tvashtarkatena

You won't need a bear canister, but hanging your food is always a good idea. Grizzlies do venture into the north end of Ross Lake - rarely. Very few sightings. You might see a bear if you're lucky. Ross Lake is not very crowded. This isn't California. Mostly canoes and such - few power boats, and those are usually small outboards. Call the Ross Lake Resort for water taxi information. The Enchantments permit system is very restrictive. There are other beautiful granite areas in the Cascades, however, that require no permits. The Cathedral Peak Loop in the Pasayten Wilderness is one. Scramble/walk up peaks include Cathedral, Amphitheater, Remmel, Windy... No glaciers, but a really scenic area and you can stay in the old Tungsten Mine cabin if you don't mind a few four legged roommates. Bring fishing gear if you're of a mind. You won't be disappointed. 5 days is cush for this trip, but the Wilderness is huge so you can branch out however you like - the area has an extensive trail system. This is the only area mentioned where you might see a moose. You'll certainly see plenty of sign they've been there. In general, the bugs die way down after our first coldish storm in August. That's a matter of luck, really. You'll need a Northwest Forest Pass for parking in all of these places except the Ross Lake Resort National Parks.

Sun comes out, rope gets wet, and you're off to the races.

In Cody this Jan the rope was freezing to the surface of the ice - not even passing through any obstructions or anything. You get certain conditions - wet ropes from a drippy route in cold, windy conditions and your rope will stick to anything and everything. Personally, the smallest thing I'll rap off of is 7 mm. Anything thinner doesn't afford enough safety margin for me when knot factor, edges, and a bit of accidental bounce are added to the mix. V threads are often thinner, but you only use them once and edges aren't an issue.

I feel ya, though.

Cutting the lock doesn't raise my pulse rate, personally, but - just to keep things within the Earth's gravitational influence, I'm not sure the intent was protest. Seems like these guys were willing to pay The Man to get some early is all. If viewed as an act of civil disobedience, this likely accomplished nothing other than perhaps upping the NPS budget for a better lock. On the flip side, I doubt the NPS is now ready to wage Jihad on climbers. Not with the kind of cash we bring in, anyway. Now, if Edward Snowden had cut that lock, OK, now we're talkin. But Snowden doesn't ski, although he may be doing some track skiing now, given his new digs. If you're gunning for government perps, the NPS seems pretty far down on the list of agencies to target for their abuses. A lot of Americans ARE pushing back against one of the most power hungry governments in human history - just in a more strategic, coordinated, and effective manner. It's amazing how well advocates can push back using official channels if action is strategic, coordinated, long term, and adequately funded.

TC just isn't cricket without M. Nature mixing a great big martini with you as the olive.

Yeah, but you don't have a Samsquanch for a partner. All kinds of physical laws get broken. The fixie first method is a great way to send a brother down to scout the next anchor in a reversible fashion. Reckon the V thread thing is pretty conditions dependent. If it hasn't frozen in by rapper #3…

If the rope freezes into the V thread, you won't get much rope back. The other problem with this setup is knot slip due to the difference in friction through your rap device. This is a great way to rap off the end of your rope. We ran the tag line through a rap station recently (7.8mm + 10mm) and the knot slipped 15 feet. 35 m rap with two ropes, so it wasn't a problem in that instance. The advantage of running the thinner line through the anchor is that it's easier to pull.

In this pic with the v thread, is the tag line running through the v thread holes? Have not seen that setup before, although also haven't climbed with a tag line either, so wondering if that is a typical setup. Obviously leaves nothing behind when you pull the ropes, but I'd be concerned (not having tried it before) with friction when trying to pull them. This isn't recommended due to the significant risk of having a thin rope under load freeze into the V thread. Then the party gets to have The Discussion.

Thanks all, I've been in the range a few times in summer. It's a trout infested pink granite paradise. Not sure if we're going there yet - it's one idea out of a few, but if so - you know I'll blab on about it in the usual fashion. We might wind up on the Big Island throwing propane canisters into hot lava instead. Still discussing.

Someone stole my bolt cutters. There's a certain poetry there.

Stanley Ranger Station had good info. One useful bit: The Redfish Lake boat shuttle (to the Elephant's Perch) doesn't run until Mem Day.

I wouldn't want that half sling dangling around my ATC while rapping, personally. 'No loose stuff zone' n all that. Plus, the knot reduces the sling strength considerably - but I reckon you'd need to have a dead cow strapped to your harness for that to be a real concern. I use two redundant extension slings (only fully extended in the following pig-rider scenario) when rapping off vertical stuff on doubles smaller than mid 9mm, singles smaller than 10mm, or when I'm riding a pig while rapping (Who says guys can't multitask?)

Locals: Will there be any access issues into the range still? Looking to get into the Finger of Fate, Warbonnet, and Elephants Perch areas for some of that alpine rock n roll.

It's not well known that Ivan can 'hover' when called for - hence that last pic. His 'hover' feature must have been disabled the day before.

I haven't seen an ATC used in the way shown in the pic. Putting the ATC on the end of a runner (or 2, for redundancy) instead of directly on your belay loop is a standard way to add friction for rapping. The longer the runner, the greater the friction.

Was that you two?

