{"id":221,"date":"2024-11-27T01:59:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T01:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/?p=221"},"modified":"2024-11-27T02:00:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T02:00:01","slug":"ridgeline-cold-rain-contingency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/?p=221","title":{"rendered":"Ridgeline: Cold rain contingency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Original plan was North Fork Middle Fork Willamette<\/a> out of Westfir. Weather was sketchy and degrading … checked early in the morning and temperatures <40, rain until noon. A solo hike (with serious mud) with 2 hours car time in cold rain? No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pulled the contingency plan. Ridgeline Trail<\/a> from early am with 20 miles and >4,000 elevation gain the goal. Turned out, no rain hard enough to put on rain shell, and temperatures in the 40s; but the fog and mist … <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Route<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Started around 6:15 with headlamp from Blanton Ridge TH to Spencer top; down to S. Willamette TH and back to Spencer top; then down to Fox Hollow and on to top of Baldy; back to Spencer top and then back to S. Willamette TH and then up the shoulder and back down to Blanton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I crossed N. Willamette TH first time with headlamp still on, a chorus of owls sang to the rising light – there must have been 3-4 singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recorded Track<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Human traffic was light. At the start, several headlamp runners and then nobody for 2 hours. Trail conditions were a bit sloppy but really soft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter which time at Spencer Top, the fog just wouldn’t leave. The first time up, I was there alone in the fog …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Along the way<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This small guy only had 1 antler … looked the other either broke off or just didn’t grow. He did not look that healthy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snowberries hanging on to the rain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I really wanted to hike further out of town, the weather and driving times just couldn’t clear the bar. Ridgeline Trail as a contingency was perfect. Did not quite hit the 20 miles mark, but did exceed the 4,000 elevation gain – goal mostly met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data Geek Corner<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Shoes<\/strong>: Altra WP Lone Peak lowers<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Pack<\/strong>: Yar.gear Ultra 38L \u2013 full shoulder season kit<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Upper Layers<\/strong>: 3 (base layer, med Patagonia tech, med tech)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Upper shell<\/strong>: None<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Trekking Poles<\/strong>: Yes – typical usage<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Approximate Times<\/strong>: 06:15 to 13:00<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Carbon ratio<\/strong>: .5 total driving \u2013 1.5 target, 6.5 actual \u2013 113.6 banked YTD<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Original plan was North Fork Middle Fork Willamette out of Westfir. Weather was sketchy and degrading … checked early in the morning and temperatures <40, rain until noon. A solo hike (with serious mud) with 2 hours car time in cold rain? No. Pulled the contingency plan. Ridgeline Trail from early am with 20 miles…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-day-hikes","tag-ridgeline-trail"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/goatbells.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/DSCN7799.jpg?fit=2048%2C1536&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235,"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions\/235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}