rbwen

I've rented from Cascade Crags in Everett in the past. The used to rent AT boots, skis, and poles for $25 for the weekend, pick up on Friday, take back on Monday. Didn't include skins though. rbwen

How about Camelback Mt.? I just found out we're staying right near there. Anything worthwhile? rbwen

The wife and I are heading to Phoenix in February for 3-4 days. Any recommended places to climb? We've been to Queen Creek, Mt. Lemmon, and Jack's Canyon so leave those out. We're looking for any day trips from PHX. Thanks! rbwen

Having never climbed in Yosemite before I am wondering when it is usually snow-free enough to start spring climbing? Specifically Royal Arches? Thanks for any info. rbwen

I sent a very long reply via PM to faster_than_you so maybe if he still has it he can post it here since I don't have it anymore. I don't mind. rbwen

If below is what you want then Wenatchee is not the place. Very rightward leaning, although progressive when it comes to some issues like alternative energy. Not hippie-ville...that would be more of Leavenworth. I just moved to Wenatchee from Bellingham two years ago and there is not much community in Wenatchee. Try wentacheeoutdoors.com rbwen From previous post: <<My girlfriend is somewhat of a hippie, so the place cannot be too stiflingly conservative. A good outdoor community (even if small) is considered a must.>>

I went a couple of years ago in December and loved it. PM me if you want more details. rbwen

Climb: Vantage-Agathla Tower/Riverview Columns Date of Climb: 10/30/2005 Trip Report: Sunday was a beautiful day on the Eastside, mid-60s and a hint of wispy clouds overhead, a great day for some moderate cragging at Vantage. My wife and I headed out at 10am after getting a wonderful extra hour's worth of sleep. There were a couple of cars at Feathers but nobody on the shady side, there was, however, a larger group (and the van they all came in) on the sunny side. The second parking lot was a bit fuller, with almost 15 cars parked there and a couple of folks camping. We made the short hike to Agathla Tower and climbed the 5.8 House of Cards for a warmup. This route is fun because it is long and pretty sustained 5.8 with some more challenging moves up top as the route moves off of the face and into a four-foot long crack. It's bolted all the way with ten clips in a span of about 60-70 feet so protection is plentiful. The top has bolts with chains. This route has some portable holds and while my wife was climbing she knocked off some smaller pebbles but nothing larger than a marble. The belayer should wear a helmet and belay off to one side to avoid a small shower. All in all this is a fun climb and a good warmup on the way out to other climbs in The Coulee. The rockfall is no greater than other climbs. Neither of us had been out to the other climbing spots so we decided to take the trails up to the mesa and down the gullies. We'd climbed at Zig Zag wall before and it was in the shade so we headed for the sun. It was quite humorous to listen to the party on Zig Zag wall because we could hear *everything* they said to each other even if it was a whisper because the sound was reflecting off the rocks. I won't reveal their secrets! So...up to the mesa and then right toward Far Side. We located the great sign put in by the FCCC marking Gully #3 and made our way down it to the Corn Wall area. There was a group of three climbing to the East on Firestarter, a 5.10b on the Tomato Wall that looked very fun. It was warm, people were in shorts and t-shirts, and we were happy to be out and about exploring. We couldn't quite find our location in the guidebook so we asked about and found we were near Riverview Columns. We headed west and found another nice 5.8 to work on called Masticate Expectorate which gets two stars in the Yoder book. It had a semi-tough beginning but the rock was better here and I felt more secure leading this route than Agathla Tower, less rockfall. There were four clips up to an anchor with chains and the route was pretty straightforward, meandering a bit to the left toward other chains on the 5.10a next to it. We TR'ed our climb and then ate lunch. We decided to head back toward Gully #3 to try another 5.8 a couple of guys had been climbing when we passed them. This one was called Aeolachrymation, got three stars in the book, and looked very fun. I led up past three bolts to the bolt anchor with chains but the sun had moved and we were now in the shade, making belaying and climbing slightly on the cool side as it was pushing 2:30pm. It was only in the shade due to the surrounding pillars not the sun's presence on the horizon. While we were climbing this one a group of four high school/college-aged kids started climbing a 5.10b two routes to the east called Mortal Prying in the V-shaped Realm. They were into hangdogging the route, climbing up to a bolt, resting for a while, figuring out the moves, then heading to the next bolt. My wife and I talked quite a bit on this technique of climbing a harder route. The leader was obviouisly inexperienced since he kept having to ask which way the rope went through the draws but he seemed capable of getting up to each bolt where he then rested. I'm not debating hangdogging or pure sport climbing (if there is such a thing), just making an observation that brought up some conversation. We both agreed that it is good to test yourself to climb harder and sport climbing allows that in a relatively safe environment but it seemed to put a lot of stress on the route (but I don't have any physics to back that up). The 5.8 Aeolachrymation started off with some easy moves up a face with big insets for hands and feet and then headed into a crack which would've accepted some decent gear placements. The hardest part was smearing on the left wall to get up through the lower crack and overall there were only a couple of places that seemed like 5.8. The upper part of the crack could've used a cam because it was bit runout (a fact that I read in the book after I figured out what route we were actually climbing). My only issue with this climb was that it was not so easy to find in the guidebook for someone who had not been in the area before. We knew it was a 5.8 because we had asked some guys on the way by and I only figured out the name by listening to the guys climbing next to us talk about their climb. We headed back up Gully #3 and back to the car, recounting moves and sunshine, and happiness about being on the warm rock in late October. We haven't bought our parking pass yet and are always happy to see no ticket on the window. I found out from the next post that they mail them to you. Yikes! Is it closer to park down the hill toward the river and walk in from below? If you are new to The Coulee and want more beta on these moderate climbs PM me and I'd be happy to tell you more! Gear Notes: Quickdraws Cam to 1" on Aec Helmet Approach Notes: Agathla Tower is two minutes from parking lot #2. Riverview is a twenty minute walk. Head up to the mesa, take a right toward Far Side, then down Gully #3 and then right (climber's left).

