- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 3,761
Ho! Ho! Ho! Happy X-Moose Eve from Scataclaus! Have all the BCPers been good little hikers/backpackers and paddlers this year? I suspect that most have, though that @Rockskipper is probably walking a fine line between good and bad.
For those who were bad in 2021, you'll have some bogs, marshes, and downfall to contend with in 2022, and maybe even some dreaded carcass dumps to wander through. Ho! Ho! Ho!
So last night I went to bed thinking that I was going to wake up to snow on the ground, but alas it only rained here in the valley. This is important because I had planned on summitting Mount Olympus with my son today, but I was too chicken to contend with the weather. So I got up around 7:30 this morning and realizing that it hadn't snowed, I thought that we could get a hike in before the next storm moved in this afternoon. Again I thought about Olympus, but my wife said that the storm was going to move in between one and two in the afternoon, and that didn't give us enough time at my sloth pace to avoid bad weather. So we decided to do a quick short hike up Jack's Mountain instead.
We ended up getting home just after one in the afternoon, and Sheila told me that the storm was not due in until four o'clock now. So I probably could have gotten Olympus in after all. That's what I get for waffling back and forth.
I'm testing out a camera that I have never used before on this hike. I bought a Fuji Finepix XP140 on sale at Costco about three years ago and it has just sat in its box ever since. It is supposed to be a waterproof point-and-shoot, but since it didn't start raining or snowing on us today, I can't verify that. Otherwise, it took some decent pictures for a point-and-shoot I think.
![01.jpg 01.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105728-655e71869481741d929dc11fd7668f9e.jpg)
Shot from the trailhead
![02.jpg 02.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105729-9906407d3eb27c5a610838d55f108b85.jpg)
Well there is old Scataclaus now. I think that @Bob and @TractorDoc may have slipped some lumps of coal into my knapsack for
this hike. My intelligence sources say the @The Trout Whisperer and @Rockskipper might have put them up to it, but they are the
ones who did the dead so I'll have to get them back next summer. Ho! Ho! Ho!
![03.jpg 03.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105730-5d88e6e42231232a9520e9129b361366.jpg)
Scataclaus' reindeer perhaps? Ho! Ho! Ho!
![04.jpg 04.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105731-4af6a4df3631340bc644adefb4652228.jpg)
The dreaded false summit
![05.jpg 05.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105732-99b720a7da2a0597016c9ccac75c9888.jpg)
The airplane beacon on Mount Wire
![06.jpg 06.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105733-af8290d562155d2378359a7fda59043e.jpg)
The true summit comes into view
![07.jpg 07.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105734-e6dd87f8480fc8181fb6d8ee9aa3e506.jpg)
Obligatory shot of Mount Olympus
![07b.jpg 07b.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105735-d37217fbdf51e45e71bc0015f17eceea.jpg)
Scat Jr.
![08.jpg 08.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105736-eeb0990e9a623d140bdcd52e376e5b3a.jpg)
Snow covered trail from this point on
![09.jpg 09.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105737-a801a9de2735c687866ef14b77568483.jpg)
This hike is kind of a steep bugger.
![10.jpg 10.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105738-962fa597e6dfdb7a352a239621c9fcef.jpg)
Arriving at the summit
![11.jpg 11.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105739-fe785095dbbc55a0ab65f88f956f576e.jpg)
Spring Canyon
![12.jpg 12.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105740-5892ae76576b02ab7ec13a32016712d3.jpg)
View to the north
![13.jpg 13.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105741-33441310d0eb97cc4f108834386025e6.jpg)
Lots of hiking cheer to deliver this evening! Ho! Ho! Ho!
![14.jpg 14.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105742-e3d48c72c6bbd4b1a4216599e785a07d.jpg)
Scataclaus is snacking on a fig newton.
![15.jpg 15.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105743-d69f70429049540cb63c81e561658109.jpg)
The red rocks on the northern ridge of Spring Canyon
![16.jpg 16.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105744-eaa2dd78b9cb5e0be6348731c06c182e.jpg)
Jack's Mountain on our way back down.
![17.jpg 17.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105745-feb216a29a8e988bba5cb959614a8bee.jpg)
Jack's Mountain on the left and Parley's Ridge on the right
![18.jpg 18.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105746-093a2ff39fa6a46c9b4f2d0d43af6cce.jpg)
An invitation to continue on?![Thinking :thinking: :thinking:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![19.jpg 19.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105747-f9bf0858ab2e230467903d34272dc757.jpg)
Back at Scataclaus' sleigh. Ho! Ho! Ho!
