OlympicMtnBoy

Actually Alkaline batteries are oddly enough Alkaline as opposed to lead-acid batteries like a car battery. The white stuff is potassium hydroxide which is a strong base. That said, I have no idea what the effect on nylon is. If it were my gear I might wash it but given the very small amount of material leaked and the very small chance of contact I probably wouldn't worry that much. It's not as if anything was soaked with it and it's a solid and can be brushed/washed (diluted) off. But I don't know anything and will probably die. You might actually get BD to do an unscientific test if you ask nice.

Cool, glad you were inspired, it's a great area!

Trip: Colchuck Balanced Rock - West Face (5.11 C1) Date: 8/7/2012 Trip Report: Plenty of beta out there on this climb so I’ll try to keep it short and give some pics. It was over ten years ago on my first trip up to Colchuck Lake to climb the North Buttress Couloir that I looked up at Colchuck Balanced Rock and thought: “Wow that’s cool but it looks like a long way to haul an aid rack”. After two trips up there to clean and climb The Scoop a couple years ago I figured it was about time to finally take care of the West Face and see if I didn’t need the aid rack after all. Jon and I had talked about getting on this after we had such a great time on Acid Baby a few weeks ago so when he told me he could get a day off work and kids I was all over it. I knew the approach was a butt kicker so I wanted to bivy at the base. Jon was kind enough to stand in line on Monday morning to get us a permit so we could approach after work but I was a little less excited after a raucous wedding party Sunday night. Between his drinking beer and my hangover we left the Stuart/Colchuck TH at 6:40 PM, not a lot of daylight to get up there. Fortunately we had some beta on the better approach (to me anyways) which is faster than the old way around the lake. -redacted material- (hint, go left around the lake and follow your nose) We made it to the bivy with only a tiny bit of headlamp cairn spotting about 2 hrs and 50 mins from the parking lot. This is probably a good hour or 90 mins shorter than the old approach all the way around the lake and up past Jabberwocky. Nasty mosquitoes got us up early but we still didn’t leave till 7:30. Jon led and approach pitch, I took the short 5.10 crack and combined it with the 5.7 to the top of the pillar. Jon led the really fun 5.9 step across and corner to some uglier dirt. I headed up the “easy” pitch to the base of the 5.11 corner but may have been too far right and had some thin mossy stuff. Jon drew the stellar corner pitch and styled it while I took a hang at the wet spot when I blew a grass jam (I blame the pack with a gallon of water still in it). Somehow I cut my finger on a crystal when I fell which dripped blood over our gear as I dug my tape out underneath the roof but I gathered myself and fired the awkward roof traverse clean next and avoided falling on Jon’s head at the start. After this we were both feeling a little fried so we gave up any dreams of freeing the 5.12 bit and pulled on gear for the short crux. Jon did pretty well for his first aid climbing and didn’t regret leaving his fancy aiders at home in lieu of improvising with slings. I hauled us up the 5.9+ series of offwidths and chimneys which would have been more fun if I weren’t tired and we celebrated the summit by toproping the balanced rock (something I didn’t do the first time up there). We scrambled down the surprisingly fast and easy descent (Jon wore his climbing shoes down but I carried my approach shoes up). We had some food and drink at the packs and then wandered back down the trail to be home in time for dinner. Great day out! Gear Notes: Double rack from blue alien to #2 camalot, plus one #3 (I think). A couple extra runners to stand in if you don't climb 5.12 (or aren't in good enough shape to do those several burly pitches in a row). Approach Notes: Go left at the lake instead of right.

Hehe, nice to see someone exploring over there. I found one of those routes on a day trip from Whitman many years ago. Kind of fun to poke around anyways.

Going along with what Rad said, and assuming this was an unplanned bivy, it's nice to be able to follow the rules as a respectable user group and then get a little leniency when something happens and you get benighted rather than flaunt the rules and get stuck with more ticketing when you are already having a bad day/night.

