Tom_Sjolseth

Good to see you up there today, Loren. What time did you start out from the car? We climbed the North Face last weekend and had perfect conditions both on the approach and on route. We may as well have used ice skates on the approach to Source Lake, as conditions were firm everywhere, except below N-facing terrain features where there was a lof of wind-deposit. The approach was definitely a lot softer today. TR from 2/7/09 DPS: Conditions were pretty good for skiing. There was like a foot of fresh powder on the N-facing stuff.

Having just been up on Pinnacle, I remember the only view you would get from that angle is somewhere around Kautz Gl on Rainier. To me, the background peak looks to rise too rapidly to be Rainier. I also think the rock on Pinnacle is darker than in the photo. Could it be somewhere in the Stuart Range? Or possibly around Mt Index? The rock looks pretty solid for Cascade standards.

Thanks to the organizer(s) and all who attended. It was good to meet some of the early Cascade pioneers. Lowell did a great job uncovering and presenting priceless videos of Beckey as a youngster. PMS - Ageless Trail Blazer Phil Leatherman is your first don't know on the top row. The guy is in his mid to late 60s and still moving just as fast as anyone. His photos appear throughout the CAG series.

@curtveld --> the gully was well covered but beginning to rot out. It was pretty straightforward in the conditions we found it, but it might be harder to find anchors as it dries out. The underlying rock is very low quality. wastral, we didn't see any coats.

Thanks, John. During the previous week's climb of Baker and Colfax, we saw a white cessna circling 1000' above us while descending from the summit. It was windy then too, but not nearly as windy as it was this time around. It was barely moving and we were wondering how he was even staying airborne. Crazy pilots.

Mt. Baker (10,781’) & Sherman Peak (10,140’) – October 25, 2008 Last weekend, I headed up to climb Colfax, Sherman, and Baker. We were only able to manage Colfax and Baker on that trip, so I called on Justus to head up there with me this weekend to take care of unfinished business. We were also to climb Mt. Baker (for the 2nd time in a week for me), since Justus hadn’t climbed it. In fact, this would be Justus' first volcano AND glacier climb. It sounded like a full day, especially with the short October days, so we set an unusually early meeting time of 4AM at Justus’ house, and gave it a go. After the requisite stops for breakfast and trail provisions, Justus and I arrived at a deserted Shriebers Meadows TH at 6:20. After 20 minutes of packing and remarking how cold it was, we set off at 6:40, with headlamps burning. We took the first right turn off the main trail, and headed up towards the Squak Glacier, the most direct route to climb Sherman Peak (and Mt. Baker, for that matter). The trail gains 2000’ over 3 miles before we headed up cross-country to gain the toe of the Squak Glacier. The glacier appeared to be in fantastic shape, with ice hard snow down low. This ice hard snow would later turn into calf to knee-deep powder higher up, a different experience than last week where I encountered ice-hard snow all the way to the summit. The route later became a bit circuitous, as we had to dodge crevasses. We wound up heading towards the Easton Glacier, which seemed less crevassed. We saw a team of three climbers toting skis heading up the Easton Glacier. I thought it might be Jason Hummel, who was supposed to be summitting this weekend (although he stated he wasn’t planning on summitting until Sunday, via a different route). Later on, we found out it was not. As we ascended towards Sherman Peak, the winds increased considerably. We had been watching a plume of blowing snow coming off the Coleman side of the summit block, and it looked rather ominous. We pressed on in increasing winds towards Sherman. When we got to about 9800’, the wind was so powerful, we had to crouch down and self-belay with our axes so we wouldn’t get blown off. I figured the average wind speed was 35-40MPH, with gusts upwards of 75MPH. Justus disagreed, but these were some of the strongest winds I’ve ever encountered. At times, ice would break off in the wind and come down in huge showers, which sounded like breaking chandeliers. Managing the narrow ridge in these winds was a bit nerveracking (and tiring). Every time the wind gusted, ice chunks would hit us in the face, affecting our sight and balance. We barely made it to the exposed summit without being peeled off. We wanted to get off of Sherman as fast as possible, so we quickly headed back down to the base of the peak, where we encountered the three skiers we saw heading up the Easton Glacier. They were WWU students out for the day. We were jealous of their skis, as they would certainly get down the mountain much faster than us. On the flipside, though, the ski conditions were terrible, with good-sized neve penitentes everywhere. We spoke with the skiers and they were headed up to Baker’s summit. Justus and I discussed heading up, and we decided to give it a go as well, even though we were exhausted already from battling high winds and postholing. Justus and I led off, breaking trail towards the summit. It was a long, slow 1300’ slog to Baker’s true summit from the base of Sherman Peak. The winds were still humming, but [thankfully] not nearly as much as they were on Sherman. Justus and I tagged the summit, took some photos, and at 4:40PM, began to descend. Darkness sets in at ~6:30 this late in the season, and so we were in a hurry to get off the glacier before it did. On the way down, we passed the WWU skiers still heading up to the summit. They looked about as worked as we were. Luckily, though, they had skis and would be able to descend rapidly back to the glacier’s toe. Not so lucky for us! This was a fantastic trip with gorgeous views, and perfect fall lighting. Very good photo opportunities! Justus was a great partner (as always) on this outing, and what a way to climb his first volcano - in a day. Sherman Peak was my 98th summit on the Top 100 x P400 list. Only Luna (#99) and Castle (#100) remain. Link to the NWHikers TR with more photos. Justus approaching on the lower snow slopes. The route to Sherman Peak from below. The Black Buttes. Justus trying to dodge the wind near Sherman's summit. The view accross the crater from Sherman. More views from a gap in Sherman's W Ridge. Justus traversing in high winds - notice the airborne ice chunks. Mt. Shuksan as seen from the summit of Sherman. Justus descending Sherman in high winds. Notice the plume. Justus and the first skier approaching Baker's summit. The view to the W from the summit of Baker. Lincoln and Colfax just before dusk. Sunset on the Sisters Range. Trip Stats: -15 miles -8800’ gain -14.5 hours RT -3.5 hours of sleep on Friday night

