plexus

Go down to the beach, kick back some suds with some friends and check out the coeds.

Denis, when you did N. Twin, how was the snow on the West Ridge? Thinking about heading up there this weekend. Normally this time of year it's not a problem, but with all of the late snow we've had.... Thanks for your help Cheers

quote: Personally I believe a hitherto unknown to science race of giant moles or mound building termites are the most likely option. What about really bored snafflehounds?

Listen to what Necro is saying. It's easy connecting the North and South Twin. I don't know about the middle group firsthand but from close vantages, they are pretty bunched together. The last four peaks starting from Barbara down south to Step Sister, you pretty much can follow summit to summit along connecting ridges. I know that you can do the last three together in one day and probably everything from teh Boot Lake area south in one day, hike out and still hit the Skagit River Brewery in time for a couple of rounds. Hope that helps. Also the nice thing about the range is the rock is so good, you really don't have to follow the route descriptions too closely, pick your line and go. Have fun

Dru, o' wise marmot of things n. of the border, How would you rate the looseness of the s. ridge in the choss scale? Bad like Fisher Peak or better than a drinking Jenga game? Just have heard that the Cheam Range is notorious for bad rock. Thanks

You can die driving home from work. You can die any time when you are alive. It's going to happen. When I am climbing, I am the one deciding my fate. Objective hazards (rock fall, avalanches, lightning, etc.) are something I am aware of, yet I choose to put myself in that scenario, a much better choice than getting mowed down by a drunk driver. You are right, people die needlessly....it's called war.

Talked with a ranger from the N Cascades Natl Park the other day and she said that the road is going to get top priority. Lots of buzzsawed trees on the road. Also found out for those wanting to do Despair or Triumph, Thorton Lakes Road is a mess bigger than Cascade River Road. It is drivable maybe a mile before there are trees down all over the place. That one is going to take some time.

Just an idea but since I have been crawling on every square foot of rock on Erie, your best bet is to print out Dru's Squamish ticklist and learn there. The cracks suck up more pro then you'll be carrying and many of the trad climbs on Erie, while rated moderate, can get runout. My significant other learned trad by first seconding my climbs and then by tooling around at the bottom with cracks, holes, etc. and having me check her placements. If your heart is set on Erie, there is a great 5.7-8 crack in Shady Hollow Area, also Jack of Diamonds on the Upper Wall, after the first 15-feet of a 5.9 boulder problem, protects easilly but take a number on the weekends. And then there is Leaning Crack on Powerline Wall, along with a route to the right (from the bottom)of Tindall's Terror. And if you think I'm going to tell you about the other lesser-known crags up there, then I'll be running around with Son o' Caveman in bras and panties with my A-cup going clinkity-cling!! P.S. Slot gear early and often when you're learning. OR not and then there is one less person crowding the crags.

para ti Bigwallin! I've cleaned off huge gardens off some problems (but only on the problem, leave the remaining choss there like it was found). Bouldering is such a provincial sport, find a cool problem, share it with your friends, they tell their friends, etc. Go back to a problem two years after you pulled and its a whole new problem again, how did I get to that two-finger pocket?, What was the sequence? Besides guides are difficult to decipher for bouldering; "Start right hand on sloping ledge, left foot tiny smear..." What the F***?! ¿Which smear? I love bouldering. It's a great workout, it's perfect when you only have a short window to crank...but it's only one part of my climbing, trad, alpine and, gulp, sometimes I clip bolts. A guide is useful for the other three but I enjoy going out blindly to a field of boulders and finding out for myself, en vez de, The Devil's Scrotum, V5, Start with incut on right.... BTW, the best thing about Mexico is with the keyboards down here, I can do ¡this! or was it ¿this? Nos vemos!

Tomyhoi Peak three years ago. I backpacked to Yellow Aster Butte faster than I thought I would (thanks to the voracious flies) and got bored counting the weekend warriors near the tarns. So my little hike ended up as a bagged summit. It's fun when you suprise yourself .

Still nursing sore tips from the volcanic rock down here. Been in the 90s the last week, means early rise for climbing and find shade like every other sensible animal in the afternoon, very much like Utah and JTree in many respects in that way. Led El Pequino Naruz (5.10a) yesterday at Tutla as well as Pies Descalzos (5.8). Got halfway up another climb before the blazing sun made the rock too hot to touch. Hopefully going to get another day in Wednesday before embarking ona four-day journey to Rio Blanco in Veracruz.

Juan, You think Tequilla is good, you should try Mezcal!! Just be careful of the worm or make sure you are tied down with your slings

No need for camping if you get an early start. Don't go the way of the Goat Mountain Trail, it is way too long. Snowshoes should be fine. Start from Twin Lakes Road, cut down to Swamp Creek and head up a gully to the glacier basin in between the West and East Peaks. Head up some steep snow and then traverse to the east side for the summit. Great views in all directions. IT is definitely easy to get both peaks in one day. And if snow conditions are good, a nice glissade back down. Just be careful going up the gully as it has some avy and rockfall dangers depending on snow condition.

