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rat

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Everything posted by rat

  1. Kind words but hopefully made tongue- in-cheek. We are for the most part just the cleaners for many previous greats and, in our case, often for Mike and Wayne (cue the Winston Wolfe clip). Mannijo, I can't honestly say it was worth the approach and certainly not a classic in any ordinary sense. Onward....
  2. WHAP....well at least he didn't inadvertently use an acronym that the snowflakes would redact. I mean who's against whaps? Yeah, he probably shouldn't list it on his CV. As one who works in the woods, I have a lot of respect for how fast a fire can move. Luckily, the start zone, wind, & overnight showers were in our favor. The Baker River deproach would have been an adventurous cake walk if necessary but someone, not gonna say who, thought it was nuts. Thanks for the info, Mark. If one wanted to roll the dice with falling snags, the fire might improve the approach to Bear Mt. until the brush returns. However, I bet the NPS closes it next summer due to safety concerns.
  3. "Classic of the range" that just needs a little traffic to clean it up..... IV?! Only because someone is pretty damn slow, not gonna say who. Gotta say that Mike's & Wayne's ascent of Spectre, while not directly up the SW buttress, was a very impressive feat.
  4. way to put it together....that's a lot o' walking. has your son caught the bulger bug?
  5. as darin alluded to: June 24 at 10:13 AM HAMPTON FOREST CLOSURES: We are sorry to announce that due to increased risk of wildfire in Oregon and Washington, all Hampton forestland will be closed to the general public until further notice. With state resources for wildfire response already stretched thin, we feel this temporary closure is needed to protect forest health and public safety. We understand the inconvenience this can create for those who use our forestlands in the summer. We intend to resume public access at the end of fire season. For more information on other private land closures in Oregon visit: https://ofic.com/private-forestland-closures/
  6. i climbed it in the early 2000's. two points supporting removal of the added protection bolt are: 1. the bolt does change "the character of the route"; and 2. previous retro efforts did not feel the need for an added bolt. at this point i don't really care whether you remove the added bolt but bear in mind that just because you think you're doing a public service doesn't always mean it's so. rock on...
  7. i'm not surprised you couldn't reach steve risse as he is dead. not sure about his wife. http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199432900/Steven-Craig-Risse-1952-1993 it was clearly not so much of a "death route" that you couldn't rope solo it & the route has been retro'd 2x already. http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Washington-Pass-North-Early-Winters-Spire-Labor-Pains the internet is such a hard place to find info.....
  8. not sure if dustin is referring to oregon's spring mt. or washington's but as of yesterday, the other side of the tracks was not "free of moss and debris". that said, it climbed better than it looked. someone has re-grubbed a good portion of the approach trail, perhaps as a covid clampdown project, so maybe a renaissance is in the works.
  9. "They will be logging around the Heliotrope trailhead right up to the Wilderness boundary" is somewhat inaccurate. If you drill down on the map on Pg.5 of Appendix D, you will see that the project area does not extend south of the Grouse Creek tributary bisecting the road turn where the trailhead is located. Grouse Creek, the wilderness boundary, is almost certainly a fish bearing stream downstream of this trib's junction and will get a no-cut 100' buffer. The language on the NCCC's webpage is so over-the-top emotional that I strongly urge diving into the USFS documents before commenting. Makes a person long for the smell of the GP tissue mill to give the crack "pulp farm for Trump's business cronies" a veneer of respectability. Just a sample after a quick perusal of the documents: NCCC's cited acreages bear no resemblance to either Alt.1 or Alt.2 acreages shown on Fig.14 of the DEA. Road runoff & fill/cut slope failures are a legit concern among others. However, if you look at Pg.26 of the Draft EA this proposal will ultimately reduce road mileage & density of roads. This project is expected to take 10-15 years. Recreationalists of all stripes are bound to be inconvenienced for some period of time near these units. I believe most don't lack imagination. Have at it.
  10. overly kind words for the likes of us..... been trying to be responsible during these plague times but hoping for a better summer for all. there is no shortage of choss in the cascades though i agree with eric that lemolo needs a repeat (or another line). it's on par with bear mtn.'s dnb but more committing.
  11. the closest comparable wx site (~6000' elev.) is the green lake snotel on this site: https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mso/fwxmaps/ksew.php
  12. if your starting point is mrnp, you may want to first look into traverses in the olympics. it's probably the shortest drive but if you want to bivy in the park itself it's probably the biggest hassle due to the reservation system. there are some traverses in usfs wilderness outside of the park (e.g. the brothers) that don't require a permit. another nearby option is the goat rocks wilderness (see the jason's tr for curtis gilbert). both areas are mostly crappy rock but it's only class 3/4 so what could possibly go wrong? if the wx turns to shit, try the east side of the alpine lakes wilderness or the chelan-sawtooth. you may burn a day driving to/from each of these areas but would see a side of the state & could drink innumerable canisters of knowledge as recompense.