Just got the October issue of Climbing and on pg. 40 is a quote from Trogdor the Burninator and a link to cc.com. The quote is the one about 'we should all start soloing above our trad limit.' Funny quote...funny to find it in Climbing. rbwen

I guess I don't exactly know where on Pesashtin this is but it's obviously high up the hill. Perspective is obviously making it seem like they're way up on a slab but in reality they're hopefully not too high. Think of the children? Naw...just looking for gear placements and they're in the way.

This photo is on the cover of today's Wenatchee World. It may just be the perspective but does this seem a bit scary/odd/irresponsible to anyone else? rbwen

One good shot but you can't tell the route, etc. http://tinyurl.com/8dub3

My buddy took some pics up at Be Bop Rock but only of us climbing, not perspective shots. The pics in Kramer's book are pretty good. I'll get any pics up as soon as he sends them to me. It was a bit hard to find Bush Gardens simply because the crack isn't readily apparent from down below because of the angle you see it from. Look for the big roof and you'll find it. It's about 200 yards uphill from Deb's Crack/Williams' Crack (directly up the hill around the West side).

Climb: Leavenworth-Halloween Rock, Be Bop & Bush Gardens Date of Climb: 10/14/2005 Trip Report: A day off on Friday and some friends from out of town with a new baby made for three days of moderate cragging in the Icicle. We were looking for places we'd never been before that would give us moderate trad leads with nearby harder TRs for the new mom and out of shape babysitting climbers. Day One: We headed up to Halloween Rock and did the 5.9 Trick or Treat on TR. The route trends up and right but the natural tendency is to follow the quartz dike straight up (cuz it's easier) but going out to the bolts on the slab to follow the route is not too hard. It gets a bit thin toward the top. We didn't try the skull and crossbones-rated 5.7 Black Cat because it didn't look too fun. After that we headed to Classic Crack and set up a TR. I had never done that climb before and it was addicting. I can't wait to get back and do it again. Day Two: Next day off to Be Bop Rock for more cragging with the new addition. There I led the 5.6 Junior's Cookin' and we TR'ed the 5.10a Bit of Heaven. The 5.6 is pretty straightforward, following two wide cracks (one for gear, one for knee jams) all the way up to the bolted anchor. From there we set up our TR and did the mighty fine 10a next to it. It's only 60' and there are 7 bolts and it's not too bad up until the last ten feet when it gets a bit thin. Fun arete climbing! Third Day: Up to Bush Gardens, just east of Mad Meadows. I tried to find this place before with my wife but we got lost and one of us got upset at the other one for dragging her out into the middle of nowhere without even getting to climb...ahem...but this time we found it! We TR'ed the 5.7 crack on the right side. There are bolts on the top and you can walk up either side. The crack is wide enough for hand jams and would take some decent gear all the way up. You can also use the face for pieces and also for holds as there are multiple blocks and cracks zig zagging their way up the face. You get to a pretty wide bench and then up the funky chimney-like last 20 feet. After climbing this last section we all recounted the various ways we got up this last section. I was the only one who didn't spin completely around to face out away from the climb but instead made myself into a pretzel to get out of the chimney onto the final slab. Pretty fun, lots of variety. We then TR'ed the main, middle part of the wall. The start is pretty straight forward and easy but up toward the top (below the bench) are one or two moves of 5.10 or a bit harder. Then up and over the bench but this time I went left of the chimney to the top. This part went at about 5.8 and was pretty dirty because it hadn't seen a lot of traffic. There was also a set of anchors up and to the left and another face climb that looked to be in the 5.8-5.9 range but that will have to wait for another day. The weather was great all three days. We saw/heard a couple of parties on Pearly Gates on Sunday but for the most part we didn't see anybody on a lot of the climbs all weekend long. Our goal of moderate fun with an eight-month old in tow was successful. I recommend Bush Gardens for an easy trad lead and Be Bop Rock for the same, plus both of them have some nice harder stuff to test your mettle on. I know it's not quite Outer Space or Midnight Rock but it sure was fun. Gear Notes: Anchors on Halloween Rock, Be Bop Rock, and Bush Gardens Be Bop Rock 5.6, used cams up to 3.5" and was also able to clip a couple of the bolts on the 5.10 next to it Approach Notes: The trail to Halloween Rock was a bit hard to find. It's just below the 4th of July parking lot about 1/4 mile, look for a large culvert covered in rock. Head up through the burnt meadow and then go one set of rock bands higher. Bush Gardens is somewhat easily approached going under Williams 12 and Deb's Crack and then heading straight up the hillside til you see it east of Mad Meadows. Be Bop Rock starts across the street from Classic Crack and heads up and a bit right.

So...can you tell me how to get there? I'm feeling lark-ish. Do you have any beta? Thanks...rbwen

Anyone climbed out there lately? Directions? Beta? Route descriptions? Thinking of heading out there this weekend and don't exactly know where it's at or if it's worth it. Bolted? Trad? Sandstone? Thanks! rbwen

There's also is one (used to be one a couple of years ago) at the Leading Edge North Gymnastics Center, behind Civic Stadium or Haskell Business center. I used to volunteer one night a week and got free climbing all year long. Beware the Boy Scout groups and birthday parties!!!! ;o) rbwen

