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Get your comments in by May 2, folks!

Regarding Roundhouse/Anderson-Watson: This is my favorite of the proposed locations from a ski perspective. However, one of the proponents has moved to Bozeman and the other hasn't been responding to requests to talk about it. It is unclear whether that group is seriously interested in making that hut happen or not.

I sure hope they put in bear boxes at the campgrounds. That makes things just so much easier than carrying bear cans/hanging/etc.

I was at the meeting, too. My takeaways were that things are just too vague--various clarifications were made at the meeting but we need to see things in writing to be sure that's the real plan. @tbickford I felt like I heard something different in what Abram said. I thought he said they'd like "2 huts at the Heliotrope trailhead", not Grouse ridge etc. I personally don't think there will be enough demand at Heliotrope midwinter to make even 1 hut work, since there is very limited protected terrain (at least that I'm aware of). Maybe the glamping crowd will be into it regardless. I am involved with CBA, and we put together this blog post asking people to comment: https://www.cascadebackcountryalliance.com/post/4-huts-proposed-for-mt-baker-region (There is a minor mistake in the post; the snowmobile club hut is not an overnight one)

Drove up on Tuesday, April 23 to check on any winter's damage. The road to the parking lot is in great condition, with no new damage. Hiking up found a lot of new rocks have slid down into the area which has stopped all car traffic in recent years, about a quarter-mile up from the parking lot. I dragged many of them away to form a smooth path through the rock pile. Further up, used the axe to clear away several large alder and one fir log. The road/trail is now clear for bike riding to all turnoffs to the Squire Creek Wall routes. A huge log came down in the landslide area, pushing small alders over the trail: Further on, logs across the road were easily cut with the axe: I spent the rest of the afternoon moving rocks from the rockslide area just a quarter-mile above the parking lot. The resulting path is smooth but much higher than before; I'm not sure I can ride it with my meager bike-handling skills.

Solid!! Well done on a route that doesn't see a lot of traffic. It always seems a bit insecure and scary up that thing, but looks like you found it in good conditions this year. Sunday was definitely nice and cold up there (we were shivering on Goat wall!), which is I think quite key.

Sure, that is how this all reads. I'll go back to my ivory tower.

Trip: Washington Pass - North Early Winter Spire: Early Winter Couloir. Trip Date: 04/21/2024 Trip Report: https://www.gorobets.com/TRs/Early_Winter_Couloir_2024_04_21.html Gear Notes: two 60m ropes cams 0.05-3 2 pickets small nuts pins (didn’t end up using) five screws 9-13cm Approach Notes: No flotation was needed.

Excellent condition, all seams intact with no cracking. The only issue is some discoloration from dirt which I have tried to show in the photos. I have washed the item with TechWash but I bet some elbow grease on the discolored parts would do the trick. This retails for $1000. Jacket is in truly great condition, I just am selling because I bought a different one in a preferred color.

Will some areas be closed temporarily - I'm sure they will but some on this thread make it sound like the park will shut down. That is not the experience in YNP, Tetons, Grand Canyon or in AK so there's that. Yes, my priority is wildlife. Read the mission of the park service: to preserve and protect resources while providing for the enjoyment of the same. It is a balancing act. Traditionally the park service leans toward preservation in part because there are so many other public resources and because too much "enjoyment" is seen to threaten conservation (I think this is often overstated). I think it is interesting that you are so willing to go on the attack of my motives but seem not to question your own. Who is being superior here? As for behaviors post bear reintroduction - I suspect there will be more bear proof containers in campgrounds and communities. There will be calls to carry bear spray and bear proof food containers and/or bear poles to hoist food in the backcountry. The most important change will be your behavior. Will you go into bear country with the frame of mind of getting along and appreciating the experience or not. If not, that's on you. If yes, your experience will change in my opinion for the better. BTW - this is very likely far down the road for the Cascades, bears do not reproduce quickly.

This is a potentially ignorant question, but what changes in behavior would be expected of climbers now that reintroduction measures have been approved? Would it basically be along the lines of carry bear spray and double down on responsible storage of smellables. From an admittedly naïve perspective, these two factors would seem relatively negligible, so I would see the potential negatives of reintroduction as being primarily focused on potential mismanagement by NCNP, rather than the factors inherent in the reintroduction itself.

