mattp

They're not saying to stay away from Mt. Erie. As far as I can tell, they have not quite figured out what may be closed but you should be OK at the main wall or the upper wall.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife has asked the City of Anacortes to protect a falcon nest on Skyline Rib or Skyline Arete. There may be signs indicating a closure; meanwile please climb elsewhere and move on if the falcons demonstrate defensive or territorial behavior. The City contacted the Washington Climbers Coalition on 5/15/08. We'll add more information when we can.

That may well be a good call, Mr Terra, but I feel compelled to say that I've picked up a lot of good climbing partners at cc.com and some of the biggest climbs of my career were done with people I had never climbed with before and never saw again. I was able to look them square in the eye and ask about their prior experience before I took a week off work and flew across the country, though. I hope you are able to get another shot at the Big R. It is a great mountain.

How much snow is on the ground at Colonial Creek right now? If there is 3' or more, it is an easy schwack to open slopes below the Colonial Glacier and much easier than heading up the Pyramid Lake approach. I don't know what it is like after the snow is gone. (This is a short trip for a multi-day tour, though.)

I'd go with Pup's advice. Look out for the Pan Point hill on the way from Paradise to Muir, and above there I'd be surprised to hear of an avalanche before 7:00 a.m. Don't completely ignore the hazard, though; this is the warmest weather in forever and it has been a long, cold, and funky winter-spring.

ASCA Page

Thanks, Sobo. Those Petzl long life bolts are pretty spendy, no? Have you ever seen them used? I've seen those "self driling" bolts at PMS or some other local shop in years past, but never tried 'em. If you were just carrying a couple of them for a possible bail out option, I can see the utility in not carrying the drill. What is your opinion of them?

Say what? If we are talking about any bolt that I have ever seen, one is supposed to drill the hole deep enough so that the bolt doesn't bottom out. Drilling deeper holes has been postulated to provide a pocket for water to collect and lever out the bolt whenit freezes, but many climbers using wedge anchors drill extra deep so there is room to tap the bolt in an bury it if you need to subsequently chop it. I have never heard of anybody suggesting a hole was "too deep" for a reason like what you are describing.

It looks like about 15,000 different avatars, and 7,500 of them have not even a single post. What's up with that?

That is a substantial overstatement, I'd say, but your overall point it quite valid.

The Wild Sky Wilderness is relatively little visited even though it is so close to Seattle. There is a short trail to Barclay Lake which sits right below the N. Face of Mt. Baring, but this is a heavily used destination that was actually excluded from the Wilderness. A trail heads up the hill to Eagle Lake, above. I’ve skied up there at this time of year and Townsend Mtn. is not a bad destination. Later in the Summer, Scorpion is a fairly scenic hike. For climbing, the most famous target in the new wilderness area is Mt. Baring, though this gets few ascents by the north side which has the giant wall that is what makes it famous. Nearby Gunn Peak and Merchant draw some traffic, and there are a couple of rock routes there which are said to be pretty good.

In Yakutat, Gulf Air used to do glacier landings in Wrangell St. Elias and Glacier Bay National Parks. Their glacier pilot, Kurt Gloyer, was killed picking up climbers on Mt. Kennedy in 2001. The last time I heard anything about it nobody was flying climbers in from Yak -- but times may have changed,

I guess McCain just lost Fairweather' vote.

Yes, "support our troops" came to mean "any criticism of the war is unpatriotic" in the context of the Vietnam war. I wonder, though: might that phrase or a similar one have been used with the same meaning before? If you criticized the cold war effort in the 1950's you were branded a communist, and I'm pretty sure we didn't embrace those who criticized the American effort in, say, World War II.

Mazegirl, I am absolutely sure that much of what we seen in our news media is baloney and I'm not at all surprised that the images we see misrepresent the situation as your examples above indicate. However, some of that stuff about how China is such a good steward of Tibetan culture is a little hard to swallow and your "historical" summary that suggests Tibet was never independent of China is flat out wrong, isn't it? My minimal understanding of the history is that the Chinese in part justified their more recent invasion based on a historical empire that existed several centuries ago. I don't belive Tibet has "always" been part of China. I gotta say, though: it is refreshing to see somebody argue in defense of China here even if it does look like much of it is propaganda. Where do you think China has actually done wrong in Tibet, Mazegirl, or has it all been positive?

An appropriate response for once.

You are really outdoing yourself today.

Dude, you are way out there on this one. I think even George Bush has acknowledged that any "debate" is over. Seriously: this is not some evil liberal plot to bring socialism to your doorstep and make you drink herbal tea. It is a real issue.

Fairweather: what do you think that article is saying? Does your original post represent it well? Or are you simply saying, yet again, that the overwhelming conclusion of virtually everyone who has studied this issue is wrong?

Parts of the Wild Sky Wilderness are right next to the road or otherwise have areas that most of us would not think of as wilderness. It has a very popular float plane destination and float planes will still be allowed to land at Lake Isabel. The easy to reach and overcamped Barclay Lake was specifically excluded so that large groups such as Boy Scout troops could go there. In other ares, the new Wilderness includes second growth. In the current Mt. Hood expansion, I looked at the map and concluded that there is at least one road and campground in the area included. The map posted here a few weeks ago suggested the area also includes many small parcels that are not part of a larger whole - almost like pocket parks. I'm not an expert on Wilderness areas but I think these kinds of things were not included in wilderness areas, or not commonly so, in the past. I suppose that you could argue that such "compromises" are appropriate in public lands management, but you might conversely argue that they water down the essential concept of wilderness and that other rules and management approaches should govern some of these areas. I am interested in seeing if we might strengthen the roadless area designation as an alternative to formal wilderness. This might allow more clear delineation between "core" wilderness like the Glacier Peak region or the Alpine Lakes, and surrounding areas we'd like to keep generally wild while providing for some higher level of recreational access. It makes more sense to me than to carve out tons of "Lake Isabel exceptions" for areas or uses not allowed under the Wilderness Act or general wilderness area management policies. Many of the conservation people believe that Wilderness area designation is essential to protect wild lands and this drives a push to get as much wilderness as possible, whether or not the target areas are really what we think of as wilderness. In the Wild Sky and Mt Hood cases, politics and pragmatism led to compromises. An ongoing effort to provide Wilderness status to areas that don't meet the originally set forth criteria for wilderness and really don't look or feel like wilderness may serve to weaken the long term protection of wilderness while also complicating or perhaps unreasonably restricting management options in the fringe areas or places of high recreational value that are easy to get to.

It sounds like you were on route there, Spotly. You clip an old ring piton and then you can actually get at least three good pieces as you make your way across to rejoin the Midway chimney above the narrows but much of that crack is, as you note, flaring.

Actually, most of what I've used have been the typical wedge anchors that most climbers use and they are not readily removable. I am interested in those Hilti Coil anchors, which some climbers seem to really fear, and I have used them on one climb.

Midway Direct is not all that hard, but in my view it is a little more serious than someone looking for a 5.6 (beginners) lead may be ready for. You can't get pro exactly where you want it and it is slightly manky for the crux; also it is continuous for about 20 feet or so where you don't have the same sense of overall security you have on Midway or Saber (though Saber is more "sketchy" in this regard than Midway in my opinion). As I noted above, I overstate the difficulties in my note on the topo linked above.