tvashtarkatena

We unanimously agreed that the rain was vastly preferable to bugs...on the way out, at least. Years ago a party of three of us got 2/3 of the way up the East ridge before we were weathered off. This time, we didn't want to attempt it with a party of three who'd never met each other...nor carry the extra rock gear. Earlier in the year, the S face would be primarily a snow route. This time of year, I think climbing the East ridge and descending the S face would be the most aesthetic + efficient way to climb the mountain. I'd also throw some fishing gear in the pack, too.

Trip: Chelan Mountains - Cardinal, Emerald, Saska, and Pinnacle Peaks Date: 7/4-8/2007 Trip Report: My wife Joanna and I took the our dogs Willi and Annie on their first backpack trip over the week of the 4th. Our route just happened to take us right past Cardinal, Emerald, Saska, and Pinnacle Peaks, which I, of course, had to bag. Starting at the Entiat River TH, we ascended Anthem Creek, then left the trail to negotiate 2 passes before dropping into the headwaters of the Entiats N fork. At first the dogs couldn’t figure out how to negotiate a simple blowdown. By the end of the trip, they were prancing across logs over rapids, fording fast moving streams, and jumping off of 4 foot high boulders. Steep snow at the first pass required some improvisation. I short roped Joanna down before going back up to drag the two dogs on a clothes line. They were, to say the least, not amused. Fetching the dogs Cruelty to animals, Part 1. Dragging the dogs down slope. Annie pulled out of her collar and ran right back up the slope, treeing herself on a small cliff. Up I went a third time. All down. Finally. Nap time From our cowboy camp at the N fork, we ascended to Saska Pass before dropping into Snow Brushy Creek and out. I scrambled up Pinnacle from our camp in Snow Brushy Creek. Four enjoyable nights out in some really beautiful country and perfect weather. Forget something? Cruelty to Animals Part II: Annie takes the plunge Objective 1: Cardinal Peak Rainier from Cardinal Peak Objective 2: Emerald Peak. Snow Brushy Creek from Saska Peak Willi at Saska Pass Fine. You go that way and I'll go this way. Dropping into Snow Brushy Creek The burn on the approach to Borealis Pass and Pinnacle Peak. The trail is gone. Burnt hemlock. Snow Brushy Creek. Mmmmorels The Chelan mountains are Washington's best kept secret. Or, er, were anyway. Over the summer's peak weekend, we didn't see a soul until the last day (a whopping party of 2). Cowboy camps right out of Brokeback Mountain, larches, great scrambling peaks, a zoo full of wildlife, including bighorns (OK, we didn't see any, but the signs say they're there), morels, dollar Rainiers at the Ardenvoir cafe...all about 3.5 hours from Seattle. What's not to love? Gear Notes: Lite axe and aluminum crampons.

Trip: Big Snagtooth, Big Kangaroo - South Face Date: 7/1-3/2007 Trip Report: Should we or should we not rappel into the abyss? That was the question of the hour, that hour being near midnight, as James, Brian, and I stood atop Kangaroo ridge looking down at a snow patch anywhere from 30 to 300 feet below us. We could have simply down climbed the steep couloir next the South Face of Big Kangaroo, the route we had just completed a few hours before, but creativity got the best of us, so here we were. We didn’t rappel, of course, but picked our way down the scree slope we had just climbed before stopping to wait for the moon to rise. Four hours later I crawled out of my clammy, ripped emergency bivvy bag and continued the trip down to the car, Winthrop, and a very large breakfast with my compatriots. Trouble was, our overnight gear was still at 6000 feet in the Willow Creek basin. We’d have to come back for it. So that was how we REALLY got to know the Willow Creek approach REALLY well; we did it 4 times. Day one included the schwak into Willow Creek and a scramble of the much coveted Big Snagtooth. Not a bad jaunt, but earlier season snow might cover up the vertical bowling alley that leads to the summit ridge. Conquerer and conquered. James and Big Snagtooth. Unbearable lightness of being. Brian descending Big Snagtooth. The following day our objective was the South Face of Big Kangaroo via the 7 pitch, 5.8 Beckey route. South Face of Big Kangaroo. The Beckey route follows the right slanting chimney just right of center face. Face shot 900 feet of sheer fun The Big Squeeze, pitch 6. The interpretive dance section, pitch 6. A pretty fun route, particularly the top uppermost 3 pitches. Only one suck ass pitch on it; a crumbly flaring offwidth. Brian enjoyed the lead on that one. We had to circumnavigate ¾ of the summit pyramid before finding a reasonable way up the final needle. If you prefer climbing unprotectable cookie crumbs, take the S side. The N side, however, is more recommended. Cinquefoil Weird orange slime and snow Long story short, we screwed the pooch by trying to climb Kangaroo Ridge to a reach the snowy slopes we remembered were somewhere on the Willow Creek side. After our bivvy, we headed straight for the hairpin and then humped it down the highway to our car. We then spent the morning eating and sleeping in the park in Winthrop as a whole lot of wife beater clad men and their supremely fat mates milled about our prone corpses. The morning after That afternoon, we headed back up Willow Creek where we were reunited with our overnight gear. We spent the night before returning home. I got nothing here Final evening Gear Notes: Gear to 3.5", axe, poons. Approach Notes: Willow Creek: Park car at Burgundy Col TH. Follow old trail up creek, turn up Willow creek. Bypass waterfall and cliffs to climber's left. Stay several hundred feet above creek until a large talus slope on its S side comes into view. Ascend this slope and camp in basin at about 6000 feet.