Val, I'm assuming you guys were camped right next to us (we were in a yellow Bibler Eldorado). BundledUpSurfer tried to steady your guys' gear as we noticed it blowing in the wind upon returning to camp. He restaked the tent, and I believe he put some rocks in it. We didn't notice the bivvy bags being affected by the wind gusts, only the tent which was very nearly lost before BUS went over to restake it. I don't think he even touched the bivvy sacks.

Yeah, we came at it from Pumice Ridge. There were already several sets of footprints before we arrived, so not sure if there might have been more folks doing the C/H route on Saturday.

BundledUpSurfer and I headed up with skis late Saturday, but we were able to salvage the weekend by climbing Baker and Colfax on Sunday.

Wow, busy day on Colfax Sunday. I was up there with BundledUpSurfer climbing Colfax and Baker via the standard routes (we are pictured in the above photo on the Roman Wall). We were jealous of you guys getting on the route.

Very good times indeed. That Bulger List is always good for a 20,000' week. Thanks for the report!~

Ballers! Nice work, you two.

Trip: Mt. Ballard (8,320') - E Face via S Fork Slate Creek (New Approach) Date: 9/28/2008 Trip Report: Mike Collins, Don Beavon and I made an ascent of the E Face of Mt Ballard from S Fork Slate Creek this past weekend. This route shaves many miles off traditional approaches and allowed us to summit from the TH in a tad over 5 hours. There is no record of any previous parties approaching this way. We finished the climb on the W Face of the summit tower, of which there are also no record of ascents. A year or so ago, Stefan Feller mentioned S Fork Slate Creek as a possible route up Ballard from the East. Since that time, I have been meaning to get up and scope it out. This past weekend, I finally got that chance. Ballard has traditionally been associated with long approaches and loose rock. On the map, S Fork Slate Creek seemed to mitigate the arduous approach and the E Face seemed like a pretty straightforward route. Nevertheless, none of us had heard of anyone actually approaching this way (although we knew Don Goodman and Dave Creeden had both climbed the E Face, via alternate, more strenuous approaches). Looking at it on the map, the S Fork Slate Ck approach seemed easy, but as is the case with many places in the N Cascades, maps and reality can be two entirely different things. But after a little bit of planning, Don Beavon, Mike Collins and I decided to give it a go. On Saturday we made the long drive up to Hart's Pass, then down to the Cady Pass TH (rough road here, high clearance vehicles recommended). After leaving the car (~3800') at 12:30, we were off. 1.5 miles of nice graded road led us to the bridge spanning S Fork Slate Ck. From here, we peeled off left, up the bank and through open forest. We gained about 100' from the creek, and immediately found a nice waytrail (very faint, but not too hard to follow). We continued on upstream through open forest, crossing several tributaries. The lack of brush was a relief, as we thought ahead of time that it was going to be brushy. About 2 hours from the TH (~3.25 miles in), we came into a clearing at 5200'. Beautiful red heather slopes gave way to Ballard's dramatic E Face. We took a short break in the meadow, watching the sun disappear behind Ballard, looming 3000' above us. From here, we spied a possible camp at the base of the talus, and we headed up. Gaining 1000' through open heather slopes and rock bands (to class 3), we found no suitable camp sites. One could possibly excavate a campsite in the talus, but it wouldn't be comfortable. Instead, we pushed another 100' further up to the timber ridge mentioned in Beckey. Here, we found several possible camps, one on heather that suited our needs just fine (~6,300'). It was only 3:30, a mere 3 hours in from the car! We were astonished that we got in there that quickly after hearing accounts of fast parties taking 14 hours RT using other approaches. Thanks Stefan, for the idea! We bivvied that night out under the stars, and wow, what a show. The stars were as bright as could be, thanks to the near new moon. After counting seven shooting stars and BS'ing with Don for a couple of hours (Mike was out as soon as his head hit the pillow), we finally went to sleep, planning to wake up as the sun hit the camp site. Before the sun hit camp, though, we were already awake, ready to start the climb. We ate breakfast and headed up, leaving camp at 7:40. Lots of class 2, a bit of class 3, and a small amount of class 4 got us up to the notch between 8,301' and 8,320'. From here, we teased out a route on class 3 ledges, connecting us with the main summit block. Once on the summit block, we climbed class 4 to low class 5 on the W Face for 80 feet, before scrambling class 3 to the summit at 9:40 (2 hours from camp). Looking at the route over Cady Pass, and the route in from Glacier Pass on the summit, we were astonished at how much faster our approach was. We felt relieved not to have to haul out 12+ miles to the TH. We took summit photos, ate lunch, and generally kicked back. We remarked about how much lower 8301 looked than the true summit. In our opinions, it looked a lot more than 19 feet taller. Don went over and tagged 8,301 (the false summit) to take photos, while Mike and I relaxed at the notch, enjoying the views and the brilliant reds that dominated the landscape. It was about 70 degrees in the sun, and there was zero wind. What a gorgeous summit day in late September! Don joined us back at the col, and we retraced our route back to camp. We packed up and in 15 minutes, were off again, headed back to the TH. It took us exactly 2 hours to get back to the car, where we had cold drinks waiting. Another awesome trip in the mountains! Gear Notes: Helmet. Approach Notes: Short and easy.