![DSCF0108.JPG DSCF0108.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105748-8a929acf7ac702d0b9caa7f281a789bd.jpg)
Awaiting me at home! Can you find the Grizzly Bear? Ho! Ho! Ho!
Well, wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season and hope 2022 brings you good health, adventure and friendship along your trials. Ho! Ho! Ho!
The End
So last night I went to bed thinking that I was going to wake up to snow on the ground, but alas it only rained here in the valley. This is important because I had planned on summitting Mount Olympus with my son today, but I was too chicken to contend with the weather. So I got up around 7:30 this morning and realizing that it hadn't snowed, I thought that we could get a hike in before the next storm moved in this afternoon. Again I thought about Olympus, but my wife said that the storm was going to move in between one and two in the afternoon, and that didn't give us enough time at my sloth pace to avoid bad weather. So we decided to do a quick short hike up Jack's Mountain instead.
We ended up getting home just after one in the afternoon, and Sheila told me that the storm was not due in until four o'clock now. So I probably could have gotten Olympus in after all. That's what I get for waffling back and forth.
I'm testing out a camera that I have never used before on this hike. I bought a Fuji Finepix XP140 on sale at Costco about three years ago and it has just sat in its box ever since. It is supposed to be a waterproof point-and-shoot, but since it didn't start raining or snowing on us today, I can't verify that. Otherwise, it took some decent pictures for a point-and-shoot I think.
![01.jpg 01.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105728-655e71869481741d929dc11fd7668f9e.jpg)
Shot from the trailhead
![02.jpg 02.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105729-9906407d3eb27c5a610838d55f108b85.jpg)
Well there is old Scataclaus now. I think that @Bob and @TractorDoc may have slipped some lumps of coal into my knapsack for
this hike. My intelligence sources say the @The Trout Whisperer and @Rockskipper might have put them up to it, but they are the
ones who did the dead so I'll have to get them back next summer. Ho! Ho! Ho!
![03.jpg 03.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105730-5d88e6e42231232a9520e9129b361366.jpg)
Scataclaus' reindeer perhaps? Ho! Ho! Ho!
![04.jpg 04.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105731-4af6a4df3631340bc644adefb4652228.jpg)
The dreaded false summit
![05.jpg 05.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105732-99b720a7da2a0597016c9ccac75c9888.jpg)
The airplane beacon on Mount Wire
![06.jpg 06.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105733-af8290d562155d2378359a7fda59043e.jpg)
The true summit comes into view
![07.jpg 07.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105734-e6dd87f8480fc8181fb6d8ee9aa3e506.jpg)
Obligatory shot of Mount Olympus
![07b.jpg 07b.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105735-d37217fbdf51e45e71bc0015f17eceea.jpg)
Scat Jr.
![08.jpg 08.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105736-eeb0990e9a623d140bdcd52e376e5b3a.jpg)
Snow covered trail from this point on
![09.jpg 09.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105737-a801a9de2735c687866ef14b77568483.jpg)
This hike is kind of a steep bugger.
![10.jpg 10.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105738-962fa597e6dfdb7a352a239621c9fcef.jpg)
Arriving at the summit
![11.jpg 11.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105739-fe785095dbbc55a0ab65f88f956f576e.jpg)
Spring Canyon
![12.jpg 12.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105740-5892ae76576b02ab7ec13a32016712d3.jpg)
View to the north
![13.jpg 13.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105741-33441310d0eb97cc4f108834386025e6.jpg)
Lots of hiking cheer to deliver this evening! Ho! Ho! Ho!
![14.jpg 14.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105742-e3d48c72c6bbd4b1a4216599e785a07d.jpg)
Scataclaus is snacking on a fig newton.
![15.jpg 15.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105743-d69f70429049540cb63c81e561658109.jpg)
The red rocks on the northern ridge of Spring Canyon
![16.jpg 16.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105744-eaa2dd78b9cb5e0be6348731c06c182e.jpg)
Jack's Mountain on our way back down.
![17.jpg 17.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105745-feb216a29a8e988bba5cb959614a8bee.jpg)
Jack's Mountain on the left and Parley's Ridge on the right
![18.jpg 18.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105746-093a2ff39fa6a46c9b4f2d0d43af6cce.jpg)
An invitation to continue on?
![19.jpg 19.jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105747-f9bf0858ab2e230467903d34272dc757.jpg)
Back at Scataclaus' sleigh. Ho! Ho! Ho!
![DSCF0108.JPG DSCF0108.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/105/105748-8a929acf7ac702d0b9caa7f281a789bd.jpg)
Awaiting me at home! Can you find the Grizzly Bear? Ho! Ho! Ho!
Well, wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season and hope 2022 brings you good health, adventure and friendship along your trials. Ho! Ho! Ho!
The End
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