We've been fantasizing about our next outdoor adventure for some time, let's start discussing details so this actually happens.
Objectives:
Snow, Warm place to rest our heads at nice, friends, SLEDDING, warm, yummy food. I am thinking three nights.
Possible Locations:
Mary Rain's Cabin: Mikail has talked to her about letting us use it, I believe she is on board. I think there is a potential for snowmobiles, if not we would have to ski/snowshoe in. It is a big slog, but definitely feasable. Pros: FREE! Cons: Devin went up there last season and discover a thriving mouse population. APparently the floor was covered in insulation when he got there. He said they swept it out and managed just fine, but this could be an issue.
Tahoma Huts:
These are a series of huts by Mt. Rainier that cost $15 per person per night. They hold 14 folks and the Parks fill them, so we would either need to get 14 of us commited, or share the space with other campers. They are plush - stoves, couches, sleeping mats, full kitchen, outhouse. They do fill up, so if we are moving in this direction we should try and reserve them within the week. Here's the link see for your self, the word 'hut' doesn't really do them justice. http://www.skimtta.com/
Other Options?? I know there are tons of rentable cabins in the cascades, we should look around for other possible locations.
Right now the main thing we have to decide upon is dates and numbers going. In my mind there are two possible windows, the 20-24 and the 26-30. I am flexible with both, but need to inform my boss asap, as I will be working in the woodshop any available day that is not christmas or this trip. For that reason, I would prefer to schedule the trip as close to Christmas as possible, so as to minimize days just chilling on the island. I would also prefer the 26-30th window, but I can do either.
Stoked, let's make this happen. believe in the magic of your dreams.
39 comments:
Can't believe it is already december 2nd! this month is going to fly by. i will be working this entire month five days a week so i will not be making it out on this trip.
Any of those dates sound good. My preference is the north cascades, if possible, it would be cool if it was just the homies.
I would vote for the 20-24th. My sister will be visiting the Island the 24th through the 31st so I wouldn't be able to disappear those days. I'm also in favor of Mary's cabin.
One thing we need to decide as well - girls or no girls? this decision has always been an issue in the past, and i know there are probably a few female friends who would want to come. So that is directly related to another question of how big we want this to get. We all know from experience that managing a lot of people can be a huge pain in the ass, however, since I am not coordinating this adventure and that responsibility does not fall on me to do so, I'm not going to push to limit numbers.
My considerations for are: 1. I leave on the 2nd for up to 6 months and it might be nice to have more than two days straight at home before I go, but i could deal. 2. wanna see my Girly amap before i leave, she is going to be gone for a big 10 day chunk of the month. so depending on when she gets back, i may (and probably for the only time) promote a girl inclusive trip, (if she returns before the start of the early time) if not my vote is for a guys only 20-24th.
Okay, unfortunately copper creek (MTTA hut) is completely booked, and the only one they have open spaces for is high-hut, which is even prettier, but it only holds eight people. These huts in particular are SUPER popular and these spaces with most likely disappear within days.
Mary has said she is comfortable with having about six people at her cabin, and she wouldn't charge anything.
I'm going to go ahead and say it - I am for a guy's only trip, to avoid more complication. I am open to this, but my main concern is size, because at this point it will be hard to, A - as Chris said, hard to travel/ organize such a large group, and B - finding a space to fit us all.
That sounds reasonable. In fact, you really should have a solid few days to figure your shit out before we leave for guatemala. I'm sure raven would want to come, so raven + kate + ....
Size is a pretty good point. We could just make Kate an honorary guy for a few days. Eight is a solid number.
Another great option: http://www.scottishlakes.com/Home.shtml
Went here a bunch when I was younger, but it's pricy, which is incentive to book an MTTA hut booked.
So, from here it would be great to get a sense of who is interested so we can figure out how many people will be going.
Synthesis of previously posted comments:
SIZE: From who has expressed interest in going, here is a rough guest list.
Chris
Matt
Mikail
Alex
Corbin
Tentative
Kate
Raven
Ben McCarty
Max
Sam
Obviously we need to somehow manage the size of this trip - we have already met the capacity (6) of Mary's Cabin, should one person from the tentative list come. I think we could sneak a few more in, but we have to draw the line somewhere. I think two cars is a reasonable limit. However, unlinke the nocal bike trip, this trip will not take nearly the level of coordination and if we find a place that has floor space and you pay per night and NOT per person, there is an incentive for us to bring more folk. I am not necessarily opposed to a big ole BI gathering, I just don't want to be the sole coordinator. I also don't have the finances to put a payment on a credit card. I could easily see the list grow (Liam, Ben Jones, Lily, Emnet, Asa, Seth, Evan, Adam, Tim) have all expressed interest.