Climb: Mt. Adams South Side - Trail 183-South Side Date of Climb: 8/9/2005 Trip Report: My wife and I headed out on Tuesday afternoon, leaving Wenatchee about 10am not really knowing how long the drive would take us. About SIX hours later we were at the trailhead ready to go. We went south through Yakima and Naches and headed to Randle and Highway 23. The dirt roads sucked and made me think heading back by the southern route might be the better way to go home. We paid our $10 each for the climbing permits, got our cute little poop bags from the ranger, and hit the trail. An aside: the poop bag system they have is pretty slick. I've used the Rainier blue bags before but this takes it to a new level. The ranger told us it was modeled on the Shasta System. I may be preaching to the choir here but basically it was a piece of paper with a target on it, two brown paper bags, one of them containing kitty litter, a paper towel, and a plastic Zip Lock bag. You end up with a very clean, neat, and tidy little package to tote back to the trailhead with you. There are even special garbage cans just for human waste. Okay...enough about poop. Actually a little more...we did notice a bit of an odor at the Lunch Counter and some 'residue' from previous visitors. Not cool. It took us about four hours to get from the parking lot to the Lunch Counter, including a bit of wandering around looking for a good campsite, of which there were plenty. The one we chose had a great wind break which was crucial because it was somewhat windy at night. We talked to another guy the next day who was camped west of the LC and he said he had only slept about 40 minutes the night before because of the wind and the location of their camp. Snow started about 9,000 feet and went all the way to the summit. The day was sunny and warm and the breeze just took the edge off the heat. By the time I reached camp my body shut down due to low blood sugar and the headache kicked in. It took all I had to get the tent set up and my sleeping bag draped over my body while my wonderful wife cooked up dinner. Poor lunch planning on our part made this an early evening. We didn't have the strength to get water and I was wondering if we would even get up to summit because I was feeling so crappy. At midnight I got up and ate my dinner and went back to sleep. Feeling better, my headache gone, I felt more assured that we would make an attempt at the summit in a few hours. There were probably about seven or eight groups of people camped at or near the LC. Most were groups of two but there were larger groups of six to eight, but it was a pretty quiet night. The stars were amazing and I'm wishing to was up there tonight for the meteor shower. We got up about 5am and made breakfast. Luckily for us there was a lot of water just to the west of the LC. We filtered it knowing there is probably a decent amount of waste from the nearby campsites. There was ample water at the LC and a fair amount of snow melt in the snow fields on the way down. We started up the snow field with one group ahead of us that had gotten an early start. I saw them at 5am with headlamps starting up the snow field. We pretty much went straight up the snow field sorta feeling out the conditions for crampons or ice axes and decided it was good enough in our hiking boots and trekking poles. This was to be the same the whole day. We veered to the right, east, and headed up a scree trail for a good long ways. The trail is very visible once you get on it and seemed to be easier than trying to kick in steps on the snow field. When we finally hit snow we were still to the east of the main snow field and there were no tracks in the snow. We started up the snow field and the going was pretty easy because of the size of the sun cups. It was almost like walking up stairs because they were so deep and the top layer was giving us a great surface to kick in steps. We came out on the false summit just ahead of the group that had started before us. Toward the top of the eastern snowfield we came up some pretty good sized crevasses but we weren't worried too much because the footing was pretty good. We didn't use axes or crampons on the snow fields because it was terribly icy. Our ski poles worked just fine and we saw people using every combination therein; poles and crampons, ice