klenke

Tvash, do you ever take a moderate stance on anything? Tvash, you should run for President. We need smart people like you to run our country.

Nice. This one brings back memories, for I did the same route myself back in May 1997. Some highlights/comments: 1. Like you, I encountered the bog at the north base of Carn More Dearg. I even managed to get my boot stuck in mud up to my shin for one step. It took me a good 15 seconds to get it out, my foot nearly coming out of the boot as I jerked. It made the rest of the climb kind of a sloshy-muddy affair for the inside of that boot. 2. Like you, I didn't see too many people on the traverse (maybe half a dozen). 3. I didn't see the abseil points. Maybe they're new since 1997. 4. After having not seen many folks on the traverse I was astounded when I got to the plateau top and encountered literally 100-200 people up there. I tell all I know that are capable, if they plan on climbing Ben Nevis, they should do the loop around Carn Mor Dearg. You get to see the great E. Face of Ben Nevis and you avoid the people-choked slog up the wide path of the punter route. That said, the Carn Mor Dearg route is 5,000 ft of elevation gain. 5. It's funny, as you say, it would be hard to get lost on the way down the punter route. But it seems a lot people get lost anyway. Aiblins they take a spur trail in the fog then get lost when they try to cut across open ground to pick up the trail they should have stayed on, but never find it. 6. I had haggis in town that evening. I always wanted to have it and that's where I had it. I'd rate it so-so. The East Face from Carn Mor Dearg:

This is the face as viewed from The Pinnacle (the horn in the left side of your first photo). This could be a good photo for you to annotate your route onto:

Nice, Mike. I've been curious about this face ever since reading a Park Service recommendation that rock climbers not bother with it. It looks so nice from afar but your pictures from on the face make it look sandy and chossy. By the way, thanks for not making it a 5.10 FA. Here are some pictures I took on Independence Day 2003. This is the left side of the face as viewed from the notch west of The Pinnacle: [img:left]http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/24136.jpg[/img]

If the date doesn't appear on the citation you may have a case for getting the ticket dismissed altogether. I once got a parking ticket for parking in front of one of those red and white A-frame signs often seen at construction sites. Anyway, the sign itself was confusing and I went to see a magistrate to argue that point. But he threw it out for an entirely different reason: the traffic warden had put the wrong date on the citation. (This was a Seattle parking ticket.)

I want a Class 5.2, Grade II FA. :cry:

Matt, I'm speaking in hypotheticals. But one I can think of was the E. Ridge Direct on Forbidden. 5.8 is the crux? It didn't seem that hard to me. Did I miss the real 5.8 line/moves that made it 5.8 in the first place? My point is valid. Man is a small creature next to a mountain. There's always another way. Heck, even if I do the exact same crux line, if I do it a different/better way (maybe because I'm taller or lankier than the first ascensionists or because I'm a better stemmer), I may find the crux to be easier. If the average person who follows me also finds it easier, is the route still at the original higher rating or does the consensus become that it's easier than that? These are all questions to ponder for which the answer is purely notional until real-life examples can be tested.

If we have before us an unclimbed ridge, how many routes are there on it? If one and only one climb takes place on it and the first ascencionists, by virtue of their skill or by necessity, take the route they do, then they can rate their line based on its difficulty for them. But does their line define the ridge as a whole? How many ascents does a ridge require in order to nail down the average or most appropriate rating of it? Or more to the point: It is okay to claim the first ascent of a feature (like a ridge) but the rating generated from the climb should not be taken as the definite rating subsequent climbers would experience. This says nothing of conditions on a route that make things easier or harder like weather or snow. So a report goes up that's rated 5.10. Will this deter others whose abilities top out at 5.7 or 5.8 from going up there? Maybe. Not a big deal to me because I can't even climb 5.2. Heck, I can't even do that. But I could bushwhack you into oblivion.

