bremerton_john

Wow Kevin, you really do have nothing to do on grave-yard shift! John

You won't be safe from the rangers however. The road into Staircase is closed due to slide activity from the flanks of Mt. Rose (which burned last year). Furthermore you cannot park where the road is closed and hike in. The park/forest service will ticket you. It is a liability thing, according to them. I spoke with the ranger in charge of that district and they hope to have things open down there by late spring. I saw some photos of the staircase campground and it took a serious beating during the December rainstorm. They've got some work to do there. You can try going into Mildred Lakes, but last I heard the Hamma Hamma also had a washout some distance before the Putvin way trail.

Great pano there Porter. Here's one I took this past Saturday up at The Ridge.

In an extended weekend when there are views to be had it's hard to beat a trip around the Seven Lakes Basin and up on High Divide. Low on the technical scale but high on most everything else. Run out to the catwalk or take a sidetrip over to Appleton Pass. I'd also put Royal Basin near the top of the list for great 3 day trips in the past. Sawtooth ridge another. A couple years back we did the one day run up to Upper Lena Lake, crossed over past Scout Lake, up St. Peter's Gate, climbed Mt Stone, cruised past Lake of the Angels and went down the Putvin Way trail and rode our stashed bikes back to the Lena trailhead. Made for a long, fun day. But it would also make a great multi-day trip where you'd have the opportunity and time to climb Bretherton, Mt. Lena, Stone, The Bandersnatch and Skokomish too. As a general statement you'll find more options for shorter (less than 4 days) trips on the east side because of the relatively shorter approaches.

I've posted this one before, but dang I just like that corner of the park.

Crap! Hope the gym doesn't close over here, but it wouldn't surprise me. The Bremerton gym only get's a fraction of the crowd the Seattle HQ does. Climber population not enough I suppose over here. Too bad, it's a real nice facility. John

Hoot hoot!

OK Wayne, your's wins for "hardest standard traverse route" in the Olympics. I'm making new categories you see. Actually, I did wonder about some of the un-named little spires you guys went up and over: i.e. The Blob. Care to establish a grade on any of those individuals?

The word on the street is that the Hamma Hamma road is washed out about 3 miles before the Putvin way trail. As of one week ago the road is apparently passable up to about M.P.9, which allows access to the Lena Lake trail head. There are three major slides/washouts on the road between M.P.9 and the Putvin trail head. I do not believe these will be fixed for some time. The destruction is apparently quite massive. A group that went up to Lake of the Angels reported three washouts/slides on the trail itself, requiring some down climbing/fjording. The trail was covered with debris and ice in some places.

I like this question, it wasn't something I'd considered before. "The technically hardest standard route." I interpret this as "the peak with the technically hardest, easiest way up it". While there are routes on Constance that are technically harder than the standard routes on everything else in the Olympics, the standard route up Constance is only class 3. Cruiser is a good guess, but it's standard route is rated 5.0. I got to thinking about one's I've been up before and thought maybe Destroyer (5.4) or the Horn (5.5). So then I went through the guidebook and looked at each one, including all pinnacles and peaks, great and small, and discovered the answer to be....Infinity Tower, located on Alphabet ridge rated at 5.6. First free ascent 1985. Go get it boys!

Some additional commentary from OMR concerning the peak identities: "After asking another OMR member, who was on the body recovery, he thought that the far right peak is C-141 is correct. The sketch in the GB shows it from the SE side. The plane however went into the side of Pyramid peak, which is at the upper left of the big headwall with the snowfinger going to its middle base. The recovery team went to the base of Pyramid by going up the long snowfinger and then up the finger to the left etc. Thought that ought to be clear if a group was headed that was next summer." I believe C-141 peak is located on the third picture down from the top. It is the prominent peak on the right of the picture. This picture was taken west of C-141. Let us know when you want to climb it, and I am sure some of the Olympic brush monkeys will be glad to join you.

