KaskadskyjKozak

Wow, thanks for a pointer to that earth-shattering news story!

Kiwi

Seriously, in the above TR, where's the "I'm so grateful for the park service's helpful attention, and humbled to see the effect of my choices reverberate through the community. I owe you one!" The OP's first language is not English, so you may be jumping to conclusions about her using a word that could be an idiomatic term mistranslated or just misuse of a word in English.

Last weekend I filled out a volunteer climber's registration in Sedro Woolley outside, prior to the office being open. Upon my return to sign out, it was missing. The rangers had no idea what had happened to it. I asked them to look for it and sign me out. 2 days later I got a call that it had turned up in Marblemount(???!!!). I'm glad they did not send a helicopter out....

+1

I did the S ridge last year and it is fairly easy. Let me know if you want any route info.

+1 on not rapping the couloir - been there, done that, it sucks.

FWIW, last year we spent an extra night in Torment Basin and were overdue by about 12 hours - to avoid a night hike through the Devil's Club and Slide Alder. A ranger met me at my car at about 11 am, checking if we were still parked, and we were not fined.

Weather was awesome, and we had perfect cramponing. DC was not there this time...

Epic. If you went back again now knowing what you know, how long would this route take?

Trip: Spickard - Southwest Ridge Date: 8/8/2011 Trip Report: Continuation of ... Note: yes, I see many of the photos have an annoying spot on them - probably water. :-/ We awoke early at Lake Ouzel on Monday, and, like the previous day, we enjoyed firm cramponing. We left our ropes and harnesses behind this time, and independently enjoyed nearly continuous snow with only a few short rock bands from camp to the col at 8000 feet leading to the southern aspect of Spickard. I chose a steeper line that afforded me some more fun high-dagger travel on 40 degree, bullet-proof slopes. A lower angle slope is also available with a traverse to climber's left. View of Redoubt on approach to Spickard: At 8000 feet we enjoyed the sun and some snacks then traversed under the south ridge. Here we saw several gullies were snow-filled, possibly all the way up to the summit ridge. We opted for the middle one. However, as we got higher up the snow became unpleasantly soft and shallow in places so we switched over to rock, and scrambled mostly easy class 2 and 3 until nearly the top. Here there was one stiffer section of class 4 that I and a partner took. The others went up a short, steep, soft snow section to ths summit ridge. Views of the pickets and other mountains were amazing from here - even better, IMO than from Redoubt. KK on the summit: We also got a look down onto the Silver Glacier route, where we could make out a bootpath from a recent party as well as a gnarly looking bergschrund. Silver Lake: Descent was hot and sloppy down to the col and a little better the rest of the way to camp. Today we rose early again to beat the heat and hiked out in about 5.5 hours wrapping up our 4 day trip. Then it was back to pothole hell, followed by civilization hell - including rush-hour traffic beginning in Everett. Did we have to leave? Gear Notes: Ice axe, crampons, helmet.