I like these new route reports too. But it seems odd to me that they always seem to be 5.10 this or 5.10 that. It's as if those that put up the route don't feel like they're going to get the respect of their peers if it's just a 5.8 or 5.9. So they may make the crux pitch harder than the easiest line on it just to bump up their final rating. But there might well be insufficient detail in their topo for the next persons who go up there. The second ascensionists might get to the crux pitch and do the easier line and ask why the higher rating. Anyway, it's just an observation.

I only ask about Martin Peak because Trent and I crossed paths high up on it in early July. I am also quite sure that's a picture of Little J-berg's NE Face. Edit: Not. I take that back. It is Graybeard.

Hey Trent, I'd be interested in seeing this list of Repulsive 69. If you don't want to share it with the world, maybe you could send it to me via PM. I promise not to divulge it. Is Martin Peak by Bonanza one of those 69?

DPS: Tom S. is the youngest to finish the Top 100 Bulger List. I am currently the youngest to finish the Top 100 x 400P list but that will be handed to Tom once he finishes last list, as long as he doesn't wait too many years (which probably won't happen considering he's only got a few left). I am the youngest to finish the other three lists, though (WA Cohps, WA GPPs, and WA 2kPs). Tony: Dude, Greenway soars with prominence. It's like K2, only smaller and greener and uglier and stupider. Where as most peakbaggers can only dream of scaling K2, Greenway Mountain offers its supple shoulders up willingly. It is the Winnie the Pooh of peaks. It is the spineless Seattle political opposition of peaks. It is the Seattle Mariners of peaks.

Kyle: No Lib Ridge. I climbed the Emmons punter route because I didn't want to screw around with summiting (especially considering the skill/health of the partners at hand). Josh & Radek: What's next? Well, I have decided I'll go for the Top 200 WA peaks by Prominence. No one has completed that list but Roper is at 182+. I'm only at 166. It'll take a few years--especially as life's priorities change. Also, I will attempt to complete the Top 100 x 500P (the last columns at right on the Finishers page linked to above). I've got about nine of those left. The Top 200 x 400P is of interest but I'm only at about 132. A long way to go on that one. Only Don Goodman has finished that list. Tony: I haven't done any mole hills with you. Forbidden wasn't a hill. Gray Peak wasn't a hill. Guye's Improbable Traverse wasn't a hill. And you never said yes whenever I invited you on a dumpster dive. Edit: Oh wait, maybe Greenway Mountain next to McClellan Butte qualifies.

Michelle thinks Rainier is a "female" mountain. I said it is a "man" mountain, especially since it was named after a man. Anyway... Thanks for the congrats. What can this volcano bigot say? I can say I'm never going up that mountain again. For those who are curious, these are the five lists I completed (which totals 251 separate summits or points of interest, such as county highpoints that are "liners"): Top 100 lists (Bulger and 400P) Washington 2000-ft prominence peaks Washington County Highpoints Washington County Greatest Prominence Points .

(pretty cool, accept for the wind noise).

These crazy Siberians have all the weird moves. The really weird stuff starts at 3 min, 20 seconds. Climbing, Stolby Style (YOUTUBE VIDEO)

The me, the wife of me, and the dog of me plan on disgracing you all with our peabrained presence. Please have donations to our useless cause at the ready. Thank you. <--Is it me or does this rocker look like he's wanking it? Prince in his long hair days? Purple Raaaaain! Purple raaaain!

So that was you I passed on the way up Martin. I corrected your entry in the summit register. For some reason, you put July 7, 2008. It was the 5th. I was going to rap that sketchy slabby section if it was still wet when I returned to it. Fortunately it was dry, so I downclimbed it. The downclimb off the summit block was more spicy (because it hadn't yet dried while I was up there).

A Golden Gardens Pub Club on July 15? I like the idea (if the weather holds).

The Pickets may have an individual summit that is harder by its easiest route. I'm nescient on those possibilities. Agreed, Picket approaches are more difficult and that lessens Lincoln's difficulty by comparison. But what is the hardest Pickets summit to attain by its easiest route? And why is this peak (probably) climbed three times as much as Lincoln? Why is Lincoln so forgotten? Lincoln is a big mountain. Put it anywhere else in the Cascades and it, at over 9,000 ft, would be a major objective done by many. But its proximity to Mt. Baker makes it overlooked. Strange. Last year when I entered the WSW basin of Lincoln I was immediately struck by the scale of the walls on either side.

