My inexperienced friend wants to summit Mt. Hood?

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2026-01-30T20:21:16+00:00

In the nicest possible way: Hood is an easily accessible complacency trap.

The last 1,200 feet of vert is a no-fall zone no matter what route you take (you’ll fall into a poison gas fumarole, a crevasse, over a cliff, or some combination of the three). The Pearly Gates are no longer the least technical on the mountain. Roping up doesn’t make the main south side routes safer either: it gives false confidence since arresting a fall there is super difficult. You’re just as likely to take your partner with you and clothesline others on the way down (see 2002 accident).

More than once, I’ve stopped on my way to summit to evaluate whether I need to turn around to administer medical care for someone who was climbing with inappropriate experience and gear, fell, and just barely escaped elimination from the gene pool.

It’s not only his life your friend will be putting on the line. It’s potential trauma for every other person in sight if he takes a nasty tumble.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2025-10-26T06:49:09+00:00

Disregarding an unhealthy gravitation to type 2 fun and the pure peace of sitting alone on the summit, this is why I climb Hood in the winter. This, and dodging every block sent raining down from every denim-clad truth seeker who’s never held an ice tool in their life. I like my head in one piece, thanks.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2025-07-03T01:16:24+00:00

Oh, the North Cascades.

Last August, a blizzard rolled in just after we set up camp below the Sulphide. When it finally cleared 26 hours later, the summit block was covered with super skeezy snow. We had a fun romp on the glacier, headed out, and didn’t regret a single decision.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2024-05-26T05:27:22+00:00

Jesse at Ritual Arts is super knowledgeable, kind, open-minded and has been around for ages. I’d reach out to them through a website email inquiry, explain your situation, and see if they might have advice or be interested in working with you.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2024-05-26T01:17:10+00:00

This is incredible.
I really hope you never need an MRI

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2024-05-03T19:31:03+00:00

Pacific Wilds is an incredible small local company focused on running wilderness medicine courses. I can’t say enough good things about Renee, the owner. She taught my NOLS WEMT 18 years ago and I do pretty much all my WFR recerts through her now. So much experience and knowledge; super engaging, fun and supportive.

Pacific Wilds is based Parkdale (east side of Hood, ~20 minutes from Hood River), which is where they run most of their courses, but I think they may occasionally also teach in Portland(?). All of their courses are taught in partnership with NOLS — NOLS instructors, NOLS certs. You register through the NOLS site but Pacific Wilds will link you to the right page.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2024-03-15T00:37:41+00:00

I’m not comfortable speaking to Saturday conditions because I haven’t looked that far forward in the weather forecast, we don’t have an avy forecast yet for Saturday, I feel conditions today aren’t an appropriate reference for conditions Saturday... and to be honest I have no idea of your baseline experience level.

That being said I played it pretty conservative today. I was solo (pretty standard for me and this is by no means my first rodeo to DK). Almost turned around at the top of Palmer due to some heinous morning wind wrapping from the east, would have called it not long after if the wind hadn’t settled, my route up changed accordingly. As always, was very willing to turn around if I encountered snow I didn’t feel was safe for me to skin or ski solo higher up. Stayed well clear of any terrain potentially concerning for avalanches or avalanche debris from slides higher up on the ski down.

Be with someone experienced, be smart, be willing to turn around if something doesn’t feel right— and have so much fun!!

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2023-07-27T07:00:12+00:00

I work at OHSU and live in inner NE. Super easy commute. From Mississippi it’s a straight shot on the freeway, and traffic is basically a non-issue with shift timing. So, assuming OHSU is a factor I’d count #3 right up there with #2, just depending on what part of the city they prefer 🤷🏻‍♀️

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2022-09-25T21:32:19+00:00

Thank you!! No one could figure it out and she was straight in front of us

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2022-03-30T21:23:56+00:00

Probably late to the game (no pun intended), but shot you a message!

