eternalX

Going in near the shelter seems like a good idea. Wish we would've known that.

We failed to summit Challenger and we have one day (maybe tonight and Thursday) to summit something else in the Cascades. I have two friends in (onoe from Phoenix and another from Milwaukee) and we're looking for something unique to the region and hopefully something where we can use our ice axe. Was thinking Shuksan (Sulphide) or West Ridge Forbidden. Any better ideas?

Climb: Mt Challenger-Big Beaver Date of Climb: 8/28/2004 Trip Report: Left Seattle at 8am. Arrived at Ross Lake Dam at 11:00. Started Big Beaver hike at noon. Arrived at Beaver Pass at around 7. It was raining but the dense trees kept us pretty dry. Got a late start and proceeded at look for the entrance to the bushwhack, hoping to find a post like the one denoting where the Luna hike starts. Well, the only thing we found was the USGS markers and a couple orange blazes about 1/2 mile from camp. So, we started the bushwhack here, passing a survey station and tower (and bees nest the stung the leader 10 times - all in all, 3 of the 4 of us would run into nests and be stung on this bushwhack). THIS IS NOT WHERE TO START. I'll get to it later, but if you come to the survey station, go back to the trail and back towards camp. YOU DO NOT WANT TO GO UP HERE. But we did. We started the bushwhack that took 5 hours, ran into two rock walls surrounded by devil's club, and was the most hellish experience I've ever had in the woods. Arrived at the 5700' ledge at around 5. Saw a black bear and watched him eat some berries. He was a big guy and completely unaware of us. We just watched until he moved on. Next, we proceeded to go past the upper ledge and drop into the next gulley over. We thought we should gain the next ridge, so we did. Another mistake. You should drop down and take the base around the ridges. At around 7 we gave up on making Wiley Lake (and therefore, the summit) and hiked down to a small pond to filter water and set up camp. It was a very sad evening once we realized we wouldn't make the summit. We got up the next morning and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise, made tea and proceeded out. Taking the corect route we made good time and encountered another black bear (though this one smaller) at the upper ledge. We watched him for half an hour and he watched us, though more interested in eating berries. We made our way around him and caught the trail at the 5700' ledge. This trail lead down about 500' and then into a creek bed. At this point we weren't sure what to do so we quickly followed what looked to be a trail to the left (north). I'm not sure if this was the trail or if the trail continued lower through the creek bed but the bushwhacking turned pretty brutal for about another 500'. At that point we made our way south (right) and only by luck found 1000' of widely-spaced, blown down trees. This last 1000' (and basically the whole bushwhack down was cake...IF ONLY WE KNEW ABOUT HIS ON THE WAY UP). We set a cairn where we hit the trail , about 500 yards north of the camp. If you do this trip, DO NOT go too far south. We were back to Big Beaver by 5. Out of Beaver Pass by 10 the next day and made it to Big Beaver Camp by 3:45. Had to wait for the boat until 6, but made conversation with a couple NOLS folks who did make the summit, which hurt to hear. I thought the Nelson guide did a poor job of describing the route. Go about 500 yards north or camp and head east. There are basically no markers so don't even bother looking for them. We saw one cairn on the who trip. All in all an okay trip, but we're pretty mad we didn't summit. Good luck to whoever else tries it. Gear Notes: glacier gear (not user because we didn't make the summit). Both people who brought trekking poles bent/destroyed them on the bushwhack Approach Notes: No markers. Good luck!

i've actually enjoyed watching the olympics this time around. beach volleyball, women's soccer, diving, gymnastics...it's all been good. i guess i am lame sheep.

i think we'll be okay until tuesday...

Where would you go? Was planning on doing Challenger but don't have enough time to get to Luna and Fury so does it make sense to go that far in? Looking for glacier climbing and light rock, if possible. I'd love to hear suggestions.

