Rad

NCNP trail conditions report is not encouraging - Park Creek trail closed due to fire damage, many trees down on the PCT near Rainy Pass, and impassable high water on several creek crossings. Between these and our narrow time window we'll probably save this one for later in the year. Just wanted to say I appreciate all your helpful comments. Thx. Rad

Thanks for the great beta and heads up on creek xing. Hopefully we'll find a log or snow bridge. If not, we may actually use the rope in the crossing. Also, we'll be crossing in the early morning, which is typically the lowest water time.

Great. Thx. Our plan is to bang out some miles on the PCT in the evening, cross creeks early am and climb the NE Butt, bivy on the summit, and descend and return to the car on the following day. Def psyched. Do we need 60m for the raps off the summit? Debating whether to bring twin 60m 8.7s or a single 70 that we'll fold in half and use like a twin.

Got a rare family/work window for a 60 hour outing into the mountains next weekend. I've been keen to go grab Goode but worry that it might be icy. Consistent snow above 5k, depending on aspect, according to NPS. We're happy to boot/crampon up some firm snow but prefer to avoid two tool mixed/ice terrain given partner experience (and mine). How do you think Goode will be? Would love to hear other cool ideas. Ridge traverse on Silver Star? TFT?

Bill I love that you post these. Thanks! I found something on Steep and Cheap that looked good to replace my beater crag rope for short routes: Beal Booster Dry 9.7 60m for $136. When I googled it for reviews, which were good, I got an ad for the same rope for $111, but only in the ugly orange vs nice blue. Blue 60m on SnC: $136 + $8 5-10 day economy shipping = $143 total Orange 60m on Backountry.com: $111 with free 2 day shipping. So I went for $111 and will endure the orange. Thanks again.

I scrambled up that peak when it was snow-free in July in around 2000 before wife and kids. It was a mostly enjoyable outing in a physical in your face kind of way. More type 1 fun (fun while you're doing it) than type 2 (fun in retrospect but perhaps more suffering than fun while you're doing it). I've been meaning to take the kids back to backpack in that area. Someday... Thanks for bringing back memories.

Summit schmummit. Looks like a successful outing to me. Mountains - check. Sunshine - check. Killer views - check. Friends - check. Workout - check. No injuries - check.

Agree

To keep your feet dry on snow go when it's hard. Approach shoes plus strap ons will be fine in these conditions. Guide Five Tennies have become my shoe of choice for most outings. They're comfortable enough for hiking, work great for up to 5.9 or so, and can take strap on crampons if needed (I don't choose those routes that often frankly). BUT if the experience is going to have a lot of soft steep snow or scree and dirt that would go into your shoes I may choose a boot with a shank and higher top. Mine are old Makalus, which are really too heavy and bulky to want to carry up anything where weight/bulk matter. I'm sure there are better options for these scenarios but I'm not inclined to spend $$$ for these rare occasions.

Wow! Worth the wait! thanks for posting

And volunteer to help keep it nice: DARRINGTON ADOPT A CRAG https://www.facebook.com/events/883142025148804/ When: Sat Jun 04, 2016 Where: Darrington, WA The Mountaineers, led by the Everett Lookout & Trail Maintenance Committee, is organizing a stewardship day on the Eight Mile trail and at Three O'Clock Rock in partnership with the US Forest Service and Washington Climbers Coalition. Space is limited so registration is highly encouraged at https://www.mountaineers.org/explore/activities/stewardship-darrington-area-1 (non-members will need to create a free, simple account log-in to register). Mountaineers members and the greater climbing community are invited to give back to this beautiful granite climbing area on National Trails Day. Contact Katherine with questions at katherineh@mountaineers.org.

You guys have Walmart?!? Road trip!

We've hired nannies through care.com. Sittercity is another good spot. Services like Annies Nannies are $$$. You might post on Craigslist and see what comes back. Oh, and you might not want that image on your profile for services, though it is cute. Good luck!

Oh that's sad. RIP. As a parent myself, I am disturbed by this. I agree with the Denali ranger. Most of us have been in situations where we would have died if we'd slipped or something had broken or fallen on us. We were lucky. Sooner or later luck catches up with everyone. That said, if you look at ANAM most accidents involve one or more human errors. Moreover, it tends to be the same patterns that kill people every year. It's great to learn from the mistakes of others. Everyone should read ANAM, but we all make mistakes. Establishing checking procedures to catch errors before they kill us and/or our partners is about the best we can do, unless we just stay home on the couch.

Time to shop for a used Kompressor on Craigslist naw, the work of putting in bolts ain't the issue, it's the rock quality - at the base it's like a 17 1/2 year old crack whore, at the top more like a 73 n' 3/4 year old one the top seems to be safer to jump off of then to climb up onto Hot glue that shite! Then drill pockets and paint "6b Puta Sucia" at the bottom. Euro stylez

Time to shop for a used Kompressor on Craigslist

I keep clicking hoping you'll have added a TR and photos! Maybe with Huber-like flowing long hair and hairy chests a-thumping.

Olympus was awesome. So beautiful. If you do it, go very light as it's a really long approach. Snow is melting fast. Temps are warm. Think of this as June, not May. So now is a good time to do many of the objectives you mention.

Ditto, with the add that you can carry a charger and cable to charge your phone every few days as needed. This is way smaller, lighter, and easier than carrying solar cells. Great TR btw. I like the way you just launch yourself into the unknown. That's the spirit!

You might have better luck on a hiking/scrambling/peak bagging site. Most folks here loathe the Cascadian Couloir descent and can't imagine wanting to go up it.

Was up in the shoulder of Chair Peak Friday. Tons of snow out there but it's very mushy, even in the morning (we were out 7am to 11am). Higher elevations, N aspects, and lower temps might help you. We were going to scramble up SnoQ Mtn but there is a raging river (OK that's a bit of an exageration but not much) coming down from the Cave Ridge valley. We didn't want to cross fast cold knee deep (guessing) water above a large waterfall coming and going so we went to Source Lake and Chair. BTW, the chimney route S of the main peak on Chair has a HUGE cornice at the top. Climbing under it would be really dumb.

Methow rappelling accident. Very sad indeed.

Strikes me as a passive aggressive unilateral way to reduce access/impact outside the permit timeframe. If they close it in late October before the snow falls that would clinch this as the reason in my book.

Seems pasting into comments kills them too. Anti-plagiarism plan?