John_Scurlock

yep, Wayne, and another JR classic: the Zorro Face...

Did it twice, yrs ago. An easy day trip. Hike upwards to the L after Horse Fly Pass to the indistinct rib to the L of the E face, scramble up that rib until forced to the R out onto the face; sandy ledges lead up to the notch. Have a rope handy for the one exposed move up to the summit, if there are those present who are uncomfortable with that bit of exposure. Post-ascent, retire to the Methow for brews. Corteo would be quite a different deal with snow on that E face...

The newspaper over there had an article about it recently. A big rockslide came down across Deadhorse Pt. It was discovered by FS folks on snowmobiles in late spring. The road seemed to be covered for several hundred feet by huge rocks. (There was an impressive photograph with the article.) They were calling in engineers to figure out what to do. Based on what I saw & read, I would not be surprised to see it stay closed for quite a while.

Have I got the trail for you: the Old Cascade Pass trail. Takes off from the 5th or 7th switchback - not sure exactly. Pretty much straight up to the pass. One really dyno creek crossing, death assured if you slip. (There would be perhaps 20 seconds of extreme suffering first.) I recommend shorts, no bug repellent, & "Dollar Store" running shoes in order to fully appreciate it's charms. JR dragged me up it last year. Of course he expressed pure scorn for the "new" trail. Disclaimer: I was not wearing "Dollar Store" running shoes. I am not nearly hard-core enough for that.

fwiw: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/81242176 http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/81242175 http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/81242174

As of this morning it looks sort of like this: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/81218087

Ouch. Wayne, you KNOW how I suffer!!

Ah yes, the end of the Great Silence, foretold by the prophets... Tell us O Great Klenke, where have you travelled & what wonderful things have you seen? It will be a little livelier with you around. I for one am glad to see it happen. and you won the bet, no???

Perhaps the folks that made these tracks were sleep-deprived? http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/78523369 and http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/78523370 This was from today around noon.

Don't be silly, I would never betray Mount Britney Spears. And quit asking me to take you in there to see it.

It isn't easy to even fly to in winter. From my pov it stands at the center of the void. Counting N & S pks as one, it gets my vote for Greatest Number of Evil-Looking Faces in the range. And maybe the lower 48? Give Slesse's NEF or SEM's EF the nod for the single Most Evil-Looking Face? Admittedly subjective, but these each have two or three ELFs total, whereas H has, what, five or six? What a mountain - fascination & dread all rolled up in one. Desolation's dark angel for sure.

http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/40461551

here is one view of it: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/40462404 I haven't been down there in a while.

http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/73778364 perhaps a little easier for me however.

Ade, Roberta Post sent this up to me yesterday: "I forgot to mention, the one message from the person who regretted being unable to get Brad Washburn's photos now should know that a good part of his collection if not all is at the University of Alaska, same place as Austin's. Rose Watabe is the keeper and is at rwatabe@gi.alaska.edu. Her mailing address at the Geophysical Institute is: Rose Watabe, G.I. Geodata Center, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320. Can you pass that along to the appropriate address?" JS

That was a day trip. Departed here at 0715, back in the home territory at about 2.30 pm. We normally cruise at about 190+ mph, all the photography is conducted at 100 - 120 mph. Customs & refueling adds some time. It is a little different to head up there, however, as opposed to, say, running up to Baker's summit in ten min or so.

What the ....?? I thought I was an honorary Canadian... & here's proof: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/72411765 not to mention my stellar Canadian QA team, & you know who you are... took me an hr of otherwise good quality sleep time to find this and fix it up for you... how bout a coffee next time yer up this way??

These three of the classics, evidently enjoyed by others here as well... Starlight & Storm Conquistadors of the Useless Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage and if I may diverge slightly, The Home of the Blizzard by Douglas Mawson The Worst Journey In The World by Apsley Cherry-Gerrard a most interesting thread, E.

Thanks for the outstanding post, db. Reading that has transformed my humdrum work day and caused me to reflect yet again on Slesse & the '56 crash. I have had much the same feelings as you wrote about, on each of my visits there... It is good to remember that it was the heroic efforts of the climbers of the day that solved the mystery and revealed this tragedy...

I can neither confirm nor deny that on the afternoon of the 10th, while on return from Salmon Arm BC via Oroville, we swung by Forbidden at ~ Mach 0.26, in order to give K a view of the summit, where we saw Rad waving at us like the gentleman he is!! A beautiful clear bright day for climbing & flying, for sure, especially because the smoke had blown out to the northeast.

From August 17: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/66407805 I was by there on the morning of Sept. 4, no pics, but it looked much the same. Close observation revealed extensive rockfall, serac collapse up high, bare ice, open crevasses & schrund, plus the added delight of large areas of open crevasses on the C. glacier on approach. Other than all that, yes, it does look stupendous. Also, I note the weather folks are sort of lowering their expectations for the weekend.

Here is a little present for you, Wayne: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/65948954 Outstanding job! Today is a pretty good day to put up this pic, for sure.

That is the same one pictured here I believe: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/55057519 I was thinking it was W of Dorado Needle, between that & Perdition pk, but I could be mistaken.

Finally got back up there this morning with better light and no wind; seven new images of it posted, starting here: http://www.pbase.com/image/65041888 These include the release zone and runout area. A few other items of interest -- this avalanche did register a small blip on at least some of Baker's seismographs, per a researcher at WWU. The time of the avalanche (by seismograph) was 3:13 pm, which corresponds to the approximate time the NOLS party saw it happen. The 1983 event photographed by Dave T. was probably larger, since that one ran down beyond the Boulder glacier terminus into the upper reaches of Boulder creek. The NOLS group was about a quarter mile from the runout of this one.

This is from last May -- http://www.pbase.com/nolock/image/43881817