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Volcán de Fuego and Acatenango 11/11-12/2024
11/11-12/2024 This whole trip started on the 9th with a meeting at the OX expedition headquarters in Antigua. I immediately got bad feelings. They asked us to give them our IDs to hold for the trip for renting gear, Ross and I literally only rented a sleeping bag liner. I was NOT into giving my ID and I almost argued, but no one else seemed to have an issue with it at least it was not my passport, that would have been a hard no. Ross made a comment about the people in the meeting with us, being “its exactly the type of people I’d expect” which he meant Instagram…
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Guatemala Birding 11/6-8/2024
Guatemala Birding 11/6-8/2024 Day 1 We landed in Guatemala City at 6 AM and our bird guide was there waiting! We had talked to the guide Josue over WhatsApp about a month prior to our arrival and he told us he would get us an itinerary over the weekend and he did not until about the weekend before we left. I was worried about it the whole time but Ross kept telling me, everyone is not as uptight as us American’s, and he was right. Over our conversation we told Josue we wanted to see the Pink-headed Warbler and possibly a Quetzal and as many birds as we could see…
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Stiletto Peak Lookout 10/25/2024
10/25/2024 10.2 miles 3900 ft We were looking for a hike that was about 3500-4000 feet of gain. I really wanted to try and find some larches if they were still larching around. Ross had suggested Stiletto Peak earlier in the week and I got my heart set on it, as I do. There was the idea of possibly trying to scramble the peak but we were going to have to see how it looked when we got up there, I had not read too many reports some saying class 3. Luckily, he was agreeable and we set off about 6:45 AM and got to the Bridge Creek Trailhead off…
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Tomyhoi False Summit 10/13/2024
Tomyhoi false summit 9/13/2024 10.3 3,200 ft Ross and I decided to head up the Yellow Aster Butte Trail. This was after a couple of unfortunately bad life weeks where I was not able to get out and do anything. But I kicked myself out of the funk and we really needed to start getting some hiking in before Guatemala. A fellow birder friend of our had gone up the previous day and saw a couple bird species that we would like to see so that gave us the idea of this one. We did not plan on leaving super early and got to the trailhead at 9:30 AM and…
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Driveway Butte 9/13/2024
Driveway Butte 9/13/2024 9.0 miles 3100 ft Picked this one to do on our way to Winthrop for a Hart’s Pass birding weekend. Hart’s Pass area has a tiny bit of Whatcom County still on the eastern side of the Cascades so it still counts for my Whatcom County list! This trail was nice because it was right off HWY 20 starting by the Klipchuck Campground, we were the only ones in the parking lot. Starting off on trail 481 and then take a right on the Driveway Butte Trail, there is a sign that says 4 miles to the top. Right away we were excited about the new birds…