Just look at the boundary maps and figure out a way to stay out of the permit zone. Try going in Hook/Rat Creek or Crystal Creek. Or camp up Mountaineers Creek and do something. All of those are outside the permit area but will let you access the Enchantments for a day trip. Just stay off the main trail from Colchuck/Stuart to Snow Creek and you probably won't see any rangers but they do check areas like Colchuck Balanced Rock and some of the high lakes off the trail sometimes. I'd go and try the lottery but have a plan B in mind. Also FWIW a friend got caught with a bit too much gear on a "day" trip. He got a warning and a note that he had to leave at the ranger station by 7AM the next morning to prove he had actually left that day/night. Better than a ticket though but he wasn't caught in the act of camping.

What a great looking route! Nice job!

I've got one but I'm in Leavenworth. If you need some specific info I could scan a couple pages for you.

Sweet! Nice job in a day!

Nice, my favorite alpine shoe too, sized a size bigger than my normal shoes to accommodate socks and long days. Just got my pair resoled though.

For glacier travel I use a super light CAMP harness and clip the few pieces (picket, screw, pulley, biners) to the pack waist belt or other convenient spot. The harness is soft and under the pack hip belt. I assume that when I stop I'll be able to take my pack off in relatively stable terrain and not need my gear (no hanging belays). If it's a harder route I'll choose a pack/hipbelt that is lower profile and doesn't interfere as much with the front two gear loops on my harness. My pack is normally light enough to not need as cushy of a hip belt then and I can take it off at belays and hang it from the anchor. Just try it out and see what's comfortable and allows you to reach what you need quickly, it will differe a bit with each pack harness combo and what gear you are trying to rack.

I don't recall any issues with route finding and we did it with only 3 nuts in about one third the time. Plus we did it car to car. And we had better beer.

Cool, glad I inspired someone else to get out there (and to eat sausage)! You are correct on the name in Beckey, I must have been embellishing. ;-)

Your original loop idea is doable BTW. There is a little bit of bushwhacking but there is still a fishermans route down from Toketie Lake (don't follow the creek). It's hot, long, and annoying and has lots of burn debris, but not that hard to follow.

Nice job, I think that's a fun climb, not so much for the rock but for the cool alpine ambiance. When we did it a few years ago we didn't have to rappel on the descent which is the 4th class scramble route to the top. I do recall one or two anchors that we scrambled left or right to get around without rapping (we only took a 30m rope).

When I still wore contacts I couldn't wear them overnight and they weren't disposable, but I still preferred them to glasses in the backcountry because I used to have huge steaming issues, rain on them, etc. I just found a small ~1oz bottle for multi-purpose solution and pre-filled the lens case. If you are new to contacts it also helps to practice so you don't need a mirror to put them in. Also make sure you wash your hands in the morning and around your eyes or you'll get sunscreen/bugspray/campfire smoke in your eyes and it sucks. It works though. Of course after 10 years of full time contact usage my eyes stopped tolerating them so I'm back to glasses, but newer smaller thinner and lighter glasses help too.

Done.

If you quit dickin around the first few days you might actually get up a big route next time. Hehehe, just kidding. Nice job guys! Sorry I missed this one, maybe the wall bug will be back this fall.

Hmm, we saw several large boulders, some with snow still under them, but must have missed the "perfect" bivy boulder. The wind was howling that evening so we opted for the "also perfect" melted out spot in the trees. It seems improbable with that much snow in the valley, but there always seems to be a spot in the trees by the tarn by mid-June. Ivan should know how much I love sausages.

Sweet, I've been wanting to get back up in that area again, looks like fun except where it isn't. ;-)

