JosephH

Perfect #7 Metolius the next day, but wasn't expecting to be able to do the survey so I didn't have any pro with me...

Nah, it was bomb and used as opposition - those blocks on the right were locked down keyed in place. If you don't like that you'd hate what I anchored the fixed line with to rap down to that spot the day before during the initial survey of the rockfall site. David Andersen of the WFDW was kind enough to let us do this second survey after one of the Peregrine scrape so we could check if there was anything up there big enough to warrant the BRSP contacting the railroad to close the track while we trundled (thank god there wasn't or we probably wouldn't be open yet)...

Beacon Rock Update - 6/25/06

================================================= Beacon Rock Update - 6/25/06 ================================================= Photos from 2006 Pre-Opening Work Session Just a couple of shots to show what some of the fuss was about. Here is a shot of where the rock fall occured on the SE corner ridge. You can see this view from 14 when approaching Beacon from the East: Here's a couple of closer before and after shots of the remnants which were poised over the SE Corner route (along with much other shattered fragments below and a decades worth of loose rock on Grassy Ledges). It was cleaned up the day before the bigger Pre-Opening Work Session in order that it not slow down the larger crew: And a great shot of the BRCA's Chairman Emeritus Jim Opdycke climbing the SE ridge ramp after the deed was done: And one of Lisa Lantz, the WSP Southwest Resource Steward who was kind enough to come down and give a big thumbs up for the cleanup and early open, and Erik Plunkett, the BRSP Head Ranger who (along with John Ernster, Breanne Jordan, and Gabe Bailey) was also totally supportive of the opening. Oh, and Jim Opdycke also wanted me to be sure and once again ask that folks going out please take 5 or 10 minutes to pick a small section of the base trail and clean it up so it doesn't look like such a war zone - it would be much appreciated and would definitely contribute to continued good relations with the BRSP staff. Thanks and look forward to seeing folks out there... Joseph Healy, Jim Opdycke, Bill Coe Beacon Rock Climbers' Association Beacon.Rock@AvaSys.com

Hmmm, I was stung by something as well on the knee but never saw it. I kept pulling on my pants over the rest of the day as I kept feeling a needle-like, almost electric sharp prick but nothing was there. Sunday I felt out of sorts as well but chalked it up to being out of shape for as much work as we did on Saturday - no telling.

As in Saturday AM? Not that early. Jim's been working his ass off at work and I think we'll be looking at a bit later of a start. I'll be out there about 3pm today finishing replacing the anchor on pipeline (my battery died yesterday)...

Sure, I'll bring Jim out if he and Larry aren't going together...

I didn't raise the issue of time and money, Richard did (and of course now edits that post out to remove it). He raised it in saying how much time and expense Windham and Martin put into ignorant bliss as if that somehow simply excused their bad judgment in the matter and why I shouldn't critize it. I simply pointed out I have no less investment in such an endeavor and have every right to critize their judgment on that basis even if it were a legitimate argument which it isn't. Ditto on whether they are the "nicest guys" - even nice guys make bad calls now and then. As for it not being a sport route and that sport climbers would be in over their heads on it; well, not sure which of the two that speaks more of. But the bottom line is it is a sport route. As far as the Delicate Arch comparison is concerned - it is entirely appropriate - both climbs unnecessarily called down government and public sector attention on climbers and climbing in the NW and made us look both irresponsible and unwilling to police ourselves. Don't mistake my or others' restraint in not chopping it for any form of tacit approval of the route - it isn't - it is simply the desire not to start a bolt war. I'd take out a good number of bolts at Beacon but don't for exactly the same reason. But mistaking / taking that restraint for approval is just what many of you do - take the fact no one has chopped it to mean there is somehow a "consensus" in the NW community that the route is either ok or should remain. I don't believe that. I think that no one has chopped it means both that folks don't want to start a bolt war between individuals and that the community, instead of heading off a controversy by chopping it was paralyzed by its own divisions. Is someone here trying to claim this route isn't controversial inspite of all the private/govt/media attention it generated? If so I say get real - it was and remains a bad judgment call on the part of Windham, Martin, and the community that it happened and that it still exists.

