mattp

Ross' route sounds like Safe Sex. It is about 5.9 where you step up over a roof, clip a bolt, and then climb left and up, passing one or two more bolts to get to some loose flakes. The route at that point has two variations, with an easier variant moving right after stepping up over the roof. Further to the right of Safe Sex there is an old 5.11a slab route with a pitch and a half of bolts at about twelve foot intervals, Boomerang. This, however, is on a slab feature to the right of the Botany 101 dihedral. It is hard to imagine somebody traverssing from there onto Dreamer.

Ah yes, re-reading your initial post it is clear what you did. The right-hand buttress has a similar escape gully and the upper part of it looked seriously shattered; the first time I climbed it I took the escapt gully, the second time (with partners) we traverssed right to a large corner on this side of the upper buttress as seen in this photo. That left-hand buttress looks cool too. I'd gladly go back for that one.

Here are the triumphant tough guy tree climbers, atop Witch Doctor Wall:

Catbird, lets not get too excited about the tree climbing. Climbing trees is a big part of the experience on Sunday Cruise, and that is one of the reasons why I stated above that this is a route that I would recommend only to someone who really wants to climb that particular wall and doesn't want to do one of the aid routes nearby, or someone who is a real Darrington buff in search of new DTown experiences. If these sound like good reasons to do a climb, you may enjoy Sunday Cruise - otherwise, there are a half dozen better ways to get to the top of Exfoliation Dome. One thing about Sunday Cruise, though: it has the advantage of being shaded after about 11:00 am and this can be nice on hot days. Climbing trees is definitely not what I consider de riqueur for climbing in Darrington or, for that matter, anywhere else except sub-alpine peaks of the Cascades or similar ranges. Despite our best efforts yesterday, Sunday Cruise remains one of the dirtiest routes I have climbed anywhere. That said, here's another Darrington gem (and this is the cleanest pitch on the route, a top secret project on Upper Three O'Clock Rock): Here's another:

Here's the picture:

Having faith in god.

Say what? The only way you can learn to rappel is to rappel. It might be a good idea to belay a new rappeler, but any screwing around with a "practice rappel" that is anything other than an actuall rappel is really a silly waste of time, in my opinion. Seriously. Anybody can learn to clip a pair of ropes into a belay device and practice holding the rope with the right hand or whatever, but you learn absolutely nothing about the core of what is rapelling until you actually do it -- preferably on an overhanging wall. With many cliffs easily approached from above and below, Mt. Erie would be a great place to learn to rappel. Pick something with a huge overhang, and many people new to the activity will indeed be preying to god.

I climbed both that central buttress and the next one to the right - roped solo, in the mid to late '80's, and returned with partners to climb both routes a second time. I agree this is a recommended feature: excellent rock in a beautiful setting with a five-start bivy pond. I've got a picture of it at home somewhere. The buttress at left in Gary's photo which has a lighter colored flat slab on this side of it is the buttress right of center when you view the face from the NE. The central buttress is visible left of that, but the features do not clearly stand out. Rat: did you guys bear left and continue rock climbing to the summit, or take the obvious escape gully which is more straight up above the lower main part of the central buttress? I've done it both ways. I call it the Bill Stark Wall. Peg and Bill, who established the Scottish Lakes ski area and who named many of the lakes in the Enchantments, noted the wall on one of their mountain ramblings and reported it to Fred Beckey who added a cryptic note in his gudebook but never actually went to look at it as far as I can tell. Bill complained to me about this grievous slight, so I went and climbed it.

I you are going to camp at Lake Viviane, which is one of the most beautiful lakes up there and lies right below Prusik Peak, the mileage and elevation gain is the same whether you come in via Aasgard or Snow Lake. You get more high mountain scenery coming over Aasgard, but also more scree and more exposure to the weather if, say, it craps out on you and you head home in storm or something.

Erie is a great place and it has a variety of routes that are good. Many of the routes are oddly bolted, the trail system is confusing, and some of the climbs are discontinuous or very short and perhaps even contrived, but I don't agree that the trad routes are poor adn I think it is worth a trip or three. I don't consider it a "destination" climbing area, but it is often a good choice in marginal weather and I have found it great for beginners or climbers new to "outdoor climbing" as well as just a fun place to be. For moderate trad routes, try ZigZag's first pitch to the Undercover corner on the main wall, or Keep on Dancin' on the main wall east. The upper wall is a good top-rope crag and not a bad place to start out with a couple of trad leads to get a feel for the place. I have never had any problem with either "tourists" or other climbers, though I've had instructors or guides get a little proprietary about it at times.

