goatboy

Looks like Tower Mtn to me, North of WA Pass...

I have never regretted anything as much as I regret getting one of these passes a few winters ago. Screw Meadows!

True, true...

I liked the traverse pitch too. I just didn't like the rest of the damned thing! Glad you enjoyed. Booty is always a plus. We found a biner "chock" full o' stoppers up there last week!

Damn! Nice work! I've always wanted to go up there...your photos really make me want to go NOW. Thanks.

I've heard of a few people getting sick lately, who regularly don't treat their water, for years consecutively... Good thing this global warming stuff - and its resulting effect on bacteria/giardia/fecal entities is just a myth propagated by the enviro-hippies, huh, George W? Christ.

Nice photos, Alex! Good to see you guys up there. Thanks for your patience as we figured out the routefinding. I look forward to pictures via email! - Goatboy

Here's the part that impressed me: "...but damned if I was going to come all this way and bypass the gendarme." From experience, I know that it's easy to arrive at the gendarme and talk yourself into rappelling around it instead of climbing it, as it looks (and has a reputation) of being stiff and intimidating. Nice work! I've crapped before on plenty of alpine climbs...

Glad it went well for you guys! Nice work!

You're welcome. Nice work getting that route done -- one of my favorites! No real need for a bivy on this one, in my opinion -- though I can't imagine a prettier place to do so!

Were you by yourself? Did you rap off a bollard?

Saw "Mitzi's Abortion" Play in Seattle Friday night -- highly recommended production! Climbed Improbable Traverse Saturday and drank beer at Rogue Brewery in Issaquah -- super good beer! Made Buffalo wings in deep fryer at home Sunday. Best part of the weekend.

Sure did - party of two followed us up the route...

We ended up dropping off the main trail at an intersection at a flat pass, marked by two large trees laying perpendicular to the main trail...it dropped steeply down a good trail through dense brush, drifting through a few seeping creekbeds and cutting through slide alder and devils club without ever actually bushwhacking....there was a sign warning of avalanche control activity near the bottom and it popped out of the brush directly into the parking lot 50 feet from the car -- does that sound like the standard way down? By the way, I give the Improbable Traverse a for the long scree slog, the fact that there were only about 2-3 good pitches the entire day, the huge amount of duff-slogging and brushy climbing, and the complex walk-off...I'm GLAD I did it and will probably never do it again. Anyone else think this climb isn't worth repeating?

Great TR and nice photos -- thanks! What rating would you give the cannonhole ridge? How long did it take? Thanks

What a presumptuous, un-warranted, self-righteous rant. Asking if a phone gets reception is different than actually using the thing to make egregious calls...for the emergency purposes that have been mentioned already.

Sounds unanimous. Thanks so much for the info. GB

This question is in reference to the Improbable Traverse on Guye Peak. Anyone rapped it? Relative merits vs. the walk-off? Thanks for any input. Goatboy

Huh. Or perhaps it reminds people of the ice cave we all slept in on the backside of Looking Glass Rock, NC after the freak July blizzard? Not the route, per se, but the obscure reference itself....

Please post a few of the "rad images" of the North Ridge if you don't mind doing so. Thanks.

Climb: Mixup-East Face - with SE Ridge Finish Date of Climb: 8/8/2006 Trip Report: Mixup Peak seems to be the climb du jour this month.... Gaston, the great French Expatriate, and I climbed the East Face of Mixup yesterday, finishing via the left skyline (upper part of SE Ridge). I would highly recommend the East Face as a very do-able and enjoyable dayclimb in the Cascade Pass area, but do not recommend the SE variation with which we finished. The beta provided by Mtnfreak in his recent TR was very useful and much appreciated. Woke up at 4:05 AM, made coffee, and left Seattle at 4:50 for Cascade Pass. I was astonished to arrive at Marblemount Ranger Station at 6:20, much faster than anticipated. This was by far the only part of the day during which I moved faster than anticipated...Gaston showed up early as well, and soon we were off for Cascade Pass. We left the parking lot for the million-switchback trail at 8:00 AM. Neither of us had ever been up the Mixup Arm, and were surprised by the high quality of the "trail" that leads towards Cache Col. Here is Gaston with Cache Col at left, and the Gunsight Notch visble at right. After moving through the moat problems at Gunsight (via some cornice chopping and straightforward thought exposed down-climbing) we arrived at the base of the route, climbing an easy pitch on solid, down-sloping rock. One more pitch brought us to the top of the "knife-edge section, where we unroped and started soloing towards the East Face proper: Gaston moves through the heather towards the East Face proper: Our route went up to the notch just below and left of the summit, then straight up the left skyline for a pitch from there on marginal rock. We did not go directly up the SE Ridge over the prominent Gendarme. Gaston soloing low on the route....East Face, or Staircase??? Another look at the East Face Staircase: At this point, Gaston and I veered left towards the left skyline, which appeared aesthetic from below....until we found that the rock quality deteriorated appreciable over there. Nonetheless, the climbing was quite easy and Gaston made quick work of a creaky pitch, without sending too many bombs my way at the airy belay on the S skyline next to the huge gendarme. Goatboy very near the summit: Final pitch to summit: Summit views were excellent, under crisp blue skies and slowly building clouds: As often happens, wildlife sightings continued at the summit: As my partner is a Frenchman, we devoured some very fine summit treats including brie, prosciutto, and dolmas (stuffed grape leaves). After eating them, I concluded that dolmas are aid! As mentioned in previous TR's, it was great to see Beckey's name in the summit register: Finally, after rappels and downclimbing, we returned to Gunsight Notch for one final rappel down the steep loose dirt and gravel into the moat... Times: 10.5 hours car to car. Our times closely approximated those of Mtnfreak, though we had the luxury of an earlier start and perhaps an hour or so on the summit taking pictures and eating.... THANKS to Gaston for a great day "dans les montagnes." What a great day with a great partner. Gear Notes: Crampons and Ice Ax useful. Small rack to #3 Camalot useful. One 60-m 8 mm rope worked great for raps and simul-climbing pitches. Approach Notes: Gunshight Notch presents moat problems, but can be surmounted. We went up and down the "U" notch at Gunsight rather than the "V" notch.

CLICK

Perfect-- thanks!

How exactly do you find the start of this route?

cow... cow... cow... potatoes... cow... cow... cow... potatoes... cow... horse... GRANITE! NAKED CHICK