I'll be out at Beacon this afternoon and Saturday...

Ruoutjunkie, If you reading comprehension were a little more acute you would have picked up that I have around 2k into just the gear and materials around the Anchor replacement project out at Beacon - not in climbing gear. At my billable rate my time on just the weekdays I put in out there would come in at about ten times that. The point being that I do actually know what putting up the time, money, and effort into a climbing related activity is all about. And the issue isn't about whether Windham and Martin are "nice" guys or not - it was about their judgment in this matter. As for all of you that want to quibble over the exact placement of the wilderness boundary - that there was one anywhere in the vicinity tells you how inappropriate it was. Up there you might be able to use that justification for having added a couple of bolts to some otherwise stellar line, but to put up long meandering bolt ladder? Get real, it is an embarassment and a monument to bad judgment no different than Delicate Arch and the "community"s immediate response was similarly equivocating, painfull to watch, and in the end just an embarrassment better forgotten. Where we disagree is on the method of "forgetting" - some would prefer we forget it by really not talking much about it, I happen to thing the better way to forget it would be for the community or the FA's to remove it. It will breed more of the same so long as it exists. Mtn Freak, From R&I: Leland Windham and Steve Martin completed the route on August 10 after two years of hellish top-down labor. Situated on the western edge of Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades, the stunning face route offers views of surrounding snow-capped peaks as well as Mount Rainier, 40 miles south.

Ah - then you would have enjoyed seeing my fat ass go flying off Dodd's today climbing with Ivan and then me grunting like a pig just trying to pull pro to get to the anchor. Went out early after dropping the girls off at PDX and built two rock dams at the base of the main rock chute on the high traverse. Then Ivan showed up and given I wanted to work on the Windsurfer / Pipeline anchors we went up Free for All > Dodd's. After the Dodd's fiasco we rapped down and got to work...

That is a drag. I ran tree and roofing crews for a few years on Chicago's North Shore for a couple of outfits and ladder accidents were the bane of both businesses. Really sorry to hear the news...

I'll be out there working and would be up for climbing as well...

I hurt my left shoulder while working on an overhanging .12a with a big dyno for six months in '76 and made the ridiculous mistake of continually not letting of the hand I was launching off of when I missed the dyno - sort of like not letting go of the rope after falling while water skiing - dumb. It eventually tore up my shoulder to the point I had to stop climbing for six months to let it heal. Roll forward 25 intervening years with no problem and I invadvertantly managed to recreate the same dyno in the gym with the same results - hurt it again the same way. So I rested it a couple of weeks and went about my business. Then two years ago I ramped things up to where I was doing about six miles of running, 90 lengths of swimming, yoga, and a shit load of pitches about three or four days a week - way too much and the result was to more or less permanently inflame my shoulder. I finally went to Dr. Brad Butler in Beaverton who is a great ortho guy and he got some crystal clear x-rays and a fair MRI. I had hoped he would find I had a torn rotator cuff or something he could fix, but in the end he said it was more a matter of mileage and just plain worn out. In fact, he said he's done shoulder replacements on a some folks with shoulders that looked the same as mine and other folks who eat advil and they get by just fine. He did say he could "clean it up and smooth it out" for me, but it would probably be better to just not go in unless it was absolutely necessary. Then again, I later ran into a Home Depot employee who had him clean her's out and she said it was by all means worth doing. For treatment he just had me take four advils, three times a day for about six weeks to kill the inflamation and rest it. So I'm just coming off of six months of doing nothing - no running, no swimming, no nothing which sucked. As of last week I'm slowly easing back on to it all out at Beacon and if it goes good I'll hit the Valley in the fall; if it doesn't I'll be having Butler clean it out this coming winter. Have to wait and see in general. But like he said - in the end it's mostly a matter of mileage - I only have so much left and I should use it wisely. The price I pay for doing almost nothing but overhangs and roofs early in my climbing career I guess. But it does put me in a quandry relative to swimming which is my first love. Anyway, that's my little shoulder epic... [ Edit: A study was just released in the past week saying that exactly the dose of advil I was taking (4 - 3x / day) causes the same cardiac issues as Viox and similar new NSAIDs. They said the only one that didn't was Aleve and that's what I've switched to now. ]

