mattp

There was a Huey hovering over Green Giant Buttress and circling around the clear creek valley just before dark yesterday (July 3). It looked like a rescue in progress to me, but today I called the ranger station and they didn't know anything about a rescue. Does anybody know if there was an accident on Dreamer? Is everybody OK?

Exfo Dome has the best of the best: a half dozen good routes on this side and several on the other.

There are relatively few of them but north or west facing crags include the Pearly Gates (shade 'till early afternoon), W. side routes on Exfoliation Dome (shade 'till ten or noon, depending on the route) or the tower route on Big 4 (gets no sun at all)... Index goes into shade around 4:00.

Without trying it, I believe that. I learned long ago that the Munter does not twist the rope if you use it in a configuration where the load end and the guard end of the rope head the same direction from your locking carabiner (note: "'biner" not "beaner"). For use as a top-rope belay device or for lowering someone, for example, the Munter does not twist the rope and it is very simple to operate compared to mechanical devices. I use the munter when climbing sometimes and, in more than one situation where I was setting up the belay station for someone else (inexperienced) to operate, I have opted for it because I actually thought it more secure than setting them up with a figure eight or ATC or whatever.

Jacobs Ladder and Rainman involve more than just slab climbing,* though Rainman has two pitches and part of a third with some significant stretches of pure slab climbing (JL starts out with two pitches of slab and finishes with a pitch that is mostly slab climbing but these are not the heart of the route). You will find these routes different than a typical slab climb - in places steeper and involving edging and such. Dark Rhythm is a slab climb and a good one. W. Buttress (Blueberry) actually involves very little slab climbing, but Westward Ho is purely a slab climb. I don't know, but I bet SunDried Tomatoes involves a significant amount of face climbing as well. The sidewalk is actually very clean right now. It is a mess getting to it, but it is a short mess. *I realize that modern climbers call anything less than vertical a "slab" so I'll offer some clarification. By "slab climbing" I mean climbing where you step on the middle of the front of your foot and generally step up with little or nothing for a positive edge to pull on. Where these climbs get steeper you must use edging technique and hope for some king of fingerholds.

I added two bolts at places where there had previously been rather marginal pro for a long way, and one to a new variant on pitch 6 (the last few times I've been up there I ended up climbing up to a (now) off-route bolt to clip it to then climb down again and make a tricky traverse). The route remains pretty much just as it was. I added a rappel station straight in line on the lower part of the route so you don't have to make a seriously diagonal right rappel followed by a diagonal left one. I'll be tinkering with the route some more. My next trip up there will involve some scrubbing. If anybody wants to help I'd be glad for a partner. My regular partners are fixated on other matters.

I'll go up there with you, Mr. F. The Dome really IS a lot of fun with a great combination of a an actual peak climb that has a truly enjoyable approach with real rock climbs up to about 12 pitches. And the views are spectacular. Did I forget to say how great it is?

Trip: Exfoliation Dome - Date: 6/28/2009 Trip Report: I went up the Dome yesterday and it was GREAT! Somebody has cleared the road to fifty yards short of the usual parking spot, where the road was severely damaged by a huge slide that came down the Granite Sidewalk last year. The last mile or so needs some brushing along the roadsides and crossing the first gravel wash below Baloney Dome is not passable for a low rider, but the road is actually in pretty good shape. The first two hundred yards up the wash toward the Granite Sidewalk is a mess, but it could be significantly improved if a couple of folks when up there with tools and just pushed some of the avalanche debris around enough to make a clearer passage (even just sweeping the sand of some of the boulders with a broom would help). The remainder of the approach to the west side routes is cleaner than it was last year and the frogs have returned to the frog pond (I was worried about the little guys last year). Catbird and I climbed Dark Rhythm and then added a couple of bolts to Jacob's Ladder and to the rappels. I didn't get on these routes last year; I almost forgot how great they are. The Dome really rocks!

I have always sought permission. I wonder, though: where is the basis for it if someone really expects that kind of courtesy if they post something in a public forum on the Internet? I realize that books have been copyrighted for eons, but isn't the Internet a different beast? Don't we expect that anything we post here can be downloaded and conveyed elsewhere? Shouldn't we? (In the present instance, I won't use the photo unless I can contact the person who posted it. There is too much at stake to risk alienating somebody.)

I'm working on a flier for the WCC's Index fund-raising effort and have found a lack of photo's that show what the Lower Town Wall at Index is all about. We have some good climbing shots (could always use more) and satellite images are easy to come by, but I'm looking for someting that conveys the feeling of the place in a "what would I see if I went there" kind of way. A Flickr photo posted by somebody with screen name brewbooks is the closest to that I have found (an aerial oblique shot showing the Lower Town Wall area with a little broader view showing its setting is also something I am presently looking for). Does anybody know who "brewbooks" is? What do you folks think about harvesting photo's from the web and recycling them for use in other applications -- such as a fund-raising effort or (for that matter) some other purpose?

I assume you're talking about Wet Dream. I cleaned this route 2 years ago only to find ferns and blackberries growing out of it 2 months later. I have never seen it dry, so it's probably not worth the effort. If it were clean and dry, it would be fun though. My experience has been that if you clean a crack repeatedly a couple of times it tends to last. The blackberries and ferns eventually give up if they don't get a chance to grow leaves and feed their roots and the residual dirt and other stuff that begets more dirt and other stuff lessens with repeated cleaning.

I've done both approaches. You can traverse around from the ski area without a huge amount of up and down but I think it is easier to travel in and out via Source Lake.

