chesterboo

I may just do that sweatonliquor Last year coming down from the DC route I ran into a pair that just finished the cleaver and carried over. They were not too interested in talking about it or they were just really tired. That was in mid August.

Thanks Matt, It just seems that reading Mike's book makes it sound like a neat alpine environment, devoid of crowds and with some cool exposure.

nobody has ventured up this cleaver lately? The lack of response makes me wonder about the route.

Considering this trip in June. Has anybody done this route and have information to share? Pics? I have read Becky's description as well as Mike's book. My search for trip reports is sparse. Seems like a long route and allot of work and just wondering if it is a worthwile undertaking. In past I have done the ID, DC and Emmons routes. Thank you for any information you folks may have. Jeff

thanks vw. I looked at the blog site and it said 7 or 8 am. I called the park service and they said 9am is what you can expect. I am not sure that they say 9am just so people won't get upset at closed gate or what. Has anybody been up lately and have experience when gate opens?

Does anybody know what time it will open on Monday morning? Looking to get early start on Lane Peak. thanks

I had a friend with an old dodge power wagon with canopy that had open pipes etc.... a real redneck rig. Bumper sticker: "don't laugh, your daughter might be in back"

EPIC!!!!!

Pink Floyd is the best! I saw them in London in 1992 (minus Waters). I am going to see the Australian Pink Floyd tribute band on Nov. 14 at McCaw Hall in Seattle. You should check out their website if you have never heard of them.

Good Job Zoroastr. I think I also saw you when you were starting the West McMillan spire single day trip as my partner and I were coming out. (I think I recognized you from the picture) Anyway, my father and I are planning on the Ruth Icy traverse tomorrow. We are planning on camping high on Ruth or just over the top more towards Icy. I was wondering if you could draw some arrows on one of your pictures that would help us not get onto the wrong spire when we go for Icy. I have read Becky's description but he describes several turns and "obvious gullies" that may lead me into making a wrong turn. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

I am thinking of going up Colchuck glacier and doing the scramble route up Colchuck and then over to Drangontail and down Asgaard back to Colchuck lake. Is camping at the Colchuck Col on the first day and then doing the 2 peaks in the am a reasonable plan? Or should I just camp at Colchuck lake and go light the next day and do the whole circle and back to the lake? Any suggestions would be helpful. I have done Dragontail in past up Asgaard and the scramble route so I am relatively familiar with the area. thanks all.

Thanks Wazzu. I think I saw your picture in one of the trip reports I looked at. What is the water situation like as you hike in on the first day. Is the trail easy to find and how long did it take you guys to get to camp. Is the area suitable for a small tent and are the bugs bad? Thank you for any information you have. also, great picture.

I thought I would put my questions out to the group. I have read several trip reports on the web already. Has anybody been back into the southern Pickets lately and what are the conditions like? Is the glacier section of the climb in need of rope? Or is this just a scramble

I have a pair of Scarpa mountain boots that are 4 years old. They are in good shape on the uppers as I have cleaned and waxed regularily. It seems as if the sole is starting to pull away from the upper and leave some tiny cracks where the upper and sole meet and letting some water slip in. Now when I am wearing them I will get some wet feeling in my toes like water is seeping from below. I can also look at those cracks and weight my foot and see little water bubbles blowing out of the cracks. They are great boots and I would rather have them repaired than buy new ones. Has this happened to anybody out there and can I get some good reccomendations of coblers who do or specialize in mountain boot? In the south Puget sound area would be best but I would go to Seattle for somebody good. thanks

Thanks Mr Mo for the beta. You sound like you know the area very well. I think you know where we were when we made a wrong turn. We were walking up to the crest saying things like , "ok, this is awsome, now lets eat lunch here and it will be a strait shot and then we get to the edge and were like oh, f.... After some expletives we went down and then around and to head of proctor creek. We traveled another hour and 15 past that and got a pretty good view of the rest of the climb. Is the Perfect Place that pretty lake with the rocky walls around them? We were 20 minutes past that when we turned. It seemed to be a brushy ridge top traverse over to INdex from there that we felt we would mostly stay on the R hand side of the ridge. Am I right? How many times have you done the traverse? How often does it get done It is a beautiful trip but not entirely strait forward if one is not familiar with the route. anyway, thanks for your help.

