JosephH

I've sent David Anderson the Owl info as we've gotten it starting with the heavy use of the Windsurfer ledge back in 2004 and the various sightings over the past three years. I've passed along this latest info and asked the same thing. If pink's assertion that large Owls such as this have always (and continuously) occupied the South Face than it would tend to indicate such Owls are not a threat to the Peregrines as they have successfully fledged off of Big Ledge many times over that period. There are Great Horned Owls in the park. They nest in trees, and have been sighted every year with one ending up with a broken wing two years ago from unknown causes, though there was some speculation a Peregrine had done it.

It's use by this particular Owl on a long term basis really is 'new' even if the Owl and ledge aren't. Don't make me kick your ass the next time we're in Eldo - you will be in shape from the wrists up, right?

Pink, get ahold of yourself - go climbing. This particular Owl and its use of this particular ledge are both 'new' as in the last four years and the use of this ledge vs. the Windsurfer ledge is 'new' as of this year.

Yep, this one has been around on a more or less permanent basis for some time, his use of this ledge system is new, however.

Mike, yeah, a lot of Beacon lines can seem a couple of grades harder until you get accustomed to the rock and figure out the nooks, crannies, and stems. That 'offwidth' section up to the business can be made infinitely harder any number of ways and easier only a couple. Once you have it down it feels more like 5.8, until then it feels very hard and intimidating. It also protects a variety of ways, I normally do it with two #11 HB offsets nuts placed at 1/3 and 2/3s of the way up it. Don't mind pink, he's a good guy, but pinned down in CO away from Beacon where he should be a hard climbing lizard, not a pop-up one. But, he still likes to keep a claw in all things Beacon.

That's the one we were seeing last year as well. That's a big help, thanks guys.

Mike, glad to hear you and Tyler were thinking about it and watered it with a flushing. It probably would have been worse if you hadn't. In general, if folks are going to bivy and need 'real' facilities, you'll need to treat Beacon ledges like a big wall and bring something so you can carry out waste. Thanks. Ivan, I'll be giving BSS a thorough cleaning this week sometime. Flying Swallow cleaning and Flightime anchors shortly thereafter. If anyone else wants to clean out one of the other South Face column routes let me know and I can set you with a range of variously rigged cleaning implements to do it. You'd likely need a paper breathing mask, two ropes, a means of stopping to work (I use a Petzl Shunt), and a day, or even two, to do the job right if it has a lot of plants in it.

I'd be willing to take you out sometime in the next couple of weeks, not sure when exactly. PM with your contact info. Joseph

Hi, we were the ones up on Big Ledge talking with you. So it was an Owl and not a Peregrine that made the mess on the top of. How big and what color was it? We've been tracking an Owl for the past two years though at that time it was in the large, wide crack below the Windsurfer anchor. Given we're operating under an early open at the grace of WDFW I'd ask that until we know more about what's going on with this Owl relative to chicks and nesting, that everyone please stay off of 'Beacon Towers' and the routes Borderline, Grunge Book, and Excalibur (immediately left of the start of the second pitch of Blownout) between now and July 15th. Thanks.

Mike, Thanks for the word on the overnight parking. I'll have a chat with the BRSP staff as this is a change from the policy arrangement we've been working under. It's legal to bivy up on the rock and parking was free under those circumstances - you did have to leave a note visible on the dash saying you are bivying and how many bodies are up there. No one is keeping track of anything, they just need to know that everyone who isn't bivying is off the trail and off the rock when cars are left in the parking lot. Sounds like that informal arrangement has now changed for some reason and we are back to the normal WSP regs. Again, I'll check with them about this. Also, the woman Ranger is Vivian McNeil and the younger man is Ben (don't have his last name). They are actually both relatively new to Beacon, very nice, into the climbing at Beacon, and looking forward to a run up the SE Corner themselves. Erik Plunkett, the BRSP Head Ranger, is currently on temporary assignment up at WSP HQ in Olympia for the summer. Introduce yourselves and say hi if you run across them. P.S. Oh, and when up on Big Ledge, please wiz over one of the end edges and not in the main wide column crack in the back - it was the source of some complaint today and is one part of Valley heritage which could stay down there. P.P.S. There is a Valley-style four-bolt anchor at the base of the columns under the Ground Zero roof and the columns flatten out there; it was left this way so folks aiding Ground Zero as training for the Valley could practice with their ledges.

