As is something of an annual tradition, last month Becca and I drove to Wyoming to visit Becca’s family. On the way there, we spent one night in the Palouse, one of my favorite parts of Eastern Washington, and on the way back, Becca flew home while I drove back by myself via Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, another classic.
While in Wyoming, we did some lovely hikes, and a highlight was climbing Albright Peak via its Southwest Ridge with Becca’s Dad and cousin, something of an adventure climb. I also brought my big 6x17 film camera as well, and I’m excited to share some of those panoramas soon, as well!
An Aeromotor Pump and power lines at dusk, outside Washtucna.
We left Seattle after work on Tuesday and drove most of the way to Washtucna before sunset. The few Aermotor pumps along the highway always make for nice silhouettes. We drove the rest of the way under the cover of darkness and I spent a little bit of time photographing one of my favorite grain elevators beneath the Milky Way before camping near Steptoe Butte.
The Milky Way over a grain elevator in the Palouse.
In the morning, as Becca snoozed, I got up before sunrise and drove around, finding a few new scenes that I liked, as well as revisiting some of my old favorite spots.
Two barns at dawn.
Grain elevator and flowers in the morning light.
Grain bins and a barn at sunrise.
We drove into Wallace where we stopped so I could take a Zoom meeting, then blasted the rest of the way to Jackson. We spent most of our time there with family, but (as always) Luc was adamant that we climb something with him, despite our short visit. With a less-than-stellar weather forecast, we settled on the Southwest Ridge of Albright, a less-than-classic climb that promised unique views of Death Canyon, solitude, and lots of scrambling. We were joined by Becca’s cousin Tanya, who was a joy to have along. With a moderately early start, we hiked up Death Canyon and then off trail up the Sentinel Gully to the base of the route. A short and easy pitch brought us to the saddle below the Sentinel Turret, and we took a quick side mission to visit the summit. From there, we backtracked to the saddle then traversed east on ledges before climbing one run-out 30 meter slab pitch to a higher ledge system, the crux of the route. Becca wasn’t a fan of the runout and poor pro, but I had a (admittedly Type-2) good time - gotta take the victories where I can ;)
Luc, Becca, and Tanya, scrambling on the Southwest Ridge of Albright Peak in Grand Teton National Park.
From the top of this pitch it was lots of fun scrambling to where the trail intersects the ridge, with lovely views. We dropped our packs, tagged the summit, then headed down via the trail.
The next morning, Becca and I set off towards home before dawn. We drove through a very foggy Yellowstone Park before I dropped Becca at the Bozeman airport and continued on by myself. I stopped in Helena to work at the library for a few hours, then continued up to Glacier National Park, where I hiked up to the summit of Cataract Mountain for sunset, then back down via headlamp.
Self portrait on the summit of Cataract Mountain, with Siyeh Peak in the background (at left).
I headed up to Hidden Lake Pass for sunrise, and was rewarded with some really lovely blowing fog, which emphasized the views down to the lake and over to Bearhat. I returned to the parking lot to find a flat tire, and I enjoyed putting on my spare while teasing the circling motorists with my soon-to-be-vacant parking spot. They were salivating.
Classic view of Bearhat Mountain and Hidden Lake at sunrise, with wisps of fog.
Mount Reynolds reflected in a small tarn from the Hidden Lake trail.
I drove into Columbia Falls to reconnect with a friend for lunch, then on to Couer d’Alene’s public library for some more work before heading south to the Palouse to for sunset and camping.
A barn and grain fields on the Washington-Idaho State Line in the Palouse.
Combine Harvesters and other agricultural equipment lined up after a days work.
Two trees in the Palouse at dusk.
I explored some new-to-me parts of the Palouse closer to the Idaho state line, and happened upon a fun lineup of agricultural equipment parked in a field. I got some sleep, got up for sunrise the next, morning, and then drove back to Seattle before lunch. A great trip!