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There's a new webcam and weather station at Plummer Hut giving a direct feed of Wadd. Don't have the website address yet though

Trip: Summit Chief - Standard Scramble Trip Date: 09/21/2019 Trip Report: I'm normally not one to hike in and out in the rain, but desperate times call for desperate measure and the end of summer is one such occasion. So, armed with a glimmer of hope in the forecast we marched in to Vista tarns last weekend with our sights set on Summit Chief and Little Big Chief. The former was a Smoot and the latter, well, it looked cool. Spoiler alert, we got the Smoot (straightforward Cl. 3 once you deciphered the description correctly) but not the little one, which proved to be more time consuming in late season than we had the desire for. Still, the area has much to recommend, as you'll see in the photos below. It isn't nicknamed Snoqualmonix for nothing- probably the most rugged terrain south of Hwy 2 is found in this area, and not a lot of peak baggers....yet. Judging by the summit register on Summit Chief, this area is rapidly becoming popular. Going from 1-2 parties a year to 11 this year. So, I guess, I'm part of the problem. And so it goes. Lucky shot: East Face of Chimney Rock: Summit Chief on the left and Middle Chief on the right: Stuart and Waptus Lake: Rainier, Chimney Rock, Overcoat Peak (L-R): Summit of Summit Chief: RIP Franklin: Glacial recession is a bitch: Little Big Chief: We opted to scramble up here and enjoy the afternoon, rather than rushing to climb LBC and arrive at camp after dark: Last dip of summer in an unnamed lake on the way back from LBC : This one: LBC: Three Queens: Bear's Breast (L) and Mount Daniel behind on the right: Overcoat: Chimney Rock and Overcoat in early morning light: Chicken of the Woods: Cooper River in the rain on the way out: Gear Notes: helmet, ice axe, crampons Approach Notes: Pete Lake Trail to PCT to Vista Tarns. We cam out the Escondido ridge "trail" but I wouldn't recommend going up that way.

Wow! A brilliant and erudite analysis Rad. I was checking in to see where the man was yesterday, Ujahn, Ryan and I had it to ourselves all day.

I feel like we are watching Groundhog Day for Beowulf, who sets out each day to slay the dragon, returns in drunken triumph each night, and in a curious and cruel twist, each morning wakes to learn that the dreaded dragon yet lives, and the epic battle must be fought all over again. The cycle must repeat until our hero finally learns that the dragon is not his true nemesis, the battle is not the real battle, and victory, it seems, is simply the act of getting out of bed each day, drawing in a lungful of clean air, and yet feeling the beating of his heart, a metronome in flesh and bone, counting the seconds to his eventual death.

10/9 - day 44, lap 108-9 - fall moves further and subdues the fervor of the season that preceded it - wicked work until the sun was perilously low in the western sky but undeterred shot east-wards w/o question once the querulousness of tomorrow was at least clearly defined - dave post dump n' prior to my own, once in sequence we shuffled down the still sodden trail and achieved the base in the brisk yet damp air - a first lamp by the long way we felt another in order, and soon enough it was 2, a couple copper-ales to cement it all - groceries on the gambol home n' soon enough it'll be tomorrow and the three day what-have-you

Solo climbing isn't a problem. There, fixed for you.

Actually, Darin is just reposting the topo he made for Mile High Club....

Not that helpful Mr Berdinka, since it only gets you partway through pitch 5. Did you even climb/finish the route?

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Trip: Mt Cleator - Tubby Needs Cheese 5.8+, 9 pitches, 1,000'+ Trip Date: 09/01/2019 Trip Report: It's been a spell since my last report; I offer a tale of an ascetic and a hedonist climbing yet another irrelevant obscurity in their quest for entertainment and raw truth. The weather forecast pointed them east, and Mt Cleator appeared to fit the bill. After a pleasant trail tramp past Buck Mtn and establishing camp, the dialectic duo scouted and debated a number of lines available, and provisionally settled on the cleanest looking one. The line emanates from near the main summit (not the N tower), and is a NW jutting rib that appears to share the granitic character of the pluton on nearby Berge--very little schist encountered. (Other options abound on the N side of this peak up to the N tower, but even these impaired codgers reckoned unappealing the primarily grubby schist on these longer lines toeing down more directly to Buck Cr. They agreed to buy beer for any whippersnapper climbing one of these lines.) For the full Cascades sub-alpinism experience, approach directly from a camp near Buck Creek, where the trail passes close to the creek. Romp up pleasant alp slopes to a band of cliffy terrain, then bunk-jungle up steep alder to pass a waterfall. This approach grants access to the upper basin and the several lines available on the northwestern quadrant of the mountain. For the descent enjoy the scenic trail tour return via Buck Creek Pass. Lots of wildlife encountered--bear, coyotes calling at each other (probably about the bear), deer, etc. The climb's more-technical and mental challenges are concentrated in pitches 2, 3, 8 and 9. (Unfortunately, not many climbing pics taken.) Pitch 2: while the self-styled epicurean showered his pathetic self with sod digging for pro and holds, the wannabe stylite laughed derisively. Pitch 3: the ascetic got his come-uppance, "I wanna go home", but eventually pieced together a lead to the crest of the rib. The middle pitches were more scrambly, mostly mid-fifth and easier. Pitch 8: a sweet, relatively steep and juggy corner. Pitch 9: interspersed short splitters and varied climbing, beautiful and exposed ridge rambling with steeper steps. P1: P3: P6(?), climber low center: On average, the over-indulger and the self-depriver make for a balanced human. In an alternate universe the roles could be switched, and maybe the pair would climb splitter cracks on impeccable stone; but in this one, they reconcile themselves to seeking new lines on inconsistent rock with their mercifully impaired memories. On this climb, a somewhat dirty beginning becomes more enjoyable higher (and with distance). It's difficult to get a well-defined shot of the line. Here's a flavor: Tubby Needs Cheese begins to the left of the shaded red streak on far right, a few hundred ft below that tiny spot of sunshine on the ridge, and continues up to and then on the right skyline. Tubby tops out in the horizontal strip of sunshine, or perhaps just out of view behind the pyramidal feature to the left of it. (The sunlit tower is in the foreground relative to the main summit.) Beckey's CAG vol 2 (2nd ed.) has a good pic of it along with Buck on page 160, swooping down from the main summit clearly marked MT CLEATOR. And from the west, hiking toward Buck Pass: A shot on the way home on Labor Day, TNC in the shade on right toeing down just left of the snow in the basin: More pics (recommend click on 'info' to see descriptions for many): https://photos.app.goo.gl/P2U5SJgB8jU1eQBo8 Gear Notes: Double rack through 3, a 4, some nuts. We didn't use our pins, but some folk might want to. Approach Notes: Park at Trinity. Buck Creek trail, etc. -- see above.

First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.

jeez, not even 5.9+, must be a cake walk.