curtveld

Actually I was wondering if the bridge is still out. Has anybody been up there?

Any repairs yet to the Chehalis FSR bridge or is this the beginning of an era of longer bike-ins? Thanks

Thanks, all.

Anybody been into Terror basin since these guys to see if the approach trail is gone or what?

I backpacked into that area from the Cedar Creek side once and thought that wall looked appealing. Bummer that the climbing sucks, but thanks for letting us know.

Nice accomplishment and great TR! These are the best photos I've seen of the actual climbing on this route.

At the Winthrop Ranger Station last week there was a notice indicating it would reopen in mid-Sept at the earliest. Not sure why they haven't posted that on their access web-site - wiggle room in case it takes longer or shorter presumably.

Wow, some cool stuff up there! After putting off Gunsight this many years, I'll just wait a little longer and the place will have its own guidebook. And the log crossings over Agnes are getting easier. Back in the day, they belayed over logs with pins for pro. Check out page 15 in Beckey's Challenge of the North Cascades (I'd scan it for yall if I had the technology at home). Great TR guys.

Wow, how cool to see other folks checking out the up-and-over Jack thing! But no crowds as of yet, apparently. Yeah, that keyhole is a nifty little feature – I squirmed though it like a gopher, trying not to dislodge too many chunks onto Andy. And I’m glad you had snow below it because that was the wettest and nastiest part of the route. Your summit day sounds like a long one, ending with the big downhill to Ross. Well done, all around!

I'd sure think so, though I've never used that system. It's just moderately steep snow - light boots worked fine for us.

Right on, guys! Did the same trip 24 hours behind you, including the head scratching up on the Fin. Certainly a nice surprise to have the boot skiing off Aasgard to save a bit of knee pounding. We confirmed this - the #5 only gets you about 2/3 of the way.

Way to cruise a couple of Darrington classics! My buddy Andy and I had a good ol time on Westward Ho last Saturday, brushing a bit of dirt and moss off along the way. Definitely some sustained slabbin without the typical mini-chickenheads. The first and fourth pitches felt a bit stout for 5.9, but could have just been the season’s first slab outing. How did the grades seem coming off Total Soul?

Any guesses as to whether Westward Ho (slab right of W. Buttress) is likely to be dry?

Check out the "2007 pictures" link. In addition to some sweet snow donuts, theres a "beautiful view of Silver Star Mountain".

Gloater I'll send you a pm Brandon and maybe we can connect some time - my office is about 20 minutes from Snag Buttress.

How about tomorrow (Tues) evening?

For a guy that “doesn’t get out much”, you sure seem to keep the quality up! Fantastic photos, per usual. No problem driving that far into the Mtn Loop, eh?

Great stuff John. Can your rig day-trip it up there from Concrete? Holy crap, the photogenic peak options just multiplied!

OK, so equinox-to-solstice is “winter” on the calendar, but I’m with Dconlin that it doesn’t make complete sense. Tell me why March 15th is on average more wintry than December 15th? From the standpoint of the shortest days and lowest sunlight, the solstice should center on, not begin winter. Apparently this "cross-quarter” based winter was used in some ancient calendars – any historians or astronomers out there know why it got dropped? Maybe climbers should revive it...

OK, so JB did create some pretty bizarre headlines and quotes over the last decade or so. But give the man credit – back in 60s and 70’s, he and the band pretty much invented funk.

Oh yes it is. It's three pitches, it's 5.9 and it's scary! Nothing else quite like it. Other one-of-a-kinders: EBGBs, wtih the tricky mantle start and Bearded Cabbage - heel hook or book. Cool stuff.

5.9 was the first thing that popped in my head too - Touch n Go?

Yeah, took a couple of nice sliders off this one until I figured out the 5.9 A1 sequence.

Chris, you're welcome to borrow my copy for a while.

If you're looking for long term climate summaries, this site ought to give you plenty to work through: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/summary/climsmwa.html Glacier, Newhalem and Baker Dam stations are closest to the areas you mentioned, though obviously not really indicative of 'mountain' conditions. You might be able to do a little digging to get archived data from the RAWS or SNOTEL stations. Lots of historical data are out there on CDs, old newspapers, etc., depending on how hard you want to dig.