that the lack of sleep and beer also probably didn't help. Needless to say, we decided to improve our preparation time and content. If you have listened to our first podcast hold tight as we get this whole podcast technique dialed in. We have a lot more ideas planned and eventually will have some videos for our viewers to check out.  Thank you for checking out the blog and podcast, I am excited to see where this podcast takes us.

Stone Gardens

Two days after the Alaska Lake trip, Austen and I decided to make our first visit to Stone Gardens climbing gym in Bellevue. It had been about a year since either of us climbed so we had to do a little refresher course of the rewoven figure eight and proper belaying techniques prior to leaving. We arrived at the gym a little after seven. This place is huge. After getting paid for and checked in, we put our climbing shoes on and headed for one of the two bouldering sections for a warm up.

There were so many different routes aimed at all skill levels. After about half an hour of this, we decided to take the belay test so we could top rope some of the longer routes. The test was a breeze and we both passed no problem. The top rope certification they gave us is good for a year. We got tested on tying the rewoven figure eight with a safety knot, properly setting up the belay device, and proving we could belay properly.

We started out on the auto belay and climbed a few routes before getting together to belay one another. I headed up the wall first and we practiced some falls and takes. Austen got a little confused at first by which hand was supposed to be on the brake line so I was glad I hadn't ascended all the way up yet. Once he got it figured out, I climbed the 5.6 route without any problems.

After this we switched and Austen ascended no problem. It was the perfect route to get back in the groove for belaying. At this point my fingers were definitely starting to feel it. We decided to try some 5.9s. They turned out to be harder than we thought at first. Clearly some of my climbing strength had disappeared in that past year. We managed to make it up a couple with beta from the belayer. After this, our forearms and feet were both feeling it so we called it a day.

It was a great time and definitely refueled the climbing fever in me. We will be returning again in the next couple weeks. The staff and facilities at Stone Gardens were awesome. It seems like a great gym to train at and is only a half hour drive away from home for us.

The Invisible Alaska Lake

On December 17, 2013, Austen and I headed out to the Gold Creek Sno Park to backpack into Alaska Lake. We got to the trailhead at about 7:30 pm, long after the sun had been down. We had brought our snowshoes, shovels, and ice axes but decided to leave the snowshoes and shovels behind as it didn't look like we'd be needing them. I took my ice axe and Austen decided to leave his behind. There was a slight drizzle coming down so we put our rain gear and headlamps on headed out. The first mile and a half or so was walking down an icy road past cabins until the trial was finally reached. We strayed from the right path once and ended up in front of someones cabin but this was only a slight delay. We hiked along the trail for about a mile until we came out to a clearing right next to Gold Creek. The moon was bright and reflecting off the snow so we had plenty of light to set up the tent. We ended up drinking some whiskey that night and finally tucked in around 11:30.

We slept in until about nine, made some breakfast from the comfort of the tent and packed up camp. Austen had accidentally left his gloves outside all night and they were soaked through. We started out on the trail and soon picked up someones snowshoe tracks. We followed these for about a mile and a half till they ended in the remains of a valley that an avalanche had wiped out in 2010.

Looking up the avalanche chutes

The trail was easy to follow at this point till we were supposed to cross Gold Creek. The trail could clearly be seen on the other side of the river but we didn't feel wading across the freezing water so instead we walked upstream looking for a bridge to cross. After about half a mile with only one of my feet getting wet (I promptly changed the sock on that foot) we found a viable log to cross. Once we were across, we stopped and made some lunch.

Austen eating dehydrated chili

 According to the gps, we were only a few hundred yards from the trail so we headed in that direction. Somehow we ended up walking way past the trail in the wrong direction but ended up finding a pretty neat waterfall.

 With the gps pointed in the right direction we decided to make a straight approach towards Alaska Lake rather than attempt to find the trail since everything was covered with snow. At this point we were wishing we had our snowshoes since as soon as we starting climbing a snowfield we were post holing with every step. It was exhausting climbing about 1400 feet in half a mile with a fifty pound pack.

Austen climbing the snowfield

 The gps said we were about half a mile from the lake but the route required traversing along the mountain. As it got darker, the snow pack began to harden and get a slick ice layer on top. The traversing was proving to be pretty technical and much to my disappointment, we decided to turn around and head down due to the ever darkening sky. My body was exhausted walking down and my steps were getting sloppier. We finally found a suitable place to camp and, despite seeing some good sized animal prints, immediately crawled in the tent after setting it up. From the warmth of our sleeping bags, we cooked dinner and proceeded to fall asleep before nine.

We woke to an 18 degree morning and once again cooked breakfast while still in our sleeping bags. Austen had woken up before me and already made himself coffee so I would have to live without it. We packed up camp and with most of our warm clothes headed out.

Camp second night

View up the mountain

 We traced our steps back to the river and crossed again at the same spot. We stopped for lunch at the site we camped at the first day and then made our way back to the parking lot. It was about 1:30 pm and our ride wouldn't be there till after 5 so we decided to make the 3 mile trek to the pancake house at snoqualmie pass to wet our lips with a much deserved beer. This proved harder than originally anticipated but was definitely worth it. Our ride arrived and we made our way home where sleeping in a bed was not a problem. Overall it was a very fun trip even though we did not reach our anticipated destination.

Gear Used:

-Vintage 50 liter North Face Backpack
-REI Half Dome 2 Tent
-North Face Cat's Meow 20 degree bag
-Stubai Ice Axe
-MSR Microrocket Stove
-GSI Pinnacle Soloist Cookset
-Katadyn Hiker Water Filter

Intro

This blog is going to serve as a supplement to The Ascent podcast which will soon be found in iTunes. The podcast is going to cover various hikes, backpacking, snowshoeing, climbing, dirt biking and fishing trips mostly around the Pacific Northwest. I am going to co host along with my buddy Austen.

Now a little about me. I am Michael, an avid outdoors-man. I love doing being active and testing the physical and mental limits of myself in the wilderness. I am 22 years old and frankly like to get myself in trouble. During the entire year, I can be found all over the place. Sometimes trudging through the snow, flying down a hill on a shred stick, taking a berm in third gear on my dirt bike, or on the river casting my fly pole into the perfect hole. I've got a beautiful girlfriend who is just as adventurous as me and joins me whenever she can. I'm surrounded by supportive parents and the greatest group of friends anyone could have.

This blog is going to serve as a visual aid to the podcast featuring pictures of trips as well as route guides we took and the gear used. It will also be a place for listeners to submit questions and comments about the show and us in general.

I am going to run through my ever changing gear list in each category for an idea of what i am using.

Backpacking
-Deuter ATC Lite 65 Liter Backpack
-Vintage North Face 50 Liter Backpack
-Outdoor Research Aurora Bivy
-REI Halfdome 2 Tent
-MSR Microrocket Stove
-The Northface Cat's Meow Sleeping Bag
-GSI Pinnacle Soloist Cookset
-Petzl Tikka Plus Headlamp
-Katadyn Hiker Water Filter

Climbing
-Petzl Corax Harness
-La Sportiva Nago Climbing Shoes
-ATC-XP Belay

Winter Sports
-MSR Lightning Flash Snowshoes
-Black Diamond Deploy 7 Snow Shovel
-Stubai Ice Axe

Dirt Bike
-2001 YZ 250

Fishing
-Cabelas Prestige Fly Pole and Reel 6 wt.
-Various Freshwater Flies