Eight Dudes on a Golden Horn

Last weekend I accompanied seven good friends of the male persuasion on a backpacking trip.  One of these individuals was Jim, and this event was set up as a bachelor party in his honor.

The trip involved backpacking about 12 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, north of Rainy Pass, to Upper Snowy Lake.  Once we set up camp at Upper Snowy Lake and started dough for the evening's dinner (more on that later), we proceeded to scramble to the top of Golden Horn, about a mile away.

Jim on the summit of Golden Horn with Craig (Jesus) in the background

The final 20 feet or so to the summit required a fun bit of scrambling and also made for a picturesque and somewhat small summit block.

Just enough room for eight people on the summit

Golden Horn's summit block

Jesus on the summit - maybe the first person to drink a beer in a lounge chair at this particular location

We celebrated that evening at camp with great friends, ample beer, and beautiful scenery.  Jim organized a backcountry pizza feed; complete with homemade yeast dough, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and an assortment of other toppings.  While this would be considered a bit non-traditional in most circles as far as bachelor parties go, it seems to be the norm with this group.  I think I speak for all of us when I say how happy I am to have found such a great group of like-minded folks.

Back to Peter Pan-ing

After about a 3-year hiatus from exercising my Peter Pan Syndrome, I'm back at it.  After respectfully resigning from my engineering job in Tacoma, I spent the month of July teaching a backcountry rock climbing course for NOLS in Wyoming's Wind River Range.  I had excellent students and co-instructors, and the scenery was just as grand as I remembered.

I'm currently spending August funemployed while prepping for September's archery elk hunting season in Washington.  After elk season (mid September), Ava and I will embark on what should prove to be an epic road trip; likely spending time in Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, California, and Oregon.  The road trip will likely culminate on New Year's in Washington, at which point we plan to settle back down in Missoula, Montana.

What does all this mean to my readers who are now nonexistent due to my lack of recent posting?  Expect regular posts (monthly-ish) through the end of the year, and hopefully beyond.