Richard, I have about a couple of grand sunk into Beacon not counting hundreds of hours of time that easily could be valued at my consulting rate. The bottom line is I have both time and money into climbing and know exactly what that's about. That someone would sink it into rap bolting an alpine sport route is, in my opinion (and however ambitious), completely misdirected, unwelcome, and created unnecessary problems for "the community". As for plugs by the river and "one crag" - well, you have no idea but I'll bank on one less person crowding the place. Thanks for your continued support...

Yes, to reiterate Bill's comment above, what the work crew removed were the most obvious and dangerous rockfall threats - Beacon Rock is still a "dangerous" place in terms of objective hazards compared to your average sport venue. Just by nature of the rock and the twin effects of melting ice loads and the constant vibration from rail traffic, Beacon is an "active" place relative to loose rock. Right now we have only one remaining area of concern that will likely be dealt on a day the BRSP closes the tourist trail for maintenance. We'll close the South face on the same day (probably a Monday or Tuesday) and wrap up the last of it. But, as Bill says, people can still get nailed if folks aren't careful about where and how they step or don't take care in managing the path of their rope wherever it touches the ground (or fail to drape on / clip to bushes and trees to keep it off the ground).

Just to be clear, no one has heard so much as a peep out of me for 17 of the 19 years I've been climbing out at Beacon and I would have been fine with it staying that way other than I started wanting to be able to climb there as often and early as possible, to do it on decent anchors, and without rocks falling on me. And Jim Opdyke strongly expressed an adamant opinion Beacon-locals should control the future of climbing there - not Seattle climbers or a national group of folks who basically don't climb at Beacon. So a BRCA resurrected with a public face of postings on CC.com has served as the vehicle making whatever has been accomplished a reality. The postings here publicly evidence the BRCA's involvement with, and contribution to, the on-going managment of climbing at Beacon by the BRSP. They basically serve as a sort of "audit trail" of documentation employees of various agencies can reference in paperwork to support their decision to recognize and work cooperatively with the BRCA. Trust me, I get tired of this way faster than you do, but they have been and remain a necessary requirement for Beacon locals to have a strong hand and direct voice in the future of climbing at their favorite crag. Basically, I don't write them for myself or even for you so much, but so we have some sort of Beacon-local voice the dreaded "they" can discern and reference when dealing with us and their parent agencies in Olympia...

Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself. The work crew did do a great job and Governor Gregoire was kind enough to pitch in this year by axing the parking fees.

Beacon Rock Update - 6/19/06 - BEACON IS OPEN!!!!