I think the Bugaboo Glacier has retreated dramatically since I was last there, in 1981. Here's a picture of the outfall area, August 2006: and here is a picture of the snout, shot in about 1972 ()I can't place it in the current picture, but I believe it is near the left edge of the relatively unvegetated portion of the outfall area): Finally, here is a picture of the glacier as viewed from the lodge in about 1973. Does anybody have a similar shot from a current trip?

The Beckey route on Liberty Bell gets my vote. Yes, you'll hear 25 cc.comer's whine about how it is clogged with gumbies, or the approach gully sucks, and it is nowhere near 5.10, but it is a great climb, to a great summit, and you'll get a feel for the place. It makes a low-stress but fantastic outing, and there is more to it than the guidebooks suggest. Be sure to check out the view from the overlook near the visitor center after you get back down.

I climbed it in late September or maybe even early October of a year I do not remember as being an extraordinary snow year and the Kloke route was "in" then.

Lets see a show of hands from anybody who has had the airlines lose their luggage. Yes, I know it happens - but I can't remember the last time anybody I know had a problem with it. (The baggage handlers can be pretty rough, though, and you are likely to end up with something getting beat up, but fortunately most climbing gear is fairly tough.)

What happened to the Kloke route on Spider? It looks like there's no snow in the "ice" couloir!

The Cain Hut was great but, even more so, the Bugs were really great. I'm pondering a hit an run some time before winter sets in.

The smoke cut the sun's intensity to safe levels.

Smoked a cigar with my brother.

I thought the somewhat contrived nature of Surf's Up detracted from it slightly as the first two pitches avoid obviously easier ground to the right, the line then heads off right, and the ledges around the corner actually involve down-climbing. However, what you get is kind of like three climbs in one: interesting corner and flake pitches, followed by some fantastic crack climbing on a clean and exposed face, and then a few hundred feet of scrambling on top of the world. Anyone know about the "Super Direct?"

I've done both. Surf's Up is in my opinion a far better climb than the Kraus-McCarthy. The route description in the Atkinson guide is a little vague, though, and many parties miss the classic upper pitches. On pitch 4, we got off route briefly but found a bunch of retreat slings and got back on course; on pitch 5, we took the exit ramp to Surf's Up Ledge and the rest of the climb, but there was a party behind us that didn't notice where we did this and they climbed Surf's Up Direct.

I'm glad you guys liked it. I still may go back and tinker a bit if someone wants to help.

Pitch 6 of Surf's Up, high on the S. Face of Snowpatch Spire: Summit of Snowpatch; Bugaboo Spire in background:

Here's a composite shot of the South Face of Snowpatch; Surf's Up climbs the face out of view around the left skyline for four pitches and then finishes with three spectacular crack pitches up the top center of the face shown here. (From the bottom, routes on this face are about fifteen pitches long. A report of a new route done last year, and a bunch of pictures, is here.

Climb: Old Home Week in the Bugs-Surf's Up; McTech Arete Date of Climb: 8/14/2006 Trip Report: I just returned from six days in the Bugaboos, and it was great. I drove up with Jhamaker, and climbed with my brother, my nephew, and an old friend from High School; also in there were Armin, Claire, Tansnffl, CrazyJZ, and EdHobbik. Lurker Jeff and Crack were rumored on their way, but apparently got distracted elsewhere. I know it has been said before, but the Bugaboos offer some of the best granite climbing anywhere – though a relatively small cluster of peaks, they’re better than Darrington, Washington Pass, and the Stuart Range combined. Steal a car, hitchhike, do whatever it takes to go. You won’t be disappointed. I was last there in 1981; I can't believe I waited 25 years to go back! We had four and a half days of good weather, but wasted one hiking up to the hut and on another we took a rest day with a forecasted 90% chance of rain but it didn’t even sprinkle until 7:00 pm (then thunderstormed). The approach to the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col is getting a bit icy, but everything is in good shape. Here is the "top-out" of Surf’s Up: Gear Notes: The hut is fantastic. Approach Notes: 2 to 3 hours hike from the car to the hut; 1-2 hours from there to most of the routes.

The West Ridge on Pidgeon is one of my favorite climbs of all time. I think 50 Classics should have included it and the Beckey Chouinard instead of the NE Ridge of Bugaboo and Beckey Chouinard.