A classic example of the hardest peak by the hardest route. Great effort, and thanks for the TR!

It looks like you're getting in some nice climbs this year, Dave and Juan. Thanks for the report.

Wow, you have some keeper snaps! Great trip, Wayne.

Rob on the ascent. David scurrying below looming blocks of ice. The view up from the rock bypass. David climbing in the upper couloir. The view back down to the valley floor from the upper couloir. Looking up. Another view up the couoir. The view down to the Cascade River Road. Spider and Formidable through evening clouds. David and Rob getting into the climbing on the E Ridge. Looking down on camp from the lower E Ridge. Rob and David further up. Views of Spider and Formidable from the lower ridge. Cascade Peak, The Triplets, and Mix-up Peak. The view down the ridge from the false summit. Finally on the summit. The view down the upper NE Buttress from the summit. Views along the summit ridge. Typical downclimbing. Sharkfin Tower, Boston, Sahale, Buckner, Booker. Spider Mountain from Johannesberg's E Ridge. More downclimbing. One last view of the E Ridge route on the way out via Doug's Direct. Gorgeous! Moon over Mix-up and Cache Col with a looming Spider Mountain from Doug's Direct. Downclimbing Doug's Direct

Nice TR!

We summitted, but not by the route we wanted to. We had very wet brush coming down from the berm into Cascade River, and the ground was saturated, so we opted to climb the CJ Couloir to the E Ridge. Johannesberg gets a bad reputation, probably because it's intimidating to look at from the CP parking lot, but in all actuality it's really not that bad. I was able to ascend and descend the E Ridge without a rope. Routefinding was not that bad, just stay in exposed class 3 gulleys systems until the false summit, then stay below the crest on climber's left (class 3 with short sections of class 4). Rob turned out to be a great partner on this outing. He should have a TR up soon.

What happened with what? I was up hiking Big Chiwaukum this weekend, a week on your heels. The original plan was Johannesberg, but I didn't want to be up there in crappy weather. It turns out that was a great decision, because we encountered rhime ice on Big Chi on Monday.

Partner found leaving Saturday AM, sorry James.

Very nice trip, Dave and Juan!

Looking for a solid partner for the NE Buttress of Johannesberg Sat-Mon (9/6-9/8). Must be comfortable soloing 4th class, following to 5.8.

I've never heard of the Daniel Glacier, but I've heard of the Lynch Glacier... http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7969618

I'm a commercial electrician. There are several others on the board. Frikadeller has good info. Federal Pacific Panels suck, but their main problem was failure of breakers to trip under fault conditions, so I doubt that's your problem. If this has always been a recurring problem, you might try putting an ammeter on the circuit that keeps blowing and see if the circuit load is exceeding the breaker capacity. Breakers should not exceed 80% of their rated capacity. So a 20 amp breaker (or fuse, if you have them), should only be loaded to 16 amps max. It's possible the breaker itself is failing. They are easy to replace, but you should know what you're doing (this will probably be your last recourse before trying everything else). Feel the breaker itself, is it hot? If you have aluminum wiring, there could be corrosion on the termination points causing heat buildup and successive tripping of the breaker. Replacing the breaker, and adding some deox compound to the aluminum conductor will fix this problem. Do you have "fuses" or "breakers"? If fuses, you have an old electrical system and there could be bigger problems than just a tripping breaker. Good luck, electricians aren't cheap. I wouldn't worry too much about fires unless you see blackened receptacles or smell burning insulation.