  13. off white's & grossman's route, stellar eclipse, comes in from left of gato negro and tops out on the ridge above "whine spire" label on the photo.
  14. more info, & some conjecture, about this proposal. the biennial wwrp budget was approved for $85 million as of 4/28/19. given the current situation, it might be considerably less in the next budget. the parcel is currently owned by santana investments llc based in carnation, wa. the 2020 appraised value as forest land is $8745. granted, its value for scenic & recreational use exceeds that. source: https://blue.kingcounty.com/Assessor/eRealProperty/Detail.aspx?ParcelNbr=3223099013 contrary to the access fund's info, there have not been any forest practices applications (accepted, denied, or withdrawn) for any land within sec32/t23/r9 within the last 10 years. source: https://fortress.wa.gov/dnr/protection/fparssearch/FPARResult.aspx?legal=23,,9,,E,32 i can think of only 3 ways to access the timber on this parcel: 1. reconstruct the road through the park from i-90 (dnr permit seems unlikely); 2. haul out via the cedar river watershed (more road reconstruction than option 1); or 3. helicoptor to a landing within the watershed and/or along i-90 (more permits and probably not economical at this time). anyone know the asking price for this inholding?
  15. granitic rock of some stripe. it's the poor man's enchantments: shorter routes, more exfoliation, & more lichen but many fewer shitshow mountain athletes.
  16. okanogan-wenatchee also closed. icicle road gated at snow creek parking lot. https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/okawen/alerts-notices/?cid=fseprd717017&width=full
  17. the photo in this thread suggests ice on nyg, pe, & tt but they might be a bit snow-covered at this time: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=42748.0
  18. you might try exploring near the end of the road if we get another low elevation cold snap w/o snow. by then, though, the goat basin routes will probably be in nick.
  19. WDFW NEWS RELEASE Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091 http://wdfw.wa.gov/ Sept.12, 2019 Contacts: Penny Wagner, Olympic National Park, 360-565-3004 Colton Whitworth, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 425-783-6050 Deborah Kelly, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, 509-664-9247 Susan Garner, Olympic National Forest, 360-956-2390 Samantha Montgomery, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 360-688-0721 August capture and translocation activities moved 101 mountain goats to Northern Cascades Mountains Capture and translocation operations are now complete for 2019 with 101 mountain goats moved from Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest to the northern Cascade Mountains. Since September 2018, a total of 275 mountain goats have been translocated. An additional two-week capture and translocation period is planned for summer 2020. This effort is a partnership between the National Park Service (NPS), the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to re-establish and assist in connecting depleted populations of mountain goats in the Washington Cascades while also removing non-native goats from the Olympic Mountains. Though some mountain goat populations in the North Cascades have recovered since the 1990s, the species is still absent or rare in many areas of its historic range. Mountain goats were introduced to the Olympics in the 1920s. In addition to the 101 mountain goats released in the North Cascades, there were seven adult mortalities related to capture, plus four animals that could not be captured safely were lethally removed. Ten mountain goat kids that were not able to be kept with their families were transferred to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in 2019. One will remain at Northwest Trek and live in the park's 435-acre free-roaming area. The other nine kids will have new homes at other zoos. A total of 16 mountain goat kids have been given permanent homes in zoos: six in 2018 and ten in 2019. August 2019 Results Translocated Zoo Capture Mortalities Transport Mortalities Euthanized Lethally Removed 101 10 7 0 0 4 Leading Edge Aviation, a private company which specializes in the capture of wild animals, conducted aerial capture operations through a contract. The helicopter crew used immobilizing darts and net guns to capture mountain goats and transported them in specially-made slings to the staging areas located at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park and the Hamma Hamma area in Olympic National Forest. The animals were examined and treated by veterinarians before volunteers working with WDFW transported them to pre-selected staging areas in the North Cascades. The mountain goats were transported in refrigerated trucks to keep them cool. Once at the staging areas, WDFW and participating Tribal biologists worked with HiLine Aviation to airlift the crated goats to release areas where volunteers and Forest Service wildlife biologists assisted with the release. Release areas were chosen based on their high quality mountain goat habitat, proximity to the staging areas, and limited disturbance to recreationists. Weather did complicate airlifting goats to preferred locations on 6 days, but crews were able to airlift goats to alternative locations on these days. "We were very fortunate to have a long stretch of good weather in August which enabled us to safely catch mountain goats throughout the Olympics and make good progress towards reaching our translocation goals," said Dr. Patti Happe, Wildlife Branch Chief at Olympic National Park "Many thanks to all the volunteers and cooperators, including several biologists and former National Park Service staff who came out of retirement to assist with the project." During this round, release sites in the Cascades included Cadet Ridge and Cadet Creek, Milk Lakes on Lime Ridge, Pear Lake, and between Prairie and Whitechuck Mountains on the Darrington Ranger District of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest; between Vesper and Big Four Mountains