curtveld

Thanks - have often wondered what those big Mexican volcanoes are like!

They are people that don't rock climb and want to summit Stuart. Lot of folks fit that bill actually. But as a descent, I agree it is a safe, reasonable (but long), low-stress way off a big mountain.

Mantle?! That looks more like an attempted headstand.. Nice TR and photos of a route that's intrigued me for awhile and now does even more. Might not put it on the list of 'day-trip' options though.

I'm game, I'll email you guys

If you like Dreamer, you're probably going to like most routes up there. If you feel like a shortish trail approach, go check out 3 O'clock Rock. Quality longer routes are Silent Running (9+), Total Soul (10b) and Penny Lane (10c). If you're up for a more adventurous outing, head up the Granite Sidewalk (sticky footwear!) to Exfo. Good choices there are Blueberry Buttress (8+), Westward Ho (9) or Dark Rhythm (10c). If you could only do one more Dtown route...ever, I'd go with Total Soul. Have fun Chris and bring lots of H2O!

Awesome Matt and Dan! Love that first photo that highlights the 'sea of chicken-heads' above the big arch. Am continually amazed at how many WA climbers - even those drawn to a bit of wild scenery and adventure - have not yet sampled the joys of the Dtown slabs. For them and my kids, that road is a critical resource.

Excellent to have a new way up that beast, especially a 'moderate' one! Even the standard West Ridge is seldom described as such. Rock looks surprisingly solid and clean, but close inspection of the photos doesn't suggest an abundance of pro....?

Lots of great info from the uber-veterans, but not sure anyone answered this one. Once you're through the 'cleanest gully in the Cascades', most of the climbing is traversing ledges with little bit of class 4 and 5 (bit more steep class 5 on the N-side bypass). Very little climbing as steep and clean as the pic, though the rock is always good.

Pretty much what we decided. We encountered a steep dihedral that was pretty but too steep to be mid-fifth (not sure if the same as in your photo, but similar). So we kept traversing right and it got easy.

Same with me, and have been very happy. Can push it to low 30's with a bivy sack. Regarding the 55-degree bag option, I've got a crappy 40-rated (50 in reality) synthetic bag which I don't carry in the back country because I sometimes get cold just family camping with it. On very mild nights it would be great, but it's too hard to predict when it will be inadequate. Given how light a nice 30-degree down bag is, not much reason to go thinner, IMO. Would not sacrifice a zipper though.

Definitely a great day out with Gene the Machine! Would have been faster if I wasn't bumbling around up on the north ridge looking for the original Beckey finish. For those who've done it: Does it really go left across the little slab to that crazy-exposed horn thing?! Other beta: On pitch 5 of Paisano, the "5.8+ funky" should say "5.8 funky+". Several tempting holds are loose (or gone, after my lead). The left-hand option is much better.

Nice two-bagger lads! The way you knocked those two off, I'm guessing you'll be tagging many more, so keep on posting up.

Once again, Jason makes another semi-obscure area look like the freakin Pickets! Gorgeous.

Love the spirit of rallying users to grab tools and fix the roads they need! That being said, there is only so much road repair that can be done with hand tools. I wonder if there is some way to pass the hat to cover a couple of hours of back-hoe time (which would get a lot more done)? State Hwys has that 'adopt-a-highway' program for litter clean-up. I wonder if climbers could similarly support the ongoing maintenance of Clear Creek and other key roads?

Here's the latest: "Just a reminder about our work party coming up Saturday July 13th for Clear Creek Road. We were planning on meeting at the Darrington Ranger Station at 10 am. Any problems with meeting at 9 am." This was clipped from the Facebook page for the "Darrington Area Friends for Public Use". Their FB page is linked on Hulk's second post above. Presumably DAFFPU is made up of local folks with a range of recreational interests (i.e. mostly non-climbers). An excellent stroke of business for climbers to show that they are willing to contribute energy to keep this road open.

Very cool Brandon! I'm sure all the holds will be nice and clean when the sun comes back out.

Very inspiring John! Way to keep at it.

Sent you a PM on the WC 3.5

Bug season in the North Cascades, like stable weather, is hard to predict using a calendar. Definitely more so than other areas, from my experience. But late July has as much of a chance to be bad as any time. Either pack assuming they will be bad, or better, do some asking around right before you head out and adjust accordingly.

I did the route in 2012 and had some concerns about some smaller blocks in that corner - maybe the size of a car hood or smaller? They wiggled a bit but seemed pretty well wedged for the short term anyway. Definitely not suitable for pro or big pull-up moves though.

Darrington Fridays! Let's swap emails. I'll PM you.

Pretty common for a party to be hiking up the approach slabs while someone is up there climbing through those loose blocks. Yikes! Sounds like the Buttress is due for a trundling project?

Lee, the PT is long and arduous enough that most folks (myself included) consider it a good trip to NOT carry the extra weight of a rack and lead rope. Much more popular is to tag lots of peaks along the way via Class 3 and 4 routes without added gear. Do it your way, but that is the typical strategy. Good luck, it is a gorgeous place!

Totally agree. There should be a Paypal account (if there isn't already) that the rest of us can pitch a few bucks into. You and other folks doing the maintenance shouldn't have to cover the hardware costs as well.

Good stuff, thanks Birddog! I would have guessed the drying process would be a bit farther along...