KaskadskyjKozak

Trip: Guye Peak - NW Ramp Date: 7/29/2012 Trip Report: Unfortunately I had to stay close to home this weekend, so I could not do much too ambitious. I offered to help my friend KL take out two beginners (RS, JS) on Guye as a one-day affair. The route consists of boulder hopping, scrambling, and two sections worth pitching out. Almost from the beginning we noticed a foul odor in the breeze. At first we thought it was sewage, then maybe garbage. My guess is maybe there is a large dead animal carcass somewhere near the dry creek bed. Guye in the cool, misty morning: Scrambling around the dry creek bed: KL starts up the right-trending ramp: KL leads the first class 5 section: JS follows on the 2nd pitch: KK on the summit: From the S peak, we walked/scrambled down to the ramp leading to the large gulley below the N peak. We did a short rappel here: From the head of this gulley we scrambled up to the hiking trail, and tagged the N peak, where we joined a bunch of day hikers. The hike out went quickly, albeit hot. At the car, we got yelled at by a home-owner for parking on the gravel at the bend on Oberstrasse at the boulder field. Just a warning for those headed up to do the Improbable Traverse in the future. Beer and burgers ensued at the N Bend Bar and Grill. Gear Notes: Small alpine rack up to 2 inches. One 3" hex useful but probably not needed. Approach Notes: Talus.

Wow. I knew him tangentially. Back in the 90's we used his Sputnik program, around which I wrote wrapper scripts for processing sequencing data. Terrible news. My condolences as well to friends and family.

Doc: how did that cam get up your ass? OffRoute: I was walking in my garage naked, and I fell on my rack that I left out to dry...

I believe there is the option for a steep (headwall) finish on the Mazama Glacier as well, if you are into that sort of thing.

I agree, also with Kurt Hicks, alough the approach to NR Baker may be broken up. One approach is to camp below the Black Buttes (pretty short approach to this point) and scout the traverse to the North Ridge and add wands as needed. Get an early start and folllow your previously established route (GPS works too). IF the approach is too broken up you can do the Coleman Demming route. My personal recommendation would be Fisher Chimneys on Mt Shuksan. Should be in good shape, although icy, bring a few scres and a sceond tool, just in case. Nice mix of moderate/easy rock and ice climbing on the most photogenic face of this truly classic Cascade peak. If taking the trouble to navigate the crevasses to the N ridge, might as well just go for the Coleman Headwall.

I climbed Adams in 2003 on Labor Day weekend via the walkup and it was mostly safe/fine, however, there were several hundred feet of trudging up scree below Piker's and on the final push to the summit. This was on the dog route, and you wanted a steep snow climb or ice climb. Last year the Kautz was still in great shape in September and I went up it on the 11th. You may luck out this year on that route depending on how things go between now and then. But, generally, Hood and Adams will not be much good when you plan to visit as others have indicated.

I would do it as an overnighter - probably September time frame

Would this be a reasonable trip to bring a (tough, experienced-hiker) kid on? Any exposed sections that a short rope might be warranted?