axes and crampons, and nothing but hiking boots. We both wore our mountaineering boots and were glad we had the rigid soles to make the snow fields and scree slopes easier to navigate. I don't think it would've been quite as enjoyable in regular hiking boots/shoes. That group was roped up because I believe the middle person was an inexperienced climber. The two at the front and back might have been guides but none of them had ice axes and I couldn't tell if they were using crampons. BUT what I didn't understand was why were they roped up if they didn't have ice axes? This was puzzling me for a while for a couple of reasons. Were they short roping her knowing the conditions were pretty safe and it would help her get up? What if she, or one of the others, fell? They didn't have ice axes to arrest their falls. I'm not trying to create any blame but I just didn't understand their tactic and I've been trying to work it out in my mind. If the person in the middle did fall the front person would not have time to react leaving the last person to arrest all three of them with ski poles? Again, don't pounce all over them or me for what they were doing. This may be a perfectly good way to get someone up the mountain in relatively safe circumstances, but it was sorta steep, sorta icy, and at altitude. With the summit in sight we had two options; take the dirt path up to the right or the snowfield to the left. We decided on the snow field because we had had good luck with the sun cups down below and it was relatively easy to get up them. We met a gut at the top who said he had taken the dirt path and claimed it was pretty easy too. When we got to the top we cruised up to the snow-filled cabin, took some pics, and ate our summit treat. We were surprised we were the first ones because we had gotten what we thought was a late start on the morning. We weren't quite sure if the cabin was the true summit or the summit to the east with the USGS plaque so we made sure we danced on both of them before leaving. It took us about three hours to get from the LC to the summit with a bit of route finding and wandering along the way. As we were leaving a stream of people came up behind us, probably close to thirty to forty in varied groups spread out along the trail. We decided to go down the dirt trail to the false summit and it was pretty easy. From the false summit we put on the rain pants and headed down the glissade chutes for a couple thousand feet. They were in great shape, just squishy enough to give us a pretty controlled decent but fast enough and curvy enough to make them very fun. We went until my wife's butt was frozen through and my rain pants split. I had the biggest grin on my face and it was like being a kid on the waterslides. Back at camp at the LC it was eerily quite because everyone was still climbing so we took a nap. We were interrupted in the middle of our nap by the ranger checking to see if we had our climbing permits. He didn't actually check them but just asked if we had them and moved on. We packed up our gear and headed back down to the car, passing day hikers and the occasional group headed up to take our place at the LC. We got back to the car in about two hours making it a 24 hour trip car-to-car. On the way out we headed south toward White Salmon and Oregon to see if it would be faster to get back home that way. It took about an hour off of our trip back to Wenatchee, via Goldendale and Yakima, with a stop in White Salmon for some badly needed Mexican food and the obligatory beer. All in all this was a very fun climb. Not too technical, somewhat strenuous, and a great time of year to be out in the alpine. I would love to go back in the spring, skin up, and ski down. Gear Notes: Brought crampons but didn't use them Brought ice axes but used them only to glissade Trekking poles made life so much easier No rope/helmet Chocolate summit treat Approach Notes: For us coming up from the south was the way to go. There are about 30 miles of dirt roads from the north which can be avoided by coming in via the south. It was six hours from Wenatchee via Randle and five hours home via Goldendale. The trail was sandy and in good shape until the just below the first glacier, rocky from that point until the snow at about 9,000 feet. Snow all the way to the summit from there.

