MountaingirlBC

Just above Shield Lake are the beautiful Lorelei (sp?) Lakes. You'd probably have less bugs up there as it's out of the trees for the most part. Truly a beautiful spot. There is a route in that follows an old logging road that starts off somewhere near the Stuart Lake but I don't know what kind of shape it would be in now. I can send you a map & more info if you shoot me an email. From the main trail you'd just go up Prusik Pass & over. Hang a left and make your way over to the lakes just below the Druid Plateau on Cannon.

Anyone have 'em?

Thx a lot for the updates. I hope everyone involved makes a full recovery. I will definitely keep this experience in mind when facing similar conditions. I really appreciate people sharing their experiences like this because it's a good learning opportunity.

nice job! I've gone out Snow once and will NEVER do it again. It's freakin awful. The worst part is that you can see the damn car for the last 5 miles.

Can't help you there... I've only ever gone in from the Stuart Lake Trailhead and haven't done Stuart yet. Drooled on it from Dragontail & Colchuck last weekend though!

The Stuart Zone permit area doesn't actually include the mountains according to the little map I got with my permits so as long as you don't camp at the lakes you shouldn't need one. But give the Leavenworth ranger station a call just to be sure: 509-548-6977

SWEET! Really great photos. We were up there the day before via the easy route. Perfect weather.

i find most guys will turn a blind eye to 4 day hairy pits & b.o. if you can carry enuff

All climbing girls are sexy

sweet! wish I could do that route. Maybe one day. We were on the W Ridge & saw you guys rapping down. Nice job! That painting is awesome btw... can I buy a print?

look north of the border. kinda sucks now cuz ur dollar is so bad but usually it's much cheaper to buy climbing gear in Canada.

*drool*

awesome... thanks for posting this. been looking for current conditions.

How much snow is there at Artist Point these days? I actually have "Hiking Whatcom County." Good idea. I'd forgotten I had it. Nooksak Cirque sounds good but I'm worried about the river crossing this time of year. And I'll probably be pretty late too. Spring river crossings in the dark might put me up for a Darwin award. Whaddya think? Thinking about Yellow Aster cuz I know i can get in there in the dark no problem and the views are awesome. Also considering Lake Anne. Anyone know what the snow/road situation is up there?

I have exams next week but I just can't face another weekend of house arrest and the truth is that I'll probably get more studying done in my tent than I will at my computer gear whoring, chatting on msn and reading message baords. I need to pick up a bunch of new gear on Saturday so doing an overnight will allow me to bring stuff back without paying duty & taxes on it. Can anyone recommend a good place somewhere in the Baker/Bellingham area where I could hike (1-3 hours) into some peace & quiet and still get a bit of a mountain fix while i hit the books this weekend?

I guess I'm lucky with my driving companions. We always seem to have fun, even on long drives. It's amazing how far fart jokes can get you. If that doesn't work for ya, I'd recommend getting a book on CD. It's a great way to make a long drive fly by.

sounds like it was 3 seperate parties (of probably 3 people per party which would be in keeping with your party size per route rule) Accidents on insanely busy routes like this are a whole 'nother topic. Hope they'll be ok. Details are still pretty sketchy.

I have an extra fluke I never use. Got anything interesting to trade for it?

thx a lot for this... exactly what I was looking for as we're heading in there on the 30th. Now I have to rethink my camp spot.

tried to sign up but got an error... page not found.

Funny.... one of the guys in our group was on the SAR team that rescued these people. To compare our group to this group is a bit like comparing apples to lug nuts. And I believe this incident was a result of inexperience, poor planning & bad decision making which could have happened to any group size.

I'm still waiting for a compelling argument here. It bothers other people? You're telling me that on a mountain that size you can't get away from 14 people if you want to? It increases the risk of accident exponentially because why? I would think that a larger group would be in a better position to deal with an accident should one occur and I don't see the connection between group size and the likelyhood of an accident. I'm not saying there isn't one... I'm just saying I want to hear it. There were 26 people spread over two mountains which rise above logging roads & clearcuts. You'll find a hell of a lot more people than that in way more ecologically sensitive areas on any given weekend. What do you propose? Should we station rangers at all access points and only allow 3 people per mountain per day? What's the magic number? Why is the fact that we all knew each other more offensive to you than the throngs of smaller groups trampling alpine meadows in more popular areas? Surely you must have bigger fish to fry than this. There are worse evils in the world than 14 responsible mountain loving people playing outside. I'm not saying that large groups are a always a good idea. Yeah, as a general rule I like smaller groups. But given the facts, in this case, I don't think having a large group was a problem. Yes, I'm crabby and feeling like an asshole because I can't play this weekend.

ok so we weren't technically at fault as the N Twin is not in the wilderness area. I somewhat agree as to large groups being obnoxious however i think you have to look at it on a case by case basis. I would not go with a group this large to a more popular area. We were the only group on the mountain all day. What difference does it make if there are three groups of 5 or one group of 14? Especially on a day trip. A large group like that camping in a popular area would be totally obnoxious, granted. What exactly is it that you find disgustingly rude & obnoxious? Not trying to be an asshole, just wondering. How does it affect you? What can large groups do to minimize their impact on other hikers/climbers?

I'm trying to figure out this party size thing. It does appear that the N Twin is right on the edge of the national forest (what's the diff between a national forest and a national park?) which is news to me (no excuse, I can read a map... just didn't). I'm trying to figure it out but there's barely any info on the web site. I know you can't have more than 12 in the North Cascades National Park but the N Twin is in the Mount Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest. Anyway... we weren't trying to be jerks and as it has already been stated I don't think we did a whole lot of damage to the logging road or clearcut and it's pretty natural for a group that size to spread out. Personally I don't see what the big deal is with a party of 14 going into an area like that vs. 30 smaller parties stomping around the meadows en route to Tomihoy. If everyone just used a little common sense we wouldn't need all these rules. There are absolutely no Forest Service or National Park signs to be found anywhere. But I do like to play by the rules so if someone knows the official answer to the question of party size in these various designated areas I'd appreciate knowing.

The 26 people were divided between two mountains. I was on the N Twin with 13 other people. What's the big deal? We're all friends and it was fun. It's not like we were trampling fragile alpine meadows or bothering anyone.