Last posting for it... See 2008 Opening Safety Notes if you haven't already...

And one last time...

Just bumping to the front page for the 4th weekend...

If you have binoculars and see the Peregrines flying, a young fledge will have a brown breast, and a fairly pronounced whitish 1" or so stripe along the trailing edge of it's tail which is easier to see from the top of the bird than the bottom. If you see a fledge flying and flying competently then you should notify the DNR and birders that they've fledged and the chicks are flying competently already and so maybe the closure could be lifted. You also might simply asked the birders list and DNR and ask if the chicks have fledged yet.

Farrgo, it's hard to pitch good size rocks far enough out to not hit anything on the way down so I'm guessing we still have an unknown source of active rockfall high up on the wall. I'll be out over the weekend and looks like I'll have to switch from monitoring Peregrines to monitoring rocks until we find where it's coming from and whether there is anything we can do about it. Dave, I'd appreciate it if you mark it somehow, but please don't try moving it - even that we'd have to look into with the BRSP if it's that big. I'll pm you with my cell# and give me a call when you get on a route to head up that way. To everyone, if you're out in the coming weeks and see or hear any significant rockfall, please pm me or post up on this thread - thanks.

Pink you wily-wascal, you better be climbing and staying in shape... Dave, how far off the trail?

Dave, do you mean on the walk-off through the trees after finishing the SE Corner ridge ramp? And by 'fence' do you mean the tourist trail railing?

Fargo, did you actually see it coming down and if so, what size, where from, and do you have any idea where it may have landed (roughly)? I'll check on that, but again, no one - me included - should be deliberately tossing rocks out there at this point without coordinating with the BRSP Staff (and the railroad). If you run across any rock you feel poses an immediate hazard and you can't just stack it off to the side in some nook, then please pm me or post up here. Thanks for the heads up... [ Note - 11:30pm: I just checked with Kyle and Jim O. who were up on Grassy Ledges and Uprising today. They weren't tossing anything and didn't see or hear anything either (Kyle at least, haven't talked to Jim yet...) ]

Now I agree 'usage fees' are double taxation, but your president has been hammering the FS budget to death and his appointees have been redirecting what they do get to some pretty sad uses. That and fighting fires the last couple of years has hammered the budget further. And this year oil prices are going to complete the triple whammy as the FS fuel budget isn't in any way prepared to deal with the increases. It all makes for a pretty desperate budget crunch at the FS these days. I'd say if you wanted to get to the root of the FS's feeling the need for these fee programs, I'd say you should start with this administration and the Republicans who have together screwed the agency at every turn and focused what minimal budget they've left it on supporting logging. From my perspective this is a lot of public invective of questionable use beyond momentarily feeling better. Your best shot at eliminating these fee programs is complaining to you representatives in Congress (unless of course you live in ID or MT ) and voting Democratic in November. http://www.fs.fed.us/aboutus/budget/