We were on route counting our misdirection for 9 hours and 20 minutes and were moving most of that time. When we turned we figured 2 to 3 hours to go to the summit. It would be best to do it we think with a bivy the night before on top of Persis and then a very early start, but the challenge remains to do it in a day and if we got to the trailhead early enough and could get back to top of Persis before it got dark we could do it. Buckaroo, how long would it take do descend from top of Index to Lake Serene and the trailhead there via a scramble route, and is that route hard to find from top of Index?

We went for it today with the great weather. Our start time 7 oclock was too late. We went up a gully too soon on the traverse and got cliffed out so we had to go back down and traverse farther and then found the correct route. We got to the flank of the Index portion and we had to turn back to get it another day because we were running short on time etc...Now that we know the route, it should be faster and more straight forward for us. At any rate, it is a long trip and a warm one. Thanks to Mr. Mo and Tread Tramp for the help. cheers.

My partner and I plan on doing the traverse this weeks that starts up the Persis west ridge route. I have been to Persis that took approx 2 to 2and 1/2 hours. I would like to know if anybody has done the traverse and how long it takes going light. Also, is there water on the Index section and if anybody has been up there lately is it snow free at top of Index? Thanks for any info.

Has anybody heard how the groups faired that were doing Lib Ridge last weekend? I was waiting for their trip report but have not seen yet. They said they would post when they got back. I wonder if the force was with them.

Climb: Lane Peak -Zipper Date of Climb: 4/26/2005 Trip Report: I climbed Lane Peak today for the first time. I could not find a partner so went solo. I left the car at 8;30 am and returned by 12;00 to the car. The snow was very soft and I would have prefered to wait until snow is freezing overnight. About 3/4 the way up a chalkstone with a good size step exists that requires one to stem against R hand wall and the chalk stone with your feet while pulling up on a shafted axe (or 2 axes in my case) to gain the step. The soft snow made this a tricky purchase for the axes and I was able just to put enough pressure on them to get the step up. That step is just below where the traverse from Lovers Lane comes over from the left. When I reached the col, I attempted to traverse snow fields over to find a shoot for the summit but the waste deep mush stopped me from going further and I just decided to descend. I could have continued and found a way up but I did not want to venture any more through the mush and I did not want to get myself into a place where I needed a rope to rap with. (I did not have one except for 10 meter safety cord and some slings) Gear Notes: 2 axes (could do with one) helmet snow shoes for aproach (could do without) Approach Notes: Parked at gate to Reflection Lake

Thank God for Bush! "Operation Iraqi Freedom" How many actually buy thats why we are there. To "free the Iraqi people" from their horrible lives. There will now be generations of war scarred American haters for years to come that turn into baby terrorists and more....The helos are just the tip of it people. I guess if all we have to worry about is not having helo rescues then we should count ourselves fortunate at this point.

To Robert and Ejohnson thank you for the advice. The west defiance to defiance to bandera sounds interesting and so does the west trail on Si. I have not done these. Can you post directions please? thank you. Also Teneriffe sounds intersting. Where is that? near Si? Thanks for any info you can give me.

I did the tooth 2 weeks ago and it was in good condition at that time. You wouldn't catch me near there now. I have read the posts on mailbox peak too. I was in an avalanche last year on Silver peak in May. I am very aware of dangers that avalanches present. That is why I posted the question. Getting off the couch and into the mountains is risky. Selecting peaks with "low avalanche potential" is the first part of awareness of the potential danger. Certainly, even a peak with low avalanche potential can have some dangerous aspects even to them.

I believe I have been taken out of context. A funny man amongst us no doubt.

I used to have problem with cramping too. I played around wth energy drinks and found one that works for me. plain old gatoraide seems to be effective. I know, I have read the literature that cytomax etc... are better but this one works for me. I also force myself to ingest a packet of gu or something equiv each hour during a climb and this helps. In the midst of actual cramping I have taken a tiny sip of a little chinese restaraunt soy sauce packet and 5 minutes later the cramping went away. best to prevent however. Bananas have potassium but if you are to the point of true potassium depletion then they may not help. It takes 12 feet of bannana to equal one 20 meq tablet of Potasium which is a typical dose of Pot. for somebody with normal renal function taking 40 mg of Lasix ( water pill)