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leora

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Everything posted by leora

  1. The last time I did either of those was a month ago (11/27, Leuthold, 11/29, Reid), and except for the seemingly steeper than normal descent off of Illumination Saddle, both were in fine shape. (Leuthold characteristically easy, and Reid with just a few little icy steps.) Given what I saw in the SW facing couloir on Hood, I'm sort of expecting that those routes will be "in", but that you'll have the ice "barnacles" and gargoyles that I saw all over any west-facing slope on the south side. Those barnacles and gargoyles can cause instability in stepping, so take care, and then tell us how it went! leora
  2. Trip: Middle Sister - Hayden Glacier Date: 12/28/2013 Trip Report: At the urging of a fellow Cascade Climber reader, I'm writing this short trip report of our absolutely fabulous Middle Sister climb. If you like Animoto Videos, one of my partners created this wonderful "story" of our climb: Middle Sister Animoto video As everyone has moaned about - this has been a low snow year, and in the case of Middle Sister, this means that we were able to drive all of the way to the Pole Creek Trailhead on Friday, 12/27/2013. The road had *some* ice over the last 2 to at most 3 miles before the trailhead. It appeared to me that a sedan might be able to get in, but I don't know for sure because we had a 4 wheel drive truck that we had in 4 wheel drive, because we didn't want to take any chances (and since we had it, we used it. . .). The trail was clear the first little bit - maybe 1/2 mile, and then turned slick - we didn't have microspikes, so we just walked on the very edges of the trail, or around icy spots onto the crunchy snow. Sometimes, we had to walk gingerly. Plenty of people had been there before us, so there were plenty of tracks to follow, and through to the edge of the burn, they all mostly went to the same place, namely, the edge of the burn. . . This image gives an indication of the state of the trail: We followed the trail until the wide opening just before Squaw creek. I'd been there in August, so I recognized this hill as the start of the climbers trail that leads to the base of the Hayden Glacier. We had to leave the packed down trail, and this was the first moment of doubt that we had that perhaps we should have brought our snowshoes? This consternation was short-lived, as soon as we topped the very little hill and continued up. Pretty easy going, even if we did sink down 6 inches or so. Here is a photo of where we diverged: The continuation of trail #4074 is to the extreme left of this picture. We followed the ridge the whole way up to about 6745ft, with no sign of the creek that had been there in August. There was the expected strong wind from the southwest that night, so we camped in the trees, with no water in sight. We made our little platform for our tent, and a wall on the southern side, and melted water for dinner and drinks. We were due east of North Sister. Here's a photo of our view of North Sister: In the morning we started out at 9am, with crampons on, and headed southwest. We headed for the 2nd ridge south of the east ridge of North Sister. We could have just headed for the big valley, but the ridge was fine. We continued to head for 3 saddles that were in line with the saddle between Prouty Point and the North Ridge of Middle Sister, and noticed that there appeared to have been a pair of climbers perhaps the day before. This picture has our first view of the route: At the final saddle that we came to that signaled that we were stepping onto the glacier, there was a beautiful gentle slope up. Here's the photo of that: We all noticed that we needed to don more clothing, so stopped next to a broken up crevasse lip for shelter, donned our extra apparel, and continued up. I managed to choose the most difficult way up, which was solid ice, but we saw that there was a snow ramp that I could have taken, and noted that for our trip back down. The glacier was solid, and we just walked up it, unroped, to the saddle between Prouty Point and the North Ridge. The North Ridge was mostly snow on the east side, rock in the middle (with snow), and ice barnacles and gargoyles to the west. The whole way up the ridge, I could hear (and see) one or another of the gargoyles tipping over and sending down an avalanche of ice onto the snowfield to the west of the ridge. We did rope up, here, and put in minimal protection. There was one place that was quite steep that we had to traverse to the west, just before the final approach to the summit. Here's a photo of that traverse: Again, the unstable ice gargoyles were the biggest potential danger. Here are two photos that attempt to show the texture of the slope: and: (And yes, that is the shadow of the mountain that you see.) The rest of the trip to the summit was pretty easy and uneventful. The views at the top were stunning. We could see the beautiful array of Cascade mountains all around and spent some time enjoying the views. Here is the view that we saw: And here it is, again, with everything labeled: (Names are to the right of the mountain, unless there is a little arrow, and then the name is to the left of the mountain and the little arrow points at the mountain.) On the way down, we again put in protection around the steep traverse. One of my partners' crampon broke, so we paid a little more attention to safety. We were able to go down on grippier snow covered areas, and he was able to stop the cramponless foot from sliding by nudging it up against a trekking pole planted on the ice. As soon as we were off of the glacier, we felt a little more "in control" but were still vigilant, and eventually made it back to the tent with no injuries, and at dusk. The hike out was uneventful, except that we met a skier, who, after chatting with us for a couple of moments, realized that he'd taken a picture of two of us with Illumination Rock on Mount Hood, and let us know. We got his contact info and he sent us the link. I have to show off this photo, as I think that it's brilliant: November 23rd, 2013 photo of Illumination Rock Gear Notes: We carried 1 picket, each, ostensibly for Crevasse Rescue (we didn't know what the glacier would be like), but we wound up using the pickets for pseudo-protecting the North Ridge. Approach Notes: Some amount of ice and snow on the last 2 or 3 miles to Pole Creek Trailhead. We had a 4 wheel drive truck and used the 4 wheel drive, but it *appeared* to me that a sedan maybe could have gotten in. Sorry that I didn't take a photo of the road conditions at all so that you could judge for yourself.
