MIA Pacific Northwest

M.I.A Pacific Northwest

Sorry we've been M.I.A. for the past year on the blog. Jenny and I have been working very hard and playing very hard as well. Our most recent road trip was 15 days in the Pacific Northwest this past fall 2014. We left Bonsall and hit several national and state parks on the way up to Squamish, B.C. in Canada. Here are a few photos of the trip. We hope you enjoy the scenery.

This was our first night in the RV(Mazda 3)!

Sheldon Creek Campground, 1.5hrs. north of Santa Rosa, CA

Redwood NP

Starry Night Crater Lake NP

Wizard Island, Crater lake NP

It was nice to get to Smith Rock in Oregon and just chill for a couple days. The past few days were pretty long. Smith Rock was really an amazing place and provided the best camping facilities of the trip. SR is one of the most historic climbing destinations in the world. They say its the birth place of sport climbing in the United States. The conditions on the wall were a bit warm, but we were able to get in a handful of good climbs. We began to get antsy as our time at SR was nearing an end and the thoughts of future destinations were getting closer. And we're off...

  Smith Rock SP

 

Enjoying the steep 5.10 climbing

Jenny nearing the top of the classic "Five Gallon Buckets"

Columbia River Gorge from Beacon Rock, WA

Beacon Rock SP campground

The green room, Olympic NP

Found a prize in the park!

The Olympic coastline is not to be missed

San Juan Islands, WA

Golden evening light 

 Finally, we've arrived at the "Chief" Squamish, BC

The Chief, a rock formation featured above is another world class destination we were able to visit on our trip. It was another one of our multi-day stops. We spent most of our first day gathering info on the area but we did sneak in a little bouldering. The next day was spent on a rope at nearby cliffs. The rock here is some of the best granite in the world and rivals the rock in Yosemite Valley. Most people trad climb here, but the bouldering is some of my favorite anywhere. The boulders are sprawled out under a blanket of pines and covered in moss and lichen. Walking through the boulder fields is like opening a door to another planet. Squamish is truly an awe-inspiring place I hope to one day visit again. 

"Laughing Crack" the best 5.7 I've ever climbed

Jenny racked and ready for a trad lead

Jenny cruising her warm up lead

Fun evening bouldering in the forest

Shannon Falls, BC

Emerald waters of the Squamish River

As we headed back south toward home, we hit some other incredible spots on the way: Mt. Rainier NP, Fort Stevens SP, Haystack Rock and Lassen NP.

Christine Falls, Mt. Rainier NP

Muir Snowfield, just below Camp Muir, Mt. Rainier NP

 Marmot lookout

Logging Yards, a sight never seen in SoCal

Ship wreck, Fort Stevens SP, Oregon

 Haystack Rock, OR

The wild geothermal/volcanic features of Lassen NP 

Thank you all for following us on our worldwide adventures. More to come from our most recent trips.

Wintery

A short film previewing an early season swell on the North Shore. Something to get excited about, because we all know there are zero waves in California right now. A great way to spend a rainy day. Enjoy! Wintery Summery from Guy Mac on Vimeo.

Jussiiii

A few years back I did a little house painting at Jussi Oksanen's place. I was stoked to have told stories of trips he's taken snowboarding around the world. He's the nicest guy and a mental snowboarder. Burton just released this video of him going nuts! Hope you enjoy. We just got our first local dusting yesterday, snowboarding season is just around the corner.
Burton Snowboards presents [BEST OF] Jussi Oksanen from Snowboarder Magazine on Vimeo.

A Night In New Jack City

I went to New Jack City to teach Steven and Sheena how to lead and maybe get on an 11c project I'd worked a couple years back. The teaching part went really well, but I got shut down on the project. Here are a few images we captured of the night and of me getting crushed on my project. The weather was nice in the morning, but got pretty hot in the late afternoon which made me think this would be our last desert trip of the season.

 ADIOS.....

A Death On El Cap

 The bird hauling rescue supplies to the top of El Cap.

 Yesterday as we were leaving the park I saw a helicopter and several firefighters in the meadow across from El Cap. I knew this was bad and instinctively pull over and exited the car. I asked a bystander what was going on and couldn't believe my eyes. As I looked through my binos and spotted a man hanging from a roof motionless, I felt sick and had to look away. My initial thought was that he was dead, but nobody knew exactly what happened or his state of consciousness. For hours we watched the helicopter and amazing rescuers work as quickly and efficiently as possible. We watched until the victims were hauled over the cliff and left the park. Now that a day has passed more and more info is being released.

From what I have gathered, The lead climber triggered a rockfall that
 cut his lead rope, thus sending him on a long free-fall until his haul line (that he was still attached to) caught his fall. This left him hanging over a large roof for hours. His partner seemed to stay in the same spot (next to the haul bag) until rescue. I believe the following climber was uninjured.

Sending prayers and condolences out to the family and Friends on the deceased climber and partner.

 Accessing the situation.

 

 The following climber is at the haul bag, Leader is stuck under the roof.

 Rescuer making his way down.

 Rescuer and victim being hauled out.