Matthew Alan Thyer's Blog, page 7

Remembering Tazul

A year ago today we lost my friend Jim Knee.

Our paths first crossed because of a series of unfortunate circumstances. On a late August afternoon in 2009 I was trail running Section J of the Pacific Crest Trail. At the time, I worked for Microsoft in Redmond, WA and lived in Ellensburg, WA so after clearing my calendar for the week I headed over Snoqualmie pass intending to run a good section of the trail, bivy for an hour or two, then turn around and run back down to my truck. I was pushing ...

Gratitude

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It’s been quite a while since I bothered to do one of these so it’s overdue. And I’ve got buckets to be thankful for. Today my eldest son turned 24 years old. He’s shacked up with an intelligent, capable, and beautiful woman who genuinely seems to love and appreciate him for (perhaps not despite) his quirks. I haven’t died yet although death has certainly seemed closer than I’d like recently. My youngest son occasionally looks up from his computer long enough to acknowledge his dear old Dad....

Teneriffe Falls Hike

Blue sky and bushels of people. Perhaps climbing up to Teneriffe Falls on a Saturday was my first mistake, but my original plan which was to summit Granite Peak was interrupted by a rash of good sense after taking a gander at the weather forecast. It’s prudent to wait until those snow fields melt out at this point, so I looked for something to fill the gap.

The parking lot for Teneriffe and Si were packed in like sardines. There was a row of people on the road outside Si who had “tow” w...

Trail Culture

I’ve been toying with what to title this post most of the last 24 hours. Yesterday I went for a hike on a **very** busy Issaquah Alps trail. Given the amazing weather and the loosening mask mandates I fully expected hoards of people to take advantage of the trail and that’s, at least in part, what I was there for. But, even after a lifetime of hiking, I was surprised by the ignorance into which I’d plunged.

It’s crowded

You see, as with most things, there are customs and habits that form a...

Some times the bear does you

Oh look it’s a North West Naïve Mallard

Yesterday I woke up bright and early intending to head over near the Stuart Range for some lower elevation, early season hill climbing. I’d been watching the weather and the traffic cameras (Blewett pass in particular) and figured it was at least worth a try.

Summary report: bring skis. So the road is blocked with snow drifts about 1.2 miles (2 km) before the trailhead to Iron Peak (trail #1399). I arrived at the blockage early afternoon under a most...

Let Me Know

An example of a highlight from Mailbox Peak climb

Hello Friends I’ve got a question for you. So, my last video, the one in which I hike up Mailbox Peak, is basically the whole climb. From the point I start up the trail to the summit, all two hours and 33 minutes of it. I did not film the descent, although I suppose I could have. As the season opens up and things start to melt my hikes are going to be longer. Many of them are going to include sections winding through groves of trees which look...

Busy Mailbox Peak Climb

The new Mailbox Peak trail traverses Pacific Northwest history as it climbs up through a forest. For ages this ascent has been used by aspiring climbers as a training run to prepare for more challenging hills like Mount Rainier. Even today you’ll see people bedecked in mountaineering gear stomping to the top. Pay special attention to the stumps as we pass by too because this forest used to be dominated by the Western Red Cedar. The whole slope has been forested for generations and now the pr...

Lake Serene Hill Climb

One of the most popular hikes along the Highway 2/Steven’s Pass corridor in Washington State it pays to get up to Lake Serene before the crowds descend up upon this area. With nearly 2000′ of elevation gain in the first half this isn’t for the faint of heart. After crossing Bridal Veil Creek be prepared to pick your way over boulders and even loose rocks. From a snowy perch overlooking the still frozen Lake Serene you can take in Mount Index as the sun sinks into its silent shadow. Silent,...

West Tiger Mountain Hill Climb

West Tiger Mountain trail is an icon of the Issaquah Alps. There’s always plenty of foot traffic sweating its way to the amazing views overlooking the Puget Sound and the greater Seattle metro area. The hill also serves as launch for the soaring crowd to take flight. Spring in Western Washington is prime season for these folks. The lucky ones will launch from Tiger, catch a thermal up to elevation and go on glide for a cross country flight who knows how far. It’s common to see these people...

An Apology

An apology is in order. Last Friday I headed up Mount Si intending to capture the trail for a second trail video in March. In okay weather, I made it to the top, took a couple of photos, then turned tail and scurried down the mountain before the next wave of storms started moving through the area.

Haystack from Mount Si

Saturday dawned soggy and moist. I was sore and well really tired. I plugged memory into computer to extract my precious footage from camera only to discover that I had abo...