Climbing The Brothers, part 1

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Our overnight adventure on Memorial Day Weekend -- we climbed the 6,866 foot south peak of The Brothers (with Brian, appropriately enough).


The gateway to The Brothers Wilderness.

















Crossing a log in the Valley of the Silent Men en route to our camp site.
















One of the many shady pools of Lena Fork Creek.

















Early in the morning, starting off toward the climb.

Climbing The Brothers, part 2

Jill pauses just before the hourglass, about halfway up the route.


On the detour around the hourglass, it's a lovely bleak early season morning in the Olympics.











In the couloir above the hourglass, Eric and Brian make their way up and up and up.


It's false summit time -- a stupid diversion off route sends us to the wrong summit. Here's Brian climbing back down a steep snow slope.

Climbing The Brothers, part 3

Almost to the true summit now, Brian makes his way up the final slope.















The view from nearly to the top. Wish those clouds would blow away!
Jill looks back and snaps a picture of the brothers just a few feet from the top of The Brothers.
Brian shows off his mountaineering tough-guy pose on the summit.

Climbing The Brothers, part 4

Eric and Jill on the summit.

All three adventurers together on the summit.
Brian negotiates a tricky slippery step coming down off the summit block.
Brian strikes another pose as he prepares to descend.

Climbing The Brothers, part 5

Back down to Lena Fork Creek, Brian and Jill show off their ice axes -- grrrr!











An earlier moment in the climb, Eric pauses as he nears the false summit.

Bicycling the Green River Trail

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A spring bicycle ride with Brian and Hannah along the Green River.










A stretch of trail.













Jill and Hannah walk their bikes across one of the many bridges.
















The saddest picnic spot ever. This is what happens when you leave all your food back in the car.

Backpacking the Duckabush River, part 1

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Four miles in to the hike, Eric pauses at a lookout on the way up "Big Hump," the low pass that marks the entry in the Olympic Mountains.


Jill toils up the trail toward the top of Big Hump. The mountains in front of her are subsidiary peaks of The Brothers, a mountain we will climb in just a few short weeks!














Eric pauses on top of Big Hump. The view is to the west, looking out toward Hood Canal in the distance.



Looking across the Duckabush River, the view from our campsite at Five Mile Camp.

Backpacking the Duckabush River, part 2

Our tent, nestled beneath the big trees at Five Mile Camp.

















Jill stays occupied with our damp little stick fire.


Hiking out the next day, Jill stops to bask in the sunshine on Big Hump.















Looking up to the peaks in The Brothers Wilderness.

Backpacking the Duckabush, part 3

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The forest trail in the early miles of the trail.
Our view of the Duckabush River and a logjam from our lonely site at Five Mile Camp.

Duckabush

Eric at the entrance to The Brothers Wilderness.