Have to join the spray. I've lived in Bham on and off for six years and the climbing nearby is pretty weak. Chuckanut is good only when you have an hour free, Bat Caves is crap, Glacier has some interesting clip-fests, but seems like mopnkeying insideThe only saving grace is it's location to the Mt. Baker Hwy, Squamish and Cruisin' Coffee. Would take the extra drive down to Mount Erie to get on some real rock with some brushy, run-out trad and boulder problems with ankle-breakin' falls (helps ya concentrate). Found Bellingham South down here in Mexico. It is located around the Mixotec ruins of Yagul. Only close rock but it is as crumbly as Chuckanut Sandstone but with huecos. Never could write a guide for it though, because the holds will breakoff on your first ascent. Found some rock near there but requires some bushwacking and I haven't bought my machete yet. Cheers, By the way winter doesn't suck when it is sunny and 85 degrees (30 C) outside.

Thanks for the link Dru, read the TR and a couple about Welch Peak. Be interesting to try out when I return. Sorry about the error of placement, didn't even see the B.C. category. Got good news yesterday from a couple of locals, apparently the mountain north of OAxaca, which I can see every day from my courtyard has climbing. Only 20 minutes away by car apparently, will have to check it out next week in the midst of work.

It's amazing how flipping through the Beckey Guide in a small cafe in Oaxaca, Mexico makes you miss the mountains. I am surrounded by mountains on pretty much all sides without a friggin rock to climb, at least nothing bigger than me. But while my purusing through the Volume 3 guide, I came across Foley Peak once more in the Cheam Range. Why the fascination? Because it had to have been about the fifth time I have flipped the book open and came to that mountain. So here is my question, is it worth it? South Route or other? Can you still get in by the roads? I know I have until the end of May in Mexico but hell, I'm an American, I want everything now (Goddamn fast food, high-speed connections and drive-thru espresso stands, you have erroded my patience). Thanks for the help.

To all of you drowning PacNW amphibians, I write to you from downtown Oaxaca, Mexico. Will be here for the next four beautiful months. Plenty of mountains around, but I have yet to begin my quest for rocks. I saw a guy rappelling of a dome in a postcard today, but looking for something, even gulp, bouldering. Will send infrequent dispatches. And refering to a post in the Alpine Lakes board, yes, I too am a member of the Climbed the Tooth club. By the way the is really cheap, like $1 american.

JAyB, I want your CloudVeil jacket. Friend had one and it was sweet. I haven't been able to find one though. Best gear, toss up between my #6 curved nut (three falls and holding strong) and my ice ax -- it slices, it dices, it arrests, it cams, it opens beers

Ahh Josh!! I remember that some climbs the bolts were about 10-15 feet apart and then some only had one or two bolts on it. The most annoying thing was finding places to anchor into on the top. I remember I used 40 feet of webbing to set up an anchor at Roadside Rocks (???). Two other leads, I'd get to the top and realize there was nothing to anchor into, no cracks, no nuttin. Ended up being the anchor for the second. Getting down one was fun/scary boulder hopping.

Hey epb... Have ya done anything in the Cheam Range? Is the rock as crappy as they say?

Hey isn't it supposed to be a new sometime next week?

epb, had similar problems on rock a couple of years ago. I was soloing a climb and a Mountaineer "teacher" got all up in face afterwards. Thing was, there was nobody on the route, there was none of their gear on the route, but since they were in the area, I was a risk. Plus I was sending a bad message to people learning how to climb. Closest I ever came to going Kung-Fu grip on anybody while in the wild (OK, I one time grabbed a tourist's cell phone while he was yakking away to some friends and tossed it off a cliff). I would think that a solo person would create less of a danger than a team for rockfall and such. It is the perception of going solo, you are a risk-taker, you must be dangerous and careless. All the times climbing, I've never had a problem with a person going solo but have had difficulties with parties. I could see some problems if the section of gulley you passed the party at is known to be a terrain trap or if the avy conditions were high. Just my feelings.

Peshastin is still far worse than Garden. Although out yonder near the 'worth, you don't have to get a permit to climb, like you do at Garden of the Gods. Speaking of the big cheese, by God I hope there are rocks to climb in Mexico.

Everybody I know that has gone up to Hadley's and Coleman Pinnacle have seen those goats. Everybody but me !!! When I went up Coleman this past August, only thing I saw was a ptarmigan (kinda fitting since I was on Ptarmigan Ridge and a big-ass black spider !! I've never seen any bloody goats!!! Even my fiancee how has spent less time outdoors has seen the baa-machines. Me? Ohh-noo!!! I just keep running into bears

It's closed Nov. 1 for habitat every year. And right now, you wouldn't get that far past the falls due to the snow.