Ursa_Eagle

I was thinking the exact same thing...

and I'd do it again!

you're just trolling for more votes, right?

I've used some tan REI mistral pants (Schoeller Dynamic) all summer, and they're awesome. They keep me warm in the morning when it's cool, fairly cool when the sun is beating down on me, I can grind up/down rock and glissade down snow without worrying about wrecking them, and they're super comfortable on top of all of that. Gotta have a light color for summer climbing though, why did REI discontinue the tan?

or perhaps a trail park pass

I have a pair of Salomon Pro Sticky Mids (high-top approach shoes), and I have mixed feelings on them. I got them a shoe that I could use for approaches, easy-moderate snow, and moderate rock. For one thing, they are NOT waterproof, but if they do get wet, they dry very quickly. They don't have the support of a real boot, and at the end of an attempt on Jack Mtn, my feet were really hurting me. I think you may find this with any lightweight approach shoe unfortunately. No shank means they also don't kick steps in snow as well as a large boot. I used them as my rock boot on the West Ridge of Forbidden (I wore my bigger boots for the approach and snow sections,) and they worked great. Going up the 3rd and 4th class section of Crater Mtn (our consolation after missing Jack), they performed very well. Bottom line: works great as a moderate rock shoe, will get a little wet in the snow (but dries quickly), but did not work well for a long approach with a heavy pack (at least for me.)

What he said. count me in too

Derrick Cave All the vandalism in caves pisses me off (the broken glass and bonfires, etc.), and I think that's a much larger problem than climbing sans chalk. Is anyone part of one of the grottos here in the Portland area? I need to start finding out where the lesser known caves are.

Nice TR Klenke!

free at rope up

Mt. Logan. I think that's my favorite climb at this point! With the exception of the bugs, nothing but pure fun the entire way. Thursday: Leisurely boat ride, fun time kickin' it in Stehekin, shuttle busses, then hangin' out in camp. Friday: sleep in, pack up, hike up almost to Park Creek Pass, stopping at every water spot along the way to either dunk shirts and hats or dunk entire selves. Hung out at last major water crossing for 1.5 hours, sitting in water, standing underneath waterfall, etc. Make it to camp and skinnydip in warm alpine lake. Saturday: Climb Logan, extremely fun climb, decent exposure, great view, not very technical. Make it back to camp and go swimming in warm lake again. Sunday: Pack out, shuttle rides, gorging at the bakery, beer in Stehekin, cards on the boat ride, then the long drive home.

nice TR! So long as you're gonna make the hump up to that basin, might as well pick off a few peaks.

perhaps they'll rename Ball Butte, then my four-day ascent this past spring will be even more heroic!

what about okanogan? I didn't get a fine, but they want me to pay the $5 for parking...

I was there last weekend. We parked at the snowgrass flats trailhead, hiked to the PCT, then followed it North until we were below the west "face" of Old Snowy. We ascended easy snow slopes and loose talus slopes to the north ridge, where we wound up about 50 feet from the PCT again (I'd go back and do it my way again in a heartbeat, it was more fun than just going up a trail.) Following the north ridge, we scrambled up a very short 3rd class section and reached the summit. We then went south along the ridge, over/around some gendarmes and made it to right below Ives. A direct ascent isn't very viable, but if you drop down to the SW a little, there's a ramp that leaves the scree slope and goes out onto the SW (?) face of Ives. Some loose, exposed 3rd class gets you to the top. Just go straight up once you can, avoid traversing across the face. We descended down the other edge of that face towards meadows leading up to Cispus Pass, made it back to some herd paths that led to the PCT, then followed the PCT north to Snowgrass Flats were we had joined it earlier in the day. We hiked back to the Lily Basin cutoff, then followed that by Goat Lake and down Goat Ridge to the cars. We carried none of the following: rope, helmet, ice axe, crampons, rack, etc. I carried water, a shell, a small first aid kit, and my cameras. It's a beautiful area, only 3 hours from Portland, and well worth the trip. It took us about 3 hours to get up Old Snowy, 2 hours for the traverse, 2 hours down to Snowgrass Flats (you can do it much faster if you retrace your ascent of Ives then drop down to Snowgrass Flats from the traverse), then 2.5 hours out to the car via Goat Lake. Add in an hour total on the summits, and we got back to the cars 10.5 hours after leaving. On the traverse, you pass underneath some pretty loose gendarmes, and although nothing was dropping off while were going underneath, my partner was kinda wanting a helmet. I felt fine with just moving fast through those areas.

Kraft Deluxe Mac and Cheese for the first night, toss in some tuna from pouch (small, not large pouch) if you're feeling adventurous. Freeze-dried for the second night (after the climb) when you don't want to deal with any of that.

Sounds like the exact same spot we camped. Right above an old terminal moraine, looking up at the snout of the Depot glacier. Dru, when you did it in 21 hours RT, how many people was that with, how many pitches did you do the face in, what time of year, and what descent route did you take?

Yeah, I had to bivy on that route a few weeks ago. We were a team of 6, and simuled the whole way up the apron with a decent amount of pro so it took quite a while. We made it to the snow arete in early evening, and wound up bivying on the rock outcropping about a pitch and a half below the notch. Next day didn't start off great (lost an hour to a stuck rope in a moat after rapping down to the snow), but we got up and made it down the south side, then around a buttress and up to the Mad Eagle Col to descend the West Depot Glacier. 42 hours after leaving camp, we stumbled back into it. Where did you camp, and did you go for the West Depot Glacier or Redoubt Glacier descent?

so did you manage Thunder Ridge? (I think that's what it's called), or did you do the Butt? Congrats on both summits!

congrats! I'll have to try the North Ridge next time. We trundled around through the soft snow and choss on the South Face on Saturday before turning around at 7500'. Nice TR!

I read it fast and thought it said: "Center for Sex and Children"

so how much elevation is involved with this infamous "Mt. Si" anyway?

6'2" and 170 or so. but if you want twig-like, when entering high school, I was 5'8" and weighed under 100 lbs. I couldn't even bench press the bar.

$1 for a large slice of good pizza and a soda ain't bad. Plus, there's actually some nice places up the hill. I don't think it's in Troy, but Peeble's Island was definately a nice place to go for a short hike or poach a bike ride.