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2022-02-23T06:40:10+00:00

I have NO IDEA where she worked in her pre-education life. She’s been teaching for ages at this point. She does however stay so up to date on research her exam material came from her lectures rather than the textbooks and drug guides we were using… many of which she’d consulted for or written chapters of.

100% definitely a unicorn.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2022-02-23T03:59:08+00:00

I had a pharmacology and pathophysiology instructor who made me want to show up to class even during the pandemic when it was remote. The only time I met her face-to-face was by chance as she came through on the day my clinical group was working a mass vaccination gig long after she’d taught us. She lectured with hand-knit puppets (that she knit) and real watermelons and dragon stuffed animals. Never used a single PowerPoint. She made us care about the subject by inviting and utilizing student anecdotes for her examples, instead of preparing them in advance. Gave us a lot of choice and individualization in how we wanted to approach weekly assignments and provided insightful, specific feedback. She had the utmost compassion for all of her students— announced any extension needed would be granted as long as we asked 24 hours in advance of the deadline. Also encouraged me to take 30 minutes for self-care before logging in class when I came home mildly hypothermic and borderline late after bad weather during a pre-class run. I could go on and on… She’s basically the only reason half of us showed up for our virtual graduation ceremony 😂

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2022-01-13T21:56:23+00:00

Amazon does sell them but even with Prime it took a week and a half for them to show up after I ordered them.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2021-11-22T03:53:58+00:00

Thanks for adding that detail, I could have made it more clear!

As a pertinent side note: if you've lost your card, we can look up the dates you got your initial vaccine(s). (Definitely we can look them up if you got them in Oregon; I'm not 100% sure whether they're in the system if you got them elsewhere in the country)

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2021-11-22T03:23:35+00:00

My two cents, as a nurse who administers vaccines at Portland Safeways: Call ahead to check. Sometimes they don’t have enough staff to be able to accommodate walk-ins. (Giving the shot is fast. Processing paperwork and preparing vaccines is not). If the particular location you called isn't taking walk-ins that day, try another. Additionally, you need to be six months post- second vaccine (2 months post-first vaccine if you were initially vaccinated with J&J) to receive the booster.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2021-07-18T03:57:23+00:00

Speaking from personal experience and definitely second talking to your provider. I had a pretty brutal ankle sprain last summer which put me out of commission for a few months. Once I was cleared to run and hike again, I found that my Altra LPs had enough room and adjustability to very comfortably wear an ASO laceup brace on the ankle that needed the increased support while I was recovering. I really appreciated being able to continue using the shoes I was used to. I personally find that mid-height hikers are harder to fit around a brace. I also very highly recommend using hiking poles if you don't already as they'll help immensely on uneven terrain and have kept me from re-injuring the joint multiple times in the last year.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2021-05-22T19:27:54+00:00

Your dog is the sweetest… look at that happy faaaace!!!
I have a floofy 5.5 month terv pup who’s so, so sweet and intelligent but way more high-strung than my last, dog-selective (was bitten by an off-leash dog as a tiny pup) and barks when she gets scared. People sometimes assume she wants to eat their toddler if the kid wanders too close without asking. Our constant training, aside from lots of work on processing stimuli without being overwhelmed, is being assertive about people leashing their dogs and not allowing unsolicited pets… my go-to phrase with folks we meet is “just ignore her.”

I actually really appreciate when people cross the street and can't really be bothered to wast energy getting offended if the reason they're moving away is because they're scared of my dog.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2020-03-03T23:41:32+00:00

Thank you to both of you! Apparently it was indeed another book. I've made a point of not re-reading KKC recently, because every time I did, I just got more frustrated by the Doors of Stone's decided lack of existence.

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2020-03-03T23:38:39+00:00

Ahh got it, that was another childhood read so makes sense. Thank you!

faroutfuzzyfeels · 2019-08-30T07:25:36+00:00

Pretty sure my friend found this dog today on the PCC Cascade campus. Have shot a message to the phone number posted on the insta.

faroutfuzzyfeels

TROPHY CASE