  3. Did you lose your glove on Mt. Hood's Hogsback on New Year's Eve or Day? I picked it up, thinking that it belonged to one of the 2 groups that had just left the spot before us. They told me that it had been there when they arrived, so now, I have the glove. I forgot about it when I got down, so didn't give it to the lost and found folks, so you'll have to contact me if you want it.
  4. FYI, it turns out that the forest road to Pole Creek Trailhead is still open, and there was only some ice and snow on the last maybe 3 miles before the Trailhead. The trail, itself seemed to have quite a bit of travel on it. We saw a couple of (unhappy) skiers over the weekend. Middle Sister was in fine form, although there were some huge ice gargoyles that would randomly let loose on the way up the north ridge. leora
  5. Thanks for the response, Water - We're looking at the Three Creeks SnoPark idea.
  6. Does anyone in this august body of climbers have a good suggestion for snowshoe access to Middle Sister in the winter (as in, right now)? leora
  7. I don't think that anyone pointed you to exactly where on Mt. Hood - the two easily accessible places are both around the 10,000 ft level. One is just to the east of Crater Rock, and is called Devil's Kitchen, and the other is just west of the Hogsback and just north of Crater Rock, and is called the Hot Rocks. Mt. St. Helens has fumeroles in the crater, but mere mortals aren't allowed in there. . . (I don't know where you'd have to get permission to go into the crater). Mt. Baker has that nice one that someone else mentioned. My understanding was that people mined sulfur on Mt. Adams, but I don't ever remember seeing a fumerole, there. leora
  8. No. I'm a rotten ice climber when it comes to pure vertical and leading, so I didn't go very far at all. I was thinking that if I'd been able to top rope it, I might have had some guts to climb it, but too many BIG rocks were coming down for me to risk putting in a top rope.
  9. Nope, but I would feel a bit remiss, if I didn't show a shot of this lovely ice pillar in the bergschrund on the south side of Mt. Hood on 10/29/13: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/PA291479.jpg[/img] Which was inside this toothy grin: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/PA291469.jpg[/img] And nearby this point release avalanche: [img:center]http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/PA291467.JPG[/img] With the snow we've received in the last several days, I'm sure that it's all covered over, but it was a beauty. leora
  10. Skiserve responded with the following: "I spoke with Harold, the signs are currently being replaced so he will have them back up when they get here. Overnight parking is along the barrier next to the little shed in the parking lot and anywhere else the new signs are posted but for sure along the barrier wall !" So, we can just ignore the notices in the climber's registry that say that there is no overnight parking in the main lot after November 1st.
