PackOnMyBack

quote: Originally posted by Dru: isnt it better to go out in miserable conditions and fail than to stay at home? Absolutely. I have learned more from failed attempts than I've learned from many of my "successful" climbs. Plus, the stories are almost always better!

pete a, That was my partner and I ahead of you. Thanks to your group for the cooperation on the route, it was a pleasure to climb with you. Congratulations on your summit. We never saw you in the couloir on the descent and I'm glad to hear you got out alright! Definately the hightlight of my summer so far.

My partner and I left the Eldorado TH at 1:30 a.m. as the CR road is gated here (MP 20). It’s about 2.5-mile walk up the road to the Boston Basin TH. The road to the gate at MP 21 has only a few downed trees and it made no sense to us why this mile hasn’t opened yet. Our Forest Pass dollars at rest! The rest of the road had considerably more trees down as well as a major slide at the Midas Creek crossing. The trail up to the basin was in fair condition until just after re-crossing Midas creek. There was a faint snow-bridge over the creek (hard to see how faint by headlamp), and then the trail disappeared. We then found ourselves in major slide debris. Instead of trying to cross it to the west, we decided to head up into the basin. By the time we cleared the trees at about 5200’, we had ascended into the clouds so we decided to sit it out, get a little sleep, and see if the sun would burn off the clouds. We slept? for about an hour and at 6:15 we could only see slightly higher so we figured we’d climb up a few hundred feet and if we had no relief, we’d head out. Sure enough, a few hundred feet up, BLUEBIRD! We were slightly east in the basin so we traversed west toward W. Ridge couloir, reaching the base at about 8 a.m. On the way we encountered another party of 4 just below us and let them pass and break trail for a while. Snow in the basin was soft but we were still able to make pretty good time. At the base of the couloir the party ahead of us let us pass since we were only 2 and would not be protecting the couloir. The bergschrund was wide open but offered slight passage on the left. As we climbed just above it I spotted an eerie sight. Below us lay a climbing rope, with one end disappearing into the schrund! There was no way to get down to it and we finally determined that it might have been dropped after it had been pulled on a rappel. Still, not the kind of thing that inspires confidence. The climb to the base of the ridge went better than expected, the snow still being in pretty good shape. At 9 a.m. we roped up at the base of the ridge and in excellent weather (blue skies and no wind!), climbed the most enjoyable ridge I’ve ever been on. The route was not difficult but the exposure and views were phenomenal. A couple of photos on top and we rapped and down-climbed back to the top of the couloir, passing the party behind us. We then rapped the couloir and were glad to not have to down-climb it as it had softened considerably. We then traversed SE across the basin and descended what we thought would be a shortcut (they never are!) back to the trail and had to cross the debris field west-to-east, a major pain in the ass. Now seeing it in daylight this debris was actually mass destruction, the largest we had ever encountered. Large trees had not only been toppled but also pulverized. In order to re-cross Midas Creek we figured we’d have to find that slight snow-brige that we had crossed on the approach. We had noted that it was at 4400’ and we traversed at that contour. My partner finally spotted the trail on the other side of the creek but when we got to the creek, the bridge was gone. We debated whether to build a bridge with downed debris but opted for the jump onto the other side. Once back on trail, the trip out went smoothly with visions of large heaping plates of food in our heads. We passed a couple car-camping about .8 mile inside the Eldo TH gate. I guess the gate opens if you know somebody. We finally hit the car just after 8 p.m. and were sitting in the Buffalo Run by 9. This was my 1st summit of Forbidden after 2 previous attempts and will remain as a highlight in my climbing history.

quote: Originally posted by Country Jake: [QB]to get a faster and further drop between jumps... QB] I never like to hear the words "drop" & "jump" mentioned while I'm climbing. I wish only the best for a speedy recovery!!!

quote: Originally posted by JERRY SANCHEZ: Great report!!! Any pictures? Jerry, I ended up with some pretty good digitals of the basin and the route. Let me know how to get them to you.

Went up to Boston Basin TH on 6/15. Road is gated @ Eldo TH, with only a few downed trees between it and gate at MP 21. Between MP 21 gate and BB TH, major slide debris and more trees down. A little chainsaw work would open the road to MP 21 gate.