================================================= Beacon Rock Update - 6/19/06 - BEACON IS OPEN!!!! ================================================= Beacon Rock Early Opening Beacon Rock is open as of today...!!! After a a couple of months of fantastic cooperative effort by Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife [WDFW] (David Anderson / Raptor Management Plans), Washington State Parks [WSP] (Lisa Lantz / SW Resource Steward), and the Beacon Rock State Park staff [bRSP] (Erik Plunkett, John Ernster, Breanne Jordan, Gabe Bailey) we are open almost a month early. This past Thursday through Sunday was a particularly strong push by everyone involved to make this early opening possible. The short story is a whole lot of folks, especially all of those above, went way out of their way and above the call of duty to contribute their time and effort to make this all possible. So what can you do to contribute now that Beacon is open? Well, the South face is now cleared of all significant threats of rockfall but the trail at the base looks like a war zone from the combination of the New Year's rock fall and our day-long trundling session. All in all several tons of rock came down. What would be a great help is if everyone who goes out could just pick and clear a short stretch of the base trail when you go out. If everyone would do this we'd have it back to normal in a week or two. For a long version events and the gory details read on... Timeline of 2006 events: * Feb 1st / Climbing closure per the Peregrine Management Plan - Closure in Febuary, March, and Early April insures there are no external influences on the Peregrine's choice of the location of their scrape (nest). This is an imperative part of the plan as Peregrines are under much stress from mating and scrape competition such that they are highly sensitive to any of a myriad of influences relative to settling down onto a scrape to attempt to hatch and fledge young. Our not climbing during this period eliminates one controllable source in an otherwise highly stressful part of the Peregrine's mating / nesting cycle. * April 1st / Active monitoring of the Peregrines begins - Last year, for the first time, the Peregrines did not use their usual Big Ledge scrape. The two Raven's nests above the parking lot on the high East face were likewise unoccupied. But the Peregrines did likely fledge somewhere on Beacon last year as they were consistently present and active there on a daily basis and the South face base, ledges, and column tops were strewn with much evidence of predation in the form of discarded wing sets and large feather circles on column tops and ledges - both from birds they had killed and eaten. We do not know either why they did not use Big Ledge last year or where on the rock their scrape might have been. We do know that the survey of the Big Ledge scrape last year in early July found the scrape completely engulfed by Cheat Grass and it is possible that had some influence on the birds decision to not use it; but we don't know for sure. My own monitoring had me convinced they were successful on the high East face in 2005, but I could never prove it with consistent observations. But, regardless, they did fledge a chick successfully in 2005 and after observing a parent take the fledge out to teach it to hunt we opened last year's season about a week early. This year was a somewhat different story. Upwards of four Peregrines were active with courtship / pairing flight behavior in early April with a pair forming that attempted to nest on the Big Ledge scrape. Some time in early May David Anderson and other monitors observed that pair were no longer spending time on Big Ledge and in fact we now know the evidence from last Thursday's survey of the scrape was consistent with the pair abandoning the scrape about that time. Peregrines are known to sometimes require two attempts to fledge, at the same or a different location, so monitoring continued through May and early June in the hopes pinning down a second attempt. By early June, however, a pattern began to emerge of many sightings East of Beacon, often towards Hamilton Mountain. That, combined with less frequent perching and sightings around Beacon along with a complete lack of signs of predation along Beacon's South face base began to make it clear if the Peregrines managed a second attempt it wasn't taking place at Beacon. Coincidental to this, and for some unknown reason, the Ravens this year decided to return to their old nests high on the East face yielding a complete explosion of about a dozen young, manic, and incredibly noisy Ravens who completely dominate the East side of Beacon. Pretty much anything flying in their vicinity is fair game, lively entertainment, and mercilessly harassed. While not knowing if the Raven's presence this year made any difference to the Peregrines in general, there is some suspicion it may have kept them from considering a high East face scrape. * June 7th / Understanding this emerging pattern of observations could signal a possible early open the BRCA filed a plan with the BRSP for a second annual Pre-Opening Work Session for 2006 to clear both a decade's worth of accumulated rock on the Grassy Ledges and the strewn results of the New Year's rock fall from the SE corner ridge. Last year we had three fairly close calls of significant rock fall in the SE Corner base and Tunnel #1 vicinity while climbers were present. The situation changed from one of concern to one of alarm after the New Year's rock fall which further showered the Grassy Ledges and indeed the entire SE flank with a heavy load of shattered rock hanging above the start of the SE Corner route. * Thursday, June 15th / Armed with everyone's monitoring observations, David Anderson made the call that we should survey the Big Ledge scrape and based on what we brought back in the way of pictures, plant, and predation evidence he and Lisa Lantz gave WDFW's and WSP's approval for BRSP to authorize our 2006 Pre-Opening Work Session for the next day, Friday, June 16th. They further gave their permission to immediately rap down to the base of the SE corner ridge to survey the site of the New Year's rockfall to see if we were dealing with anything large enough to effect rail traffic. That was very important, because the railroad holds real power; it can and has fined the BRSP for interrupting rail traffic in the past. Had we found anything substantial, the railroad would have to be notified, the tracks closed, and railroad workers present during the work. All of which would be a big deal on a busy rail line and likely would have caused a long scheduling delay in our opening. Fortunately, no large threatening rocks were found in the survey, but a large quantity of earth mixed with rocks was found still hanging over the SE flank and the areas we wanted to clear debris from. * Friday, June 16th / The BRCA's Pre-Opening Work Sessions have several pre-requisites: a) Adequate BRSP staff has to be available to close the trail and monitor the overall effort b) A WSP or WDFW biologist has to be on hand for a pre-work survey and to observe in case some event (plant or animal) occurs that would curtail the remaining work c) BRCA must have someone to monitor both the climbers trail and the railroad tracks at all times Unfortunately neither David nor Lisa were available on Friday to observe, and it turned out the weather was lousy as well, so a full work session wouldn't have been possible regardless. Instead, the ever-intrepid Jim Opdycke and myself tackled the main SE ridge rock fall site rapping down the slick ridge slabs on a wet fixed line left from the survey the day before. We established working anchors for Saturday's main effort and after rigging up a fairly elaborate aerial bucket line we spent six hours clearing the earth and rocks from the main rockfall working downwards from the top in two inch slices filling approximately twenty five 5-gallon buckets of material along with relocating numerous large rocks. This material was not dropped down the South face but rather lined down back