Capitol Peak adventure. Olympia,WA - March 18, 2006

[BAH]

One of the coolest, most brutal and enjoyable (non riding)bike trips I have been on.

I'm going to bed now and will have pics up later,but this vid gives a good indication of how I am feeling right now

Craig - after hike a biking 4 miles uphill through 6-12 inches of snow..


http://www.derekandsara.com/craig.AVI


Didn't LOOK like there was so much snow up there.....

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest.jpg

[dump]

ahaha - looks like fun ;)

[BAH]

Woke up today with clear blue skies so we headed for cap.
Decided to try a trail I went on years ago but hadn't been to recently.
We knew there was a little snow at the top, but it had been warm for a few days and figured it was probably all gone.

On the way up we ran into big time snow. We tried to get through it but after almost sliding off the road into a ravine, we parked the truck and decided to hike the rest of the way. Our thinking was that since most of the trail is under cover of woods, once we got to the top it would be no problem....

At this point we could go no further

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest3.jpg


We backed down to the first place we could pull off and parked.
Getting ready to hike

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest4.jpg

We should have brought snowshoes. The snow ranged from 6-12 inches. Hiking it was tough enough, but trying to keep our bikes from sinking in the snow while we were pushing them was a real battle.

Craig after about 1-2 miles of hiking..


http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest5.jpg


A couple more miles into it. We are starting to question our sanity and wondering how long we have until frostbike claims our feet.

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest6.jpg


We get a little bit of inspiration as we start to see some views..

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest7.jpg

Can you name the nuclear reactors?

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest8.jpg


The top is in sight. We had to stop about every 100 feet at this point to gather strength to keep on. At times we had to sling the bikes over our shoulder because it would just sink and then endo in the snow.

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest9.jpg


I can't explain the relief we felt when we finally flattened out at the top. Just a few more feet for the views.

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest10.jpg

Craig pulled out his camera and I made a break for the top. First one for the viewsss



http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest11.jpg

[BAH]

Then it was all worth it.

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest12.jpg



http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest13.jpg



http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest14.jpg

[BAH]

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/big2/long.jpg

[BAH]

http://www.derekandsara.com/craig2.AVI

[BAH]

Craig took this shot of me trying to find the trail

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest16.jpg

We couldn't find it, so we just started down the side hoping to run into it.

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest15.jpg

We finally did

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/big3/long.jpg

[BAH]

Then we hiked for about 2 hours back down the trail because the snow was still too thick to ride.

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest17.jpg


The last section was too much for Craig.

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/forest18.jpg


Then we got back in the truck and headed home.

One last shot

Craig calls it then takes a leak

http://www.derekandsara.com/photos/march2006/big4/long.jpg

[splat]

so you basiclly just hiked up carrying/pusing your Bikes then Hiked back down ?

the question is , was it worth it ?

awesome views .

[BAH]

so you basiclly just hiked up carrying/pusing your Bikes then Hiked back down ?

the question is , was it worth it ?

awesome views .

yeah that's it in a nutshell. I got a serious workout, got some fresh air, sunshine and had a great time so yeah. Am I going back up again before the snow melts? NO :)

[Skookum]

yeah that's it in a nutshell. I got a serious workout, got some fresh air, sunshine and had a great time so yeah. Am I going back up again before the snow melts? NO :)
Haha i know these rides.... They are fun and memorable, and you'll never do them again in your whole entire life haha!

[BAH]

Next time up, I'll be packing snowshoes

[oly]

shoulda brought your snowboard.... thanks for the tips.. i think i will be avoiding the peak for a few more weeks.. maybe when i get back from Japan...