mattp

Total Soul is in niether. Washingotn Rock is out of date and it is not in the Sky Valley. It is in one of Nelson/Potterfield's "Select Climbs" books and it is depicted here: Topo on Darrington Rock Climbing site Another good choice at Three O'Clock Rock would be Silent Running, a little easier though it has a little less variety, or the first three pitches of 'Till Broad Daylight,(all very short and the first two are best run together), then switchin to the Kone for three more (diagonal so you'll rappel a different climb, Tidbits). I'm assuming that since you were looking at On Line you were looking for six or eight pitches on low angled granite in a scenic location, and Three O'Clock Rock definitely fits that bill. It also heats up early in the day, though. On-line is, as Dave Schuldt notes, "all footwork." It is pure slab climbing, with not even knobs to stand on and nothing for your hands. The Darrington climbs I mention here definitely have similar characteristics, but no to the extreme that On-Line has.

What climb are you going to do? For someone's first multi-pitch, I'd consider "Total Soul" at Darrington over "On Line" at Static (I mention On-Line because it is the one that everybody does there). Total Soul offers more variety and is a little more straight-forward. The holds are actually visible.

You will not be able to drive to the end of the access road unless somebody has recently been up there with a big chainsaw and a comealong, but you'll get close enough. After perhaps a half hour or so you will find the second or third piece of old culvert left just past a little wash where you can actually look up the hill and see granite. There should be a cairn here, and the trail heads uphill to the left. The trail emerges at the base of the rock about 50 yards short of the begninnig of OnLine. Estimated time: 1.5 hr. drive; 1.0 hr hike. It it is a hot day, Static Point cooks. Be prepared. Take a copy of Sky Valley Rock if you can get one.

watch out for 3/16" bolts (no kidding!) with no hangers.

I'm guessing you are commenting on the weight of canned food, TLG, but if we are talking about camping on a summit, where there will presumably be no water supply, the extra weight associated with canned soup as opposed to dried soup would only be that associated with the can itself since you'd have to carry up the water anyway. And that canned soup may well be more hearty and gooder than knorr soup mix. Are a couple of apples lighter than an equivalent amount of canned applesauce, and might the cooking actually make it go down better as applesauce?

Be prepared for big adventure and big fun. It is a supremely beautful wall, also huge and complex. The wall faces Southeast. You'll fry on a hot day.

Yes, pitches 2-5 are what make Rainman interesting -- each with a different character and each quite good. That stemming pitch was fantastic, eh? And those moves around the end of the "gull wing roof?" If you liked those pitches, you'll like Jacob's Ladder too. It has five pitches in a row of varied, excellent climbing on a line overall a little steeper than Rainman. David and I have talked about how to show the start of Rainman, and I showed it a little differently on my website than he did on his topo, but it remains slightly obscure. Jacob's Ladder is a little easier to locate.

Easy there, big boy. I think you have established a pretty consistent pattern of personally attacking those with whom you disagree when they've pointed out you made a factual error or when they are starting to draw you out in an argument.

Good call.

I think most people who make much of a habit of climbing Mount Rainier with large groups have done this at some point. In any given group of ten, you are going to have one person who cannot go on while the others are perfectly fit to continue.

There was bit of a fad for not reporting climbs in the 1980's. A couple of our heroes (like Chouinard or somebody) commented that guidebooks were taking the adventure out of climbing and that the quest to make and report first ascents all over the place was egotistical and why can't we just climb.

What guidebook/description did you have for Rainman? Any corrections?

Vertical bushwacking can be rather strenuous at times, but I recall some parts of the NE buttress route, the way I did it, as being a very pleasant vertical bushwack. On steep rock, the cedars grew out from the rock and then upwards, forming perfect ladder rungs in a kind of J shape. It was quite unlike the nightmarish maple thickets you often encounter on approach hikes and, while upwards progress was sometimes impeded, a firm stair rung was quite beneficial. Three cheers for the Cascades!

It was indeed a long day. That is why I've recommended bivying at the base of the route, err, I mean, a couple hundred feet below. We were slow or late on the hike in (I don't remember) and we camped down in the trees before getting on the glacier and it cost us.

What'd you think of Dark Rhythm?

To the rack I would add a small handful or tiny nuts. RP's or steel whatever-they-are's to a small stopper or two. Thanks for a good day, Mr. Trog.

Trogdor has the lost water bottle. He and I went back yesterday and as we were walking back along the base of the wall we found it was on the trail. By the way, we did your rappel route from the Blueberry Terrace yesterday. What an exciting rap line!!! Very impressive. On the third rap we skipped the intermediate station with only old slings, and went straight to the next one down. Our 60 meter ropes were just long enough with about a half meter to spare. It is a good one for tying a knots on the end!

I would add that, to my eyes at least, the cliff is overall looking pretty good. Sure, there are some things I don't particularly approve of, and we could and sometimes should debate this or that specific bolt or bush, but Index has in my mind clearly been cared for. I really appreciate the fact that you no longer see heaps of rappel webbing all over the cliff, the trails are generally in good shape, and cleaning/pruning efforts have nearly all been undertaken with care to clean up the mess and avoid leaving hacked stumps or other unsightly or inconvenient mess behind.

Depending on where (3:00 rock for example), if there is no cloud cover in the morning and if the day starts out warm, you may find it is more comfortable to climb there in the afternoon.

I'll be on the dome. But don't worry, there are lots of great routes to choose from even if someone is on the one you're after. Crowding is generally not a problem at Darrington. The sun can be intense, though. Last time I was up there, with temps a little hotter than predicted for this weekend and no wind at all, some folks got baked off the rock.

That Whitchuck road remains closed and may well never be fixed -- the planning discussions and environmental review procedure continue, I believe, but there is no clear decision. At least some environmental groups have stated that they see the flood damage from two years ago as an opportunity to reclaim some roadless area and they intend to or have advocated that the roads NOT be repaired at all. In addition, the budgets are being cut so badly the F.S. can't afford to maintain what they have on the grid already, and the Whitechuck repair will be very expensive. The shortest approach may be from the N. Fork of the Sauk -- see the trip report from a week ago.

Oly told me to go to Darrington.

The Sisters can produce some seriously bad bug swarms. If you want mosquito's, go check out Red Meadow, below the east flank of South Sister. One thing that makes them more tolerable is to at least keep them off your face. Get a piece of mosquito netting and sew it into a pillow case. Then wear it over a brim hat.