Off_White

Oh, but it beats the alternative, I assure you. My buddy Guy who died at age 20 on the first alpine ascent of the south face of Aconcagua would likely agree, I miss that irascible bugger. Dying in the mountains has become much less appealing compared to being really really old in my own bed with loved one's around. Death or Glory indeed.

Death or glory Just another story

Having been through the cirque headwall a couple times, I'd steer you towards the brushy ramp on the far right. It's by far the easiest penetration of the cliff band, and while we found a happy scrambling route up I think we did one rappel on the way down. The brush is deep but neither thorny nor recalcitrant slide alder, so it's pretty straight forward. This puts you up on the right side of Thunder Peak, just contour around the toe of the NE Buttress on that peak to access the Douglas Glacier. I think there is a far left alternative too, though I've never been that way. As an aside, that NE Buttress on Thunder is a good objective. The FA actually went to Lowell Skoog, but we made two forays onto it. First time around with light rack and mountain boots, we got to the first tower rap and realized we weren't equipped. Second time we got to the next rap and shattered rock ahead dissuaded us, so we bailed to the Douglas and retreated. Lowell says the upper wall isn't so bad, and the whole route is probably IV 5.8 or 5.9. Totally misreported in the Green Beckey as the SW Buttress with no info. I doubt the route has seen a second ascent, anyone who wants more beta should PM me and I'm sure I can get you up the thing, it's a pretty great objective. Ignore the man smoking while playing air guitar on his ice axe wearing an inflatable dinosaur, the NE Buttress of Thunder Peak is the left hand skyline. FYI, we called it the Bolo Buttress since we wore Bolo Ties for the entire time on both outings.

Mojo's about due for a comeback.

Nice trip and pictures! I'd missed your earlier Douglas Glacier TR. I've been into Thunder Peak (Wayne's id is correct) a couple of times that way, and we always broke the approach into two days: leave the trailhead in the afternoon and climb to Easy Pass with the open slopes all in the shade, then down to camp at Fischer Creek. Down valley and up into the cirque the next day, which later in the season presents some vegetative difficulties, and then up above the cirque walls to camp up high. Hiking out in one day is fine, especially with a stop for a quick hot meal at Fischer Creek before the hump back up to Easy Pass. It isn't a quick trip anyway you slice it though, but a really great Cascades outing. Easy Pass is wonderful place, not unlike Cascade Pass but without the people. Late fall larch season up there is beautiful.

As an alternate approach to the upper basin that avoids all the stream drama, you can go up the Cascade Pass trail, up Sahale Arm, over the shoulder and down a 3rd class ramp and you're high up on the glacier, maybe 1,000 feet or so above the Boston Basin camp. Great location for going through Sharkfin Col if you're doing the North Ridge, a bit of traversing for the West Ridge, but there are some nice rock benches and a very tidy approach compared to the unmaintained outing the Boston Basin approach can offer. Do I recall correctly that people got in trouble for pruning things on that trail?

thanks for the TR, I've always thought that picture in Beckey was really appealing too.

Tie goes to the lower court decision

I thought using chalk at Font was forbidden, don't they use some sort of rosin? Whatever, that looks unbelievably hard.

You scared me, I thought something happened to Paul Klenke.

You need to start wearing a gopro when doing that stuff buddy, we'd all like to ride along! Glad to see you survived and came to tell us a story! I made an ascent of Los Tetas de Cabra in that vicinity about a brazillian years ago, pretty striking area, but not noted for rock quality.

Sounds awful Choada, my sympathy to your or whoever you know that has it. Clearly there is no help to be had here, best of luck.

Splendid pictures once again, thanks so much Jason.

Always lovely to have a visitation from the Rooster.

Most everything at the quarry in Tenino is a hard onsight. We had a feller come for his first day and get on Hercules, the 10b warm up. When Doug offered him beta, he spat back, "I climb 5.11 at Smith, I don't think I need any of your beta." About six falls later he lowered to the ground, pulled his rope, walked away without a word, and was never seen again. I don't think anything harder than about 11b here has seen an onsight, though Jens K may have gotten one of the llc's. We're out of the way but have had a smattering of real talent come through. It may well be that everything is just sandbagged, largely due to familiarity rather than malign intent. My friend Peter was heard to mutter (on a different route" "10b my ass." When I said it wasn't any harder than 10b if my made every move right, he retorted, "Off, NO ONE rates routes that way anymore." Anyhow, if you're looking for challenging onsights, I've got about 40 of 'em in my front yard.

Duh, should have considered the source

Nice, points for the pear punching bags and pooping in the woods. Czech?

What Rad said. The "bold" will fade into forgotten...

I'd encourage you to post your full TR here, rather than just provide a link to your blog. Time has shown this site to outlast individual's websites, and serve well as a lasting record of first ascents. You've made a fine effort and a wonderful achievement, it would be a bummer to have it be nothing more than a dead link and a one line notice in an old issue of the AAJ three years hence.

Lovely picture, but it makes me sad.

That looks wonderful, thanks

It's funny, but this thread opened in the middle of the op's pictures and I thought "this has gotta be a JasonG TR." Nicely done, thanks a bunch.

Hah, I missed this the first time around. You might as well throw in Barry Goldwater, Sam Brownback, and Joe McCarthy if you're assembling a deep space right wing dream team. Scott Walker is probably the scariest of the bunch you've listed, he'd like to bring a ball and peen hammer to the skull of the national economy just like he's done to Wisconsin. That state sucks just slightly ahead of Kansas, and doesn't much count as a reference for anyone who pays attention to real life as compared to ideological poofterism.

3 days at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas was rather more than enough electronic dance music, but this was my gig there. Here I'm driving, tough sometimes I push the buttons and sometimes I just keep very very high people from getting run over... [video:youtube]

This TR from 2009 convinced me that descent route was not such a great idea. Odd that it's the official party line for the best descent.