billbob
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Posts posted by billbob
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Why White River over the Eliot?
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Made you look !
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Amphetamines and lots of GU. Also, Mountain House Turkey Tetrazinni w/ instant potatoes mixed in. ALWAYS add plenty of water to freeze dried food bags. Once, I was low on water but hungry as hell, the result was semi-hydrated, very crunchy MH Beef Stew and I couldn't take a dump for about a week afterwards. It wasn't funny. Don't laugh.
Can you really eat marmots? What about those little chipmunks? People wearing shorts over poly?
I'm more curious about what others drink in the mtns. I like Crater Lake vodka w/ a sports drink mix. Mmmmmm!
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Have way too much experience on Hood year round (live in Portland), looking to get out to other climbs. Interested in most any 3-4 day climbs, have gear & serious transport. Happy in all weather. Intermediate snow/ice, currently well acclimated to 10-11K alt. PM back
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Subaru keys on blue biner. Been on ground awhile.
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We can't find the damn thing, figuring it was dropped coming down the climber trail below Crater Rock. Stopped off at Tline restroom. Wasn't in car. Brand spankin new yellow Grivel hammer, never really used. Reward $50. No questions asked.
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Was thinking to camp at I-Rock Saturday then climb the Leuthold route, changed mind after seeing this. Probably more than our two-man team could handle given the anticipated bad weather coming in.
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Several people saw us and spoke with me on the descent this morning but frankly I don't give a damn about anyone's reservations regarding the veracity of this posting. He knows who he is and I hope to have the opportunity to speak w/ him in person. To publish a name would distract from my question. .
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This morning, June 24, 4:15am
So I'm peeking out my tent at 4am, 9,600' on Hood, parked right off the SS climber route. After a windy night we have a windy morning and white-out conditions. Not much point in an early start today, but right as sleep resumes I hear a voice outside "Hey, anybody in that tent?" Having camped by this busy trail before, I know that various characters are going to pass by. But then the voice says "I got a climber here who can't make it, so I'm going to put him next to your tent out of the wind. I hear him tell someone "take my jacket, stay put and I'll be back in about 4 hours". Well this sounds interesting, so I get out to find some old guy sitting next to the rocks next to my tent. Hmmmm. It's 4:20 am, winds 30 gusting 35, temp 25F visibility nil, location about 20 feet from a 500 cliff down to the White River Canyon glacier, and now there's this old guy who's gonna freeze his ass off next to me for the next 4 hours. Turns out he's 66 and had wanted to bail on his guided climb and the water bottle in his daypack is already half-frozen. His guide, a well-known NW area pro whose name will not be disclosed, decided to take the one other person in his party up to the summit. The old dude is John. John isn't sure about much at this point and appears disoriented and out of sorts. John asks for help putting on his windpants. Says The Guide told him he could go ahead down if another guide comes along. I kick down my ice-covered tent and pack fast. Watching me, John asks if he can walk down with me, so apparently he has something going for him. He asks for help getting his crampons on. Once up and moving he does great and we get him down no worries. Sure, I wasn't going to wait for the weather to clear up and go up myself anyway, or fool around with my climber babe/tent mate. Note to self: Do not ever, under any circumstances, camp near a summit route.
Never having been up with a guide, I gotta wonder about ever wanting to do so in the future. Is it standard practice to park non-performing clients or someone asking to bail w/o shelter or a bag, even In conditions so shitty you wouldn't let your dog out in? Today there's this old guy driving home to Everett thinking how he's gonna sell his gear and quit climbing. There's also a Guide out there who (IMO) made a poor judgement call, but then maybe I'm the one who is wrong. Please tell me I'm not.
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OK, so my gf wants to write a book and call it "Sexy Summits: Peak Experiences of Hard Climbers" or something like that. Says she likes to get it on top of big mountains. Is this a size thing or what? Sure, I can perform on top of Rainier or anywhere but the damn cold usually keeps us between the bags. Summer makes it easier to find a nice sunset to keep things a bit warmer but then there's the crowds to contend with. She's serious about the book and wants potential contributors (to write chapters, I mean! She's my GF and I found her first :-). Anyone think something like this would sell? Somehow I can't see it being published by The Mountaineers...
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The usual Hood circus was almost entirely focused on going up the WCR route last weekend, crossing over the HB for good measure. Maybe its a good time to do the "technical" Pearly Gates route ?
