KaskadskyjKozak

Yeah you're right, better safe than sorry. a 30m will suffice for up to 4 on the glacier. pretty light rope to carry up. I'd ditch it at the base of the summit pyramid though

As opposed to going up the central gully? I think I would feel more comfortable staying in the gully, but I guess we can take a look when we get up there. How did you finish the pyramid, DPS? And did you bring a rope to rap off, or just downclimb? Thanks everyone, good beta here. I climbed the summit pyramid twice via the gully and I did it unroped up and down. The biggest risk in there is rockfall from other people.

Sounds like we shouldn't have any problems. We'll have some daylight by the time we get up to that point, like you say. Do you recall how many hours your climb was? We did it in two days. If you plan C2C you probably could do it in 12, maybe a bit more.

Well that is good to know, thanks. I mapped it out best I could and it seems like it would only be about 12-13 miles roundtrip, but a trip report over at summit posts mentioned it was 15 miles and took them 16 hours...maybe they were just slow. (http://www.summitpost.org/shuksan-in-a-day/734236) the first few miles of trail follows an old forest road. that will probably burn an hour then there is a pretty good trail up to the ridge that you break out on. This part gets muddy and eroded with roots, but I don't remember it being hard at all to follow, but we did it in daylight. Unless you are starting before 4 am, I think you'd be in some amount of daylight by the time you are on this part of the approach

Call the Marblemount RS. I talked to them and they indicated you'd be able to get to the Eldorado TH by today. If that's the case, it is a 2.5 mile hike to the Boston Basin TH from there, and a little farther to Cascade Pass.

No idea. Maybe a return to epic form?

I'll bet you could easily entice Nastia to head up there... and there will be no border probs.

Indeed. I've had two trips back there already, and I do plan to return.

Sweet! Thanks!

Nice job and report! We also had a long day on Hard Mox: 4:15 am to 12:15 pm (camp to summit) and 1 pm to 6:30 pm (summit to camp).

Thanks! Nice register entry, BTW :-)

Thanks, Eric! But to clarify - Andy finished the Bulger. I am at a measly 24 right now...

True - you should not *rely* on help either. But... odds are in your favor (and if you end up totally alone and are spooked, you can bail)

If you do it on a weekend you are not likely to be really "alone". Something to weigh against your cautiousness - help is likely nearby. The route is really mellow (and fun). Enjoy!

Trip: Mox Peaks SE Spire (Hard Mox) - West Face (Beckey) Date: 8/6/2013 Trip Report: I had planned to climb Goode this Sat to Tue but my plans fell through. I had previously corresponded with my friend Andy B who was one summit short of completing the Bulger List about climbing Hard Mox, so I pinged him and he was available to climb Mon-Wed. I got the time off from work - game on! We approached on Monday per the usual and camped at the Depot-Redoubt Creek divide. Depot Creek Falls were flowing fast and furious, with lots of spray. Lake Ouzel is completely melted out and the outlet was a bit tricky to cross. Andy donned some rubber shoes he brought for camp and I chose to wade across barefoot. Drying off feet after crossing the outlet: Ascending slabs above Lake Ouzel: We started out from camp around 4 am on Tuesday. The first part of the traverse was entirely melted out and the talus was tedious to negotiate. Once we hit snow, it was a lot easier. The snow stopped short of the Col of the Wild by a few hundred feet, and more tedious talus and scree was in order. Looking back at the traverse from camp: The Col of the Wild in August conditions: Route-finding to the base of the final gully leading to the start of the route was straight-forward and pretty much exactly as Beckey describes. The snow finger was quite melted out and undercut so we rappelled it (60m). We were not sure how we'd get back up, but figured we'd do what we had to when the time came. We started up the rightmost gully around the rib below the snow finger and hit the class 4 terrain. Since we were not sure if we were on route or what was above we set up a belay. 20 feet higher, we knew all was well, and so we shortened the rope and simulsolo'd up the class 3 gully (loose) to the base of the route. The 10-foot step: Man what a place! Andy traverses the crumbly ledge: Checking out the snow finger: I led the first two pitches. You can't exactly zip up the route, but there is pro where you need it. I then gave Andy the honor of leading the third pitch to complete his final Bulger summit. As for rock quality: "doveryaj, no proveryaj" ("trust but verify"). We did 3 rappels back to the start of the route, downclimbed the top of the gully and then did 2 rappels to get past the class 4 section. Everything else went smoothly with one bit of trickiness at the snow finger. We camped a second night and hiked out early Wednesday. Andy prepares to rappel from the summit: Some shenanigans at the snow finger: We were the only souls on Hard Mox or at Lake Ouzel as far as we could tell, with the exception of a party of two that we spied ascending Easy Mox while we were summitting the SE Spire. View towards NW Spire from the summit of Hard Mox: Congratulations to Andy on this notable summit! And thanks for such a great trip! KK summit stoke: Andy celebrates on the summit: Gear Notes: 4-5 C4's .5 to #3, a few nuts, #1-2 Master Cams, pink and red tri-cams.