THat's a roundabout way of discussing how we should proceed. I think we should move forward operating under the assumption that we are taking two cars, and be responsible for those passengers. Additionally, I think we should search out a spot that could potentially hold a large group. If more people want to come, they will have to coordinate transportation themselves. I think Mary Rain's should be the back-up option if we can't find another location, as we are certain it is available.
Dates, sounds like we are leaning for the 20-24 time slot, I am okay with this. Can we get a solid yes from everyone?
oh and scottish lakes is book through feb, aside from dec 24-26, so that option is out.
I am down to book high hut for eight people too, someone wanna get on that?
High hut was just booked, between now and when I looked earlier
should we just plan on going to Icicle?
although he hasn't responded, im pretty sure michael is down for this adventure as well.
I'm not going to be attending the get away but i'm just going to suggest that some one steps up and commits to organizing the event so that the last three comments do not manifest themselves further down the line.
1. some one needs to call all of the immediate people wanting to attend and get them to commit to the 20th-24th. designate the cars and drivers and start asigning people to responsibilities.
2. find the ideal spot and book now regardless of the concent of others (assuming you chose wisely, everyone will be fine with the venue--i think the act is cardinal and people will be fine wih whereever this all takes place)
3. book the spot and front the money
and then your done pretty straight forward, not too hard--come on
also, it is a viable option to camp near mary's cabin, snow camping isn't that big of a deal. we could trade off nights in the cabin and in tents to be equitable
and bonus work that can be done after the booking:
based on the commitments you recieve from the immediate list decide who will be pulled from the reserves based on priority and commitment--even if some from the initial pool fall through i'm sure ya'll have enough friends that some one would fill.
so who ever is making the calls could easily give michael or nathan or any of these "possible" people a simple call to clarify the uncertainty
I've just spent an hour looking for alternatives and have come up short. I am not in a financial position to book a cabin anyway, so let's move forward with mary's cabin. I am officially decreeing that we are going to Mary's cabin sometime between the 20th-24th. The decision is made unless anyone has objections.
Chris, I like the snow camping idea, I'm gonna bring a tent. Now we have to figure out how we are getting out there, whether snowmobiles are an option.
Guest list:
Corbin
Alex
Matt
Chris
Mikail
This leaves 3-5 spots available depending upon how many people we feel comfortable cramming in the cars/cabin. My feeling is the more the merrier, but it is neither my vehicle nor cabin, so my opinion is kinda irrelevant.
I want to give Kate priority, as Chris isn't going to see her for months and may very well die in the murder capital of the americas :). Ben wants to go, as does Michael - should that be it? I agree with Dante that we should let people come to us, so we can choose based on interest level/commitment.
oh and dante your comment was kinda persnickety. i felt chided, even though i started the thread and am trying to make it happen. I am often in the position of making calls, and was just trying to see if we could do this together without me leading the way. and i couldn't book the cabin because I am broke, otherwise i would have done so. just sayin, I really do appreciate your help making this happen!
I think mary's is the best option, so I'm on board with your decision corbin. My car (our car when matt gets back) will be available to transport up to 5 people. Although I said that I wasn't going to take part in organizing, i think that is a bit selfish, and seeing as I am the one with the most free time out out of everyone i will jump on board with the spearheading/making happen of this adventure.
One thing that may work to our advantage is the reality of cross country skiing in and camping in the snow. outside of this protected environment i suggest we do not mention snowmobiles, and bill this as an arduous winter trek. this may serve to weed out those who aren't down for real snowtime adventure or who weren't totally sure about coming. I am all down for being accommodating, whenever possible but we just need to keep in mind how small this cabin is. mary says 6, if we have 10, either cram it, or tent a few i think that would be fine, but too much bigger would be uncomfortable and annoying to deal with cooking and the like.
i know raven is already aware of the potential of this trip and i recall her saying "im going to kill you if this is another one of those fucking guys trips!" just saying. what other girls might share this mentality?
Updated Tentative:
Kate
Raven
Ben McCarty
Max
Sam
Nathan
Michael
Ben Jones
I'm down. I don't know if I want to go all those days, but I'm def down for a couple.
I bought a seasons pass at stevens b/c everyone else is gone, so I figured I'd ski.
That said, if anyone wants to go for a day, it's not that far...
I'm unfortunately not gonna be able to take almost a full week off from work, already taking 6 days of paid vacation in late January. Love you kids, it's awesome that you're making the most of your time away from school.
