Fairweather

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Solyndra. Fast and Furious. John Corzine. Please do not discuss these issues while you're watching Herman gettin his knobbin. As you were...

Uh, pretty far?

Another example of geriatric editorializing here. Joel seems to be (rightly) bashing the NCCC for their dogmatism vis-a-vis road repairs even as he scolds Doc Hastings for wanting to remedy the problem. Not sure what his point is about Rick Larsen--or Maria Cantwell for that matter. It seems like Connelly wants to bash the deep greens--but can't let go of his own knee-jerk urge to bash a Republican in-kind. By the way, Joel, the sun actually does rise over the Olympic Mountains--if you live in Forks or Amanda Park. Seattle-centric journalism at its finest.

Stalker? Not at all. Those quotes--typical though they were--cover only three days of content. Sorry if I rained on your parade, but the prospect of having cc.com's history documented by one of its most virulent psychopaths was simply more than I could stand.

I don't know about Jon, but I'm really excited to see your film--especially juxtaposed against your more recent contributions here:

I climbed it on May 28th. They were not there then.

Presently there are no limits to day trips in MRNP, NCNP, Grand Teton or ONP. The closest Natioal Park where day use limits are enforced is Yosemite and Half Dome Think Mount St Helens. A National Monument, of course, but administered by the same bureaucratic mindset as our nation's other scenic wonders. I still have no doubt that the hats at NCNP would--sooner not later--take a look at the Blue Lake trailhead on a sunny Saturday or Sunday afternoon and decide in short order that something just had to be done to preserve the solitude myth.

Keeping extractive entities at bay is why climbers, hikers, and yes, even mountain bikers and horseback riders need to advocate for their particular brands of utility. Locking out those who have enjoyed the outdoors in a given area or region and have long advocated for its preservation makes no sense in the long term. As for wilderness itself, well, it's probably time to reexamine the definition before we move forward. Below is a great essay written by William Cronon from the American Society for Environmental History. He also has a recently published book called Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. http://www.williamcronon.net/writing/Trouble_with_Wilderness_Main.html

Well said. That Seattle Times link is absolutely shocking. Worthy of its own thread here.

I'm kind of torn over this one. With the NPS's wild mood swings between scenic nationalism and green ideological purity, day-use limits at Washington Pass trail heads would almost be a given--even as countless RVs would continue to grind their way over the nearby highway. Do we really want even more of this kind of NPS nonsense? http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1030902/Re_TR_Forbidden_W_and_NW_ridge#Post1030902

Another Olympic Mountains dream vacation post! Thanks for the beautiful pictures and story.

Trip: Mount Bretherton - Milk Lake Date: 9/11/2011 Trip Report: Climbed to Lower Lena Lake on mountain bikes late in the morning and hiked onward among flowers and waterfalls to Upper Lena which is now snow-free. The short and easy XC route to Milk Lake was largely snow-covered--in September! Milk Lake is still 90% snow-filled and the snowfield basin above the lake is still spring-white. We climbed the largest gully to the low point between the false summit and the main peak running into extremely loose and dangerous 4th and low 5th class below the crest. Another TR posted here a couple years ago indicated that recent rock slides may have altered the route and I believe this poster was correct. Not sure if we had this thing right in any event, but we climbed back down without touching the top and took in the beauty of this neat little basin as we washed down Snickers bars with cold unfiltered water from a nearby stream. Milk Lake below with The Brothers and the fire beyond: Gear Notes: Mountain Boots Approach Notes: Mountain Bikes to Lower Lena

What an incredible trip! Yours is the first TR I've ever read for West Peak. Did you find evidence of past ascents? How was the rock? Also, I noticed you took route 2 on Mount Anderson (East peak). Was this because route 1 via Flypaper Pass above the remnants of Anderson Glacier looked impassible? or because you didn't want to take a chance on the Eel bergschrund being too wide to cross? Again, great trip. The stuff of my workaday dreams.

Our dad hung out at the Icefield visitor's center while Steve and I climbed. He took a telephoto picture of us on the Skyladder that's kind of neat:

Nothing's changed in ten years. In fact, I think those cords in your picture are the very same ones we rapped off of--just a little less faded and worn. (Just joking.) (I think.)

Falling apart? That's what it always looks like in the summer--for the last 30 years anyhow. The ice depth at the base of the Blue Icefalls is between 900 and 1100 feet. It's gonna be a while before it melts. If it does, the crossing from Cactus Meadows to The Dry Dome is gonna be a bitch! Great TR! Nothing like dipping feet in Elk Lake after a great climb. That trail washout ladder is amazing.