away from the edge and deposited in a secure location and manner on the slope above the East face. This work would allow Saturday's main work session to proceed without the need to first clear this large hanging threat. * Saturday, June 17th / Finally getting after it! We assembled an able work team consisting of Ranger John Ernster, Jim Opdycke, Ivan, Bill Coe, Jason Frick, myself, and brothers Kyle and Jeff (?). Erik Plunkett, the Head Ranger, graciously agreed to cover John's normal busy Park duties to allow him to work with us. But unfortunately our non-climbing trail / track observer didn't materialize causing us great concern about one of our crew having to observe instead. But on starting up the tourist trail we spotted Beacon old-timer Gordon Melz and a friend on the NW face and Gordon agreed to grab a radio and head down to the tracks with John to do the observing. Gordon's serendipitous contribution just can't be overstated and his help went a long, long way towards making the day as successful as it was. We split into two teams on the rock with Jim Opdycke's team of Ivan, Kyle, and Jeff tackling clearing the "Land of the Little People" ledge and starting work on the decade of accumulated rock on the Grassy Ledges. Our team of myself, Bill, and Jason made our way back up and down to the site of the New Year's rock fall at the base of the SE corner ridge and rapped down to set up shop at the top of Young Warrior's p4. From there the three of us rapped and cleared the entire SE flank of both new and accumulataed rock hazards. After a couple of hours both teams met up on the Grassy Ledges and joined forces. Kyle and Jason took on the gnarly job of clearing both the SE Corner chimney above and the "blackberry rock jam" off below the Grassy Ledges while the rest of us focused on clearing and grooming the Grassy Ledges proper. Unfortunately, a piece of the very first significant rock we tossed took out one of the railroad warning wires which resulted in all trains slowing to a crawl as they passed Beacon and delaying our work which stopped as they passed under us. This was a bit of a bummer but we needed the breaks to pace ourselves and eventually a guy showed up coming down the tracks in one of those convertible pickup trucks to scope out the situation. Both John and Erik jumped into explain the trains were never in danger, that we had track observers, and that we were trying to make Beacon safer. The railroad seemed to take their explanation in stride but didn't have the tools or ladders to fix the wire. So John had BRSP tools brought down, Gordon got his harness to climb the poles and between Gordon, John, and the railroad man they got the job done so we and the trains could all get back to work. All in all the work went faster than we expected and we got all the rock we hope to deal with cleared by the end of the day. We encounter few problems but did run across a remarkable number of scorpions, some of the mature ones had gray/black bodies about 1/2" in diameter and 2.5-3 inches long. Everyone was pleased with the work, but also completely exhausted by the end of the day. Gabe was especially kind in volunteering to hump our very heavy haul bag out which was much appreciated. What got accomplished? Essentially the South face is now cleared of most all obvious and immediate rockfall threats of any significance. Does that mean Beacon Rock is now "safe"? Not by a long shot - it is much safer - but you have to be aware that objective dangers do exist out at Beacon and rockfall is still preeminent among them. Particularly walking roped across the Grassy Ledges you still need to be cognizant of every foot fall and your rope path. Jim Opdycke wants to remind everyone doing that traverse roped to not simply drag your rope on the ground but to try and drape it on the bushes and branches where possible to keep it off the loose rocks on the trail - even a small one could hurt someone and they are all aimed at the base of the SE Corner route and the often populous Snag Ledge. What else? Well, it's now safe to top out to the Grassy Ledges from Blownout and other climbs that top out on the Lower Grassy Ledges. The area around the top of Blownout has been well cleaned. This is a big improvement as a disasterous amount of loose rock barred all the ramps between the Upper and Lower Grassy Ledges. All-in-all it was an incredibly successful day, we all lived through it intact, and many thanks are due everyone who volunteered their time and energy to pull it all off, especially David Anderson and the entire BRSP staff. * Sunday, June 18th / In our exhaustion we left three fixed ropes and a number of temporary anchors from Saturday's work in place and we needed to do a final check of everything and retrieve our work gear. Fortunately Rick Harrell, Doug Ward, and Reed Fee came out to lend a hand and with a one pair heading up to Grassy Ledges and another up Young Warriors we were able to both retrieve the ropes (which were tied both at the top Grassy Ledges rap and the top of Young Warrior's p4) and do a last survey of everything. Note, there are now three pitons on the SE corner ridge that were placed for the work session - one at the top of the ridge below the trees that Jim Opdyke and us concur should stay as there are essentially no good anchors at this spot - and two at the top of Young Warriors p5 in the notch that will be removed as soon as we get enough energy back to do so. Also, John kindly stayed late and swapped out most of the signs and closure barrier for this morning's open. To top a great weekend off the Peregrines put in an appearance in what to me looked to be a parent teaching a fledge to enter and exit the strong ridge lift that developed above Beacon at day's end and they did about six loops between the top of Beacon and the strong thermal that develops above the Nature Preserve just to the East. It was the first [unconfirmed] sign the Peregrines were successful at fledging somewhere this year and that is great news. * Today, Monday, June 19th / All WDFW, WSP, and BRSP paperwork and approvals are final. Breanne finished the signage and phone machine message changeover and we're officially open! Again, Get out and get on it!!! And while you're out - please stop in at the BRSP ranger station, introduce yourself and thank them all for making this possible. Ditto if you run across a shady-looking WDFW wildlife biologist in a dark green extended cab pickup who is soon to become a climber as is Gabe from the BRSP staff. David Anderson and WDFW have been instrumental in making this evidence-based, early opening possible - our hats are off to him and many thanks are due him for all the extra time and effort he put in to making this possible. Lisa Lantz is also due a warm thank you for her continuing efforts at both protecting Beacon Rock's habitat and her generous and out-going efforts to help us with both this and last year's openings. Joseph Healy, Jim Opdycke, Bill Coe Beacon Rock Climbers' Association Beacon.Rock@AvaSys.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOTE (Edit): The cleanup is complete - please do not do any further trundling or tossing of rocks of any size at any time or place - someone was tossing way too close to Jim Opdycke on opening day! If you see any loose rocks of note please secure/stack them somewhere off to the side but again, please don't toss anything at this point - thanks. If you find anything amiss, missed, or needing attention please notify any of the BRSP staff and contact the BRCA at Beacon.Rock@AvaSys.com - enjoy. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well, I can't speak for the specific company you keep but at this point it's pretty obvious 70-80 percent of today's climbers climb because most of them are climbing at risk-free, outdoor clip-up emulations of their neighborhood gym. If bolts evaporated tomorrow fully 70-80 percent of today's climbers wouldn't be tomorrow. So, in principle I agree, most of them are in it strictly for the entertainment value in an activity that doesn't really require all that much of them...

