Alpinfox Posted July 9, 2007 Posted July 9, 2007 Trip: Paisano Pinnacle - West Ridge Date: 7/8/2007 Trip Report: Fred Beckey, MattP, and I hiked up towards Burgundy Col on Saturday with the goal of climbing Paisano Pinnacle on Sunday. We made camp, fed some mosquitos, found some water, drank some tasty tasty wine (not Paisano flavor unfortunately), and smoked a cigar with the hopes of chasing off the mosquitos (no luck there). We got up the next morning and started hiking towards the base, but The Fred Machine ran out of gas about 300ft vertical below the base of the route, so we hung out and enjoyed the views. Fred pointed out peaks and regailed us with stories of first ascents and epic, pre-highway approaches. We hung out for quite a while hoping Fred might find his second wind, but some rotten cream cheese ("I DUNNO HOW OLD IT IS. NOT THAT OLD. ABOUT A MONTH. IT'S BEEN IN THE ICEBOX THE WHOLE TIME") and a sore back conspired to turn him around. While Fred trundled back to camp, Matt and I headed up the route. It was pretty good. A couple short sections of real rock climbing interspersed with a lot of wandering around corners and licheny, but very solid blocks wondering where the route was supposed to go. From the summit, one two-rope rap and a single rope rap got us to Burgandy Col. After scree-skiing back down to camp and meeting up with Fredley, we had a nice, slow hike down. I enjoyed the pace of the hike as I got to do a lot of thinking, looking around, and learning about WA state flora which Matt knows a lot about, "five nails to the bunch - whitebark pine, two nails to the bunch - lodgepole" It was a fun outing except for the crux pitches between WA Pass and Marblemount (5.11 R) which Fred led at between 25 and 70mph with no direct correlation to road curvature. I got a massive pump from gripping the OH SHIT handle. Pictures: Fred and Matt crossing Early Winters Creek Enjoying the views Evening alpenglow on the west faces of the wine spires and Silver Star from camp Paisano Pinnacle Annotated MattP starting pitch 6 Matt leading us to the summit Take home message from this trip: Slow down and appreciate the little things Hopefully MattP will post a few pics from his camera soon. Gear Notes: Sagelands Cabernet Sauvignon (should have had Paisano) Singles of blue alien to #3 camalot and a few nutz. #1 camalot got a lot of use. Ski poles were really nice for the ascent and descent from Burgundy Col. Approach Notes: Like an amazonian sloth whore. Long, slow, and loose. Quote
Winter Posted July 9, 2007 Posted July 9, 2007 I hope I can get even part way up that approach slog when I'm 80-ish. Quote
Weekend_Climberz Posted July 9, 2007 Posted July 9, 2007 Sounds like you guys had fun. I always do when I'm with Fred. :tup: Quote
mattp Posted July 10, 2007 Posted July 10, 2007 This picture doesn't show the thermometer, but it was plenty hot: And here are a few shots of Mr. Fox, high on the route: As always, a good time was had by all and it was great to get up high and look around. Thanks, Fox. Quote
Alpinfox Posted July 10, 2007 Author Posted July 10, 2007 My favorite bit of the climb. Thanks for posting the pics Matt! Interesting factoid: I just found out that "paisano" means "companion or pal"; I had assumed it was a variety of wine or grape Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.