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Oregon Peak Adventures eNewsletter
 
October 2006

CONTENTS
Happy Fall From Oregon
Activities
FallTrips
Trip Schedule
International
Coming Up
Tips
Contact Us

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Greetings from Oregon,
We continue to have amazingly good weather. The forecast is for beautiful sunny days for our St. Helens climb on Friday October 13th and for the Traditional Rock Climbing Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, the 14th and 15th. Both of these are through Portland Community College. We have room for four more climbers for St. Helens ($150 per person) and three, maybe five, for Rock Climbing ($200). This is the last St. Helens Climb and the last Rock class scheduled for this year. The weather is going to be great, you've been wanting to do it, and who knows what the future will bring? So sign-up - Now! Thank you.

HIGH POINTS
I just returned from reaching the High Points of Virginia and Kentucky, the ninth and tenth HPs of this year. Mt. Rogers in Western Virginia is just off of the Appalachian Trail. While there was no view from the summit, the trees were starting the color change and the hike was quite pretty. This experience with the Appalachian Trail was consistent with other sections I have been on, in that it appears that the trail building process primarily consisted of painting stripes on rocks as they walked/scrambled along the steepest way.
Yes, that's the Trail on the right.

 Black Mountain in Kentucky, was an unsigned drive-up with an antenna farm and no view at the top. New York and Maine, my last two, will have to wait until next year.

GOAT ROCKS
We recently received word that our application for a permit to climb and backpack in the Goat Rocks Wilderness has been approved. This delightful area in Washington is located between Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier. It has peaks, lakes, wildflowers, awesome views, and, yes, goats. We will be posting trips on the website for next summer.

VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON PARK AND RECREATION
Starting in February 2007, we will be offering classes and trips through the Vancouver, WA , Park and Recreation Department. Located north of Portland just across the Columbia River, Vancouver has a brand new facility and a population base we have not addressed though our previous promotion activity. We look forward to playing outside with our Vancouver neighbors.

We hope you can join us for your next adventure as we close out the 2006 season and get ready to play in the snow.
 

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MT. ST. HELENS
Climbing Mt. St. Helens has been totally cool! The new dome is different every time we go up and observing the creation process is awe-inspiring.

Here's a panoramic photo Guide Monty Smith took September 29th.

The geologists believe that the dome building activity has slowed down somewhat, but we see rock slides every time we're on the rim. Daily USGS updates are available at http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/CurrentActivity/. We have successive photos of the dome on the OPA Website . To see a short video of a rock slide, go to the Monitor Ridge Route page. Turn your sound up and you may have to wait up to five minutes for it to download. I must confess that I didn't initially realize the camera was in video mode. Digital cameras are way cool!

Our last scheduled climb of this year is October 13, with an Orientation at PCC on October 11. There are four openings available. Since there are already six climbers signed-up, the price is $150 per person. Sign-up with PCC, if you want to attend the orientation session ($19 tuition to PCC). If not, you can sign-up with us directly

Price includes guides (I'm leading, Alissa Bohling is assisting), round-trip transportation from the Portland area, yummy lunch, trekking poles, and a precautionary "Eruption Kit" (climbing helmet, filter mask, and goggles) for each party member to carry.

As long as the weather is reasonable, we can do a weekday climb. Permits are available.

You can observe St. Helens at the VolcanoCam and check the weather forecast at the National Weather Service

 
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TIPS
 WILDERNESS SURVIVAL
I have subscribed to Backpacker magazine starting with Issue #2 (Summer 1973, which I still have). I highly recommend it as a good source of information. The October 2006 issue is on survival and is an excellent resource. It should still be available to purchase.

A very good article is "A Dozen Ways to Die", by Steve Howe.
The article lists the 12 most common causes of death in the backcountry by frequency. They are:
1. Falling
2. Drowning
3. Heart Attack
4. Hypothermia
5. Heat Stress
6. Lightning
7. Avalanche
8. Suicide
9. Flash Flood
10. Insects
11. Snakes and Spiders
12. Predators

OPA offers two Wilderness Survival Classes. Our Winter Camping Class focuses on snow camping and winter survival techniques and will be offered through PCC with the classroom session on January 10 and an overnight field session on January 13 & 14, 2007. The second class will be offered through PCC and Vancouver Park and Recreation with the classroom session on January 27 (VP&R)/January 28 (PCC) and the field session on February 2 & 4, 2007. Our objective is to teach and demonstrate how you should never get cold out in the snow.

The Wilderness Survival class will be held through PCC AND Vancouver P&R in June and August. I have been a First Aid/CPR instructor for the American Red Cross for almost six years and I am currently working through the process to become a certified instructor for the American Heart Association. I hope to be certified by June and plan to incorporate the AHA CPR and First Aid training into the Wilderness Survival class. So not only will the students have good wilderness survival skills, but they will also have current CPR/First Aid certification.

In our Wilderness Survival classes we first focus on avoiding survival situations; but, if you are in one, having the mental skills to made good judgments and having the essential gear that will get you through a one or two day situation. Taking the class is important, because this is one of those things that you need to actually do, rather than just read about, to better enable you to make good decisions under stress.

My short list of essential gear for surviving a night out:
1. A functioning brain
2. Appropriate clothing
3. A bivy bag (I like the Adventure Medical Kits one)
4. 3/4 length Ensolite pad
5. " MPI Space Blanket" Tarp (The MPI website is also a good source of survival information.)

I always carry these, even for a day hike. Of course, having compass, map, knife, light, and the rest of the 10 essentials will improve your chances of getting out on your own, but these five items will get you through the night and with the probability of still being functional in the morning.

We're often asked if it's necessary to have all of the items and clothing in the Required Equipment Lists for our trips. The answer is "well yeah." If an individual doesn't wander off on their own, it may be sufficient for the group to collectively have these items; but things happen and people do get separated. You also may be injured and have to spend the night out waiting for rescue. It's unfair to ask other party members to give up their clothing and risk hypothermia, just because you didn't want to bring your own stuff.

Obviously, there is a lot more to this, and that's why we have the classes. Be safe and I hope you can join us next year.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey: by Candice Millard. Think your life is hard? Read this.

Stuff on Sale
REI's Fall Sale goes through October 15th. Clearly, many more items are available through the website than are listed in the Sale Catalog. Some of the things that I have and recommend are:

REI Alpine Lakes Full-Zip Pants - $69.99
REI Sahara Convertible Pants - $37.99
Asolo FSN 95 GTX light hiking boots - $119.99

A clever thing REI does is that you can order on-line and pick it up at the nearest store with no shipping charges. I like it because I'm cheap and like wandering around the store, but don't like having to search for everything. It's good for REI also, because before I get out of the store, there's usually something that I see that I just have to have.

Another good place to shop online is Sierra Trading Post. You need to have a good idea of what you want, as their selection is broad and sometimes the sizes are limited.