russ_cunningham

Sounds like a great trip! I was up there on 8/8-8/10 last week with a friend and we basically did the same thing you guys did. We made our camp at the base of fortress on day one. On day two we hiked from there to buck creek pass then to high pass, and then scambled up to the south ridge of berge. Our goal was not berge, so we droped into the valley, watered up, and slogged up to buck Mt. Once at the summit area we to were a little confused as to which summit is the true one. We had a couple of old trip reports which said that the middle summit is acutually the highest (although it looked much lower than the one to the right) so we went for the middle one. Once on top we were everjoyed to find a summit register, and it also appeared that we were then on the higest point. By that time is was already five o clock so we booked out. At the valley floor, we decided that it would be much more exciting to traverse around the opposite side of berge back to high pass, so we headed north. On the way we came across a small sliver shaped lake, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to lose the clothes and get rid of some stinky grime! (One of the best things I've ever done!) Once on track again the sun was starting to threaten the prospect of a cold and hungry night in the middle of a boulder field, so we piled down some chocolate covered espresso beans and proceeded to hawl ass! We ran into some route finding issues as we tried to down climb the north butress of berge. We did eventually find our way off (with only one 3-4 class down climb) and it became clear how we would make it back to the trail at high pass. We scrambled up another boulder fall which was about 1000 feet gain, which took us about 50 minutes. By the time we were at the top of the ridge the sun was down but there was still enough light to see high pass, and all we needed was that trail before it was totally dark. With more ass hawling, and a little more blister forming, we finally found the trail. We could then take it a litte more easily and stroll down the trail with our headlamps. We finally rolled/limped into our camp at the base of fortress at exactly 11:30pm (before midnight!). The next morning we layed around in the sun for several hours, and didn't break camp until noon. Probably the hardest thing about the whole trip was that I had the absolute worst blisters I've ever had. Blisters formed after the first three miles on day one, and by the time we got to fortress they had popped and started to bleed. I decided to let my partner go on and do fortress on his own while I tryed to make my feet capable of the following buck Mt day. I layered on the duct tape and decided to tough out the suffering. The whole next day I was walking with a modified step in order to relieve pressure from my heels, and in retrospect, I think it probably slowed me down quite a bit. When the trip was all over and we were at the car, my heels were essentially open wounds with blood and puss flowing out. I have to admit that it looked pretty hard core! All in all however, this region of the cascades really is one of the most beutiful areas I have ever seen, and it made all the pains (and mild starvation) worth while.

You guys should all just chill.. no one cares how low your body fat is. I have like eight percent, and frankly if it were any lower I would wither away into a sack of bones every time I went on a climb. As far as losing body fat, the only way to do it is to speed up your metabolism; by getting lots of excersize (and not just cardio, weight training helps a lot) and by eating all the time. I know that sounds wierd, but our systems are designed to get a constant flow of calories; (think about it, did our african ansestors really get three meals a day? No, they were out nibling and snacking all the time) So when people stuff themselves three times a day, it slows down their system and stimulates calorie storage. The moral? Forget the stupid meals, and just eat small amounts all the time. You get the same amount of calories, you'll suport muscle growth, and you will never get blood sugar crashes (which also stimulate fat storage). I'm not saying I know the secret, but it just seems like common sense.

Do you have some sort of fuckin death wish? I did Ranier last year, and I can't figure out why anybody would want to solo that damn thing...

I climbed Glacier last weekend, and I can honestly say that it was one of the most grueling climbs I've done. The 10 mile hike in was absolutely brilliant; with sunshine and pristine wilderness, I felt hopeful about our climb. However as soon as we made high camp at boulder basin, clouds showed up and before long it was pouring rain. We went to bed hoping that the storm would blow over, but it didn't.... I woke up at 2:15am to the rain dumping on our crappy REI tent, and nudged my companions awake. Knowing we were about to embark on a soggy dangerous adventure, we almost decided not to go; but after remembering that we worked our asses off just getting to camp, and that the summit would only be a five or six hour climb away, we headed out into the damp cold darkness. After about two thousand feet up, the rain turned to ice pellets, and before long, a full out snow storm. It was a miserable slog to the top, and we didn't see crap, but I have to admit that I had fun. The last pitch to the top was the most interesting part; we had to do some front-pointing on the steep ice, and the glacial terrain was fabulous (even in a white-out). After returning to camp and throwing down some instant oatmeal, we began our long death march back to the car five thousand feet below. The hike out was absolutely brutal... one of our members twisted his ankle on the way down to the climbers camp, and I took most of the gear (rope, tent, climbing gear, food, etc...). I would guess my pack was at least 60 pounds, and by the time we got back to the car, I could barely walk at all. In retrospect, Glacier Peak more than earned its place as one of my classic Cascade Volcanoe suck-walks. I would love to go back up there sometime in good weather, and actually SEE the mountain; and I would also take three days instead of two to make it slightly more enjoyable. The end.