I am considering climbing Mount Rainier...if I can find a climbing partner around Memorial Day weekend or the several days after with similar fitness and experience. May 25-30 is my schedule window. I have a lot of the personal equipment, plastic mountaineering boots, ice axe, crampons, helmet, harness, carabiners, prusik cords, pulley, and snow pickets. I do not currently have a dry-treated rope. I would like to do the DC route/Ingraham Direct route, depending on which route is currently in. My experience includes 37 Colorado 14ers, 67 New England Peaks in winter, various snow gullies on Mt. Washington, Mount St Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Thielsen, South Sister, Mount Hood(2 attempts), and Mount Whitney in snowy conditions. Daniel

I crossed the Barrier in summer of '09 from Terror Basin and I don't remember a snow gully. I do remember steep compact dirt and a lot of whining. Maybe it is just a seasonal snow thing? Snowpack seems to be going away earlier each year.

And how are you sure of this? The NPS has shown in the North Cascades that they prioritize bears over recreation, most recently with the Terror basin closure this past summer. And yes, I am selfishly focused on recreation in our national parks, while you're focused on wildlife and think that is a superior attitude (by your lecturing and scolding of alternate viewpoints). Not quite sure how you figure who is superior in these arguments, but you seem to have drawn the line @jdj.

Nor should it be. I've been around Grizzly bears nearly my whole life. I've worked in their habitat, I've recreated where they live, I frequently ski and climb in their backyard, etc. The amount of pissing and moaning on this thread is a disappointment. There won't be trails closed, there won't be any significant disturbance to your recreation, and you are not going to be torn to bits. Chances are in the Cascades you will never see one. Even here in the GYE we rarely do and we have somewhere north of 700 around here. In the old days most climbers and lovers of wild lands were, to some degree, conservationists. They supported national parks, public lands, and restoration of those lands. That seems to be less true today. Now it seems many want better trails and access but could care less about the land and ecosystem itself - sounds a bit selfish to me. Any by the way - money for trails does not come out of the same fiscal pot as money to restore bears.

Really nice photos, very cool Slesse/Baker overlay especially

I tried to cross the barrier in August 2015, but not by the way you describe. I did not see any obvious snow gully and my guess is that snow/glacier recession has left it nonviable... but I could be wrong.

The outcome was never in doubt.

Alternative C was approved. It will be interesting to see this play out over the next decade. Joint Record of Decision With a Record of Decision signed in April 2024, the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have decided to actively restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades of Washington, where the animals once roamed. The agencies will restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades ecosystem through the translocation of grizzly bears from other ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains or interior British Columbia. The decision is the culmination of an Environmental Impact Statement process that began in 2022. Under the decision, grizzly bears in the North Cascades will be designated as a nonessential experimental population under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act. The designation will provide authorities and land managers with additional tools for management that would not otherwise be available under existing Endangered Species Act regulations. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will publish a final 10(j) rule in the Federal Register. GrizzlyBearRestoration_ROD_Final_Signed_ForPosting.pdf

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PM'd on harness

I would like to upcycled unwanted/used/broken climbing rope. I'm looking for both dynamic or static, all colors, any length. Do you have some? Do you know where to get some? Please share with me! Renee.

Trip: Williams Peak - Standard Trip Date: 04/13/2024 Trip Report: Over the past year of so I've gotten reacquainted with the Chilliwack Lake environs. It is just as close to my house as many areas of the Cascades and offers some new peaks to ponder and some unfamiliar views of familiar peaks. And, for whatever reason, I've been able to mostly have these mountains to myself on the handful of trips that I've taken up there. Williams Peak was no exception a couple weeks ago - I didn't see a soul after leaving the car. For such a striking peak on a fine spring day, I was a bit surprised. But there was definitely slogging, and that probably explains the solitude. The trail gains almost 3000' in the first mile and a half, and then there are two miles of undulating ridge to slog in snowshoes. But the scenic rewards, as you'll see below, were quite great beyond that. Plus, it did get more entertaining for the final 1000' up the steepening gully to the summit, dodging small wet slides and eyeing the cliffs above me suspiciously. I had read about annoying talus and steep heather once the snow melts off so a spring ascent might be the ticket on this one, even if it is more work. For me, being able to get a good look at the north faces of Rexford and Slesse draped in the think mantle of a late season snowpack more than made up for any discomfort. Williams from the valley bottom. Prepare to work! First glimpse of North side of Slesse: Chilliwack Lake: North side of Rexford with Shuksan in the distance: Slesse with Baker behind: Welch and Foley (gotta get in there next!): Look back at Williams from the slog out the ridge: Gear Notes: Snowshoes, I'm afraid. This wouldn't be a great ski with the up and down and endless forest. Crampons, helmet, and axe in early season- it is steep in the final gully Approach Notes: Chilliwack Lake Road is paved to the TH

July/Aug for the north ridge by foot (not skis) may be best this year May/June?