Opening On Wednesday ==================== Pre-opening tasks were completed Tuesday afternoon with Kyle and Geoff Silverman swapping out the lower climbing signage while Hanmi Hubbard-Meyer and I rapped into the Peregrine scrape (nest) to document it. We then all headed up to do the rock fall survey for the opening and for the railroad (any big stuff) and we're good to go for tomorrow's (Wed.) opening as we didn't see any particular show stoppers. SE Corner Rockfall ================== That said, however, there has been very recent rock fall high, high above the SE Corner base, probably on the high rubbled face right below where the wall tops out into the trees. How recent? Very recent. Kyle and Geoff were watching us from the tracks and as we hit the last rap to the ground they migrated up to the start of the SE Corner to get ready to head up the Corner for the survey. They were over there maybe 15 minutes max and in that time two chunks came down - one slightly bigger than a softball, the other about the size of a football - exactly right where everyone stands hanging out talking before stepping over the big, high-angled rock to start the first pitch of the Corner. We spent our few short minutes there behind the downhill side of the bigger trees which is where I had Hanmi belay me from as I headed up the Corner. This isn't the sort of rockfall situation we can do anything about in a pre- or post-opening work session, as at the moment we don't know the source of the rockfall. We do know it is from high above the spot in the SE Corner route where you come down from the Land of the Little People Ledge to the spot where you can either go straight up to head for the tourist trail to the west, or, you can head east up the slab dihedral up to the SE Corner ridge. It is the little alcove above the SE Corner "chimney". There is now rock accumulated and stacked there and there are hard impacts in the beginning of the slabs heading up to the SE Corner ridge. Jim Opdycke and Kyle will be investigating this further in the next couple of days to see if they can locate the source of this rock fall. At the moment I'd say helmets ought to be considered mandatory anywhere around the SE Corner area and over the holidays especially. SE Corner Raps ============== The webbing on the SE Corner raps is faded but completely solid and only three years old. It will be swapped out for new webbing sometime in the next couple of days, but for now it's still bomb despite how it looks. On these raps again be particularly careful of your feet and rope so as not to dump stuff on folks below. I believe the upper raps are a bit to the left of the current rock fall hazard, but I would still make my way down all of them as quickly as possible without rushing. Also, do not add any slings of any kind to any of the rap stations at Beacon, they are all actively maintained. SE Corner Bottom Line ================== My current take on the situation is that we did not and I would not hang out, dwell, socialize, daudle, tarry, or otherwise spend any more minutes at the base of the SE Corner than absolutely necessary to get on the route and then I'd be inclined to move fairly fast. Any more than that I'd be against the rock at the top of the path up by 'Wrong Gull' or behind one of the trees. We've cleared and stacked all the loose rocks we could find that are located above the SE Corner from Grassy Ledges on up. Consider 'Cruisin' or one of it's fine neighbors as an alternative to the first pitch of the Corner as well. In general, the standard Beacon warnings apply in spades this year - mind where your feet and rope are at all times and and put care into every movement, particularly up on Grassy Ledges and above. Think about draping your rope on bushes, or slinging branches rather than dragging it on the path where it might dislodge rocks. Also, don't throw any rocks off anywhere - if you find one or more that are a potential hazard, please stack them up somewhere safe and out of the way for the next cleanup work session. Tourist Trail Gate Closure At Dusk Over Holidays ========================================= No fireworks are allowed at the BRSP and because of a history of folks shooting them off the top of Beacon Rock, the tourist trail gate will be closed and locked at dusk over the holidays starting Friday. This means if you are going to be climbing late you'll have plan things out. If it's getting towards dusk then rap off Grassy Ledges. Do not, under any circumstances, try coming down and swinging the gate. As of a near accident two years ago the park is dead set against going around the gate when it is locked for any reason. Please don't do it - just don't head up late off Grassy Ledges over the holidays - rap off them, otherwise it could cost you indivdually and all of us collectively. This is a temporary measure and after the holidays the gate won't be closed until after dark. That all said, we're open - enjoy.

Sorry for the back-and-forth micro-drama, but I just got back from meeting with Vivian (interim senior BRSP ranger) and David Anderson, raptor biologist for the WDFW and doing a last team monitoring session on our new Peregrine(s). We're back on for a definite opening Wednesday morning, July 2nd. We have one very fiesty and competent fledge for sure and possibly two. It will take some more post-open monitoring to tell which for sure. Anyway, that's the update and sorry for the confusion. -Joseph

Well, as it turns out I'm going to have to eat crow, or in this case Peregrine and say that I've jumped the gun with this opening notice. As it stands today there is still formal cross-departmental verification, approval, and scheduling to be completed so we won't be opening tomorrow the 1st and everyone involved is scrambling to sort out final approvals and work schedules. I will keep you posted when it all gets completed and we are firm for opening. This is entirely my fault and not WDFW or BRSP's. It is largely a matter of sighting of the fledges having taken place on Friday afternoon when it was too late for both agencies to coordinate to complete and coordinate work at their ends given their current workloads. Again, my apologies for jumping the gun and I will keep you advised the minute I know we have a firm opening.

You'd think at some point you'd get past it all Kevin. Absolutely no aspect of the closure is a joke and no one wants it open year round more than I do - that's why I do this stuff.

Sorry I didn't include that info in my post I was dashing around last night without much time. Kevin, not sure what's so loaded about the question at all. The Peregrines were successful this year and had either one or two chicks - can't quite tell which yet.

Check back here tomorrow night or call the park before heading out Tuesday, July 1st - but that's the tentative scheduled opening date. There is a remote, but unlikely, possibility that could get pushed out until Wednesday, July 2nd, but I don't expect that happening at this time.