on Washington Department of Natural Resource Lands; on Hardscrabble Ridge and privately-held land; and near Tower Mountain on the Methow Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. "An operation such as this is impossible without the support and participation of a large team," said Dr. Rich Harris, a WDFW wildlife manager who specializes in mountain goats. "All have worked tirelessly to give every goat the best possible chance at a new beginning in native habitat. In future years, we hope to be able to look back with the satisfaction of knowing we helped restore this wonderful species where there are currently so few." Area tribes lending support to the translocation plan in the Cascades include the Lummi, Muckleshoot, Sauk-Suiattle, Stillaguamish, Suquamish, Swinomish, Tulalip, and Upper Skagit tribes. Volunteers from the Point No Point Treaty Council, Quileute Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, Makah Tribe, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Skokomish Indian Tribe, and Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe also assisted at the staging areas in the Olympics A total of 22 mountain goats were removed from Olympic National Forest in August. Sixteen mountain goats were removed from the Mount Ellinor and Mount Washington area and six from The Brothers Wilderness. "This operation would not have been possible without the invaluable assistance of volunteers, including the Olympia Mountaineers," said Susan Piper, Forest Wildlife Biologist with Olympic National Forest. "We also want to acknowledge that having popular destinations such as Mount Ellinor and Lake of the Angels closed may have been inconvenient to visitors, but it was important to have a safe and successful capture operation in those areas." In May 2018, the NPS released the final Mountain Goat Management Plan which outlines the effort to remove the estimated 725 mountain goats on the Olympic Peninsula. Both the plan and the associated environmental impact statement were finalized after an extensive public review process which began in 2014. For more information about mountain goats in Washington State, see WDFW's website at https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/oreamnos-americanus. For more information and updates on the project, visit nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/mountain-goat-capture-and-translocation.htm. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is the state agency tasked with preserving, protecting and perpetuating fish, wildlife, and ecosystems, while providing sustainable fishing and hunting opportunities.
  20. jason, https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/68534-tr-buck-mt-north-ridge-8102009/?tab=comments#comment-895601 https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/95592-tr-buck-mountain-north-ridge-8232014/?tab=comments#comment-1120742
  21. #6 friend: used a few times. excellent condition. $80, firm. grivel 2f crampons: w/ antibotts. well used, both alpine and waterfall climbing. due to front point wear, they are now really only suitable for general glacial travel and steep snow unless you have fancy footwork. $15 obo. cash only. seattle area and i5 corridor up to burlington.
  22. WDFW NEWS RELEASE Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091 http://wdfw.wa.gov/ June 27, 2019 Contacts: Penny Wagner, Olympic National Park, 360-565-3005 Colton Whitworth, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 425-783-6050 Deborah Kelly, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, 509-664-9247 Susan Garner, Olympic National Forest, 360-956-2390 Samantha Montgomery, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 360-688-0721 Agencies to begin second year of translocating mountain goats from the Olympics to the Cascades Starting July 8, a coalition of state and federal agencies, with support from local tribes, will begin the second two-week round of translocating mountain goats from Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest to the northern Cascade Mountains to meet wildlife management goals in all three areas. This effort is a partnership between the National Park Service (NPS), the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), and the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to re-establish and assist in connecting depleted populations of mountain goats in the Washington Cascades while also removing non-native goats from the Olympic Mountains. Mountain goats were introduced to the Olympics in the 1920s. "A project of this magnitude would be impossible without our partner agencies and the expertise and cooperation of hundreds of people," said Olympic National Park Wildlife Branch Chief Dr. Patti Happe. "The interagency collaboration and the support from everyone involved is extraordinary." Area tribes lending support to the translocation plan in the Cascades include the Lummi, Muckleshoot, Sauk-Suiattle, Stillaguamish, Suquamish, Swinomish, Tulalip, and Upper Skagit tribes. Volunteers from the Point No Point Treaty Council, Quileute Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, Skokomish Indian Tribe, and Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe will also be assisting at the staging areas in the Olympics. In May 2018, the NPS released the final Mountain Goat Management Plan which outlined the effort to remove mountain goats on the Olympic Peninsula. The population of mountain goats at that time was estimated at 725. Both the plan and the associated environmental impact statement were finalized after an extensive public review process which began in 2014. The first two-week capture period in September 2018 removed 115 mountain goats from the population in the park. An additional two-week period is planned for this year beginning August 19 through 30. "Mountain goat relocation will allow these animals to reoccupy historical range areas in the Cascades and increase population viability," said Jesse Plumage, USFS Wildlife Biologist. While some mountain goat populations in the north Cascades have recovered since the 1990s, the