caverpilot

Thanks for the update Kirk! Any skeeters yet?? (That's always the worst part when I go in June and July!) Thanks!!

Don't forget Silver Star, to which you can drive within 2 miles or so of the summit. It's the big ridge east of Battle Ground / Vancouver that offers spectacular views of Adams, Rainier, Hood, St. Helens, Jefferson, and Saddle Mountain (at the coast) on clear days. See my trip report here: Silver Star TR April 2013 However, I'd recommend the southern approach; saves you a mile and some elevation gain! Also Saddle Mountain in Clatsop county!!

Update: No snow at the trailhead. No skinnable snow below, say, 7500 feet minimum. No snow. It's icy as hell, the entire trail is more or less a sheet of ice, and its the lowest snow conditions I've ever seen... Even the boulder field at Chocolate Falls isn't covered. Icy conditions on the whole climb - 3 accidents on Sunday, one broken foot, two others slipped while eating lunch and fell over 500 feet. NOT A GOOD time to be up there! (I'll head back when I can skin from the parking lot.) In other news, Washington no longer recognizes Oregon Sno Park permits.... bastards!

Sadly, the USFS climbing conditions page was last updated in NOVEMBER... Has anyone been up on the mountain in the last couple weeks? Trying to find out how long I'm gonna hoof it before I can get on my skis... Expecting the worst, I'll settle for better.... The road to climber's bivy is closed/gated. The parking lot at Marble Mountain is snow-free and the trail is ice covered the first couple hundred yards... I'll update this when I return from the lack-of-pow-agony I'm about to endure!

Hey, no its not password protected - not sure what's happening. I can email you the PDF if you send me your email via PM. Direct link is here (Google Docs don't have password-protect ability) 3rd edition with better topos: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8A_h7cxTHS2Um9XdHIzTXkxSUk/edit?pli=1 2nd edition with directions to crags (a couple miles north of Blodgett): https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8A_h7cxTHS2ZDk0Mzc3ODQtNGZmZC00ZmRiLWFjZjUtMGYzYjNlNDE4ODcx/edit?hl=en&pli=1

The Snow Dragon Glacier Cave System is (currently) 7,167 feet long and 958 feet deep and consists of three caves that intersect (Snow Dragon, Frozen Minotaur, and Pure Imagination) complete with waterfalls and a near-vertical moulin near the top of one of them. The caving expeditions over the last two years were featured in the February 2013 NSS News (National Speleological Society). There is another expedition to the cave next week! Here's a link to some maps of the system, thanks to Google: Snow Dragon System And photos: Snow Dragon Photos (thanks again, Google!)

All the cool kids are going to Mill Creek these days, where a bunch of new, moderate routes have been put up in the last couple of years. Check out http://millcreekreport.blogspot.com/ for more information. Otherwise, I'd do Shoshone Spire or Flathead Buttress if you want something a little less obvious.

Sweet report and congrats on the Fort George photo contest! I've put cans of Vortex on Diamond, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Thompson Peak (highest in ID Sawtooths), and multiple Montana summits, as well as the usual suspects out in Clatsop. It has been the usual response to showing a photo at the bar: "That deserves one on the house!" Anyway, good stuff! Stay tuned for a TR on my "Fort George" summits this summer! Daryl Here's the TR of our Fort-George-Beer-laden trip up Adams last summer, where we hauled a sled full of it! Mt. Adams - Fort George beer report July 2012

SOLD!!! Thanks!

Just stumbled across this - a new AT set up for sale in Missoula, MT http://missoula.craigslist.org/spo/3023059592.html

The climbing rangers on Rainier use black 50 gallon drums with hoses to their shelter. Personally, I fill my Katydyn Base Camp (gravity-fed water filter) up with snow and hang it (when possible) when leaving high camp for a day tour or climb. As long as the sun shines for a few hours, I have lots of water waiting for me when I get back. Lately, I've used it, instead of extra water, about 1/2 to 2/3 the way up a climb. By time I ski back from the summit, I have an extra liter or two! A few weeks back I compared it to a black bag - the water filter wins hands down!

I'm not aware of any, but clearly that document says otherwise! I'd love to read it if you're willing to share... all of the 'snake that I've seen is barely vertical and chossy at that, but of course, I wasn't out there scouting rock lines anyway (skiing/backpacking)

Holy fuck no wonder our country is so screwed up - the more I dug for references to this, the more exemptions, exceptions etc came up - no wonder it takes lawyers to decipher the fucking hieroglyphics we call "the law." WOW. I'm more educated (and confused) on this than ever. My experience on Wilderness regulations is admittedly limited to the Bob Marshall Wilderness complex of Montana, where there aren't any waivers that I know of - the historic Green Fork cabin was rebuilt entirely by hand, and I've run across trail crews 37 miles in that had hand tools, and were based out of an abandoned airstrip. No love for them either. Now I just need to lobby my proposed aerial gear drops to Scapegoat, "in the name of science!" Finally, for the record, I fucking LOVE the lookouts! How kick ass! I'm planning a two-week skiing trip out of one in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness this spring! Check it out, here: St. Mary Peak Lookout

Found it! "Two statutes direct the maintenance of specific trails and associated structures; another allows the maintenance of cabins in specific areas. One directs the conversion of roads to trails. One statute allows operation and maintenance of a lookout tower; another allows motorized access for the removal of a fire tower." Okay, tvash, I stand corrected- Yes, there are a few exceptions that may be covered here: Here's the source: Statutory Provisions and Permitted and Prohibited Uses of Wilderness Areas Also, emergency evacs are provided for - so I'm calling the helo - oh wait, no cell service - I'll set off the PLB instead! So the question really is whether or not the provision for cabin maintenance applies to the Green Mountain Lookout. If not, they broke the law. If so, the lawsuit is frivolous. Admittedly, I don't know where the provided areas are. Apparently, the plaintiff thinks this isn't provided for. 'nuff said.

