Drederek

If the boulder is so unstable how has it managed to not be trundled off yet?

Another great afternoon/evening at the quarry last nite, the sun was very nice till it went away. I sure hope next week pans out as the time change should finish things after that. Thx for another great season with more new climbs Off!

Yah a 60m doesn't quite make it!

Try to hang on for late march and you'll find wamer temps + longer days. We stopped hittin JT in feb after it snowed on us! An average day at JT end of march is 70 in the day, 40 at nite. I've never been to Red Rock before early May but its usually pretty warm or HOT by then.

It was very easy to hit the link and send in comments. They also asked which option you preferred. FWIW the bats in Tenino seem to coexist with the climbers just fine.

More people, less people, whatever, I'm gonna keep getting after it as long as I am able. If the way trails become harder to follow thats fine, if they get more well defined I'll go faster. Its nice to have a whole cirque to yourself and fun to bump into others. I'm sure those of us with great love for the mountains and high places will always be a minority of the general populace and our ranks will swell and recede due to the whims of the day. The core will always be there, plus those who simply wish to be extreme or in style. As other "extreme" activities become more popular we will lose those people and never miss them.

haven't been up but NOAA's reporting station at Jefferson creek (2200') says an inch of rain and temps mostly above 45 so I'd guess little if any snow.

Well I've never been sure exactly where I've been around there either, but its all good, no harder than your average JT 5.6. And you can't compare Castle Rock to the rest of Leavenworth, the ratings are quite a bit stiffer on Castle.

Up to the roof on the prow then onto the left face to the top!

oughties, like 2001 or 2008. you got something better?

DWS is so oughties, learn to BASE jump!

I guess the guy is lucky his partners didn't shoot him to keep him from having to be cold too.

It'll be fine with a little sun and a little breeze you guys, see you out there! Duke

Trip: Middle peak of Mt Pershing - Route 2 (or 4 for South Peak) as far as I can tell Date: 7/19/2008 Trip Report: A funny thing happened on my way up Mt Stone... Looking for a little excercise and not too much commitment I headed up the Hamma Hamma for a day trip to Mt Stone. Had my bike as I'd heard the road was washed out a couple miles short of the Putvin trail. Sure enough it was (although it wouldn't take long to push a path thru it with a D9) and I started pedaling. Thought I would pick up the abandoned road from the main road and ride to where it crosses the Putvin. I missed it completely and found myself at the Mildred Lakes TH. No problem, a quick scan of the guidebook produced a new goal, Mt Pershing. I've looked at it many times from Mt Wa and Ellinor and from a hiking trip with my dad 25 years ago it seemed fairly straightforward. LOL. I remember looking across the valley at it and seeing scree from the valley floor up, much like the route description implies. I also remembered the trail being fairly obvious. after losing the trail and following some tape back to it I finally made it to the stream, where the guide says leave it (and the topo shows you already gone). After being unable to find the trail on the other side of the creek I figured I must be close so I headed SE up thru the forest, thinking I'd get up to a point where I could tell where I was and call it a scouting trip. The brush was nasty but had almost no Devils Club, a bonus for sure. Eventually I got on a ridge of sorts and glimpsed some high rock walls. Below them were cliffbands with overgrown scree ramps. I thought I was too far north but I started up, to get a better view of Stone if nothing else, telling myself I wouldn't climb anything I didn't want downclimb. A few fouthclass bits and 1000 feet later I checked my altitude and decided I was about 600 feet from the top of the north peak and the book said there was easier way down from it on the east side. So I continued, knowing I'd now be home late (and in trubbl) for sure. A few more nasty ramps and loose bits and I was looking up at a clean, 50', 5.9 chimney. Temptation led me up to the base but the little bit of good sense I possess finally bubbled up to the surface and I traversed around right and discovered I was not on N pk but the middle, doomed to retreat whence I came. With a few minor variations on the way down I eluded the fourthclass stuff and descended scree thru slide alder and Devils Club. I think I would not have made it up this part of the route I descended as it was slippery and steep but no prob with gravity assisting rather than hindering me. Ended up in a ravine with a pretty little creek in the bottom of it. A very distinctive feature which I had not crossed on the way up. Down was my mandate so off I went, eventually scrambling up out of it as I was not making very good time down there. No telling if I'd notice the 'trail' if I passed over it so I continued paralelling the creek, heading towards the TH, which in a clearing my gps informed me was just under 2 miles away and it was 5 pm. A short time later the terrain funneled me into the area where you cross the creek and I regained the trail. It seemed much easier to follow down and was not as bad as my memory of it. It was at this point I started seeing people hiking up to camp. I asked if they had headlamps and they gave me some looks! After walking the rest of the way and coasting down the road to my truck on my bike I was well satisfied and happy to be headed for an ice cream in Hoodsport. Gear Notes: pons and axe not needed Approach Notes: Take the guide's directions with grain of salt, it was probably written 30-40 years ago. Your results may vary.

All good stuff! When Olympia was between climbing gyms we used to stay in shape during the winter climbing on the small woodie in my partners garage. It'd eventually come down to an add on game and we would find every possible rest to stretch it out. I wore a hole in a pair of shoes from my favorite rest spot one winter. As the years go by we seem to be relying more and more on smoke and mirrors and less on athletic ability.

Don't worry folks, in the special olympics of internet arguing we all get medals!

I think the road is fine like it is. Its nice to be able to easily get somewhere thats not so crowded. I'm hardly an elite climber yet I managed to climb Constance in a day. Without the road after the washout I never would have tried. It was a lot of fun coasting downhill the last 5 miles of the day.

In large part due to this TR the wife n I hit Banks last w/e. Warmed up on Bono which was great! The Edge seemed lame after Bono. Went down to the lake and put up two nice nines to the sport anchors then did the traverse to Aqualine and from there up to Creamsicle Buttress which we both liked a lot. Saturday was even hotter so we just got a couple climbs, the awesome overhanging line Tom Thumb and downtown. You can rap from TT's anchors with a 60m but not lower. Thanks for the inspiration and guides Off

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/807303#Post807303

Hope you're as happy as this guy!

No thats not Kate Moss, thats me wife!

And you're old!

This 5.9 is up and right from x-rock

I'm gonna guess it has to do with the first 15' corner, which I always feel lucky to get thru with my fat fingers.

Finally climbed BoC this year, definitely not a sandbag at Index. I thought the first big pull up was easy ten and the rest strenuous eight. Perfect hand jams! At Leav it would be a bit of a sandbag. I'd nominate the south face of Jello Tower, only a seven when I first led it. Felt like hard (or a JT) nine the last time I did it. I see its crept up to 8+ in Viktor's latest. Battle of the Bulge (10c) is another, as hard as any other 11a at Fossil.