Trip: Crystal Lake Spire - SW Rib - 19p, 5.8 Date: 6/28/2012 Trip Report: There are blanks on the map, places illustrated with dragons and skulls and names like nightmares. Some of these places lie in our back yards, just off the beaten path, but never visited by those who return to tell the tale. This is the story of one of those places . . . Ok, not really, but judging by der internets, people don’t go here very often despite it being spitting distance from Prussik and the Enchantments. Or at least the people who do visit are a little strange. I knew the approach wasn’t too bad from a day hike last year so I recruited James (he had no idea what he signed on for) to head up and check out a mysterious 19 pitch 5.8 line on Crystal Lake Spire. Crystal Lake Spire has nearly zero prominence from McClellan Ridge and the Chessmen as you look at it from the Upper Enchantments, but it rises in a beautiful ridge over 2000 ft. from the floor of Crystal Creek valley. We struck out under gray skies with a light rain and were soon soaked by the bushes overhanging the Ingalls Creek trail but it kept us cool and we hoped to take advantage of clear weather the next day. We made quick work of the trail and fairly quick work of the off-trail bit and were at camp after about 6 hours with a few stops. The Bangers and Mash James brought along were just what was needed in the cold and very windy evening. We crawled into our bags early. - brought to you by Salted Nut Roll - The SW Rib is the obvious ridge up the center of this pic although the summit is not visible. Unfortunately being on the bottom of a steep valley means late sun so it was still pretty chilly when we set out at 7 the next morning under the forecasted perfect blue skies. It was only about a ten minute walk to get onto the toe of the SW Rib and after a short constitutional break we scrambled up gullies a few hundred feet and then roped up on a sloping sandy ledge below a steeper looking bit. Some easy simuling and one short hand/fist crack got us above the bulge and we began following the more defined ridge higher. Stellar ridge scrambling interspersed with easy climbing led us higher and higher to the base of an obvious white headwall mentioned in the brief Beckey description. We followed the obvious ramp up and left and back onto the ridge crest past some loose rock and tiny bits of snow and ice still clinging on. We finally broke into the sun and had a nice break then James set off up a gravelly chimney and I enjoyed a stellar 5.8 finger crack and some more great ridge climbing. One more pitch, with a short traverse where we should have gone straight up the nice 5.9 looking hand crack brought us to the summit . . . of one of the major points on the ridge. Here we found a small rock cairn, the first sign of any other human travel in this area at all. Not knowing exactly what still lay between us and the summit we took a quick picture then headed on, downclimbing a bit along the ridge from the point and then taking another ramp up and left around a steep headwall. Some more ridge scrambling, another short but protected downclimb, and one more simul pitch up and right of the last steep bit brought us to some compact cracks and then the true summit boulders. Swarms of thousands of ladybugs greeted us and we basked in the sun on the top. - Looking back at the spire we topped out. Overall about 8 hours on the route with four simul blocks and four pitches which probably is close to the 19 pitches mentioned in Beckey although the wording was a bit curious since nothing else around is described that way. I made the scramble up the nearest Chessman and we enjoyed several long glissades making it back to camp in the valley in less than an hour and a half. We soaked our feet in the Crystal Creek Tarn which has mysteriously lost a good foot of water that day (ice dam melt with the warmer day?), and enjoyed camp before hiking out in the morning. No dragons or skulls, but a heck of a great trip with some fun moderate climbing and hardly any sign of humans merely a stones throw away from the usual hordes! Great area and plenty of more climbs in the book or new! I'd be happy to head back in there if anyone has the desire! I'll try to draw a route line on one of these pics later. A couple more bonus scenery shots: Lots more pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/104708573545176184583/CrystalLakeSpireWithJames# Gear Notes: Took a double rack to #2 plus a #3 and some large hexes. Big gear not needed. Aluminum ice axe handy for the cold morning and afternoon glissading. Approach Notes: Head 7.7 miles up Ingalls Creek, turn right up Crystal Creek and head 2.5 miles up, look for cairns.

Haven't used one but I'd guess it would work just fine. Neither the weight or the price is unreasonable and Sierra Designs has been making tents and stuff for a long time with some good gear. Try it out and let us know!

I decided to tag along with my girlfriends work trip to Portland next week (leaving monday morning). I don't have much going on during the days so I'm hoping to get outside in the nice weather. Anybody want to climb something? I haven't climbed much there other than Hood, Smith and Trout Creek (I know, not quite PDX). I'd love to check out other local areas, the open parts of Beacon (never been there), or some obscure alpine rock. Leading 10+/11- trad or sport. Also happy to aid or climb snow (probably not Hood since I'd have to pack my skis too) but I'd need to pack that gear tonight. Let me know if you are interested!

There was a rescue up there Sunday the 17th. No idea if it's related but there's a thread around here somewhere. http://www.kimatv.com/news/local/Authorities-respond-to-2-seperate-backcountry-rescues-159505165.html

Nice, this is a great time of year to do that one. Did you take the right hand variation on the first pitch, I started up that and then opted for the less mossy standard way left. I couldn't tell from your pic.