Trip: Goode, Storm King, Logan - NE Butt, NW Ridge, Fremont-Douglas Date: 7/9-13/2007 Trip Report: Abba’s “Take a Chance on Me” kept echoing through my simmering brain as the midday heat continued to climb. Soon I was reduced to staring at Don’s quick stepping red running shoes and humming along; I had no more fight left, when I noticed something large and brown stirring in the bushes to our left. "Bear!" A natty teenage cinnamon bear sprang forth and began hurtling blueberry bushes. "Uh, maybe I shouldn’t yell that next time," Don said as he put his unused camera away. It didn’t take long to cover the trail from Rainy Pass to the junction of the N fork of Bridge Creek, but negotiating the last few miles was another story. Numerous blowdowns, 2 fords of a very swollen Grizzly Creek (we shared Don’s red running shoes for that part), and nettles knocked back our pace a bit. We were dreading the ford of Bridge Creek required to get to the base of Goodes NE buttress…until we saw it. A huge, beautiful, perfectly horizontal log lay across the creek as if engineered. Goode and Storm King, from the N fork of Bridge Creek A short bit of slide alder took us to the base of the buttress just S of Goode, which we followed to gain a large snowpatch leading to the base of the leftmost waterfall. Passage to the Netherworld, Goode approach From there we climbed the 3rd class slabs (right of the falls), jumped to the next rock rib right, and climbed to the 5100 foot bivvy atop a treed knoll. Topping out on the steep section of the Goode approach The following morning we got up bright and early for the ascent of Goodes NE buttress. The NE Buttress of Goode Gotta love those aluminum crampons. Goode Glacier. We just said no to the steep, crappy rock below the shrund, and decided instead to climb a 4th/5th class pitch just left of the schrund in order to bypass it, then traverse right (N) to across steep snow to gain the buttress. This deposited us about halfway to the summit, with 2000 feet of climbing remaining. Recommended. Ascending the Goode Glacier. The bypass pitch is left of the schrund Stepping onto the rock after bypassing the schrund at around 7000 feet. The route itself is really, really fun. First 3rd class until the arête sharpens, then enjoyable, wonderfully exposed 4th with a sprinkling of 5th in a couple of spots. We belayed the bypass pitch (the hardest climbing of the day), plus 1.5 pitches up higher. The rest we simulclimbed. Rock shoes are not needed. Inspirational poser Don’t forget to cross a gulley to the right to gain the true summit. There you’ll find some really nice bivvy sites. There is also a bivvy site on the route. Oops. Wrong summit. Enroute to the Storm King col We descended the uber shitty SW gulley, then traversed clockwise around the mountain on a bench at 7200. Just before rounding the last buttress before Storm King, we ascended heather slopes near a waterfall which took us straight to the Storm King Col. Once at the col we stashed our rack and set up rap that would also serve as a top rope the following morning when we re-ascended the col from our bivvy. Climbing wonderful rock to the Storm King Col from the east. I’d strongly advise against leading the Storm King Col from the east. The rock is essentially vertical dirt clods that solidify into solid rock when exposed to free fall, which is really often. The nice part about this kind of rock is that you can make your own holds as you go. I was able to belay Don safely up our top rope by crouching under a snow remnant, which shielded me from rock fall. To his credit, he only kicked one chunk down. Staying on theme, we climbed Storm Kings NW ridge next. Unlike the face, which is essentially a vertical bowling alley, you at least have a 50/50 chance that the rocks will fall off the ridges opposite side. What a shit pile. Route hygiene. Storm Kings NW ridge. I took the liberty of removing a refrigerator size boulder from the summit. Very satisfying. On Storm Kings summit. Goode in the backround. Don practices his dance moves on the Storm King descent. Inexplicably, we were drawn to explore the possibility of a high traverse on the west side to Park Creek Pass. Perhaps we were trying to fulfill some deep seated subconscious urge to self flagellate, but fortunately we aborted this idea at the first sign of trouble and descended the steep rocky buttress just west of the large descending basin west of Storm King. 2 raps put us into the jungle at its base. From there we descended several hundred feet of steep, fairly open slide alder before gaining mature, open forest, which took us to the trail…right at dusk. The trail made a perfect bivvy, although little furry things kept on running over my head throughout the night. The following day we hike through Park Creek Pass and continued on to Logan. Next time I’d skip the climbers trail, which doesn’t take a very good line, and just ascend directly to the larchy bench from the trail, then traverse. Ascending the Fremont Glacier. Mt. Logan summit in the distance. Soon we found ourselves on the Fremont Glacier, which seems to be devoid of crevasses, but not no-see-ums, which followed us up there. Towards the summit we found ourselves amidst a buttefly migration; we plodded through a fluttering current of thousands of these creatures flying inches from the snow. We roped for the initial 4th class gulley due to possible loose rock, but the climbing is straightforward. From there, it’s easy 3rd class to the summit on a cairned trail. This was my fourth attempt on this mountain, so tagging its summit was particularly satisfying. One can downclimb easy 3rd class and step right onto the Banded Glacier, which quickly takes you to the Douglas Glacier and the way out to the Fisher Creek Trail. Descending Mt. Logans Douglas Glacier. Sysiphus. Douglas Glacier. Our descent route of Mt. Logans Douglas Glacier. We bivvied at about 5400 feet in the basin at the end of the route line in the photo above, a fantastically wild place surrounded by over 30 major waterfalls. Eeewww. In camp after the descending the Douglas Glacier. From there we bushwhacked down the first step skier’s right of the creek, then crossed and negotiated the next step on skier’s left side. Not pleasant, but not that bad, either…if you’re going down hill of course. Violet. Lower down the slope and in the flats there is an avalanche swath that provides passage much in the same way the urethra provides passage for a kidney stone. Embracing the Suck on the way out. The last couple of miles to the Fisher Creek trail is old growth. From there, it was an easy hike out over Easy Pass through a thunder storm, which helpfully kept the heat at bay during our ascent. Ewok sighting. Lupine after the thunderstorm. Fisher Creek. Columbia Tiger Lily. Fisher Creek. Direct hit. Easy Pass trailhead. Gear Notes: lite axe, crampons, light mountain rack to 2.5", tiny cams not very useful, 8.8mm x 45m rope. Approach Notes: Blowdowns!

