In the Mountains

Exploring the Sandy Glacier Ice Caves

In late April I finally had the chance to explore the disappearing ice caves on Mt. Hood.  My buddy Toby and I hiked up in beautiful weather and spent the night on the mountain.  The next morning we met up with another friend, Tommy and made our way to the caves.

Looking up towards Mt. Hood and the Sandy Glacier.   

Looking west from the ridge where we set up camp.

Sunset from camp

Mt. Adams

The sun setting on Mt. Hood

The next morning we woke up early, met Tommy, and traversed across a couple ridges and down to the ice caves.  This is the entrance to Snow Dragon which has already partially collapsed.

Looking into Snow Dragon from the entrance back towards the section that has collapsed.

Mt. Hood peeking out from the back of Snow Dragon

The different veins of dirt and rock running through the ice are absolutely incredible.

Looking out towards the entrance of Snow Dragon

A small creek flowing through Pure Imagination

Ice pillar in Pure Imagination

The lower entrance of Pure Imagination

Tommy making his way into the cave.  Rocks and ice were continually peeling off from above and falling through the hole in the ceiling of the cave.  You could definitely feel the impermanence of this beautiful place.  

Climbing South Sister

Two weeks ago I climbed my first mountain in the cascades, the South Sister.  There was snow pretty much the entire route which made for quite a long slog but despite that and very limited visibility for the last mile, we made it to the top.

The tippy top.  

While we were on the summit, blue sky came out for about a minute before the clouds closed in around us again.

Looking south towards Mt. Bachelor

The summit of South Sister, sitting in the clouds

The next day it was totally clear in the morning and we could finally see what we had climbed up.   South Sister is on the left and Broken Top on the right.