Trip: Redoubt - South Face Date: 8/7/2011 Trip Report: Yes, there have been a few TR's for this bad boy and its neighbor, but I've got some pics and details to add of my own. We'll start with Days 1 and 2 of this 4 day trip, which include a summit of Redoubt. Note: yes, I see many of the photos have an annoying spot on them - probably water. :-/ We drove through Sumas early Saturday, stopped at Starbucks in Abbotsford, and made our to Chilliwack Lake Road. The last few miles were indeed as entertaining as folks have alluded to. Pothole hell. Moonscape. Exploded mine-field. All are apt descriptions. After 30+ miles, we made an incorrect turn to a too-steep road, and retraced our steps to the correct turn up Depot Creek Road, but did not get as far as others. End of the road for us: We hiked the remainder of the road to the border. Currently there are lots of streams flowing into sections of the road, and a ton of mud. Once back in the U.S. of A. we all were stunned by how nice and well-kept the trail is. Logs have been cut throughout the trail up to the falls. And it really is a fine, pleasant forest walk. Contrast this with, say, the Boston Basin trail. Soon we were at the dreaded falls. We all grabbed hold of the two short sections of fixed ropes of dubious age and strength, enjoying the spray of the water, which is currently flowing mighty big. Above the falls, the suffer-fest began, with vertical rock, dirts and roots that eerily reminded of other approaches like... Snowfield Peak. Then we hit the valley and flats. Lots of water and mud here and we hopped talus in spots. We lost the trail on the way in and ended up doing some bushwhacking through slide alder, and skirted some slabs before correcting our mistake and following the cairns up the flood debris to camp at Lake Ouzel. We got an early start Saturday and made quick work of the easy scrambling to snowfields below the Redoubt glacier. Here the snow was firm and perfect for cramponing - a real joy! As we crested the upper slopes, we hit the sun and the snow softened a bit, but was still easy going. We had a little confusion at the col but found the best way across the step-across moat to a couple rock moves, and hop over the ridge. A quick traverse in the sun and we were on 40 degree slopes in the shade, and bullet proof. We placed a few(3) pickets while simul-climbing then hit softer snow before attaining the freeway ledge. Above this we hit more steep snow, softer here, cresting at about 45 degrees. Next up - the dirty class 3 gully. This was mostly fun stuff, but required careful footwork to avoid killing each other with rockfall. After a few hundred feet of this and we reached the cannon hole. Here was the crux for the day. The gully was still partly snow-filled and very soft. The moves up to the cannon hole were wet, required stemming and were a bit tricky and sketchy. We set up a fixed line here after AE led it, as each person made the snow worse by stomping it out. Then we pitched out the few class 4 moves to the top and enjoyed the views. On the summit, we dedicated the climb to a partner who passed away this past year and had a moment of silence for him. Descent was via the climbing route with warming temps and less than ideal snow (in contrast to earlier). Overall, a great day in the alpine! The only negative was the evening assault of mosquitos, requiring triple-layer gore-tex armor. Next up... Spickard Gear Notes: Ice axe, crampons, helmet, rope, minimal rock pro, DEET.

I'd have to agree with this assessment. No leadership what so ever. This guy is in constant react mode and on his heels. Rather than working on jobs issues, what did we spend energy on the last several months - the GOP-manufactured crisis de jour of holding the debt ceiling hostage. So far the only thing I've seen that this guy believes in is compromise on any outlandish proposal put forward by the Tea Baggers. FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS!

You were gone?

Don't get your panties in a wad.

WTF did he take it??

Nicely done Jonah! :-)

We both had been down it before 4 years earlier in dry conditions. It sucked just as much. Totally agree that the upper ridge alone is well worth it. The Cascadian Couloir is the worst, shittiest descent I've ever done (bone dry). A couple years ago we descended the N ridge of Adams - another one that gets a lot of negative comments - and that was a JOY comparaed to the Casssssscadian.

How did you find time to take all those pics?? :-)

Is *that* why Spray suddenly got so quiet?

I'm gonna write to Mountain House to suggest they make a Zelenyj Borshch flavor. The hard-boiled egg and vodka would be separate and supplemental of course. +1 on the hard salami. Will salo preserve well for a couple days or only in cold weather? That would be great on a 4-day trip to the pickets, if it stays good...

Best answer yet. :-)

Boston Basin has melted out like crazy since last weekend. I could not even recognize where we camped and we actually stopped to rest very near by (from the best I could tell). The stream corssing got worse too - that snow finger has collapsed.

There was a small snow patch just below the start of the traverse. It had no boot path so that contributed to our missing it. You may see that (or the snow will melt before then). If the snow/bootpath is gone, my advice is to start up towards Boston. Stay a little bit left of the ridge where you are walking on loose piles of smallish rocks. Then as it just starts to be less piles of loose rock and gets steeper, look immediately for the traverse on your right. It is relatively low.

