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scot'teryx

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Posts posted by scot'teryx

  1. Can anyone tell me mileage and access?

    I know that you take FR 62 from hwy 2, but the Skykomish Ranger told me that the gate is open but we would not get that far on it. So how far is it from the gate to the climbers path? What is the mileage from there to the summit? Thanks for any info.

    scott@nwog.org

  2. If there are any of you that are experts on this area please check it out and let me know if I got some of those lakes labeled correctly. It was my first time up there and we had to go fast and quick to make the traverse. Didn't even get to summit Little Annapurna which bummed me out, but it was one of the most beautiful non glacier hikes I have ever done. Thanks!

    Enchantment Lakes Traverse

  3. quote:

    Originally posted by Rookie of the Year:
    Call it corny, but for the hell of it

    1. Favorite Climb?2. Favorite Climber?3. Always-wanted-to-do-that climb?

    1. West Tiger 32. Dan Larson & JERRY SANCHEZ3. Mt Si in Plastics

    Seriously though...1. Sahale Mtn2. Dave Hahn3. Twin Sisters

  4. In my home office I got the ever famous aerial image of Rainier from the North, you know the rectangular pano one like they got at VW.

    Downstairs I got another image of Rainier from the Carbon River moraine near Mystic Lake, a blown up image of Dragontail by Freya Lake by Bob Bolton, and another image of my wife at Pikers Peak on Adams. Now in the hallway we have the 2 of us on the summit of Shasta, and then a shot of the Ingraham Direct route on Rainier as well. Surprised I got no images of Pilchuck? Me too.One of my favorites is a 4 panel frame with different images of Rainier, with my favorite one taken by Phil Fortier of the Carbon Glacier. I am not sure how, but I saw it as a desktop image on a friends computer as well, who barely know how to get on the internet.

    I swear Phil, you need to sell that one, it is so awesome.

    Phil's Carbon Glacier Shot of Rainier

  5. Purchased from REI last year from their rental sale.

    These are the Red and Gray version

    They are too small for my wife, so we need to get her a pair of larger ones. They were on Rainier twice this year, Shasta, and Adams, so not much use. The liners are in good conditions as well.

    I can email an image of the condition if you would like as well.

    Make an honestly good offer for the loved one in your life that has small feet

    scott@nwog.org

  6. I consider myself another lucky one, as I married one that likes to hike and climb as well. Hell, 3 years ago she couldn't even beg me to go on a hike, now I am either with her, or leaving her at home when she doesn't feel like it (doobin it I think). Anyway - I always like to hear her say "Honey, when are we gonna bag another volcano?"

    Peace out

  7. Has anyone ever been up this peak on the Mountain Loop Highway just NNW of the Big 4 Range?(Topo: http://topozone.com/map.asp?lat=48.06056&lon=-121.53861)

    I read Beckey's route description and it seems do-able, but the only beta I could find was off of Eric's Base Camp (http://ericsbasecamp.net/trips/HallPkArea/HallPkArea.htm)and another website I cannot recall. The West Ridge is what I think is the most do-able climb, so any thoughts or info would be appreciated. ThanksScottscott@nwog.org

    hallpeak.jpg

    Hall Peak from Big 4 trailhead on Mountain Loop Highway

  8. Colin, I went up on Saturday to Snow Lake and saw plenty of Backcountry skiing going on. It looked real good in the basin below Chair Peak, especially in some of the couliors that some folks had skiied. The snow pack was solid and there had not been many slab releases at all, just a few small ones on the upper part of traverse to the basin. I got some images I got put on the web, so send me an email later to remind me. L8R

  9. Left late from the trailhead at around noon and headed up the Pratt Lake Trail to the Granite Mountain junction. Only 2 others in front of us, and a good trail up to the gulch at 3200 feet. We tried to pack light for an overnighter with a Walrus 2 man tent and 2 stoves and other cold weather gear. With the conditions of the mountain that I have heard recently we had all gear that we would ever need (Snowshoes, Crampons, Ice Axe, Picket) Once at the gulch there was only one set of tracks from someone that was about 1000 feet above us, as the hiker behind us did not have snowshoes which made for less than warranted hiking. As the gulley does a shotgun type of scenario, the trail we took crossed the main gulley before it split, then ascended the middle ridgeline (35-45 degree slopes), with the lower portion in some trees. The day was beautiful with blue skies and the sun warming our backs. At 4000 feet we had to take off the snowshoes and put on the crampons. At this time my calves were burning pretty bad since I only have the MSR Denali Classics, and with 45 lbs on my back it was pretty rough (Ryan had the Denali Ascents and had no problem). We decided to go straight for the false summit by shooting for the Pearly Gates of Granite (as they appeared like Mt Hood). It was long and rough, with real icy snow, and that freakishly long runout that the gulch has, and falling with a big pack with crampons is a less than desirable scenario for arresting. We made the false summit and were happy to see the lookout tower just ahead of us. We still had about 1 hour of daylight, so we decided to brave the elements and set up camp right next to the lookout tower on the east side. I spent some time creating a wall barrier of snow inside the framework of one side of the lookout tower to block the wind, so it might be up there for awhile, so if you see it up there, email me so I know it's still standing! There was virtually no wind and a beautiful sunset (images are available on summitpost.com under Granite Mountain). We were in our sleeping bags by 615pm, and ready for a good nights sleep. That never happened - we got bombarded by the storm, 40+mph winds blasted the tent all night, and snow kept burying a small portion of my side of the tent making it a 1.5 man tent. After much contemplation we finally got up around 930am (15 hours later!) to find whiteout conditions and winds that could knock us over. We hated the thought of having to break camp, especially after I left the vestibule open after a midnight bathroom break. So lots of gear was buried inside of the vestibule. "Time for breakfast? I think not, let's get off this darn mountain!" We got our packs ready and finally took down the tent and then the conditions worsened, we could not see down the route, no landmarks or anything. We knew that if we went straight down we would eventually hit I-90, and that the gulch traversed at 3200 feet, but how to get there?

    We decended with crampons and ice axe very slowly for the first 1000 feet as winds blew spindrift across the 35-45 degree slope. Were we in the gulch? We could not tell, but it was the last place we wanted to be with all the fresh snow that hit last night, making avalanche danger a little higher. We finally hit treeline and were ecstatic, now all we had to do was get down to the trail. We wound up crossing creeks and other terrain that I never remember seeing, and wound up on the Pratt Lake Trail at 3400 feet. This was exciting, we had made it, and safely. Once on the trail we sprinted with snowshoes on as far as we couls through snow and mud until we had to carry them as to not waste time. Plenty of snow at the parking lot, and we zoomed out of there to get some coffee in Northbend. A true Epic climb! (At least for this novice) [hell no]

  10. They only keep the gate open, but never plow. Up to the last mile was easy going in a 4-wheel drive w/o chains, but from there on it could get nasty as far as ground clearance on the vehicle. Maybe with some nice weather it could provide easy access.

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