How does the rock change from the SW Buttress to the West (Zorro) Face (if you could tell from you vantage)?

Thanks for the kudos, guys. Not bad for a rush job. Maybe I ought to be a journalist instead of a boring engineer. Darrin: Nooksack Tower is a good example. We had thought of that one too. I guess when I was asking about hardest peaks to attain by their easiest routes, I was more speaking of alpine climbs to significant summits (either with or without 400+ feet of prominence). I understand the line gets fuzzy between alpine climb and a trad climb of a spire in an alpine setting. For instance, is The Flagpole a significant summit (peak)? I would have to say no. That in no way diminshes any climb of it (such as recently done by Mark and Kyle). It's just not in the same category as Lincoln Peak. One way to look at it is this: The Flagpole spire is no higher than the height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa on Lincoln. The LToP has not been climbed and it's probably a lot harder than The Flagpole, and doesn't even take into account getting to the base of the LToP. Another one is Assassin's Spire on the NW Ridge of Lincoln (see the first Lincoln Peak photo on this page. (To my dismay, Assassin's Spire can not be seen from the summit of Lincoln. I was hoping to get a look at it.)

Trip: Lincoln Peak - The Emancipation Proclimbation - The Only Known Route Date: 6/28/2008 Trip Report: The EMANCIPATION PROCLIMBATION Whereas, on the twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand and eight, a proclimbation was issued by the president of the United States Orographical Society, containing, among other things, the following, to wit: “That on this twenty-eighth day of June, in the in the year of our Lord two thousand and eight, four persons enslaved by their mindset of climbing every worthy peak in sight within any State or designated part of a State, the climbers whereof shall then be in rebellion against the naysayers, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free of the shackles of ineptitude; and the executive governance of the climbing society, including the authorities and wannabe authorities, will recognize and maintain the exaltation of such persons, and will speak no gossip or jealous flippancy, to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual (or perceived) notoriety…” And blaaaah blaaaah blaaaah… Lincoln Peak (9080+F, 720P) is a member of the Washington Top 100 by 400 or more feet of prominence. By strange coincidence, just like Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, Lincoln Peak is the 16th-highest peak in Washington on that list. Lincoln Peak was 86ed from the Bulger Top 100 probably because the original Bulger list makers (Lixvar and Plimpton) were too scared of it. They somewhat arbitrarily set 800 feet for the prominence cutoff for volcano sub-summits* (The so-called “John Wilkes Booth Proviso”). Did they choose 800 feet because it is 2 x 400? If they had chosen 700 feet, Lincoln would have been the beast of honor on the list. * In reality, Lincoln Peak is not a sub-summit of Mt. Baker because it was around long before Mt. Baker came into existence. It is more correct to say Mt. Baker (Grant Peak) is a child of the erstwhile andesite volcano of which Lincoln Peak is the remnant rim. And thus the Bulgers generally have avoided the mountain. After Fred Beckey’s first ascent in July 1956 with Wesley Grande, Herb Staley, and John Rupley, the climbing history of Lincoln is a bit vague. We would love to hear from you if you made an ascent.. We (now) know of six ascent parties after Beckey’s: Dallas Kloke and Scott Masonholder on July 6, 1975 [not written into register] John Roper, Silas Wild, Dick Kegel, and Reed Tindall on June 25, 1989 Dallas Kloke and Scott Bingen on August 1, 2000 [not written into register] Don Goodman and Juan Lira on June 8, 2003 Dave Creeden, Stefan Feller, Mike Torok, and Greg Koenig on June 25, 2006 Paul Klenke, Tom Sjolseth, Sean Martin, and Fay Pullen (first woman? at 65, the oldest person?) on June 28, 2008 Addenda (edited July 13) for updates... As of now (July 13, 2008), only five persons have completed the Washington Top 100 x 400P (Roper in 1991, Wild in 2007, Goodman in 2007, Pullen on July 9, 2008, and Creeden on July 13, 2008). Martin Shetter, he has only Lincoln Peak left. The reason the total is so low is precisely because of this stinkin’ Lincoln. Rewind