Climb: Wedge Mountain-NW Ridge Date of Climb: 7/5/2005 Trip Report: It was a beautiful day on the eastside with temps. slated to be in the mid-nineties. A great day to lounge by the pool...wait...I mean get into the mountains. We took the ten-year old nephew and our 75 Scrambles in Washington by Peggy Goldman book and headed out. Five miles from Peshastin on Blewitt Pass we started up the logging roads for about half an hour. A little hunting and lots of brush scraping the bottom of the Subaru brought us to the trailhead. The old two lane turns into a very nice trail about 1/4 mile in and continues up for about 2.5 - 3 miles to the summit. Along the way the highlights included a pretty nice campsite after about a mile, a quick 1/4 mile diversion to an old, collapsing cabin off on a side trail to the northeast of the campsite, great views between the false summit and actual summit of Snow Lakes, Little Annapurna, McClellan? (or McCullough), The Enchantments, Nada Lake. From the saddle the nephew had had enough and I scrambled up the final five hundred feet or so to the summit while my wife waited with him. Their is some minor scrambling for the final 50 feet to the top, mostly fourth class (which you could probably avoid but I was in a hurry and not doing the best route finding). From the top I could see Rainier, Adams, and all of Wenatchee Valley. Very beautiful. The route description in the book said it was a humbling view and it was indeed. I ran back to my waiting partners and we took our time heading back down, basking in the warm sun, recounting all of the memories coming back up. We brought a flora/fauna book for the first time and it was great. I learned more about mountain flowers, butterflies, mushrooms, and trees than any class I've ever taken in school (and I'm a teacher!). I highly recommend getting one of these if you don't already because it makes the whole trip more enjoyable and is a great diversion for a ten-year old kid who's sick of walking up hill. Gear Notes: Camelback Flora/Fauna book Tennis shoes Approach Notes: The road in is a little bit tricky to follow. We stayed on the main logging roads most of the way until about 4,100 feet when we were given the choice of left or right. Since the book said to stay mainly to the left on the roads that's the one we took and it was right. Some of the upper roads are a bit brushy on the sides and down the middle but our Subaru wagon did just fine, scraping bottom on the brush and the occasional rock but no worse for the wear. The trail itself was in great shape, a bit sandy and blownout in places but still very nice. Our one confusing place was at the campground. If you want to go to the cabin stay left for 1/4 mile through the meadow. If you want to gain the ridge go straight through the campground and head up through the woods. The book is a bit confusing in that regard. Also, there are a few false summits when you're in the saddle so don't make any promised to ten-year old kids that you'll be back in fifteen to twenty minutes because you can see the summit.

The cam I found was found about a month and a half ago. No biner or draw attached. Almost looked like someone else had found it and decided it wasn't reliable booty and just stuck it in the rock rather than taking it down. PM me if you have a description. Have a great day! rbwen

Any beta on Cindererlla Peak? I've seen a couple of post here and there but nothing definitive. Where is it? Any description of the 5.6 route? Anybody done it lately? Thanks for any info. Have a great day! rb in Wenatchee

A good day to be out in the Icicle. Found a cam on R&D 100 feet below the chimney/saddle pitch. If you want to claim it PM me a description. Sadly, I got a cam stuck, a brand new Metolius Range Finder #4, red. If you can get it out it's just below the chimney/saddle pitch. I live in Wenatchee so the beer's on me if you return it. Thanks...rb

Hello Anybody been to City of Rocks in the last few weeks who can update the conditions. The weather hasn't looked great but I'm wondering if The City has escaped some of the wetness. Is it terribly muddy? Snow? Thanks! rbwen

In Washington...Wenatchee. Thanks for the info...rbwen

Has anyone been to They City in the past few weeks? Is there snow on the ground? Thanks...rbwen