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South Lookout Mountain W7W/WH-206
Found myself up in the Bellingham, WA area for a work function over Memorial Day weekend, so why not take advantage of the North Cascades and bag a summit? South Lookout Mountain looked quite doable and literally right across the street (and down a long road) from the Airbnb. This is early in the season,…
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Tamarack Ridge W7I/NI-256
Miles: 2.66Gain: 497ftQSOs: 6Points: 1 A relatively easy summit to bag, the biggest cost was the time it took drive the Forest Service roads to get to the start. This is Idaho, so it should go without saying that there’s logging activity. I keep thinking I should nab myself a little CB radio so I…
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Bracken Point W7W/WE-056
Miles: 5.76Gain: 1463ftQSOs: 4Points: 4 Almost immediately after leaving the parking lot, the ascent up the side of the ridge begins. It’s steep—gaining over 600 feet in the first quarter mile or so. The traverse across the ridgeline continues for another two miles, with plenty of additional climbing, until we topped out at the high…
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A Snowy Spring FA: W7I/NI-274
Summit: W7I/NI-274 “Hill 3860”Miles: 3.42Gain: 687ftQSOs: 6Points: 1 For April 4th the weather was prime, though I should’ve started earlier in the morning when it was colder—more on that later. The turn off for the FS roads/trails was completely snowed in (see photo), so I parked off of the hwy a hundred yards up at…
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First QSL Card
For the non-ham, a QSL card is basically a postcard-sized print copy confirmation of an on-air contact. Dating back to the days well before we were confirming contacts on the internet, QSL cards are a bit of a historical relic, or more appropriately, a tradition that is unfortunately not just modernly uncommon but also seemingly…
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Track Banners
The indoor track at the Washington State University student rec center (UREC) was a bit dated—at least a decade old at this point. They called me up to refresh the seven wall graphics around the track; each 7×9-foot installation a nod to a unique facet of UREC’s student recreation opportunities & spirit.
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A Weekend in the Studio
About a week ago I had surgery on my nose and it hasn’t been particularly fun. I’m still in the “take it easy” phase and am not supposed to do any strenuous exercise or lifting until, I think next weekend. So this weekend, home alone, I’ve been diligently working on various side and personal projects.…
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Peak Goals 2025
Black Peak, North Cascades. 2017
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Smoot Hill W7W/WE-033
It’s been a mild January thus far and this weekend, although windy, was a prime 42F. Running a bit short on time, a close-to-home hill would be on the menu and Smoot was today’s flavor. To be honest, I’m not exactly sure about the accessibility of this summit. Some fencing along the nearby gravel road…
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Holiday in EU
Last year we visited my family back in Arizona for Christmas and the round-trip tickets cost somewhere in the ballpark of $700 each. I said something along the lines of: “…next time we spend this much on plane tickets, we’d better be drinking beers in an European pub.” That initiated some conversation which eventually led…
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Ins & Outs 2025
Boy, this last year was a real fuckin’ churn. Trying to make sense of all that swirled around us can bring on the most piercing of migraines–yet here we are. Looking over our shoulders while blindly anticipating the next few steps. Despite the shitshow that the world continuously reveals itself to be, life around here…
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Pullman Winter Ultras
Every December/January, the Palouse Road Runners hosts two free “ultra” marathons we affectionately title the Pullman Winter Ultras. It’s a simple and relatively hands-off premise: you sign up for free and run anywhere between 1-4 eight-mile laps around town, no matter the weather. And the weather in Pullman this time of year can be heinous.…
Outliving the bastards one hard-earned beer at a time.