Maybe if the USFS would set up some car prowl sting operations like MRNP recently did they could show fee payers a ROI. Reopening the Middle Fork, Stehekin, Suiattle, White Chuck, Sauk, Dosewallips, etc, etc, etc, would be a strong demonstration of fee utility and good will too.

Well done, MRNP staff.

Goofing off with music, pictures/videos of the climb, and YouTube: [video:youtube]http://youtu.be/K3_W3SRtKew

Humility: "During a lull in the storm we had made an improbable lead into the ice gully. Fifteen leads of ice climbing in continual storm brought us to the summit ridge at dusk. Now all we had to do was find the col that gave us access to the valley. At mid afternoon we headed down a dip in the glacier. Just then we heard an unmistakable sound: a helicopter was circling in the valley below. They were looking for us! The noise grew faint and then went away. We crossed a shoulder and plunged into a snow basin; at last we could see where we were going. Suddenly the noise returned; the helicopter shot over the col. We rushed headlong down the slope, oblivious to the crevasses. The pilot spotted us and swung the machine over in our direction. "You guys ok?" came over the loud hailer. Apparently satisfied by our shouts and waves, the helicopter circled away. As abruptly as they had arrived they were gone. The emotional impact was devastating. We realized that someone cared about us, that we were not alone. The last few days had been overwhelming. We had crossed the undefinable line. Now the tensions were released. As I walked toward the valley tears rolled down my face" --Chris Jones in Ascent, writing about he and George Lowe's climb of the North Face of North Twin. One of the most poignant passages in mountaineering literature, IMO.

Why couldn't the field ranger have simply issued the permit on-site? Seems a bit paternal, IMO.

Wow. Great story and pictures. Inspiring!

It wasn't too bad, really. We thought about the South Ridge/Columbia descent, but rumours of monster hidden crevasses sounded scarier to us than the AA route. Here is the description of our single-rope descent as I recall it: Walk down E Ridge from summit for about 20 minutes until you reach a dead end at a toe/buttress that hooks hard left. Walk/scramble out onto this very exposed buttress (about 1 foot wide) for exactly 60 meters. (Do NOT go to the very end of the buttress. :: ) Look down to your right (toward Mount Athabasca) and you'll notice a 3rd-class "path" that easily descends about one rope length to a cairn and a pile of tat backed up with a solid piton. Rappel from here--down a vertical wall for 30 meters to a wide ledge, then downclimb another easy 50 feet or so to a second anchor. This one is more solid. Rap into a snow couloir near its base and downclimb on easy snow to the closest corner of the AA Col. You are now at the top of the AA Col proper. Find 3 solid pitons and rappel out onto the wide open 50+ degree snow/ice face until you reach the end of your rope. Pickets or screws to anchor here, then face-in downclimb two-tool traverse left across steep snow/ice--we belayed as the snow was very hard and a fall would have been bad. Your goal is to get over to the climber's left side of the face where sketchy, old-piton-faded nylon rap anchors abound--but even here a double rope is required to avoid all downclimbing. Stay on this climber's left side of the face until the last rappel--where a single rope will come up about 30 feet short of getting you over the schrund. Build one final snow anchor to rap over the schrund and you're home free. Descend the easy AA Glacier to its east margin and find the climber's path that leads back to the snowcoach road. Hope this helps.

Trip: Mount Andromeda - Skyladder Date: 8/8/2011 Trip Report: My brother and I climbed the Skyladder route on Andromeda this past Monday and found great conditions with solid, belayed front-pointing on the lower half of the face and great picket placements. The upper half of the route was a bit icier with screws beneath crud for easy simul-climbing. The plod along the ridge to the NE summit was a bit soft, and the AA col descent was every bit as nerve-wracking as I expected. We brought only one 60 meter rope--where two would have made the AA descent a lot faster. Finding the way down off the toe of the E ridge to the rap stations is pretty straightforward--super-exposed class 2 or 3--but the descent down from the AA col proper required a combination of rappelling and face-in down-climbing on solid snow/ice. Note that on the final rappel, a single rope does not reach over the bergschrund and we were forced to waste a picket to rap the last 30 feet over the gap and onto the AA Glacier. A very fun climb. Pictures: Andromeda on Aug 7th: The North Bowl - beginning the climb in the morning: On the glacier: On the Skyladder: Topping out: Starting the descent off the ridge toe: Rapping the face/gully system above AA Col: Rapping near the bottom of AA Col: The T-slot anchor held. Steve expresses our sentiments regarding the AA Col descent: Gear Notes: Two Tools. (One Viper and one Venom, no problem) 4 Pickets 4 Screws Should have brought two ropes for the descent. Approach Notes: Very easy/evident--but the bridge over the schrund will only last another week or two.