Like Torment and TFT?

it's not that bad! I find it's better up high to walk right along the wall on climber's right (Concord Tower) to avoid the loose crap that is the worst in the final couple hundred feet.

Trip: Maude - Circumnavigation and Return Date: 7/28/2013 Trip Report: KH, SG, and I planned to do the N Face of Maude this weekend. With the long stretch of warm temps I was worried the route might be melted out and not in shape - and some route descriptions I found warned about this after mid-July. But the weather was perfect, so we went for it. We hiked in to Leroy Basin on Saturday. Prior to the trip we read a few TR's that suggested the traverse from the 7 Finger Jack-Maude col could be sketchy so we opted for what seemed like the "no brainer" approach of camping at Upper Ice Lake and approaching from the East. After some bushwhacking and 2 or so miles farther in in the sun with full packs we later questioned our wisdom in making this choice. Leroy Basin: Talus on approach toward the SW ridge: We set our alarms for 3:30 am on Sunday and were moving by 4:15. We thought the way around the side side of the lake looked shorter and started up that way. However the lake outlet was below a cliffy section and we could not easily see a way over it. We reversed direction and headed back towards the SW ridge, ascended to 7600 feet and contoured that way to the obvious col leading to the N side of the mountain. SG taking a pic at sunrise: The col we traversed to (middle of pic): From a map it appeared we'd be travelling about 2 hours from camp to the base of the route. It ended up taking us 4. Our team was strong, and none of us thought we were moving slowly. By the time we got to the base of the route, the snow was softening, with an inch or two of sloughable snow over hard pack. We were surprised by how melted out the N face looked. It appeared we'd have to zig and zag a ton around rock islands, and possibly do a few gear adjustments (crampons on and off). With some discussion, we reluctantly bailed, hoping to at least tag Maude on the way out. Our view of the N face from where we turned around: The traverse back was also time-consuming. But we did get some nice views to look at. Upper Ice Lake looking very blue, with beautiful sparkles from the sun's reflection: Once under the SW ridge we scrambled talus to a steeper section and did some class 3 moves for a few hundred feet before getting to the endless talus slope that dominates the SW side of Maude. Talus Hell: We guessed there'd be a trail on the far left (climber's), but opted to just climb up and angle that way. Eventually we hit some boot paths and topped out just after noon. KK posing: Summit p0rn: We found no register up there, so we just ate and drank our last water before heading back to camp. The hike out was painful with full packs after our already long day. The cold IPAs were quite welcome at the TH. Approach Notes: BLACK FLIES

class 3? (I'm thinking of doing something like this with my 11-year-old)

Poor prole. He is simply surrounded by people too stupid to appreciate his wit and special sense of humor mocking those who suffer from medical conditions. If only more were like prole, the world would be a better place for us all - full of humor and good cheer!

Everyone: stop climbing at WA pass! You are ruining my own personal wilderness experience. Stay home so I can enjoy it all to myself!

I'm betting sobo's perv radar will pickup your avatar and draw him to post an update :-)

We need Gator back!

The bottom rappel on SEWS is definitely a bolted anchor now. The tree(s) used in the past will be spared. Most folks only do one other rappel above the chimney and I think that's still a tree. I have no idea who put it in.

Like.