Rad

Stehekin river gaugeStehekin river gauge via Chelan PUD

Sounds like good decisions. Did the creek levels drop substantially in the early morning hours? In high melt situations river levels lag snow melt by hours, depending on how close the creek is to the snow in question. Often, rivers will be lowest at dawn and highest in the evening. did you see a difference between 7PM and the next morning?

I've only seen deer and elk below treeline.

Do goats wear bodices? Who knew?

Blake sashaying across the snow with a murse? Layton jubilantly dancing across the meadows, arms raised in a V? Maybe these two star crossed lovers finally united. Do tell.

Trying to contact the FA team is good. Replacing exising bad hardware is fine. Adding new bolts where none existed before wo FA permission is a no no in my book. I appreciate your honesty, work ethic, and eye to bringing new attention to obscurities. Without your work this likely wouldn't get climbed at all and hardware would just get worse and worse. Cheers, Rad

Best scree skiing I've ever done was descending back to the lake. It would be hard to fall off the finger traverse unless it's wet. Can't imagine carrying a heavy pack to the lake. The giant boulder below the lake is etched in my mind.

Words of wisdom here. Big evergreen trees (dark green on sat images) generally means pine needles and ferns on the forest floor instead of brush. The last thing you want is the light green on satellite images that is slide alder or prickers or other shrubbery where yu can't see your feet, are swimming through a tangle of branches, need leather gloves, and will be exhausted from covering even half a mile. Welcome to the Wet side!

As Gene says, enjoy these times together. So precious. Thanks for posting

For food/drink on big outings where I need to go light, move fast, and not stop to offload solids, I consume a mix of water, Nuun, and protein powder to keep energized and hydrated. Swallow caffeine or ibuprofen pills as needed and I'm able to tap into my super powers. It's not the tastiest mix, but it keeps me going. Nuts, cheese, chocolate for the summit. Notice I didn't mention invisalign. I've never had them. Experiment to figure out what works best for you. And have fun!

Nice. Why did you decide on Baring instead of Gunn? Wondering because I've never been up to Gunn and thought it might be a worthy outing if the conditions were right. Thx

I think I saw your daughter's cup, as well as her bottle of Jack Daniels, just above the 50 foot booter where she was doing the double backflips. Maybe the camera crew picked it up?

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I agree with the comments above. I've also only descended the Cascadian but recall that there is a section below the false summit that is quite steep, exposed, and wil likely be snow covered for a while. Travel on snow can definitely be faster than on talus or scree, but steep snow can be very hazardous if you don't know what you're doing. You need to be solid moving over snow that can be anywhere from mush to firm to solid ice. You should also be proficient at using an ax to self arrest on soft snow and know when and how to use a rope when self arrest won't be possible. Just because other people solo steep snow doesn't mean you should blindly do so. All that said, if you're going to get out into the mountains of Washington you're going to encounter a lot of snow, so becoming proficient at dealing with it will serve you well far beyond an ascent of Stuart.

Check Turns all year.

Classic cascades experience. Glad you persisted and came out on top. Thanks for persevering and posting all the photos too.

There are ways to train without access to elevation. You can do lunges with and without weight. You can do a stairmaster or similar machine with and without weight. Make sure to have proper form, don't get injured, and have fun!

Can you get the drone to put the rope up?

Rakkup Rob is marketing for Rakkup. His email ends in rakkup.com. Please buy local guide books to support local guidebook authors, who have local knowledge and have likely invested hundreds of hours into research. Odds are good they are also local route developers who have put hundreds of hours into scrubbing and prepping the lines you want to climb.

Yes, this is a wonderful thing to give people, and in the long run it's far more valuable than a move by move beta spray. In my book, if there is no uncertainty there is no adventure. Preserving that uncertainty for future explorers and climbers is valuable.

Thanks. Look forward to the pics. I do know Trevor. He has endless energy, scales steep snow in mushy running shoes, has an ape index of +21, and puts three knee bars into every line he climbs because its part of his religion.

Wow. Lucky to survive that one. Looks like a very quick rescue by the NPS.

Do it! You can put it in the forum based on location.

Gotcha. I am not familiar w the EU alpine grading system (just looked it up). We have some excellent local climbing guides, though Beckey is still a great resource. Mountain Project will have lots of info. You should find something awesome. Tip: weather can be unstable through early July, so it's usually a good plan to have two or more objectives in different zones in mind and choose one at the last minute based on conditions. Have fun!

Regarding skills, there are lots of great videos and books. One amazing series that is geared toward more experienced climbers but has mental aspects that apply to everyone is Alpne Mentors w Steve House, You can also learn a lot from experienced partners, but guides have many years of training that you're not going to get reading the internet or climbing with your friends. Hiring one can be a great way to climb a classic and have both you and your partner learn a ton along the way (I'm not a guide BTW). There are also local courses. It sounds like you're pretty experienced already, so you can just go. You'll naturally learn from a network of partners you build over time, like many of us old guys did. So you want ski mountaineering? Liberty Ridge is a prize, but timing is everything to avoid objective hazards. We usually have a thread on it here. Emmons is a great early season line, mostly an endless 30 degree walk in crampons. It's the typical ski descent for LR. Turns all year may be a great place to go for more skiing-focused outings. If you've done back country rock up to 5.8+ and roadside ice to 4+ you should be good to go on lots of PNW classics. End of May is pretty early, but you might be good on some volcanoes then. It all depends on the storm cycle and temps as we get closer. Alpine rock usually isn't dry unless it gets several days of sun, but there are a few exceptions. Look things up on mountan project AND read TRs on this site to get a lot more climbing ideas and conditions beta. One simple way to learn the alpine elements is to go out scrambling on snow and rock in the alpine. Increase the difficulty over time. Learn to read the conditions and see how they evolve in different weather cycles. Go get a Beckey Guide (or three) and read it and start going on trips! You'll come to know Fred and our local climbs and history. Be safe and have fun!