bobinc

What does REI actually stand for: REturn Every Item Return Everything Immediately Return Equipment Indefinitely My friends and I have so many REI stories we've lost count. But I've lowered my expectations so low, I don't get so worked up during my occasional visits there.

The Pretzel Reverso is also intended to belay 2 2nds; haven't used it this way yet but we'll see...

Hey John -- I'm sure Dallas K plans to do it at least once this year... perhaps he isn't on-line, however...

Second that on Josh routes. At many, the first one or two moves aren't rated and the first clip is often 12 feet off the ground.

I've had both diurnal and nocturnal encounters with goats. Nocturnal experience was up near Mt Anderson (Olympics) years ago. We camped on a sedge patch at the toe of the glacier and were kept up much of the night by a large male in search of sedgy snacks. More recently, we observed the small pack up near Wash Pass in the Liberty Bell/EWinter Spires basin. They seemed more diurnal, but I think they were willing to work overtime in search of salt. We used big rocks as splashblocks for urine but it appeared others had not been so careful and there was ample evidence of vegetation damage.

Ditto on the Betadine or Hibiclens. Also, although it's bulky, an Ace bandage is extremely useful if you have a bad ankle or knee (or anticipate getting one). Add a few antacid tabs in with the Vitamin I (ibuprofen). If you get the right multi-tool (eg Gerber Lite), there's good scissors right on it and it doesn't weigh a ton.

Good luck, Beck. But I think Bridge burned to the ground. Perhaps MegaFest will become SootFest.

About 4 hrs without killing yourself. You may get a better price doing it through Sacramento but the drive is longer by about an hour.

MattP, are you sure that one isn't in the book? I did something there more than ten years ago -- might have been East Buttress, though. Lots of Class 3 and 4 and at least one rappel required to link up the route. Even found some historic "crampons" fashioned from plywood and roofing nails.

Haven't done it but did the approach some years ago. Using the boat/shuttle through Stehekin saves a few miles on the trail vs the Rainy Pass approach but is more expensive and time-consuming. All reports I've heard on the descent suggest rappelling/downclimbing the NE Butt or using the Goode/Storm King col descent is much superior to carrying over (especially if you walk in from Rainy Pass). There was a thread on this sometime in the non-too-recent past.

Hey, TimL -- we talked to you from the summit of NEWS. That route looks outstanding -- may have to be the next one we try at WA Pass.

You already know about this, Mr. B, but I'll post a quick one to encourage others: we did the West Face and NW Corner of North Early Winter Spire. Great weather and rock. There was goat visitation but no gear became cudified.

Brush is a protector of wilderness values.

Kyle -- we did the route 3 yrs ago (or, more accurately, it did us...) and had a similar experience, in terms of time up/down and problems with the descent. We did stay high near the top (and bivied probably where you did, as there is really only one flat place to do so) and made it down to the Sill at C-J col then descended that way. It was 13 hrs up and 13 hrs down. As far as the 5.3 chimney goes, we didn't go up there but instead did the rap into the gulley (that may have been our pin/sling). Going up the snow in the gulley was the least stressful part of the whole climb. (Above there, on the snow slopes near the top, there isn't much technical difficulty, but the stress comes from the inevitable wonderings about the descent...) Really impressed you guys were able to pull this off in the fog. As you said, I wouldn't recommend doing the route again...

MattP is good to point out the very steep grass slopes on J'berg; on the NE Buttress main route, there is equally steep heather with quite a bit of exposure. Really, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to wear crampons on some of it, but we elected to just not fall.

If you stay in the corner on the std Garfield route, you avoid most of the brush. You are right, though, that down lower, there is some first-class vertical brush (though in small quantity and with less objective danger than on JBerg) so perhaps VB2 or VB3 is still applicable.

Mr. Blister did the heavy lifting on the TR. John -- you should put up a link (plus one to the other TR we read around then -- it was even better). I agree on Garfield, although now there seems to be something resembling regular maintenance on the middle portion of the approach (thus threatening a B1 rating) and an embarrassing number of bolts on the gully (even two full anchors less than 75' apart on the upper slab -- anyone know about why this was done?)

For alpine sport brush, it's hard to beat. Doubtless you've seen the bushwhacking rating scale.

Matt: If you have something to atone for in this life(or past lives), by all means do it. Otherwise, I can recommend plenty of brush closer in (for example, anything in the Mid Fork drainage). Phil: there isn't really a line to climber's left of the col; but since the slope is a NE aspect, it generally doesn't get too overheated and if you pick your time right, you shouldn't have to dodge too many rocks. There must be much better snow/ice lines in the Cascades, but the view from the end of the road tends to draw one in to climbing up there...

I think it's worth doing the climb up to the col (as long as you do it when it isn't a bowling alley) but don't bother going up that chossy ridge. When you look at it from below, you legitimately wonder why anyone would ever go up there.

Okay -- did some quick research and appears it WAS a Hollywood thing: Hansons played for the Charlestown Chiefs in the film but, in real life, all had played at some level of pro hockey, including the WHA. Apparently, the sequel to the film is now being shot in Vancouver.

Daylward and Forrest claim the Schoeller pants they wear came for only $70CAN from MEC but if so, MEC realized their mistake and has jacked the price back up where everyone else has it. Can this fabric be obtained from a place such as Seattle Fabrics? Probably worth a phone call.

An excellent read is "Men Against the Clouds", about a 1932 expedition to China to climb Sikang. This is way back in the era of steel, canvas, and wood; the things these guys did, given what they had to work with, are truly amazing. I skimmed this book years ago and have tried to get it through the Seattle Library but it has been unavailable for a long time; they are trying to repair the binding or somesuch.

Beck -- given I am American, I couldn't even spell "Hansen" right; I assume what NoMeansNo and real Canadians were talking about were NHL players, not Yoopers. You need to straighten us all out on the facts.

Actually, the correct answer is, "a college education".