Phil K

Hi, I'm Phil. I've lived here for a while now, currently 65, and in pretty good shape for an old fart. 'Don't know if I'll ever summit the bigR again, of if I'd even want to unless I could take it slow and mellow. Never been much over 1000' elevation in CA. Stable snow=Good. You and I sound perfect for each other.

Interesting.... Should we be expecting a new TR from you soon Jason?

I think if you've gotten 10 years out of one, you're ahead of the pack. My merino base layers always do that, thinner stuff especially. I've taken to laundering them very carefully and air drying.

Is that an Ed Cooper photo Jason? Somehow it seems likely to me. Funny shit, that video; I watched it twice.

Oh boy, doesn't that bring back memories. That would be a piece of work when snowed up. Yikes!!!

Excellent TR as usual Jason. We went in there a few years ago when we got shut out on a Granite Lakes trip (hint, hint...). Our approach was via Grade Creek road, and there is a surprisingly good way trail in as far a Bluff Lake. We must have removed five pounds of completely unnecessary flagging tape.

It looks like you've got your links out of order; for example, clicking "South face of Tupper!" loads previous pic of N face of McDonald. At least on my computer.

Such an awesome place- I love that Hamill Quartzite. How were the snaffles?

Heck, you can arguably even skip the sunscreen.

That's the coolest thing I've seen in a long time.

Doooh!

N. Face of Fury?

Anyone here have any more info on yesterday’s (6/24/18) accident on Stuart? News reports so far seem to point to a slide from the snowfield below the false summit onto the rocks below. This seemingly innocous spot may in fact be the statistically most dangerous part of the whole mountain. My wife and I were taking an extremely mellow hike up off the Foss River when we saw a USCG copter go by about 1:30 PM. It flew up the Skykomish valley then turned S and flew roughly over Decpetion Pass. A bit later I could make out with binoculars an aircraft circling Stuart in the distance and knew something was up.

I'd suggest standing well back in case of avalanche. Bring your longest lens.

Speaking of disasters in unexpected places; if you end up doing the Colchuck Col route despite the dire looking video above (I’d never expect to see a major avvy there, it seems so benign.), be careful descending from Asgard Pass. How many fatalities have we had there recently from people glissading into a moat/hidden waterfall? It’s actually a really cool route with a fine alpine feel and not much real difficulty.

Worse. That was some pretty major incompetence on the C-H, but we’d have possibly been in over our heads, and definitely would have frozen our asses off had we continued. The Headwall route was pretty much in the bag. Winter, too IIRC.

Good times! I’m pretty sure that I made an attempt on the Coleman Headwall with Jeff Street and this guy. He talked a great game; studly Iranian alpinist, climbed various 4000m peaks, very fit, etc. We started to suspect something was amiss five minutes from the parking lot when he’d disappeared behind us and took a looong time to catch up. Next “morning” (middle of the night), the conditions were PERFECT; full moon, crisp hard snow, no wind, perfect visibility, and he totally screwed us! ‘Took twice as long on the approach, then once things started getting a bit spicy, it became extremely obvious that he was in no way fit or competent. We pretty quickly decided that he was an unacceptable liability and bailed. I’m still pissed when I think about how great conditions were that night, and how he lied his way onto our climb.

Is that with a dog or without?

We were up that way years ago, following in the footsteps of Tabor & Crowder. A fair bit of elevation gain as I recall........ How far beyond the first top-out did you go?

Yeah, it usually seems pretty late in the year for high elevation lake fishes by the time the larches turn. This is another area that has been on the radar for some time. Now I'm inspired.

How was the fishing, Jason?

Nice photos (as usual) Jason. This is one of those areas we'd looked at in Red Fred and on maps and thought about getting into.... if it wasn't such a PITA. Now, thanks to you, age, and infirmity, I can completely write off the notion. Thanks!

Maybe a nomination to SCOTUS? He seems a good fit in the Clarence Thomas mold.

Good times. My wife broke her nose doing that.

Cool. I haven't got my CAG with me right now, but I think that's a Becky-Leatherman FA. He (Phil Leatherman) prolly hauled a Hasselbald up with him; you should appreciate that.