BTW, whilst sliding down on the sucky snow and dodging large ice chunks on Saturday, I thought I glimpsed the collapse of the snow bridge over the HB bergschrund.
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Ya, I cut off the fanny pack straps. Can't imagine ever using the lid in such manner.
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Too funny! Good TR and great pic with that cloud layer below (was that from snow kicked up by all those boots?). Now you just have got to get on those other routes you mentioned !
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Love mine, yeah it's kinda heavy but tough as nails and fairly waterproof. I like it more than my Mystery Ranch pack.
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Call Mt Hood Rangers office for the North side- 541-352-6002 and ask when they will open the road to Cloud Cap. Last year it wasn't until late June.. They usually wait until the snow is gone. You can always drive to the gate, then hike up the old trail marked with blue arrows. You'll see the trail and markers as you walk up the road. Otherwise you can always skin up. Cloud Cap campground site has running water but that isn't turned on until they open the road.
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JG-Please try again your post, don't see the referenced route description or photos, only the one link for annotated photo...
Thanks!
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In reference to the recent Oregonian blog on last weekend's five climber incident, where the Oregonian included excerpts taken from the CC.com site, several issues are raised that should (IMO) be discussed here. For starters, if we assume that any and all news media are reading our posts and taking our comments out of context as they wish in order to further their own agenda, then must we mitigate and edit our writings every time we want to speak our mind so as to prevent such unwanted news clips? Kinda sucks, doesn't it? One of the great things about CC.com is that members are free to express whatever thoughts they have, even if it is inflammatory or bullshit or whatever... How can people here continue to give their opinions, to employ the means of this much-loved venue, if The News is always watching and waiting to spin things in ways that ultimately work very much against us climbers? Yet there appears to be no realistic mechanism to prevent this from happening and still keep an open forum. News media will continue to exploit whatever sources they can find if they believe it will further their goals. Is the result of that to be an increased public opinion against climbers, thenceforth bringing about an increase in novel legislation focused on limiting the heretofore rights accepted by NW climbers as our basic rights? We just went through the MLU issue and one has to wonder - what will be next?
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Half my gear is Arcteryx, wish I could afford more.
Any data on breathability/permeability of Proshell? Will it be on softshell stuff?
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Having been caught in Hood SS white-out conditions 5 times over the past 5 months, about 75% of my trips up there, was wondering if a sign should be posted at the registration area stating that a high probability of white-out conditions exists during the winter-spring period. People might heed such a warning. There currently is posted some information describing how to descend by compass but it only relates to having an initial position at Crater Rock. People obviously underestimate weather conditions on Hood. I know I did and was damn happy that I knew how to use my GPS. Were these guys really experienced climbers as per the news reports?
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"Arcteryx Cheap"??? Sounds like "Military Intelligence".
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Sounds like you were on Hood sunday. This is a new Arcteryx product?? Breathes almost as good as their best softshells? Spill it, man!
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FYI - My Trango 3.1 suffered two broken poles from winds est. 80-90 mph on Hood last spring. They said it was because I didn't have it rigged correctly and that may be true since all the internal stays between tent and fly weren't hooked up. Still, they replaced the poles and ripped fly on warranty. Was glad it was only an over-nighter trip. Point is that some 4- season tents take a long time and lots of work to set up while others are way more user friendly. Makes a difference after a long day. In really bad weather it can make a really big difference.
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FYI - My Trango 3.1 suffered two broken poles from winds est. 80-90 mph on Hood last spring. They said it was because I didn't have it rigged correctly and that may be true since all the internal stays between tent and fly weren't hooked up. Still, they replaced the poles and ripped fly on warranty. Was glad it was only an over-nighter trip. Point is that some 4- season tents take a long time and lots of work to set up while others are way more user friendly. Makes a difference after a long day. In really bad weather it can make a really big difference.
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Ya, Went up SS Sat, pitched camp at 10K just E of Crater Rock. Heard the wind screaming below until about 6am. The chutes were plugged w/ thigh-deep slush over ice. Long walk back.
Found: Old Ice Tool on Eliot Glacier
in Lost and Found
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Chouinard pick/hammer, looks kinda old, pick very rusted. Picked up while crossing over Eliot glacier from Cooper Spur enroute to Snowdome. Partly buried in rock/mud, looked like it has been there a while.