cluck

..... Not trying to chestbeat too much here, just want to share my experience from this weekend. ****************************************** For some incomprehensible reason, my buddy and I decided it might be a good idea to try the Tatoosh Traverse…in one day. For our purposes, this traverse consisted of a dozen peaks – Eagle, Chutla, Wahpenayo, Lane, Denman, Plummer, Pinnacle, Castle, Foss, Unicorn, Boundary, and Stevens. Roughly 20-25 miles and 10,000 feet of elevation over uneven ground with almost no trail to follow. We had been to the area several times before and already climbed half of these peaks, so we weren’t concerned with our ability to navigate successfully. However, this traverse is traditionally completed over 2 days and we wanted to do something special. The Goal: We decided it would be sufficiently insane to try to do the traverse in one push without stopping for the night. After reaching the far end of the traverse, we would ride bikes 15 miles along the road back to the starting point. The goal was to complete the loop in less than 24 hours. Logistics: Since we would be riding our bikes back to the starting line exhausted and at night, we decided to start at the low end of the traverse (Longmire) and cache bikes at the higher end (Snow Lake trailhead). This afforded us a mostly downhill return. We stashed the bikes late Friday night, and set up camp in the last spot available in Cougar Rock campground (about 20 feet from the toilets). The plan was to catch a couple hours sleep Friday night and begin the traverse from Longmire early Saturday morning to be on the ridge by sunrise. Let the Suffering Begin: 3:30 AM the alarm goes off – time to get to work. After a little flailing trying to locate the trailhead, we started the timer at 4:35 AM and hit the trail. The 4-mile trudge up the Eagle Peak trail flew by in a blur and we were scrambling up Eagle peak as the sun came up. Shortly after Chutla fell and we were bushwhacking off in search of Wapenayo. It too succumbed without much of a fight and we continued on. After a short stop to refill water, rest, and chug Cytomax and Gu, we were off again in search of Lane. We started passing day hikers as we neared Pinnacle and Plummer peaks. We ignored most of them, but stopped and chatted with groups on a couple of occasions. After confessing our plans, we were usually met with looks conveying a mixture of concern and confusion. We bagged Pinnacle, Castle, Foss and continued on toward Unicorn as the evening approached. Unicorn is the most interesting of the peaks and we wanted to save that for last. The plan was to get Boundary and Stevens peaks, and then backtrack to Unicorn and head out via the Snow lake trail. The sun was setting as we reached the summit of Boundary peak and we eyed the route down to the saddle of Stevens peak. It didn’t look good. The best option we could see was a very long bushwhack around the south side of Boundary and down a steep headwall to the saddle. Then we’d be faced with an interminably long slog up the west ridge of Stevens peak. The idea of doing this in the dark with completely wasted bodies didn’t sound reasonable, so we decided to focus on getting up Unicorn and back down to the road. Climbing the spire on Unicorn in the dark was interesting but not too difficult. We took the last summit photo of the day and rapped off the spire, grabbed out packs and then rapped again down the headwall to Unicorn glacier. Without crampons, we had to traverse around the glacier on talus and boulders. The descent to Snow Lake was torturous as our exhausted minds and bodies tried to balance on loose boulders. Eventually, we made it to the Snow Lake trail and then dragged ourselves back to the road, arriving shortly after 11:00 PM – 18 hours 36 minutes since we left the car. A couple of Red Bulls cleverly stashed with the bikes provided the necessary energy to pedal our way back to the crest of the Nisqually Basin and it was a nice downhill coast for another 45 minutes back to Longmire. We reached the car about 12:30 AM Sunday morning –official time: 20 hours and 9 minutes. Reflection: While our goal was to bag all 12 peaks and return in under 24 hours, we were quite pleased with ourselves having gotten 11 out of 12. The more important point of the exercise was to take our bodies and minds to the limits of exhaustion and see if we could continue. Several times we thought we were finished, but a short rest and a snack always brought us back to our feet. We learned that with enough Cytomax and Gu, you can push yourself almost indefinitely.

Crazy. Exactly one year ago today I was climbing the upper Exum under clear skies and beautiful weather. Getting pinned by a storm high on that route would suck ass. That guy is one tough bastard. Hope he recovers well

Bummer about the haze. When we summitted at about 9:30 AM all the smoke was still trapped in the valleys and visibility was damn near unlimited. We could see as far as Mount Rainier to the south and Mt. Shuksan to the north. One helluva view!!!!! As the day wore on, the smoke rose out of the valleys and started up the Sahale Arm.

We callled the Marblemount ranger station from Sedro-wooley and they actually had permits for Sahale left Soooo - we were able to climb Sahale after all! It was amazing. The approach was longer than I had envisioned, but still quite easy and on a giant highway. Camp was simply beautiful with spectacular views to the south. Sahale View The glacier and scramble were exactly what we were looking for - a chance to use our crampons and ice axes without much danger of falling in a hole and exciting but not too dangerous climbing. Actually we ended up climbing the crest of the west ridge just for kicks. We couldn't readily identify the main route, so we just climbed the ridge in two pitches (she was a little unsure of the exposure so we felt short, top-roped pitches were better than simul-climbing) Ursa Eagle was up there on Monday too and also had a hard time determining the "3rd or 4th class" route to the summit. We're discussing the many different options for the summit pinnacle on a different thread:here

Yup - a guy and chick with giant packs and giant smiles. We passed you just below the morraine on the arm. The view was spectacular up top but went away as we descended into the soup.

I'm retarded and can't figure out how to insert the picture into this post, but here's a link to it: Picture of routes??? Anyway, we went up the red line but it looked like the green line would go too. Thoughts?