The issue at hand isn't mining, weather station, or science-related. In case you forgot, it is about restoring a historic lookout. NOT provided for. NOT in the "low-fo". Alaska, sure.

Exemption: "A special exemption to the "no mechanized equipment" rule is made for wilderness areas in Alaska: limited use of motorized vehicles and construction of cabins and aquaculture are permitted. These exemptions were allowed due to the large amount of wilderness in Alaska and the concerns of subsistence users, including Alaska Natives." FWS

WRONG!! You can't drop or pick up anything with a "mechanized" device. (unless an exemption is in place for the specific area.)_ Yes, I said LAND, but I also said "drop." This includes picking up things, including people. Read the rule! (you obviously haven't!) I agree that the use of a helicopter is probably less intrusive and more cost-effective than use of hand tools and pack animals. However, this is clearly against the rule of law. If you disagree, then call your congressman and petition to have the law changed. I'm also not saying I agree with the law. I'm just saying it is ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that the use of a helicopter in this case was in clear conflict with the rule. That's it! So please, tvash, leave us out-of-state sheep fuckers out of it!

Um, you don't know me, or know anything about me, and I sure as hell know as much about "your" area as you do, and would bet I've spent more time in "your" backyard than you have. Besides, Wilderness areas are designated nationally, so "out of stater" has nothing to do with it - Clearly, I know the rules regarding designated Wilderness areas and you don't, or you're simply ignoring the facts. Either way, you're still a pisser. Now come home to daaaaaaaaaaaaaaady! Where's my knee-high boots?

Clearly tvash you don't know what the fuck you're talking about: #1, NO "Gubmint" entity LEGALLY uses "mechanized" equipment in the Wilderness without a waiver, signed by a congressman. I'm not saying they don't do it, I'm saying they don't do it LEGALLY. There isn't a provision for "discretion." (read the fucking law before you make this bullshit up- it's not ambiguous) #2, There is NO regulation preventing wilderness overflights - I'm a pilot, and I fly over the wilderness all the time (looking for ski routes and caving areas). This is totally legit. So, there's NO concern there. You just can't LAND, and you can't (again LEGALLY) drop anything. Believe me, we've tried to get a waiver for air drops into our caving base camp at Scapegoat. Point of order: there are a limited number of designated wilderness airstrips, such as Moose Creek, ID and Schafer Meadows, MT that were grandfathered in before the area was designated. #3, If you can't self-rescue, too fucking bad - you can't get cell phone coverage in most Montana wilderness areas, so you're on you're own anyway. Only time will tell what happens when folks set off their PLBs out there. This is a risk we all take - where's the adventure if you can dial up a helicopter? Fuck that, stay close to town if you can't hack the wild woods. #4, Keep on point - I'm saying that "Montanans" aren't suing - this has nothing to do with 'daaaaaaaaaaadies' - obviously we all fuck sheep, just like Washingtonians all fuck goats - that has nothing to do with this - btw, do you know where I can get some new velcro gloves?

If we keep this dry spell up, the glacier will be gone by June! (sarcasm) If the forecast holds up, we will be hoofing it up to the trailheads until late July! What a crazy year - this was the driest December ever on record. It looks like a typical early November out there. ugk!

Sorry, tvash - you're missing the point and absolutely wrong about this - there is NO variation provision for use of mechanized equipmentin the Wilderness, period!! It's the Wilderness!! (correction: there are specific exemptions to this in specific areas. Generally, however, mechanized use is prohibited.) I'm all for restoring the lookout.... with pack animals and hand-tools. That's how they do it in the 1.5-million acre Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex in Montana, and the FS managed to restore the historic ranger cabin at Green Fork with only pack animals and hand tools. The helicopter is total bullshit. Once, a plane performed a forced landing in the "Bob" at an abandoned airstrip, and the Forest Service required the plane be dismantled and removed by horseback. The cost of two horses they shot is still less than one or two helicopter flights, so the bottom line is the Forest Service broke (not bent) the rules to provide convenience. Lookout Yes Helicopter and Power tools NO!! Finally, (tvash) don't characterize "Montanans" as leading this - it's only a "Montana-based" national organization. I don't identify with the Unibomber or the Freeman or the white supremacists in the Flathead, yet they're "Montanans". As Leonard Washington said, "better check your tone." (Dave Chappelle during the "Trading Spouses" sketch)

bumpin...

Anyone want these for $40?

Wow! They are only $20 in Oregon, and are good at Washington Sno Parks as long as you have Oregon tags. (For the record, I've been parking at Marble Mountain Sno Park (Mt. St. Helens) with an Oregon Sno-Park permit and Montana plates without issue for the last four years, which makes me think the rangers are more interested with the presence of a permit, not necessarily what tags are on the car) Ozzy, the dog in the photo I posted above, is nominated as the offical spokesdog for the Occupy Sno-Barks movement

Response to my complaint email: Woo-hoo! Maybe they'll get the message - little brother (that's us) are watching!!!