Noodle

I climbed Davis Peak this past weekend and from up high the road looked clear of snow as far as we could see beyond the trailhead. Davis Peak is just north of Salmon La Sac campground and China Point (maybe what the ranger was referring to). I'd guess we could only see the road up to around Camp Creek.

Great story!

Don't recall the exact setup, but it looks like two bolts with a single chain strung between them, and runners tied to the bolt hangers. There is definitely not a rap ring involved in the chain.

Trip: Yellowjacket Tower - Date: 5/4/2008 Trip Report: After grunting our way up the trail with the sun beating down on us, we reached the chockstone. We climbed up around it to the right, and didn't immediately head back to the left and into the gulley. We spent some time and one pitch poking around above and took the hint when we saw a retreat rappel station. The rappel put us right at the spot where we could get back into the gulley, which is still filled with snow all the way up. Our second routefinding error had us passing up the hidden gulley. After consulting the route description we headed back down the main gulley and to the base of the hidden gulley where our goat friend was waiting, as if to say "what took you guys so long?" We opted to just scramble this section which had only one awkward move at the top. This brought us to the right-facing dihedral which was very wet from snowmelt above. John opted to do the lead in rock shoes and after a bunch of cursing to psyche myself into a couple questionable "friction" moves on the slick mess, I made it up in boots. John led the summit pitch and managed to get some gear in to protect the last move or two. I lowered him and top roped it up with some more cursing at the high-step he made look easy. Gear Notes: Bring a towel, it's drippy

Nice work guys! I shy'd away from this one, worried that the snow would be way too sloppy on Saturday but it looks like it was pretty reasonable.

To me, it feels like Vai puts more emotion into his songs and playing. But I agree with cheamclimber that Satriani has nicer melodies.

Whole Lotta Love - Zeppelin

Nice work!

Cornfed and I spotted two climbers belaying pitches up the 2nd couloir of TC at about 4 PM on Saturday while we were out on the lake checking out NBC on Colchuck. Not long after the clouds started engulfing the summit. Anyone know if they made it off okay?

That's super exciting

I think I know the course you're referring to... Haven't been through it myself but I can imagine. It's things like this that make me need to get out into the mountains every weekend. Otherwise I'd lose it completely.

I'll second JeffW's recommendation for the Asolo Expert GVs. They fit like a glove, and they're light weight, warm, and dry.

Check PMs

Two in the top fifty that I really like are: Whole Lotta Love (Zeppelin) - This sucker is just raw For the Love of God (Steve Vai) - The best, most emotional electric guitar instrumental I've ever heard. Check it, it'll send shivers up your spine. 5NfZBvRvkIg s8rEn8mFWBw

Trip: Denny Creek - Keekwulee Falls Date: 1/19/2008 Trip Report: Checked out Keekwulee Falls up Denny Creek on Saturday (1/19). This is the first time I’ve been out there, but I’d say it’s about 1/3 formed... maybe less. There was a lot of blue-tinted snow built up at the base, and some columns starting to form. Not enough ice to make it worth descending to the falls given the avy conditions. We turned around and found some nice steep snow slopes above the creek on the north side to play around on for a while.

A friend of mine and I have the Black Diamond Trail Compact poles and really like them. They have the longer grip so you can hold them lower on the uphill side without having to adjust the length. They're light, and are nice and short when telescoped down. http://www.bdel.com/gear/trail.php

I'm amazed I got down that crazy cement luge without any scars... How'd it go for you?

Are you referring to the mysterious vanishing granite crag that nobody can seem to locate? http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/656466/fpart/1

I'm looking to get out and do something on ice this weekend. Top-roping, bouldering, alpine, whatever. Anyone have suggestions for places in WA? I'm guessing that the Coleman seracs are out after the dumping this week. Saw the post about some stuff in Leavanworth which looks interesting. Any other ideas?

Last year Marmot Mountain was renting DTS Trackers, so you could rent one for your class and buy it later if you like it.

It's that time of year.. let's see everyone's pumpkins! Cosmo Kramer

Nice panoramic, thanks!

Check out all the photos on my Picasaweb site. I've also uploaded three full sized panoramics (see links below). You can't view them full size on the web, but if you click "Download Photo" you'll get the full size. http://picasaweb.google.com/adamlandefeld/RuthMountain8302007/photo#5108814520945512994 http://picasaweb.google.com/adamlandefeld/RuthMountain8302007/photo#5108814787233485394 http://picasaweb.google.com/adamlandefeld/RuthMountain8302007/photo#5109513998281986098

So would the left group be Redoubt/Spickard and the right group be Whatcom/Challenger, or would it be Whatcom/Challenger and Terror?

Trip: Ruth Mountain - Date: 8/30/2007 Trip Report: With Thursday off of work and a golden weather forecast, I convinced my buddy John to abandon his house painting project for a day and climb Ruth Mountain. We left Kirkland at 6:30 and arrived at the Hannegan Pass trailhead at about 9:00 after a short stop at the Glacier ranger station. By 9:30 we were moving easily up the valley, almost imperceptively gaining elevation, and slowing only enough to avoid the large piles of horse poo. We reached Hannegan Pass at 11:15, and consulted the route description. Things got slightly confusing due to the spider web of paths, but the key here is to drop down, heading towards the large knob (pt 5930) in the ridge southeast of the pass and the large gash heading straight up it towards the hourglass-shaped rubble pile. This gully is a rutty, muddy, slick mess. Not especially difficult, but entirely unpleasant; and coming back down it was definitely the crux of the entire trip. We were glad we didn't have overnight packs! After huffing up the gully, we rounded the knob on the east side and crossed the very pleasant saddle which lead us up the rocky lower portion of Ruth. We only had two liters of water each, and it was pretty hot; so we filled our bottles with snow when we stopped to rope up (1:10 PM, 5950 feet). The remainder of the route we just followed the path of least resistance to the summit on mildly soft snow, with crampons on. Just downhill of the large rock outcropping there are some crevasses running perpendicular, but we just stayed under them and headed off to the right to continue up the ridge to the summit, which we reached at about 2 PM. I have to say that the views on this climb are probably the most spectacular I've yet seen. Both John and I were totally in awe at the summit view, especially Shuksan. Every direction offered vast views to lofty, rugged, snow and glacier-clad mountains. I'll let the photos speak for themselves... Looking east from Ruth Mountain. Can someone ID these peaks for me? Panoramic looking north Ruth Creek valley Summit Icy peak from the summit The return trip was largely uneventful. I refilled my bottles with snow, and John opted to fill his bottles with water from a snowmelt pool next to the trail on the northeast side of Pt 5930, topping it off with some iodine tablets for good measure. John took a nasty spill in the gully, bruising his hand but otherwise escaping unscathed from the unauthorized trail dance. Let's just say that the walk back down the valley is the longest 3 miles ever. Kirkland to Trailhead: 2 hrs 30 min Trailhead to Hannegan Pass: 1 hr 45 min Hannegan Pass to Glacier: 1 hr 35 min Glacier to Summit: 40 min Gear Notes: Gear – Crampons, ax, rope, pooper scooper, etc Approach Notes: Plenty of water opportunities