Torment-Forbidden Traverse

Torment-Forbidden Traverse

This article may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks!This past weekend I met up with Kel Rossiter of Adventure Spirit Guides for a two-day run at the classic Torment-Forbidden Traverse (Grade IV, 5.6) in Washington’s Boston Basin. The traverse was an absolutely outstanding …

Climbing Mount Shuksan Fisher Chimneys: One of the 50 Classic Climbs

I headed up to Mount Shuksan (9,127′) with Doug, a fellow Potomac Mountain Club member, to climb the Mount Shuksan Fisher Chimneys route. Both of us are originally from the Pacific Northwest but now live inside the DC Beltway… I must say it was so great to be back in the Cascades! I’ve had thoughts of Mount Shuksan and hoped …

Stormy, Hot, and Humid: Climbing at Seneca Rocks with PATC-MS

This past weekend was the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club – Mountaineering Section’s annual Fourth of July get together at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. About 15 or so folks from the DC Metro Area braved an extremely violent wind and thunderstorm and a weekend of appallingly hot and oppressively humid weather to get together for climbing at Seneca Rocks, WV. It …

Old Rag at Sunrise

Backpacking White Oak Canyon, Stony Man, and Old Rag at Sunrise

Saturday morning, three of us from DC UL Backpacking headed out to Shenandoah National Park for waterfalls, some strenuous climbs, and absolutely stunning vistas over the course of 19+ miles on this Old Rag backpacking trip. The highlight of the trip was a bright and early alpine start for an Old Rag sunrise hike to watch the sun come up …

Climbing at New River Gorge Memorial Day Weekend

I joined a small group of twelve or so DC area climbers who were taking advantage of the long Memorial Day Weekend to make the more than five-hour drive to the popular New River Gorge in southeastern West Virginia. Some of the group was old faces but most were new to me on this New River Gorge Memorial Day trip. …

Going from a Traditional Hiker to an Ultralight Backpacker

It’s been almost three years since my first backpacking trip out here on the East Coast. I had been living in DC for almost two years with not much exploration of nature beyond the Beltway. Being from the Northwest I had initially kind of (unfairly) dismissed the hiking and backpacking opportunities available here in the Mid-Atlantic. Well, after so much …