species is still absent from many areas of its historic range. Aerial capture operations will be conducted through a contract with Leading Edge Aviation, a private company that specializes in the capture and transport of wild animals. The helicopter crew will use immobilizing darts and net guns to capture mountain goats and transport them in specially made slings to the staging areas. While capture operations will be conducted throughout the park and national forest for both two-week periods, a few locations that are known to have a high number of mountain goats will be areas of focus for the capture crew. On the first two days of the capture period, the emphasis will be on the Klahhane Ridge and Appleton Pass areas. The Seven Lakes Basin area and the Lake of the Angels area in the southeast have a high number of mountain goats that the capture crew will be working to remove. In August, Mount Ellinor in Olympic National Forest will be an area of focus. This year there will be two staging areas for each two-week period. For July and August, one staging area will be located on Hurricane Hill Road beyond the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center in Olympic National Park. The other staging area will be located in Olympic National Forest in the Hamma Hamma area in July and switch to the Mt. Ellinor area in August. The staging areas will be closed to public access. The animals will be cared for by veterinarians before WDFW wildlife managers transport them to staging areas in the north Cascades for release. To maximize success, goats will be airlifted in their crates by helicopter directly to alpine habitats that have been selected for appropriate characteristics. WDFW plans to release the mountain goats at six sites in the Cascades in July. Three of the release sites will be staged from the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (MBS). These release sites include the Chikamin area on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Preacher Mountain on the MBS, and Hardscrabble Ridge on an inholding owned by Forterra. Two release areas are near mountain peaks south of the town of Darrington on the Darrington District of the MBS.The other is near Mt. Index on the Skykomish Ranger District of the MBS. Mountain goats follow and approach hikers because they are attracted to the salt from their sweat, urine, and food. That behavior is less likely in the north Cascades where visitors are more widely distributed than those at Olympic National Park, said Dr. Rich Harris, a WDFW wildlife manager who specializes in mountain goats. "In addition, the north Cascades has natural salt licks, while the Olympic Peninsula has virtually none," Harris said. "We'd expect salt hunger to be lower in goats that have natural sources available to them." Trail Impacts and Road Closures Hurricane Hill Road, beyond the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center parking lot, will be closed to all access during both operational periods. Hurricane Hill Road will remain open up to Picnic Area A on July 5 and July 6 during the setup of the staging area. The road will then be closed completely beyond the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center from July 7 through 20 for mobilization, capture operations, and demobilization. This closure includes the Hurricane Hill Trail, Little River Trail, and Wolf Creek Trail. The Klahhane Ridge area will close temporarily on July 8 and 9 for visitor and employee safety during capture operations. The area of Seven Lakes Basin/High Divide/ Heart Lake/ Hoh Lake/ to Cat Basin will be closed to hiking and overnight camping July 7 through 11. The area of Lake of the Angels, accessed from Putvin Trail #813 off Forest Road 25 in Olympic National Forest, will be closed at mile 3 at the park boundary from July 9 through July 18. For the July release operations on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, land adjacent to the roadway at the junctions of Forest Service Roads 49 and 4920 will be closed from July 9 through July 21, 2019. For the August capture operations, the Mount Ellinor trails system and Forest Road 2419 to Mount Ellinor, as well as Forest Road 2464 leading to Forest Road 2419, will be closed to the public starting the evening of August 18 until the morning of August 30. For more information about mountain goats in Washington State, see WDFW's website at https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/oreamnos-americanus For more information and updates on the project, visit www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/mountain-goat-capture-and-translocation.htm.
  23. sorry to look a gift horse in the mouth but i thought the route was a weasel pile generally not worth the bolts. i clipped the majority of them though so am guilty as will soon be charged. good views of the middle fork valley and interesting topography. one can only hope that the route was originally climbed to suss out the far better & cleaner potential adjacent to the rap line. nice job on the guidebook, kurt. sort of looking forward to climbing your & rad's route on revelation.
  24. Trip: mt. kent - north face Trip Date: 03/05/2019 Trip Report: sub-alpinism seems to have understandably fallen out of favor given conditions in the coulees, sw b.c. and patagonia. couple of overview photos from yesterday: yesterday's route provided a half dozen entertaining ice/turf/rock steps. once above the last step, ~300 v.f. of forest take you directly to the summit. the quickest descent is down the east ridge then down the large avalanche gully on the left side of the face: there is old red webbing around a tree on skier's right but it is now easily down climbed. if you mistakenly drop down the burdick/fortier gully as i initially did, you could probably do a couple raps down the final two steps w/ one rope. the last couple of steps before the forest: annotated photo from ~2007: the photo above was copied from this thread: Gear Notes: the usual sharp stuff. Approach Notes: xc up east side of alice creek.
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