I've met and climbed with lot of good partners here as well. Some bad, but in fact VERY few. I think you have to take the good with the bad, and you should exercise the same degree of caution you would show at a bulletin board at your neighborhood grocery store (and I hope that is significant).

Typical malarky from you, Jay. You appear to be recycling the talking points I heard on a debate on TV last night. "People only go bankrupt due to lost income, and not actual medical bills?" When was the last time you had to pay for brain surgery and rehab? Or even simple arthritis medication? (Hint: mine costs over $30,000 a year.) “When has monopoly reduced costs?” Say what? I did some research on this last year when we had this same debate on cc.com (I don’t remember if you participated or not) but it seems that virtually all studies show that the healthcare beurocricy created by private health insurance companies is FAR more expensive than the government program costs associated with the ever feared medicare program, and we have far greater per capita costs for worse public health outcomes in the US than in most if not every single other “advanced nation.” “Public healthcare shifts costs onto private payors?” I heard a discussion of this on the radio in the last few days and I don’t’ remember the “rebuttal” but I wonder: how is it that government does this? If a hospital accepts funds under the Hill-Burton act they must provide certain emergency services for patients who cannot pay, I think, but how is it that “government” forces private insurance companies to pay for patients whose care is paid for by public healthcare programs? et cetera et cetera et cetera. The advocates for private health insurance companies seem desperate to argue against any possibility that they would have to compete against a public funded program, when they cherry pick all the healthy people who they can sell cheap plans and reject the sick people who are too expensive, and yet they still seem to argue that "free market" is the answer to our healthcare problems. Garbage in garbage out, I guess.

Not only that, Sherri, but if the leader was unable to establish a belay and wanted to follower to simulclimb, tugging on them might be a particularly bad idea.

Road 49 is blocked about six miles from the mountain loop highway. I don't know how far it is from there to the trailhead.

Yes, but I keep it simple. The only signal I use is "start climbing." The leader tugs the rope 5 times when they have either set up a belay or need the follower to start climbing so they can reach one. Either way, follower takes apart the anchor and starts climbing. Carefully. This will not be confused with "i'm flipping the rope off an edge" or "I'm about to make a move and don't want rope drag so I'm pulling the rope up so I have some slack" or "I'm just checking to see if you are there." Even if we have not agreed upon this signal in advance, nearly all my partners have understood it when, even if they didn't get it the first time, I repeat it two or three times more after waiting a bit.

My sleeping bag is "good quality" (made by a local company that has made excellent stuff for 30+ years) and although I bought it probably 10 years ago it has not seen excessive use. It is simply too light for me. I used to sleep comfortably below any manufacturer's temperature ratings but I've never bought such a light bag before and I certainly do not do so with this one. Maybe it is "not true to the 30 deg rating" or maybe I'm just weak or maybe I need a slightly warmer bag. In the middle of the summer it is OK but for anything else it is not quite enough. Yes, I am always able to get by if I wear my sweaters to bed or whatever. But (for me) the extra 6 oz would be worth it. My only real point here is that the user should be ready to experiment and learn what works for them. Ratings and advice only take you so far... and then you either make do or ditch what isn't quite right and try something else. (In this case I've made do -- the bag I complain of is my most used sleeping bag.}

If they sufficiently downgrade the forecast for this weekend, I'll be calling. Meanwhile: thanks to everyone who works on this road. I have talked with the road crew guy in the Darrington R.S. about it and they are totally OK with our efforts as long as nobody gets hurt. And thanks to somebody, we can climb at Darrington without hiking 100 miles!

I have a 30 degree bag and while I don't disagree with your post, Mr. Fox, it actually turns out to be a little light for my purposes. In even May and September, it sometimes proves not quite quite warm enough not just for highland camping but for roadside as well. If I had it to do over again, I'd buy a slightly warmer bag that might weigh - what 6 oz? - more. But your point is sound: for summer trips you don't need much. (Where I'd save the weight is leaving the bivvy bag home, though. Many people seem to think they gotta have one and I really have little use for them.)

Hey: I was going to ask that. If we get a bad weather weekend any time soon, I'll probably be into heading up there with a couple of guys and a couple of chain saws.

A ranger at Leavenworth sent me an e-mail asking me to post this here and on the WCC board. They have lifted the nesting closure for Midnight and Noontime rocks. Apparently, the birds did not nest there this year or at least are not nesting now. WCC site

Except I've never used that signal, Feck, and if I couldn't see you and you yelled off and were not already loading the belay rope I might assume you meant "off belay" and I might let go of the rope. The first time I heard "take" we were in a situation kind of like this. My leader was on a slab at Darrington, near the end of the rope, and I couldn't see him and couldn't hear him very well. He yelled "take" and I thought he said "slack" so I paid out some rope. He yelled "TAKE" and I paid out some more. He yelled "TAKE DAMMIT!" and I gave him still more, wondering what was going on. I always scoffed at the one syllable two syllable three syllable theory until this incident but, really, even more basic to all of this is the consideration of what you do when you can't hear each other well. 90% of the time, if we can hear well, my partner and I can communicate just fine no matter whether we've discussed our signals beforehand or not. When wind or terrain prevent calling back and forth, the only signal I regularly use is 5 tugs from the leader in quick succession means: break down the belay and start climbing. They may have established a belay or they may not have done so but need the second to simulclimb to get to an appropriate station.

At Golden Gardens, there is a good stair above and below the dog run.

Wow! Great news! Sorry I couldn't help. There are more blowdowns, but nowhere near as many as last year, and I don't think any of them are real big. There are also some large rocks in the road not far beyond the slide. It'll take a couple of folks to move them.