KaskadskyjKozak

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.

yeah, let's "kick ass" and bring down the economy!

+1 It's also BS to claim it is impossible to get lost in the cascades. It happens every year, sometimes with very bad consequences. Hikers have gone down the wrong way snowshoeing from Melakwa lake, for heaven's sake. Climbers have gone down the wrong gully on Big 4 and needed to be rescued. A map and compass could help a shitload here. 90+% of the time you never need them or pull them out, but they are nice to confirm you know where the hell you are or are headed.

One more of your nine lives consumed? It's been an expensive summer for those for you! ;-) Nice job!

What was a hobbit morphed into a horrid creature who's lust for power killed him. sounds like a teatard Funny, sounds like any WA politician to me.

Damn Hobbits! They took my preciousssss....

Hamburger?

Well-done. That looks glorious right now!

so now "Gramps" is "cool" again, eh?

Thanks, man. Your TR and comments have convinced me to wait a couple of weeks.

I just watched the video... why not climb a few feet to the right on the face in the shade, where placements appeared to be much better?

ditto. :-/

that's nodder good thing, man!

I heard a report of two marmots brawling above my friend on Forbidden 2 days ago and dislodging a large boulder virtually on top of them. So, even marmots, and not just the angry hairless monkeys occasionally do as you say.

Wanna climb it again, Off? :-)

Taken yesterday:

The couloir is OK right now, but not for long. There is a section with a steep traverse over a bad runout and a fairly narrow snow bridge just as you enter the couloir. Above that it is cruiser up to the scramble section to the ridge.

The Dems blew it and lost the House. They are at the disadvantage in this round of the political game. The R's are next if they don't watch their step.

It's all about (posturing for) the 2012 campaign - both for the R's and for Barry and his colleagues.

*yawn*

Hillary tried that once and cost her husband all of congress and a lot of political capital. Guess someone else is clueless.

The Republicans hardly governed as fiscal conservatives under W. They are all concerned about reelection and staying in power and now its the Dem's turn. This country has made its own mess and the media is not the only one to blame. Your use of the "Looney Party" is a nice example of just the kind of name-calling, destructive, divisive politics that helps propagate our problems, which you can continue to be a part of, but don't expect any improvement in the status quo.

The "change" spiel was just a marketing gimmick to win the election. Haven't you learned anything yet about politics? You have a slogan or two, run on it, and see if you get traction to win off of that slogan. Winning is all that matters, and you need to sell the "right message" to do so. LOL. He hardly governns to the "right" of Republicans. The fact is Prole, that this country includes people with a whole spectrum of political beliefs and that politics is always about coalitions and compromise. Your progressive agenda is fringe in this country and will never successfully be sold to the masses and then instituted. With our diverse country all we can get are watered-down versions of any "pure", ideologically-based initiatives, and this juggernaut that we have can not change course in any direction overnight. Moreover, our populace is fickle and impatient, and they've proven a willingness to switch out those in power cyclically. Or... he has just the right experience and is acting just like a successful politician in the American system.

Keep it coming, oh bloviating, pontificating fucktard.