If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's this: As near as I can piece things together - I momentarily had my hand on the grigri lever to allow Ivan to pull and clip the final bolt - (a piton actually, like most fixed gear on the route). His hold broke off during this brief moment. Petzl advises to minimize the time you're depressing that lever for reasons made pretty obvious here. It's much safer to avoid putting your hand on that lever entirely. Grigris get pretty sticky with fatty ropes (we were using a 10.5), so the temptation is strong. If you can hear the leader, its far safer for the leader to anticipate the clip and call for enough slack just before yanking. More coordination and attention required between leader/belayer, sure, but WAY safer if wind/distance doesn't preclude voice communication.

Trip: Zionism and the Sanctuary of Exposure - Desert Shield, Touchstone Wall Date: 4/6/2014 Trip Report: Ivan on P6 of Desert Shield “I slept with a cactus last night.” I could just wrap this up right now with that little metaphorical synopsis, but why not embullishit with a bit of imagery and a spine or two of fresh wisdom? For it takes an increasingly not-so-rare breed of seeker to drive over a thousand miles to a place called Zion – “a word interpreted to mean sanctuary or refuge” – in search of precisely the opposite. We had enough time to piss all over the concept of ‘sanctuary’ more than once, so we opted to leverage our ignorance by attacking the more delicate of our objectives first. Materiel was carefully sorted and solemn oaths dutifully uttered; we would either return with or on our Desert Shield. Plan of Attack: Desert Shield (bottom) and Touchstone (top) Desert Shield (L) and Touchstone Desert Shield I’ve got a 31” waist and a 46” chest. ‘Why should I care’ you might ask? Because that is the absolute maximum size of human that can extrude themselves like that last squirt of KY through the pitch 3 flake just below Desert Shield’s bivvy ledge. The more svelte might simply levitate up the outside, sans pro, but I’m more chuckwalla than chickadee, so into the slot I slithered. No Fatties, Please. P3 of Desert Shield. P5 of Desert Shield Once at the bivvy, a mixed media installation involving a Russian ice screw and the Coleman Company will challenge your functional art boundaries. East Meets West WT...? Oh...right. Bivvy atop P3, Desert Shield A bad case of Comet Leg. Bivvy on Desert Shield. At P7, the route stiffens like a Protector of Traditional Marriage at a gay bar. The slope can be, indeed, a slippery one – with sugar cookie edges and wafer thin placements that slow things down a bit. As much of a rude awakening as that pitch might be, P8 is much ruder and more wide awakening, although, save a couple of anomalous cam pockets, ‘wide’ is used in the very narrowest sense, here. Ivan on P6 of Desert Shield Ladybug Love Attempt Serrated: P6 of Desert Shield Ivan clipping on P7, Desert Shield I’ve clearly lost control of that last paragraph, so I’ll move on – and so did we upon reaching the midpoint bolt on P8 – a mere pitch from the prize. Outta time and outta here. A wise move in hindsight – we failed to fix the rap between the top of P4 and 6 (recommended) – doing that Swing and Thrash in the dark would have been memorable. So, it was to be on, rather than with, The Shield this time around. The New Face of China High Pressure slamming into a Front of Low Ego spawned a second gearnado in the Visitor Center Parking Lot, and by the following afternoon we were fixing pitches on Touchstone. The New New Coke Although technically easier than Desert Shield, Touchstone was not without its surprises – mainly in the form of the very last hold just below the very last bolt breaking off – that, combined with a long horizontal pay out and an inexplicably lackadaisical gri, sent Ivan slamming into a nearby tree on his way earthward. Not to be left out, I received some beautiful rope burns in my attempt to motivate the gri to do its only job. P1 boltpike of Touchstone (pic by Ivan) P3 of Touchstone (Pic by Ivan) Top of P3 of Touchstone When the dust cleared there wasn’t a whole climber between us – Ivan’s back took a hit, and I would soon be in the market for a Dr. Strangelove prosthetic, but we didn’t have far to go. I scooted up to finish the final move. Mercifully, I was able to lasso the final piton, which sticks straight up, with my good hand and French free it, thus avoiding pulling the full Corpus Dei on my thoroughly stigmata’ed fingers. We managed to ensconce ourselves in the descent gulley before night fell. Out came the headlamps, and with them, millipedes, daddy long legs, ground beetles, bats, Mars, Saturn, and half a moon. After that, it was simply a matter of doing the 7 or so raps on some truly imaginative anchors down through the sandy gulley to the base, where cool water, cold chili, and other comforts awaited us. Finally, refuge. Inevitably, a string of ‘why’s descends close on the heels of a party that’s just gotten banged up a bit. Pointless, of course. After all, does a swallow ask ‘why’? Oh wait, they can fly – well, how about a ground beetle, then? Does a ground beetle mill around thinking – “well, at least I haven’t been stepped on yet”. After all, if we knew every cactus we would sleep with beforehand – if we knew what the future held - we might not venture forth to make one at all. Aaaaaaaaahhhhh Climbers on P8 of Desert Shield (Pic by Ivan) Gear Notes: Lotsa Approach Notes: The wheels on the bus...

ZZZZHWCB!

Damn. I heard 18 on NPR this morning and was hoping that was a typo. 18 is not a small number in and of itself. Grim.

18, not 108

Analyzing a data set statistically does not speak to the randomness of its origins. Just sayin...

I tried surfing, but it was like landing on Omaha Beach - people blinded by sand and salt screaming, tumbling, drowning, suffering blunt force trauma - when I finally came to shore I realized that all those people were me. Everybody else was enjoying a nice sunny day at the beach.