Ignorant would be an experienced climber needing to climb it to understand just what it's all about. It isn't rocket science - it's a long, bolt-enabled sport route in an alpine setting. Period - doesn't require an advanced degree or a blessing from the church of the AMGA. Well, you're obviously another whining bitch who, when it comes to Beacon, thinks it's a private, maintenance-free playpen that expects nothing from you -for me to say more than that you'd have to come out from behind that coward's 1-post moniker and talk and act like a man. Until then, please do climb somewhere I'm not... [P.S. I originally got into climbing to get away from lazy, frightened, and priviledged suburbanite assholes so riddled with entitlement issues everything, including safe, risk-free passage up a rock in the middle of the mountains is somehow due them as a birthright - until I hear otherwise I'll assume you're just another one of them...] As far as ignorant bliss, the community decision - and I'm giving a lot of credit to the very, very few folks that took the hits to get involved at all - was a consensus that amounted to paralysis reflecting factional tensions within our community and with the Feds. The route was and is a mistake, that made and makes us look like we're incapable of policing ourselves, will tolerate anything, and think that once bolts go in they are somehow sacrosanct. They aren't.

"No human involvement" means no active human assistance of any kind in non-urban settlement and reproduction. Kevin, all I can respond is the WDFW cut the best deal they could given the WSP felt constrained by the original purchase terms to not close the trail. Again, I want it open as bad as you or anyone else, but at this point I really have to say there is no "they" and really no much of an "us". There are just real flesh and blood humans with names trying to do the right thing on all sides. And in the end I still have to ask what is served by all the angst - Erik, John, and David are just trying do their jobs as best they can while juggling a lot of competing interests. There was and is no "2 faced" politics - only folks that were negotiating on behalf of the falcons trying to get the best deal they could and that's what they got. If you look behind both sides of that negotiation between WDFW and WSP you'd see both their hands were essentially tied and they compromised as best they could given the cards that they were dealt - we have to move on do the same. It really is pointless to keep slamming your head against all this that way but again it's your deal and the only mind I'm really prepared to change is my own...

