mountainsloth

Nice work guys. Herrington's book showed a very obvious opening for that FA buttress. I was wondering how long it was going to take for someone to put up that line.

Nice looking adventure line. What kind of rock is that?

Nice one! Impressed with the effort

Great TR. Thanks for the stoke!

Nice early season pickets trip. Looks like fun.

Very nice assortment of cascade climbing! It must have been tough going back to boring Conneticut. I grew up in NH, and moved out here 11 years ago for the cascades. If you liked "Total Soul", next time you are out you should include the illusion wall out in Darrington. It's like alpine cragging at its best. Excellent rock, fun features, bolted rappel anchors and no crowds.

Looks like a fun adventure. Too bad about the shoe.

Ivan, We think it's that magical Darrington grade of 10+ I have climbed the crux pitches 3 different times and they all felt different. Summer sun makes it feel 5.11, yet autumn coolness made it feel a mere 5.10. It's protected well either way and as of last summer, the pitch 7 crux was home to the only lead falls.

Hey crazed, This is Chris's friend Jeremy. We all met at the trailhead a little while back. Yes, we are basically done. Still a couple of older bolts up there but they are still in pretty good shape and surrounded by either gear placements or new bolts. It's much safer and cleaner than it used to be but think it still holds some of its original character (someone stated that it was "gently" bolted). It is certainly one fun and unique line. Thanks for letting us play on a bit of your history. Hopefully you'll get a chance to climb it again with a bit less daring needed.

👍 Looks like an excellent day out. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks curt!

Yay for rambles up obscure peaks, especially when they give you excellent views of my favorite "crag" 😎

Nice one. I miss the olympics. Time to go back.

Trip: Squire Creek, Illusion Wall - New Route: Epic Tail of Sir Norbert Date: 10/31/2015 Trip Report: I have been meaning to post up here for a while, as this route has been done for 1.5 years now. This here is a "new-ish" route on the Illusion Wall. It shares existing pitches from a route put up by Crazedmaniac and friends in the 70's. This route starts 30 feet to the right of "Schizophrenic" Lined in purple on this photo. This route was a great adventure for us over the past 3-4 years. It covers old and new ground and offers a surprising amount of crack climbing combined with some nob and short friction sections. All pitches have bolted rap anchors except for the start of pitch 9. Here is a link to the mountainproject write up for more of the story, topo, and pitch-by-pitch. I will let the photos and my friends mountain project post to tell you the rest. Mountain Project Matt following pitch one. Two bolts have replaced those terrifying pitons. Pitch two Pitch 2 chimney finish! Lower pitch 3 Upper pitch 4 Lower Pitch 5 Cruxy and amazing pitch 6! Upper Pitch 7 FIRE!!!! Pitch 8 Ken Strong bolt? Lower pitch 10. Anyone see what is scary in this photo? On our first complete ascent of the route we climbed a very nice hand crack on the right-hand side of this detached flake. Upon approaching the Illusion Wall the following Spring we noticed some of the trees at the base of the wall had been beheaded! There is now a large white scar the size of a medium sized car where the flake used to be. I am so happy it is gone! FYI the upper pitches are still a bit dirty with some small loose rock potential especially pitch 8. We plan on making another trip up there to clean and replace a few old bolts that need replacing this Summer. Enjoy! Gear Notes: Double rack .3-3, single 4 and optional 5 for the short chimney. (This does not seem like a standard Darrington rack! Approach Notes: See the mountain project page

Hanna, happy healing. Ben, I too ran into the downed trees on exfo rd. Only adds an extra 1/2 mile. You could get the majority clear with a hand saw.

Thanks Hanna! How does the illusion wall look? Ready to approach and climb?

Nice writing. Sounds like a route that mortals could actually tackle! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for reminding me that it's still winter out there.

Cool! I've looked at this cliff now for ten years and wondered. Guess I should have gone for a closer look! Nice one Rad!

Ha! I did this route as a party of 3 in two days. Crawled into our sleeping bags with lightning on the horizon. 10 mins later it began to rain. We prayed to the mtn gods and it stopped 30 mins later. The thought of retreat seemed terrifying. Glad we didn't have to. We brought 5 liters on route and every pitch felt like work.

Same thing nearly happened to me on Godzilla. My buddy realized our errors with a foot of rope to spare. Since, I have made the habit of always closing the system before my partner or myself start leading anything. Even if I know it is a 40' climb. If I die climbing I want it to be a freahk act of nature, not my own stupidity.

I have been dreaming of this route for 8 years now and every summer my trip gets foiled. Thanks for giving me a glimpse of my just-out-of-reach dreams. It truly seems like a classic cascad ian adventure. ...

With the above average snowfall, cool and somewhat wet conditions the pnw is experiencing I bet the pocket will be there for most of the summer.

"I dig your style dude."

Guys, I think he was looking for a goodbye back. Goodbye Glassgow! Hope your life stays gun-free.