Climb: Mt Shuksan-Fisher Chimneys Date of Climb: 8/21/2004 Trip Report: Planned on hiking to Lake Ann on friday night but horrible traffic in Seattle and a few other problems (one group missd the turn and ended up in Concrete) caused us to just have beers in the trailhead parking lot and crash until 4am. Left trailhead at 5:30 and arrived at the 5800' bivy spot above Lake Ann at about 8:15. The forecast, weather in the distance and a covering cloud had us questioning our journey, but after the cloud layer burned off we continued on. Somewhere in the chimneys, exposure scared our only one girl off and she headed back to the car. We arrived at the base of Winnie's slide at about 11:00. Again we questioned going forward but continued on. Took almost an hour to get up the slide as everyone used the rope one at a time. This part was pretty sketchy with people that had rarely used an ice axe before. The holds were good, but there wasn't a whole lot of room for error. Once at the top, we hiked up about 10 minutes to the ridge line above and then finally decided to turn around. At the slide I set up a rap line down the west wide of the slide. It started to rain. We rapped down 30m and then switched to the fixed line, which felt sturdy. If i had to do this again, i'd have used a rap station that was higher up the slide but centered and tried rapping to the top of the fixed line. Rapping down in the berg was a pain. Now it was really coming down and we still had to get down the chimneys. At first it was pretty scary but after 20-30 minutes we got pretty used to it. The rock is pretty sticky and there are tons of holds. We took our time and got out safely. We were back at the car by 6:30. Lessons Learned: Never go with people you don't know. I was invited on this trip and had never met 2 of the members. Two people didn't even have belay devices. I realized that I was the only one who would've known how to set up any pullies or raps or anything for that matter. The other thing i learned was to go with my own instincts. one member kept pushing to go forward even when we knew it was going to rain and we knew we didn't want to downclimb in the rain. He persudaded us and it upsets me that we let him. Gear Notes: standard glacier gear Approach Notes: Easy route finding. Winnie's is the nly tricky part. Rap down to the fixed line on the way down.

Just as a follow-up, we did this route on Saturday. Got a late start from the trailhead and turned around at the top or of Winnie's Slide. Started raining soon after. TR to come.

Not to be a dick, but the listed climbs would definiltely be beginner. They are workouts and fun, but certainly not technically challenging or committing. Are you sure?

I shouldn't have said beginners. We've all done sahale, adams, helens, and a ton of backcountry boarding. There's really only one quasi-newbie. so someone said sulphide was less strenuous and more scenic? From the maps this didn't appear to be the case.

I thought a classic eastside experience involved a visit to Microsoft and lunch at McDonalds.

How old were the kids? I bet alpinfox's parents didn't know what he was up to at 16!

Just trying to stay away from the extra elevation change ;> I think we'll give it a crack.

Is this a hard route? thinking about doing it on saturday with some people that aren't super experienced on the ropes. Didn't look crazy from the maps but some of the pics and remarks here make me think that it isn't something for the novice. Thoughts?

Hrm. We were going to try and do Luna too. I winder if it's doable in reverse. One day to Luna base. Second day over Luna and to Challenger Glacier, Third day over Challenger and out to Wiley or further. Fourth day back to trailhead...

I was hoping to make it to Challenger Base camp on day one. I know it's 14 miles before the bushwhacking begins, but was still hoping it was possible. is it? how early did you start? thanks and awesome pics/TR!

I've noticed the same thing with smartwool. While trying on boots at rei last week i got hooked on the rei brand wool socks and bought a pair. Used them this weekend and really liked them.

How long is the hike from the trailhead to Snowgrass flats? Was planning to arrive at like 2pm and hiking to snowgrass that afternoon. that should be plenty of time, don't you think?

Agreed! At least vegas is fun for a long weekend. I lived in Phoenix for seven years...ugh

you think your life before birth was: someone who tries to cure with urine. duh

you must go through the whole thing and think about the intended audience. Psych Test

and how many humvees has Al Jezerra ridden in during this war?

My girlfriend is running the Portland race and she started training like two months ago. She's runnig like a 20 miler ever week and 3 shorter runs a week. I'm proud of her and all but man, she falls asleep early these days...

Back when I was in college, we never would've done something like this... --> All an underage person needs to get booze now is a credit card and a computer. That's what a bunch of Gonzaga University students found out last month. They ordered liquor, beer and wine and had it delivered to their front doors without ever being questioned about their age. Armed with full bottles and delivery receipts, the students are demanding that state Attorney General Christine Gregoire investigate several online companies selling and delivering alcohol to minors. <-- WTF is wrong with these kids? Shameful It's sad to see this happening in our fine state.

Another vote for: Beckey places a register, it's cool. If the Mounties place a register, it's arrogant. What about the Mazamas and the Cascade Roavers? I don't care if Beckey or the Mounties add it. Either way, it's arrogant. it's like claiming a mountain. To me it's the same as Coke putting the fuxoring register there.