This is simply where we part company and disagree. I believe ignorant bliss is the poster child for the appropriate use of the term "abortion". I don't think the community showed restraint at all in this case. I think it dithered, wrung its hands, and then once the affair was in full blown public fiasco mode, it ducked / punted on the issue. It did so both because of the on-going tensions between sport and trad and because of all the recent Wilderness fixed protection hoopla. In short we didn't show restraint, we displayed community paralysis and I think it was a real lost opportunity to show govt agencies we are capable of responsibly policing ourselves. So personally, I consider the whole affair a real low point in NW climbing. And it's just a real pity the guys who put it up don't simply go pull their hardware and put it to legitimate use elsewhere...

MtnBoy, At this point the monitoring is handled and we have submitted a work plan for the 2006 pre-open clean up and we'll proceed as soon as we get a finding from WDFW. Will keep you posted... As far as optimising some other nesting location, WDFW once had a "hacking" box up on the NE corner for chicks incubated and hatched elswhere and then released at a new site as part of the initial re-introduction program years ago. But from what I know at this point there is probably little to be gained either way in attempting to "comfortizing" places we think they should be. The little suckers pretty much have minds of their own relative to such matters. Also, the most long term objective of the restoration program (like out to 2015) is for there to be no human involvement at all in their survival as a sustaining population so that sort of activity would likely not be encouraged in non-urban settings. Thanks for your comments, however...