Enjoy.
micahel, i'd love to ski
also, there is some good backcountry skiing right where we are going, which i thought could take up one of our days.
http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=SGW012-057
Both Lily and Katie have both made comments similar to Raven's, and I understand there sentiments. It is lame to segregate along gender lines as a way to limit the numbers. occasional Guys-only trips are essential, but I think this one should be open. I think chris is right. In all likelihood we won't be able to use the snowmobiles, and we will have to slog all our food and gear and sleds in. This will limit those interested. I am still for 2 cars, 10 people max. So in addition to the 5 confirmed, we have added Michael and Raven. That leaves three spots for Kate (chris, is she coming?) and sam, lily, max, ben m. and ben j. are gonna have to fight for the remaining two.
im going to talk to her tonight and see what she thinks. the necessity of quality snow gear will certainty work in our favor in terms of limiting numbers. we may have to do some brainstorming if interest is strong amongst the rest. but we will have a bit to sort that out
Okay, talked to Mary a little bit more at school today, and while the number is still six, there will be no snowmobiles anyway since they are currently out of commission. So there we have it.
What I remember from the cabin in it being able to fit about eight people, but remember for those of you that have been there - it is small. Eight people is seriously crowding the bottom floor with little room to walk around and do tasks as it is.
I have slept in a tent around there, but it is VERY hard to find a flat spot if there isn't enough snow to smooth out a little bit. I'm sure this wont be a big problem.
The biggest I think is the amount of people that can comfortably, and even slightly uncomfortable that can fit. I have a feeling the amount of people that come will sleep in the cabin as well, unless we have die-hards that volunteer. Why? Because it is the warmest place for miles with a sweet stove and stays very warm.
I will bring my tent though, and I submit myself as a candidate if that turns out to be what the situation necessitates.
I talked to another Wise-Acre though, and we will also have use of a couple rigid sleds (for gear - http://www.kifaru.net/images/mil_sled1.jpg).
Icicle canyon is supposed to get a hefty bit of snow between now and then, and the average lows from past years are around 18ยบ.
10 people is a good ceiling; I have no problem snow camping. Skiing sounds like a good idea, I haven't skied in literally two years. So i should probably do that. Are we talking three nights?
I am also not opposed to it being crowded/cozy as that's how things usually are, and it's always enjoyable.
Another idea that I just remembered else I'd have including in the previous thread -
Hike up north from the cabin several miles into Wenatchee National Forest to some amazing lakes/ mountains/ high views - done this before in summer. If we were going to do three nights we could cabin it for the first night, hike up a few miles find an awesome camp, and come back for the third night at the cabin.
Can those snowshoes have my name on them if matt doesn't take them??? Also, wondering if the baran-mickles (or anyone else) has spare downhill skis that I might borrow, I am interested in steven's skiing, but renting gear would put it out of my price range.
I am thinking 3 nights, getting in and out (load up, drive to leavenworth, food supply, slog in, clean out cabin/set up camp, then do it all in reverse) is going to be such a to-do that it would be nice to have two solid days of play there. Thoughts?
I will count myself out on this one. Grace will be coming up sometime between the 23-25 for few days and then I am heading back down to the Eugene possibly before new years. So gonna get that family time in. Enjoy. This sounds heroic. If anyone needs some snow gear, I would be happy to lend some stuff out.
May the forest be with you.
And fuck you dante. When you tell people how it should be done and deride someone for not doing it and then don't do it yourself, you just look like a shithead.
Love,
Ben
you may be able to borrow graham's if he isn't using them during that time period.
i feel as though an apology in person is needed and best. But until then, the internet will have to suffice:
my intention was to be supportive but obviously my words fell short of that. I apologize for my persnickety comments. My fault.
if there somehow ends up being plenty of room and/or the trip becomes shortened I would love go with you guys however, as it stands, it seems like an extra body will cause undue stress. I will be studying for a PT certification exam on the 27th anyways so I feel it only makes sense to take one for the team... please take pictures if all y'all end up snowmobiling
Dante - I wouldn't worry about it. This sounds overblown. Nathan - which certification are you doing? Do they make you know science?
Dante, thanks for hearing me, no further apology is necessary. i'm not upset - I wrestled with deciding to even say something, because i know how emotionally reductive the internet can be and I know you were just trying to support. just an honest observation, no harm done. love!
mikail, i checked all the cabins run through the forest service i.e. the government, and there is nothing available to reserve during our dates.
Matt- I am taking the ace exam. My adviser said that once I understand the ace curriculum I can do more good then harm when helping poeple work out and that I would then be ready for a more nuanced cert like the SCC... whatever that means. that being said the site says that most people spend about three months studying for this exam; I will start studying at the beginning of winter break, oops : )
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