Trip: Glacier Peak - Disappointment Peak Cleaver Date: 7/21/2012 - 7/23/2012 Trip Report: Forecast was iffy for this weekend, but after bailing on too many trips already this year, my friends and I opted to cross our fingers and give Glacier Peak a go. We would not be disappointed! We approached via the N. Fork of the Sauk River trail. At the last minute we were offered a reprieve from the threat of an added 7 miles by mountain bike thanks to some road work finishing up and the road opening one short day before our trip. We drove in early Saturday morning. There are trail crews working on the trail now and a lot of downed trees are clear for the first 4 miles or so of trail. More work was happening father along as we walked out today. Along the trail we encountered a lot interesting flora, including numerous overgrown, shoulder-height sections with lots of this guy: Above the Mackinaw Shelter the trail is mostly clear and in good shape with a few exceptions: As the rising traverse begins to White Pass there are a few snow patches with bad runout over creek crossings, but these are melting fast. Much of the trail to the PCT junction is clear, and much of the Foam Creek trail is clear too. Foam Creek Trail: We camped at the base of the White Chuck glacier at about 6700 feet elevation: We had a predawn start, moving around 4:30 am. Here's a nice shot of the skies: The summit was obscured by clouds on and off as we ascended and we were worried the weather would come in before we could summit. The wind was coming in with lines of parallel clouds high above us: We ascended the cleaver for part of the route then favored more moderate slopes around to climber's right under Disappointment Peak and then onto the Cool Glacier. Another shot of the sky - this one on the pumice ridge above Disappointment Peak col: We arrived at the summit around 10 am: It was quite windy and cold on the summit, so we did not stay long. We descended our climbing route fairly quickly and got to camp by 3 pm. At this point the weather was still holding but we had the dilemma of deciding to move camp or stay put and relax for a long time to sunset and then get up early and get out. One team member had slightly injured his ankle, so we opted to stay. We were all in bed by 7 pm or so, as the weather was coming in. Then at 10... it hit. Big. Rain, wind, and snow pummeled us all night, and nobody got much sleep. Our alarms collectively went off at 4 am, and were collectively ignored. At 4:45 someone yelled "I have hot water ready". That seemed to motivate the lethargic, sleep-deprived, wet and shivering zombies to life. We miserably broke camp, drank some tea, and retraced our approach in reverse. Conditions improved the farther away we got from camp and eventually we dropped below clouds to some nice green, wet, and misty views. We went from triple layers and skull cap down to single layer and even shorts. It took six hours out to the cars today (Monday), where we enjoyed beers at the TH, and then set off for Mexican Food in Granite Falls. Approach Notes: Sloan Creek Campground TH open. Crews clearing trail to about as far as Mackinaw Shelter.

You wonder? Come on, fess up Dru, were you wearing high boots?

what is this thread aboot, eh?

done

I got scratched by Devil's Club. We should wipe it off the planet.

Tosh is voting for Ron Paul.

Lars Ulrich's tribute letter.

Hey, I'll have you know the TSA has a perfect record. They've never preempted a terrorist yet. Don't touch my junk!

Right....for defense only. Yeah, and cut the FDA! Go Ron Paul!

We still need a military. The problem is we try to do way too much with it (worldwide bases, multiple wars) and want the most expensive toys of every flavor imaginable (bombers, interceptors, aircraft carriers, missile systems, etc)

Hey, Amen KK. The title is wrong. He spent more then anyone, his rate of increase is just the smallest. Which if fucking crazy considering all the entitlement programs that he has put into effect. It should me much higher. If you attribute the stimulus to Bush, and then consider the backlash that got, yeah, Obama got a lot of pressure to slow spending, so it makes sense. I thought Obama would cut spending on the wars and roll back tax cuts. He's done neither. In my perfect world the size of gov't has an upper limit (that we've frankly gone over) and what differentiates the parties is HOW THEY CHOOSE TO SPEND THAT FIXED AMOUNT OF MONEY. The pie is sliced and diced differently, that's all. Furthermore, in times of surplus we would not just spend like crazy (except maybe to pay for long-neglected things like infrastructure).

Yes, but he still "reigned in spending" more than you or I, didn't he? It would seem most conservatives would consider this to be a good thing. I'm still genuinely confused why republicans don't like Obama. He's more of a republican than Bush was (which isn't saying much, I suppose) If I spent 900 million and you spent 1 trillion, and jon spent 1.1 trillion, it seems to me that jon's "share" of the spending is way less than your "share" of the spending. Sounds like spending less, to me. You couldn't blame Jon for the 900 million *I* was responsible for. You could only blame him for the spending he added to the pie, which would be less than either of us. Not a hard concept If he spent less than he'd actually cut spending. Government spending has outpaced inflation for decades now. What I want to see is less spending period, not more. I'm not saying Romney would do that, nor do I believe a 2nd term of Barry would "reign in spending". And it's no surprise that Bush 43 spent too much year after year. All I commented on was how the chart is mislabled and BS. Barry is not the smallest gov't spender, he is the biggest. Incrementalism, my friend. But all the leftwingers here are looking for a big argument. Sorry, but I see nothing to get excited over here. You can all pat each other on the backs and talk about how great Barry is, and cheer for how we are on the right track as a country. Enjoy!

Rob spends 900 billion, I spend 1 trillion, and you spend 1.01 trillion. You still spent more than me or Rob. I know, a tough concept to grasp.

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.

plus la change, plus c'est la même chose

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXgvxg8StnI