MCash

1. The weather was great on the west side of the crest so why go east? 2. Octoberfest touron overload. 3. Way too many people. I go climbing to get away from the crowds.

To get to the base of The Sting, simply traverse that low 5th ledge for the start of The Flame, but go up the Sting crack (just before you get to the handcrack pitch for The Flame). Here is the start of the traverse pitch. I believe that is SPM overhead, I haven't climbed that one.

There is absolutely no wide stuff on Careno Crag's Regular Route. Perhaps you are thinking of the third pitch of Careno Corners. The start of that pitch has some 8" stuff, agreed. Speaking of Leavenworth, Big Bad Wolf looks like a really nice 5.10 offwidth dihedral crack. I need to get some more big cams so I can lead that one.

I have lead Yodmeister and it is easy for a 10a even at Vantage. Easier than some 5.8s at Index.

Sweet pics! Looks like a fun climb, pretty cool that it is the easist route on the peak. Might have to do that one next year.

I like the chalky pants, really compliments the outfit.

3/10

The last cleanup effort = a fresh canvas

Private Idaho is also a good spot to visit for 5.8 / 5.9 routes. Senior Citizens in Space is excellent. Magic Fern and Battered Sandwitch are good too. Istanbul would be nice with some cleaning and pruning.

There is no way in God's green earth that you can stem MX. That section of the wall is pretty blank and MX and the 5.9 to its right must be jammed with fingers and feet in the crack the whole way up. If you don't believe me, go try it for yourself.

MX is super good! Long sustained perfect fingers for about 150 feet. Maybe the best 10a pitch in the state.

Oh my god that thing about killed me. More of an offwidth / squueze than a chimney though and sanbagged for a 5.9.

Here is an update on Chehalis access. It is easy and wide open and has been all summer long. The photo above on Mystery Creek road was repaired months ago. You can now drive up the FSR on the west side of Harrison Lake, then turn left on Chehalis / Mystery Creek Road. Follow this accross to the main Chehalis FSR. The road is in great shape, you could do it in a Honda Civic. Once you cross the river, park your car right there. Do not even try to drive the 4.5 km to the trailhead for Statlu Lake, let alone the one for Nursery Pass. This road is completely destroyed by the floods. It took us about 50 minutes to hike it, so no big deal. The trail up to Upper Statlu Lake is in great shape and well flagged. It took us just under 5 hours total to reach the upper lake. We also saw a flagged trail heading towards the North Face of Bardeen, not sure how far it goes though. Really nice area and sweet granite.

Nice job on Burning Spears. That one move near the top where the only good hold is a sidepull is pretty tough.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6954728.stm I think I'll stick with a cat for a pet.

Yes. Yeah, the upper crack is rated 5.9 in the book, but seams easy for the grade, especially for Index.

Great beta. Taurus is a fun route, the fingercrack portion is nice. A blurry photo of it...

In my humble opinion: Static Point is the Finest slab climbing in North America outside of the state of California. Certainly better than Squamish's slabs. It seams about the same quality as Darrington to me. For a moderate pure friction slab route, Silent Running is pretty hard to beat. Dreamer and Safe Sex are both better than Lost Charms. I haven't tried Fuddhat / KTR or Shock Treatment yet. Nice to see some work done on the Pillar up there.

Nice job on Rainman. That route is amazing. My favorite pitch is #3 which starts with the lieback flake then climbs a series of thin cracks / flakes with trad pro the whole way.

15th trip to Index. Climbed at several crags near the Upper Wall, had a great time.

Sounds like a fun climb Matt. I've never tried Jacob's Ladder. If the event is this coming weekend the 11th and 12th, then count me in.

The first photo shows the 5.8 chimney on the left and E-Ticket (10c) on the right. Neither climb is leadable without the bolts. Both of those routes are pretty fun, there is no reason to get pissed over 2 good routes with fixed protection at a small crack climbing crag. Mystical Garden is the second photo has natural protection on it. It is very small in some places and would be a bit runout, but that is no excuse for bolting it. I am in favor of that one getting chopped. No, I haven't lead this one, but have inspected it carefully on rappel and TR. As for Forrest of Shame comments, I like that place. It has several VERY good routes on it like Wild Mouse, the 5.9 next to it, and Clash City Crack on the rightmost crag. A fun place to go climbing after work and much closer than Index.

1. There is no way you can drive to the Mount Rexford trailhead. That last section is completely overgrown. A 4 wheeler would make it. 2. The Mount Slesse trailhead is no longer at 5.9km in. There is a new one further up the road.

East Face is OK. Loose at the bottom and solid on the upper half. The lower portion is actually on the SE Ridge. Rated Class 3, but it's really Class 4. It took me about 7 car to car solo.

Hi Dan and Aaron, Nice job on your climb, and I'm glad you are ok Dan. Heel up soon.