  11. It turns out that the person who communicated the above now understands why I was asking the questions - sees that the overnight parking signs don't exist, and saw the wording on the notices in the climber's register. She'll be doing some further investigation and get back to me by Friday or so (due to everyone's different schedule). leora
  12. The Timberline folks responded via email to my query about this situation, and I received the following information from Skiserve : "We have verified with the parking lot manager that overnight parking is still along the concrete barrier next to the parking lot shed as it has been in prior years." Why the "overnight parking" signs have been removed, and why notices have been placed in the Climber's register to the contrary, have not been explained, but I've decided to take these guys at their word. Maybe I'm just somehow misreading the notices? I'll take a picture of one of them next time I'm there. leora
  13. (I realized that the subject line didn't quite get at the nub of the issue, so changed it. The rest of the post is the same.) The signs have all changed at the Timberline parking lot. I don't know when it happened, but I noticed it this last week. All of the "overnight parking" signs around the perimeter of the parking lot have been removed, and at the climber's registry, there are signs that say that there won't be any overnight parking from November 1st to some other date that I can't remember - possibly sometime in March. Does anyone know what this is all about? And do you know where one *can* park overnight if spending the night on Mt. Hood? leora
  14. Well, if you wait until late in the day, with the snow softening, you *could* find some runs, but, I wouldn't suggest it just yet (unless it snowed again, last night!), as what I found is that there were many, many icy sections on the way down, even with the continual rays of the sun, that made me want to keep my crampons for a while. There are nice build-ups of snow on the eastern sides of the ridges, but, at least, around Monitor Ridge, not enough for a consistent path on the eastern side of that ridge. And, below, there were lots of rocks that you'd have fun dodging. . . leora
  15. Trip: Mt. St. Helens - Monitor Ridge Date: 10/9/2013 Trip Report: This is a quickie trip report, as I was realizing that most of the people who attempted the Monitor Ridge route on Mt. St. Helens, yesterday, turned around, and I'm guessing that it was because they didn't have crampons. Once out of the trees, there was snow AND ice on the route. There may have been enough snow to wear snow shoes, if you stay in the gullies, but it didn't appear that anyone attempting that made it very far. There was a ton of rime ice on the rocks, and much of the snow that existed between the rocks was icy. With crampons, we were able to ascend, easily. There was definitely a lot of cornice on the rim, as well as snow in the crater butting up against the rim, but we were able to find an area that gave us a clear view into the crater, by walking east. My camera batteries were too cold, so no pictures from me. . . Trust me, though - it was stunningly beautiful. leora Gear Notes: Crampons! Approach Notes: In spite of the Government Shutdown, the gates to the Climber's Bivouac were all open, and the restrooms were open, as well (probably should play it safe and bring your own toilet paper).
  16. I thought that I would update the info, here, as well as on the "access" forum: I'm pleased to report that the gates to Climber's Bivouac, and all of the restrooms (including the composting one on Monitor Ridge trail) were open!!! (And, there was even some spare toilet paper in the restrooms!) Permits are being sold, as usual. This was as of 10/9/13.
  17. I'm pleased to report that the gates to Climber's Bivouac, and all of the restrooms (including the composting one on Monitor Ridge trail) were open!!! (And, there was even some spare toilet paper in the restrooms!) Permits are being sold, as usual. This was as of 10/9/13.
  18. I've been hearing about so many weird access closures "due to the government shutdown" that I thought I'd ask if anyone has been up to Cold Springs at Adams or Climber's bivouac at St Helens, recently? Is everything open? leora
  19. I should have posted this a month ago, so that folks could be on the lookout for the gear. A friend's gear was stolen from her car on 8/7/2013. She wrote it up at Mazama's bulletin for September on Page 7, and also did a Fund me
  20. I'm sure that it was years since the owner lost this jacket. It looked like trash when I found it (in fact, the people with me talked about taking it down and immediately throwing it in the trash), but I brought it home, washed it, and fluffed it up in the dryer, and it looks wonderful. It makes me think that whoever lost it is sad. I'm hoping that that owner happens to read Cascade Climbers, as I love it when owner and lost gear are re-united. . .
  21. We turned it in at the climber's registry, where they said that they would put it in a lost and found place.
  22. Ha! I don't know if I should publicly admit that I had to look up "tweeker". . . leora
  23. After reading the "pissing on the summit" post, I realized that I should have posted this, here, instead of the more general CC forum. . . Forgive me if you already read it on the other forum. I want to take a moment to comment on how impressed I am at the generousity of climbers in the mountains. In helping out the fallen (living) climber on Hood on Sunday, we had people throwing hundreds of dollars of gear around to help keep the injured and rescuers warm, and, when things seemed stable, trusting those of us staying behind to return that gear. Sleeping bags, down jackets, ice screws, the works. I'm so happy to be a part of such a community! leora
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