Hey, we passed you on our way down yesterday! We camped at the toe of the Sahale glacier and headed up at sunrise. Crampons were a must in the morning as the glacier was frozen solid. We also had a bit of a hard time finding the actual route up the summit pinnacle. We exited the glacier on the upper right end and climbed the talus to the base of the pinnacle. I read that the 4th class route went up the left (western) ridge so we headed there. The moves were upper 4th to low 5th class and on rotten rock. We had a rope and a few cams so we weren't too picky of the route and just basically stuck to the ridge line because the exposure on the north side was cool. Toward the top we moved onto the south face and up a short chimney to the rap anchor. As I reached the anchor I thought "Damn, that didn't feel easy 4th class to me!" From the top, I could see a route down to the Boston/Sahale col - is that the more popular route? Also, when we rapped down the south face, I thought I saw an easier gulley that was just below the west ridge but even that would be a pain to down climb. I'll post a pic with the routes drawn in to clarify....

Quite you fool! or your bad weather karma is going to ruin my trip this weekend.

Yeah, that thread is what interested me in Sahale in the first place. Actually, she's got several alpine climbs under her belt so I know she's up for it. I'm just concerned for her physical ability as she's recovering from a back injury (non-climbing related). Anyway, thanks guys & girls for the great suggestions! Now I've got several possible destinations to research and some backup options in case the permits don't work out. Cheers!

Great suggestions, Matt! From what I've read Sulphide and Sahale glaciers are rated as grade I climbs but are probably too long for most people to do in 1 day. I guess what I meant to say was "a short overnight climb" - especially one with easy glacier slogging and easy rock scrambling. Thanks again

No troll, just looking for suggestions. I've only been to NCNP once so I don't really know what's out there. If anyone has helpful information then great. If you think I should f$%# off and buy the book, that's fine too.

Want to take the girlfriend out for an alpine climb in the North Cascades but I'm having trouble deciding where to go. She has alpine and limited glacier experience, but has been injured most of the season and isn't in great climbing shape right now. So we're looking for something like short Grade 1 with 4th class scrambling. We'll be a party of 2 so any glacier climbing would have to be very straightforward. My first choice is probably Sahale (via Sahale glacier) but we're arriving Sunday late morning and I doubt we'll get permits. So we can either poach a campsite, try to go car-to-car, or go somewhere less crowded. Shuksan's Sulphide glacier would be perfect too, but I've already been there and I'm sure it'll be permitted out too. Does anyone know of good climbs that might be less crowded? Not looking for any epic struggle, just an enjoyable scenic climb with the GF. Thanks -

Woah man.... a bunch of little green people are laughing at me. I think there's something wrong with my browser.

Gotta pay $3 to climb Rooster rock cuz its in a state park. How much is an Oregon State parks annual pass and where can I get one? Is it good for ALL Oregon State parks (Smith Rock, Rooster Rock, Hagg Lake, etc) or just a select few. Sounds like maybe a needed addition to my already large collection of annual park passes.

That's shitty. I'm betting 3FJ won't get many climbers this weekend. When this fire does burn out the approach is going to suck ass.

Hey, I got denied too. Oh well, I don't want to go to your lousy group anyway.

One insanely crowded day at Smith I found myself in a gear cluster-fu$% when some guy managed to wedge a parabiner through a toprope hanger that already had a chain and a draw through it. After 15 minutes of work, he proclaimed them "STUCK" and reimbursed me with one of his draws. I ended up traversing over to the next set of hangars to rap off and had to leave 2 draws behind for some guided team trad climbing next door to use on their descent. Apparently the guide was able to unlock the puzzle of the locked biners cuz later the same day I bumped into him and he returned all 3 draws and the stuck locker. An hour later I bumped into the first guy who got everything stuck in the first place and gave him his locker and quickdraw back. Total strangers used each other's gear for an afternoon and everything managed to get back to it's rightful owner. Weird.

Harsh

JB's article mentions that sugar beet yield has decreased by 25% in Italy while sugar beet yield in Ireland has increased by 25%. I have no idea how many sugar beets each of these countries produce, but I find it interesting how nature often adapts to change. The thought that humans have the ability to alter the world's weather pattern (and indeed may have already done so) is sobering. However, I believe our planet is capable of making some adjustments to give humans the benefit of continued existence. I'm not saying we can destroy the environment at will and expect mother nature to pick up the slack, just that the earth is more robust than we sometimes give it credit for.

OK, I get it. Bad shit is happening in the world right now. Maybe more bad shit this year than last year. Maybe even more bad shit next year than this year. Yeah, I think this sucks and I hope those same scientists who wrote the scary reports are working to find a way to make less bad shit happen. So far my attemts at restabilizing the global weather patterns have produced meager results..... but I'll keep trying. I'm amazed at how upset you all are because because I'm not in a panic over this. Seriously, are you all packing your emergency supplies, stockpiling food and hoarding fresh water? I hope I can fend off all the looters. Good think I've been doing all these 16 ounce curls!

Yeah, I'm in a rotten mood and I'm taking it out on CC.com. Look out world!!! Is there a Squak or a Gobble out there? Who's up for a tag-team match?

Excellent work Holly! Very thoughtful... Ease up a bit Chirp. Nobody's being mean.

Gotcha. You worry too much, I'll worry too little - it'll average out.

I once read a story about this guy who speed climbed Rainier in under 4 hours. Journalists purposely manipulate words to get you to feel a certain way. I agree that the global climate is warming and that this will inevitably bring changes. I'll even concede that humans have probably had an effect on this. But I refuse to let it ruin my day. I'm sorry the Alps are changing but I think it's going to snow again this winter, the routes are going to freeze back up, and there will be new first-ascents to be had. Or at the least, Europeans will learn the value of an Alpine start.

Certainly climbers getting killed by rockfall is a tragedy, but I don't think the world is coming to an end just because some sensationalistic media outlets publish climatic doomsday articles.