Trip: Jack Mtn - S Face Date: 7/17/2007 Trip Report: "Man, I feel like shit." Courtney had flown in from his home in Las Vegas the night before fighting the remnants of a cold, a lack of sleep, and jet lag, all of which made the 5300 foot ascent to our basecamp at Jerry Lakes that much more enjoyable. He, Kevin (a local), and myself had arranged this blind date to climb Jack Mtn, hopefully by squeeking through a chink in a forecasted series of summer storms. During the trip planning Kevin kept emailing us “Why Jack?” I had to admit it was a pretty good question. Oh well, it's a 9000er and its got to be done. Jack Mtn from the Jerry Glacier The following morning found Courtney in much better health, and after some early morning sprinkles the weather began to clear, so up and over the ridge W of Jerry Lakes we went, headed for that great choss pile in the distance. Sunrise over the Pasayten Approaching the peak Indian Paintbrush on the route We crossed the mountains SE shoulder and traverse the snow fields to the face just left of the summit, then negotiated a short steep section just left and above the small snowpatch in the photo (rap station at top) to gain the 3rd/4th class face itself. From there, we headed straight up for the summit on the rock. The author and Courtney on the summit Kevin on the summit True to the forecasts, the storms rolled in early the next morning and continued dousing us right all the way down to the parking lot. The storm from the shoulder of Crater Mtn The other Crater Lake The ghostly Crater Mountain Jack is too rotten to be considered a great climb, but the beauty of the area and uniqueness of its views makes it a worthwhile objective. Once. Gear Notes: one 40' rap, depending on comfort level. Boots, crampons, axe. Approach Notes: Canyon Lake TH - Jerry Lake - 7200 pass - across Jerry Glacier to camp at Jerry Lakes. Climb over ridge NW of Lakes, cross Jack's SE shoulder, traverse snowfields to base of S face, go up.

