Off_White

This route tops out on the West Ridge well below LJT doesn't it? It'd be a simple affair to scoot down that route back to camp rather than rapping.

Damn nice, looks great. Good to know you haven't lost your NW chops, the approach sounds like a classic Cascades outing.

Sheeit Cheif, I din't know you been breeding. Congratulashuns, I guess.

Hey Ralph! You should come out an play sometime.

You mean the Garment! That's a wild tale Mike, I'm glad you get to tell it.

bonus.

Yeah, tell whats-his-name we're all waiting for the topo on that...

STFU noob

One drawback to the optical viewfinders on small digital cameras is that they're terribly inaccurate, what you see is not what you're shooting.

And who'll start off the bidding for the film rights?

I recently spent a week in the Valley, end of May/beginning of June. It was my first trip there in at least 15 years, so I'll take a stab at answering your questions, though they did seem a wee bit rhetorical: Yeah, they looked pretty grim to me too, I wasn't tempted to jug them, or use 'em to rap off Little John. The park service doesn't maintain them, or any other fixed lines like the bits on the Death Slabs approach to Half Dome. In fact, the park service was recently considering removing those particular lines as part of a general clean up mission to the base of the regular NW Face of HD. I think theory says if you're using those lines to Heart, you've already climbed the Freeblast or some other route and you'll have recently rapped and accessed them and be using them to get back to your high point after quaffing a six of Mickey's at Degnans. Not my cup of tea, I don't do walls anyway, but it was no big deal. I think using those lines is like a lot of things in climbing, one's choice is one's own responsibility. I didn't spend too much time in stores, but my few encounters were pleasant. The young woman at the checkout in the Village Store laughed along with me at the tacky crap I found for family souvenirs, the people of Eastern European extraction at the deli were polite and efficient during a lunch rush, staff at the Mountain Shop were just fine to deal with, and I had no adverse ranger encounters at all. That place has been a slum for at least 35 years. I thought the ugly portables moved into the Yosemite Lodge parking lot where I once lived in my hippie van for two months were more startling. Again, both the jail, and the attendant courtroom are venerable institutions. I recall dealing with a traffic ticket there, which cued me into the way to get into the Valley for free: just tell them you had a court appearance and you were free to enter. I suspect this might not work in the modern computer age where the docket is just a few clicks away. On this recent trip, I spoke with a ranger who was waiting her turn for Bishops Terrace, and she averred that city dwellers up from Fresno for the day were the most common jail denizens these days. So let me give you some of my impressions from this Homecoming dance. I found the tourist crowds no less, but certainly no worse than remembered, and the Valley still filled with lots of cars. I do wish they'd followed through on the master plan that was going to ban private vehicles from the Valley proper, even if it would mean leaving my beloved Vanagon behind. Aside from a couple nights with friends in the Pines, we stayed in Foresta most nights, making us commuters who added our own little bit to the problem. What most struck me was I had forgotten how flat out amazingly beautiful the place was. The various falls were all in fine form. Those nights spent at the Pines campground was like staying in a beehive, yet from 400' above the valley floor it was completely invisible. Lots of folks I saw, all ages and shape, seemed wowed by their surroundings. Somehow, the crowds and the sheer beauty were two different and seemingly disconnected facts, experienced concurrently yet distinct from each other. Getting to climb there again, on a tour of classic moderates with my son before he moved to Michigan for grad school, just made me giddy with delight. I was on Goodrich, on the Apron, holy shit was it great. Sure, the weather was unstable, it rained every day, so for the most part long routes were off the table, but still, often with 5am alpine starts, we climbed every day: from Cascade Falls to Church Bowl, Five Open Books to North Dome, base of El Cap to the Apron. We even climbed on the day of the wedding we came down to attend. The service was at Cathedral Beach, with El Cap looming behind, just 45 minutes after the rain squall moved on. We did some old favorites, like Crest Jewel. Afternoon thunderstorms inspired a very early start from Porcupine Flat rather than via Royal Arches, but it was a grand day out anyway We enjoyed the surreal pleasure of climbing short routes at the base of the big stone, much as you must have done: both sides of La Cosita, both sides of Little John, Pine Line; all enjoyable moderate outings. I climbed on Manure Pile Buttress for the first time in 33 years, since I did Nutcracker as my first route in the Valley. Now Then I got to spend a lot of time with my son, one of my favorite climbing partners ever, just a week after his wedding and three weeks before he moved away for 4 years. Hell, we even got in a couple pitches in the Meadows on the drive home. In short, I had a pretty damned good time in the old ditch, and really had no complaints. In fact, I'm looking forward to the next trip, don't think I'll wait so long between visits this time. Hopefully this has added something to your topic Raindawg.

ooh, what's a man like you doing in a place like this?

Hey, I don't even play a doctor on cc.com, its just that reading his trip reports strongly reminded me of a couple high functioning autistic kids I've known.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that perhaps there's a developmental disability in play here, something along the Asperger's to autism spectrum maybe? Sounds like there's been issues with taking direction, so it may not be as simple as taking someone out and showing them some pointers. Something needs to happen though, because Josh is bound and determined to get out in the mountains. I don't know what sort of organized support there is for this, but I think more is needed than a basic mountaineering course or a trip up the South Arete of SEWS. Josh, as a bit of advice, Chris McCandless is not a role model, he's a dead clueless fool.

You might try nwhikers.net for trip reports on the Cascadian, they tend towards more scramble routes. Summitpost might be another alternative. This link will get you started with one such report.

I'm so sorry to hear this. All my best to you and your family, you're a helluva good guy Brian.

Thanks ya'll, it was a pleasant evening climbing with friends out here, makes for a great birthday.

As of 3:00 things are looking good. The brief spatter we had has long since dried off.

Ditto. Letdown. Or at least a picture of her in those cute little puppy slippers she wore to Smiffyfest a few years back.

You'll find that birth control pills will interrupt your monthly cycle, therefore bleeding is more traditional.

It just stared lightly sprinkling here, it'll all depend on how the afternoon shapes up. I was counting on getting to climb on my birthday.

Kev understands that I'm generally more of a top, so the proper nomenclature would be OFF FUCK.

A fabulous addition to a great mountain. Is this that steep wall between Stuart and Goat Pass? Beckey calls it West Face of the West Ridge, had an aid route on it?

Well Sobo, I was never under the impression that resistance was your strong suit...

Unfortunately, a lot of these guys haven't gotten the memo. The problem isn't their transgressions, but the way they thunder on (and legislate) about other people's failings while doing the same thing themselves.