to June 2007: After having finished the Bulger Top 100 in 2006, Fay Pullen was egged into attempting to complete the 400P Top 100 by John Roper. But in order to accomplish that, she would have to assassinate her fear of Lincoln Peak. And then there’s me. I have to say I had always feared it too. But my resolve was no less than hers because I too have completion of the 400P Top 100 in the sights of my peakbagging pistol. And, yes, Sjolseth has the same desire. Fast forward back to the present: So here came four of us to make another attempt (for Tom, his third attempt after he and Sean failed in May). After having been on a non-clmbing vacation in Italy for the first half of June, was I even going to be in shape to raise my peakbagging pistol and take aim at Lincoln. We parked at 3700 ft at the last drivable switchback after hacking away at slide alder leaning and stretching across the road. After this switchback the road bed has been put to rest. Stefan Feller in his trip report from 2006 said to avoid the road and go straight up the ridge to Pt. 4481. He spoke of horrendous alder that ate his Subway sandwich right off his pack and then chased it with his precious Deutschland climbing cap. Well we didn’t heed his warning. We walked the road. The first part before the first corner is bad but there is a respectable path blazed through it. Upon turning the corner (now onto the west side of the hill), we hit snow and thankfully so. For this snow was still matting down the alder. The road is shown to make a final switchback at 4100 feet. We didn’t take this switchback. Instead, a short spur led north to an end in a regrowth clearcut area. (This logged area abuts right up to the Wilderness boundary!) With the snowcover, we were able to easily walk through the regrowth to get to the bigger forest beyond. We angled up and over to the little lakes at 5100 feet (still snow covered, except for a small, icy pool). We angled NW across the basin to the far end then turned right (ENE) and more or less followed the broadening divide between Rankin Creek and Wallace Creek. At ~6100 ft on the far side of a little moraine we made camp. Time = 2 hrs, 45 minutes from the car. We awoke early in the morning and were heading out just after 3:00am. In about an hour-and-a-half we reached the first difficulty: the lower bergschrund. Tom led up through the schrund at about its middle. We then angled up and left on 40-degree snow to get to a large rock island I call “the pillbox.” There is a snow arête that stretches a 100 yards uphill from this rock island. The arête divides two high-angle drainage basins, the one on the left being funnel shaped. It is necessary to ascend to near the apex of the arête to where it is feasible to get off of it to the left and commence a horizontal traverse (on ~45-degree snow) left to the steep, narrow gully coming down from the left. A second, but lesser schrund guards entrance to this gully. Sean led over to the rock outcrop at the left entrance to the gully below the schrund. He climbed Class 4 rock (with crampons) to a sturdy anchor (an anchor we had used in past attempts). We belayed each other up. Tom then set out up the steep gully (~55 degrees at its worst), which was in good condition (some soft snow and some weak ice, but for the most part nice Styrofoam—especially when climbing up the scoured snow runnel. The top of the gully fans out into a snow slope. The snow on this slope was very rotten and certainly would not hold a picket. Tom belayed Sean up to the left while I continued to the right to reach the sometimes wicked arête that marks the boundary between two different master gullies of the peak. The exposure is already bad leading up to the arête but the other side is twice as steep. From this point you can see the final, narrow gully that leads to the ridge crest just left of the summit. I used an old picket from May’s failure (one of six old pickets found on the route this weekend) to bury a deadman before rolling leftward off the arête and onto 60-degree snow for about 70 feet to a small rock island and a horn thence to a bigger rock island and a bigger horn. From here it is only about three pitches of steep snow to the top. There isn’t much in the way of cracks on the walls in this gully. There isn’t much in the way of cracks on the entire mountain, for that matter. The rock is like reddened concrete with big, round nodules in