Thanks alasdair, Marblemount said there is a 2 mile walk from gate to TH, mostly snowfree, as is the lower section of the trail. True, but is more like 2.6 miles........... [ 06-17-2002, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: PackOnMyBack ]

Planning Forbidden W. Ridge this weekend. Does anyone have info on the CR road and/or trail into Boston Basin. Any and all info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Has anybody seen my cat? Oh, wait, I don't own a cat............

quote: Originally posted by Dennis Harmon: This recent accident on Mt Hood again shows how stupid it is to tie into a rope unless you are actively belaying. So let's see... If I'm walking on a glacier, unroped, with my wife or good friends, and one of them pops into a crevasse, and I can do nothing to help, then I'm the smart one? [ 06-05-2002, 11:24 AM: Message edited by: PackOnMyBack ]

Steve and Paul, I have amended my trip report to clear up any misunderstandings. We were given erroneous information by other climbers and the ranger we met on the trail that day. I hope you all had a good time on the mountain, as we did, and wish you continued success in your endeavors.

quote: Originally posted by boonecounty: Congratulations, good TR. Hope you went to someplace and pigged out and then passed out afterwards. Isn't it the coolest feeling when you are heading down successful and others are trudging up? There's nothing better, especially since we had PERFECT conditions and the entire route and summit to ourselves! Oh yea, except maybe the faces on the mounties when they found out that we had left the car THAT morning!

This was my fourth attempt on Mt. Shuksan (my wife’s 3rd), and my 2nd try via the Sulphide, so I thought I’d try something different. I’d heard that this was a good car-to-car route so I figured we’d give it a shot. We left the car at 1 a.m. It took us 15 minutes to reach the trailhead, the road had melted out quite a bit between there and the car. The old logging road/trail was considerably snow free for the first ¾ mile but then snow became constant. The trail was faint through the woods but really obvious once on Shannon ridge. We hit the col before daylight and spotted only one tent. We cramponed up here for the traverse below the slabs, the snow to that point had been mostly firm and was getting more so. The traverse to the glacier was uneventful and we packed up our headlamps at about 4 a.m. when we reached 6400’. We ascended the west side of the Sulphide and had perfect cramponing conditions, as well as excellent views of Mt. Baker. We didn’t see one open slot all the way to the base of the pyramid, which we reached at 6:30. After a break we traversed up below the S ridge of the pyramid and then climbed out into the central gully leading up the face. Although the face had seemed intimidating from a distance, from the based it seemed less so. All that changed when we were about 150’ up. The snow was extremely hard and mixed with quite a bit of firn. We ended up frontpointing a lot of it and we would not have refused a second tool, or a belay. Without either, we hit the summit at 7:15 with excellent views and just a slight wind. There had been some high overcast most of the morning and that had kept the snow firm for our ascent as well as our descent. Once we descended the pyramid, again a lot of front pointing, the overcast was lifting and the snow was softening. By 9 a.m. I was sinking up to my calves and was glad to be moving off the glacier. We passed only two other parties of two going up the glacier. The snow on the ridge had gotten really soft and once in the woods we stopped for breakfast. As we packed up, a party of 2 passed us going up and mentioned the hoard coming up from below. We passed 43 other climbers coming up (YES, FORTY THREE ). Having answered 20 questions about the route (and ignored another 40) we found the trail through the woods had been wanded, lest we miss the 43 sets of bootprints in the snow. We hit the car at 12:20 and were super glad to not have been on the mountain with the hoards that night and even more glad not to have had to witness the craziness that was sure to take place on the pyramid Sun. morning. This turned out to be an excellent car-to-car climb. I would not have gotten on the face of the pyramid with more than a couple of other climbers on it, even then only if I knew their skills. This is not the place to have to deal with crowds or beginners. Having had the summit to ourselves, we didn’t have to deal with either. [ 06-05-2002, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: PackOnMyBack ]

quote: Originally posted by glen: [QB]You might be a WA climber if: ..... you arrive at any trailhead from Oct. - Apr. and can't find a path thru the snomobile trailers to find the trailhead QB]

quote: Originally posted by CAMAZONIA: Some of the local day crags in Washington will be almost empty this weekend. Probably because the weather here is ideal for cragging. Smith Rock: Warm, dry, and crowded.....just the way I like my {arrggghhh, never mind}