Trip: Buckner/Sahale/Boston - Misty Mountain Slop Date: 7/31/2011 Trip Report: Expect neither a trifecta of alpine tick list reduction, nor a new route, but a tale of getting bitch-slapped by the NOCA mountains. CF, GE, DR and I all had planned a trip to the N ridge of Baker but after reading about the conditions on the ice pitch here , we sought an alternative, and Buckner came up as worthy (N face of course!). We had all our group gear and travel arrangements settled when the latest and great NOAA forecast appeared... gorgeous weather Saturday and 20% precip of .01 to .02 inches Sunday between 5 am and 5 pm. Hmmm... NOAA has been screwing up all summer and who knows what the fuck the weather will be like. Let's go and find out. We did. We decided to maximize our glorious Saturday of blue-bird skies and long July days, by getting as close and personal to Bucker as we could. Also, we knew we'd never do an up and over on Sahale and traverse those loose ledges if we woke up at 2 am to marginal weather. Commit, baby, commit. We hit Marblemount at 7 am and informed the Rangers of our plans. We were pushed and pushed about our "food securement plans". There are rodents after all and they can chew through our shit. Scary!! We hiked the endless tyranny of switchback hell to Cascade Pass with too-full packs, then up to the arm, eating shit in the heat, then up the arm to Sahale Glacier camp. Is this really July 30th? There we took a break and a kindly Ranger lady looked on us with pity and asked if we wanted to change our permits from Forbidden Zone to Sahale camp. Thank you ma'm but we'd like another. We watched about a dozen climbers coming down from Sahale, a few glissading and others roped up by 4 and stumbling/bumbling down. We took our cue and headed up. Going was quick. The glacier was mellow as usual until steeping to about 45 degrees at the base of the pyramid. Here we dug out a rope and GE led up to the summit. I followed and we brought up the rest. Views were glorious as usual from here! Alpine pron extraordinaire: We quickly rapped down the other side and saw some crazy folks on Boston. Was this a sun-induced hallucination? Soon said party crossed our paths and we exchanged words and obtained beta. Yes they had summited Boston and had just rapeled down. We asked about the infamous ledges, and where they may be. They had no idea, but told us of easy (but loose) class 3 up to the first false summit of Boston from whence we could attain the Boston Glacier. Glorious! Headed off towards Boston: The objective is in sight: We headed up loose shitty rock. It got a little better: Then it steepened. Anuses puckered, while comfort level stretched thin. The rock is shitty, friable, and worthy of its reputation. The "easy class 3" seemed to be getting to exposed class 3 with some class 4 - on shit. We were stopped short of the false summit and a patch of visible snow by shrinking testicles and the thoughts of plummeting a few hundred feet in our full packs and decorating Horseshoe Basin with some fresh bright red spots. We looked from this vantage for the correct path - the ledges - but were uncertain. We downclimb the sketch and look periodically over the edge for the ledges. Still unsure. It's 6 pm. Time for a group decision. Bail. We will descend to Boston Basin and camp. If we are hassled for not having the permit, fine, we'll hike out. We start down off the shitpile when DS says "Hey, I think this might be the ledges... anyone interested?". GE: no. CF: no. Me... must not be a pussy... OK, I am interested. I go and look. Hmm. It's promising. I start across... I think it goes. "Guys, I think it goes!". No answer. WTF. Another group discussion. GE: I am 50/50. DS: I am 50/50. CF: I am 70/30. The balance tilts; I start across. It looks good. Yes, I think it fucking goes. The terrain is not exactly such as to give warm fuzzies, but compared to what we were just on... Traversing the ledges: Soon I get to the glacier. There's a big ass crevasse, a moat, and a snow bridge. We rope up, traverse to a safe line and plunge-step down to 8000 feet. It's a flat spot, it's 7:30, we can see our route - time to camp. While melting water, watching the black worms and contemplating where Mr. Ranger's rodents are to chew our food, we spot another party high on the ridge that we bailed on. They make it to the false summit of Boston and are headed down. They camp nearby and we are all crashed out around 10 pm. 1:30 am. I decide to take a leak and have a look outside. Stars, beautiful stars. I doze off again with happy thoughts. 5 am. Alarms goes off. Let's look outside. Fuck. We are socked-in. We get up anyways, eat a hot breakfast and procrastinate getting ready. No sense of hurry here: Maybe this white pea-soup will improve. Nope. We pack up our full packs again and decide to descend anyways. Maybe we can follow a boot path up to the summit. After descending to 7600 feet, we finally admit defeat. We need to see the route to do it - there are some crevasses, a bergschrund, and rock bands to negotiate, and the weather blows. Turnaround: We head uphill again. Our camp neighbors are headed out to climb, and we wish them luck. Soon after we are back on the ledges, with full packs and the added joy of *wet* shitty rock to ascend. And it is misty, cold as fuck and we have zero visibility. Even better when wet! We work our ways back to the Boston shit-pile. Weather is worse. We are all hungry but decide we'd rather plunge-step out of this shitstorm ASAP. Within an hour we're in Boston Basin, below the clouds and relaxing on some rocks. It's much better below the shit: Then it's on to the lovely Boston Basin trail with its many charms: vertical rock/mud steps, deadfall, a sketchy stream crossing, and mud everywhere. Hmmm, I guess it beats switchback hell though. By noon, we're out.