I asked one of the OMR members about the crash. He was involved in the summer recovery. Here are his words: "The guy is correct in that the plane jammed into the side of the mountain. The cockpit was stuck while the rest of the plane simply blew apart. Most vivid to me were the I-beams in the cargo floor of the plane that had been ripped apart from front to back; breaking in the web, like the foot of the I-beam had stopped and the top kept going. The AF sent in a team and blasted the cockpit section off the rock face. Large parts ..like the wheels and pieces of the wing or tail were helo lifted off and taken to the CG station at PA. I was in on the summer recovery group that went in and removed all parts that had not been recovered in the winter. Fiberglass and insulation pieces 2 or 3 inches square were picked up among other things that had been buried in the avalanche debris. I doubt there is much left but a few traces. Initial cleanup and recovery was March 21-25 and then the final cleanup was July 26 and 27. Total OMR time was 1268 man hours." I'd be interested in joining you folks if you want to plan something for next year. John

Great job guys. I see the register names there from the infamous trip with Williams, Wiggins, Mercer and Kaster when John got a fish-hook stuck through his thumb. Good times. John

Royal Basin, what a gem. Great pics looking over at the Needles. Wish I'd been up there... Thanks for sharing.

Great job once again Lowell and the rest of the journal team. First class photography and writing as always.

Great TR and photos PVD. We had a similar close up experience with a large elk herd on the South Fork of the Hoh a couple years ago. Awesome creatures. Thanks for all the shots of the Anderson area. Man, that glacier sure is disapearing fast.

That was a pretty clever way of compiling short clips into one video. What is the music you're playing in that video and what software did you use to combine/edit each of those clips? John

If you go Flapjacks it is longer mileage-wise, but you've got a well maintained trail nearly the whole way. To go via Mildred Lakes is to take its "way"-trail, and then crash around to the opposite side of the lakes and up. Some folks have had a hard time following this trail, most notably when hiking in the dark. If you're unfamiliar with Sawtooth Ridge you might also have a difficult time figuring out which point of rock is Cruiser and which gully to go up from the Mildred side. The guidebook has all sketches and most descriptions detailed from the Flapjacks side. Weather-wise, just go for it unless the forecast is horrendous. You never know what you'll get up there even on cloudy days down here (i.e. Puget Lowland).

It can be a little confusing discerning which pinnacles are which from below. Once you get up higher it becomes clearer what is what. Your first photo shows the Arrowhead prominently there near the middle. The second shot shows the Incisor, the fang below is an unnamed point of rock. Third pic again is Arrowhead, I assume you took from Surprise Basin. Fourth pic, you are correct, Arrowhead is the one on the left side. Yes, for the Olympics, the rock is fairly decent in the Needles. Great area, fun climbs, generally empty of others and real scenic.

Its great to take on these trips at a more sane pace and enjoy the moments. Looks like you and your friends had a great time. Too bad about the thefts. Guess you're not safe from that anywhere these days. John

Wow Steph, great trip, great write-up. It almost amazes me that you guys chose to climb Frigga, and from the looks of the photo, probably by the same line we did just 2 summers ago (The Black Bart route). http://www.mountaineers.org/nwmj/06/061_Valhallas.html Wasn't the bushwack up Valkyrie creek such a joyous little hike in the woods!? Next time I go in I will bypass the creek and continue up the S. Fork to where the creek drains out of the Geri-Freki. You guys definitely had a whole lot more snow on the ridge traverse to Olympus than we did. It was all rock in August 2005. The Valhallas, what a special little corner of this great park of ours. And I agree with the earlier post that it was particularly interesting that you repeated portions of the climb your parents did. Thanks for sharing those old pics. I like comparing the scenery with changes over time. John

Wayne (wayne1112) and Dave climbed it August 2004 as part of their Sharpen the Saw Traverse of Sawtooth Ridge. You can find their TR on this forum. Mayeb they'd be willing to share some insight. John

Haaa Haaa!!!!! Creative, funny as shit!

Pics? Animal and I gave Clark a go in late November a few years back. We couldn't quite make the top due to snow conditions. Looking forward to finishing that one off. John

Glaciered peak is West Peak (in clouds) and Mt Anderson with Echo rock in between. The other pic you asked of was indeed the Horn. Looked like a good day out. You'll get Cruiser next time. John