it. It’s actually fairly solid but quite unprotectable. Rather than waste time setting intermediate deadmen pickets, with the exception of one good cam and a horn, I simply ran out full 60m rope lengths for the final two pitches. I belayed Fay up from the summit and Tom did the same for Sean. Time from camp = 9 hours including breaks. We hung out the summit for a good two hours waiting for Scurlock to drop us a six-pack. We saw plenty of planes flitting about but not one was the telltale bright yellow. There were plenty of flea-like specks on Mt. Baker. And there were plenty of views all around. The atmosphere was very clear. Even Mt. Olympus was visible. Seward Peak: Descent We rappelled our up-route all the way down to the rock outcrop at the entrance to the steep gully. We had strategically left the up-climb deadmen in the snow for use on the way down. There were some close calls with us moving out of the way of rockfall and/or sluffalanches but for the most part things went smoothly. Of course the double rappels came with plenty of rat’s nests. Only one rappel was sketchy/awkward/intimidating (whatever you want to call it) and this was the one to get back over the upper snow arête. This was an angling rappel where a pendulum was a distinct possibility. The rappel was further complicated by the fact that on the way up Fay had to simulclimb from the arête deadman with me for 20 feet in order for me to get to the horn. This meant a double-60 rappel would be just short of reaching that deadman. This really wasn’t a problem: I just had to dig a new deadman above the out-of-reach one. When we got back to the steep gully, we were all surprised how quickly it had melted out in sections. It seemed like the mountain had gotten “out of shape to climb” as we were climbing it. What's different in these photos? For the final rappels to get back to safety, we opted to go straight down the funnel instead of traversing back skier’s left to the lower schrund. At the top of the last rappel. Over the edge is the maw... In the remaining rays of daylight we did our last rappel… The Last Rappel Now I think all four of us would agree this was one of the most memorable rappels we had ever done. I will attempt to describe my experience of it… It was nearly dark. It was like rappelling into the maw of death…with the tears of Nancy Hanks pitter-pattering in a cacophonous clatter on my helmet. 80 feet of free rappel seemed to go on forever as I slid past curtains of frozen tears. At the last second I stepped right to avoid being swallowed down the hole in the snow. The Next Day We hiked out. We left Seward Peak for another day. Trivia: William Seward was Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State. Schuyler Colfax was Ulysses S. Grant’s Vice President. And of course, Grant Peak is the summit of Mt. Baker. Thanks for keeping us honest, Abe. The Route Question This peak ranks right up at the top as being the hardest summit to attain in Washington by its easiest route. What are some other WA peaks that might be harder? I’ll give away a five dollar bill for the best answer. Gear Notes: Twin 60m ropes Ice axe (maybe two) Crampons An assortment of cams and nuts (maybe 10 total pieces) Approach Notes: Take the Middle Fork Nooksack River Road (FR-38) to its end where it turns uphill and makes several switchbacks up the slope southeast of Rankin Creek. The switchbacking portion of road has got some big berms and a bit of brush up to the 3,400-ft level. The next half-mile to 3,700 ft is overgrown but drivable by a 4WD whose paint job you wouldn't care about scratching all to hell. After the switchback at 3,700 ft the road has been decommissioned. Note: the Middle Fork Nooksack Road (FR-38) is supposedly gated until June 15 at Wallace Creek (there is a gate there) about 5 miles from roads end. But when Tom & Sean and Mike went in there in May the gate was open.

"Teanaway Peak" = "Genes Peak" (this is not an officially named summit on the map)

Almost. In this case, it is more correct to say Mount Baker is "on" Lincoln Peak. Lincoln Peak (the Black Buttes in general - Colfax, Lincoln, and Seward) predates Mount Baker and is the remnant rim of a much older andesite volcano. A trip report of my own making will appear in its own thread sometime in the next couple of days. The pictures Tom attached to his report above are NOT for this weekend's climb and so therefore aren't that relevant.