[?] who is this brother and why and why would he have made a better candidate? Barbara.

Between 4300 and 4800 in the alder hell of the approach to the Douglas Glacier. Trust not thine velcro straps.

Nice job. Great sunset pic.

Tell that to Bill Maher.

Does the "i" stand for "impowerment"?

Wouldn't congress be the same size no matter how big or small the federal government was as a whole? Or were you referring to the individuals in congress?

Now, "asshat" verses "assclown". Are these roughly the same thing? Or does an "ass" wear a "hat", which would be either a skirt or pair of pants as far as I can tell? Does an "assclown" perform for an audience of "asses", or is it an "ass" dressed up like a "clown", perhaps while wearing an "asshat"?

Hmmm, maybe he does have a bad case of schweaty ballz....

For a penal system that can't figure out how to make a three drug cocktail, I would think the "head first/feet first" issue alone would make use of wood chippers a non starter.

That's because you're not schweating your ballz off in Iraq right now.

"Up against the wall, you yellow-ostrich-skin-cowboy-booted- Pancho-Villa-look-alike mothers"

Leave the noodle. Leave it. Leave it.

I ordered me some freeze dried grub, and it came in popcorn packing material. My friend Dave and I were complaining about all the wasteful styrofoam, until my wife Joanna entered the room and explained that the stuff was made of corn starch. It's essentially Veggie Booty without the spices. So Dave and I started munching on the packing material. And, you know what? It tasted like packing material.

Well, somewhere around 90% of the same general population believe that there's a big old super powerful, incredibly smart creature in the sky who loves each and every one of us, special like. At least the 911 conspiracy folks have SOME evidence for their lunacy. Cue Seahawks, stage Right. Take one, Creationism Rehash. Cue lightning strike, exit Tvashtar through trap door.

Yeah I was wondering if you were speaking from experience????? This might be funny if it didn't actually happen to 54 women in Vancouver. Linky It's a horrible and degrading way to die. But it would be just deserts for a disgusting murdering dog like the animal under discussion. Wood chipping people: You've got be either for it or against it. There's no middle ground.

Yes, I love the former Bush supporter strategy of just "waiting till its over". La la la la la! Unfortunately, it's still going on. Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, secret prisons, torture, global warming without a coherent national policy. So sit back and relax, fuckers. It's certainly not your fault. You didn't know. And thank you for voting.

Still waiving this wet noodle around, I see. Perhaps the sponsors of this bill are not vehemently opposed to re-establishing checks and balances and the rule of law. Perhaps they are also willing to compromise to attain these valuable objectives. Perhaps both Republicans and Democrats are interested in these very same goals. Welcome to politics. And the fact that FISA, or any complex piece of legislation, may be amended every now and then, for political or procedural purposes, should be news to no one. Legislation need not be flawless to be fundamentally sound.

Another fiction....

Read that bill yet, oh serious one? Have any comment on why a Democrat might co-sponsor such a thing? My point vis-a-vis Condorcet is that those who agitate for domestic revolutions are often amongst their first victims. You have neither much of a point nor much knowledge of how congress works. Bills such as this always have bipartisan sponsorship if they are to have a prayer of passing. That's legislative business as usual. Yawn. Let's have another yawn for the contents of the bill, which I have read. The only controversial sections deal with enhanced surveillance powers during wartime, and what exactly constitutes wartime. In the aggregate, the bill seeks to re-establish the rule of law and checks and balances over secret surveillance, something that has not existed since the Bush administration started it's extra legal (according to the courts) NSA spying program. In other words, you can't possibly be serious with this 'hard hitting' posting... ...Oh Serious One.

Supreme Court to hear Guantanamo appeal Just the latest blurb in our most embarrassing ongoing saga (other than Iraq and Afghanistan, of course).