Water

can be done in a day for sure. What speed do you climb? Figure on a clear night by 10am things are soft from 9k and below. above that, starting to soft, and by 10:30-11:30 really into the sweet spot from pikers to LC. For nice weekends when nothing else planned, I do vote for a camp at the LC. The evening views are unbeatable and nice camp sites up there. That said I generally awake at sunrise and kind of take my time getting up so the glissade track is good. If I am actually leaving camp at first light, for my speed I am back to Pikers from the summit well before it softens and thus doing an icier glissade than I'd like, standing around waiting at pikers, or not being able to glissade down. consider from LC it is ~3k to the top. If you're leaving at 5:30ish (in the range of first light), and it takes you 3hrs to go that 3k, and say what, 30 minutes on summit, and 30 minutes back to Pikers - that puts you there at 9:30--in my experience not yet soft enough for my preference of glissade. Thus, I leave camp at say even as late as 7am. cheers - its a fun one whatever way its done.

my guess is nobody has been up in there yet this year. you probably can't drive to TH. report back if you attempt to check it out!

HEyyy Ohhhhh!

eddie bauer warranty baby! seam grip is the stuff of legend. I have done many an impressive repair with it that hold longer than the surrounding area. And actually find a bit of fraying to be helpful as this helps wick it up and spreads the stuff into the repair spot more. on something like shell jacket or whatnot I use a piece of tent-mosquito netting repair as backing--mesh basically since it takes up the seamgrip as well. have the spot taped shut/fix from one side, then repair it from the other. Once I have the seam grip in, I do something like put an area of tin-foil over both sides then clamp it in a vice or just some spring-clamps. Probably not necessary, but I do it. Then take them off after a while and let it set. I'd use a piece of canvas or other heavy duty material that will wick, as the backing here.

no pit zips. Only on Latok, which is heavier version of coat with more pockets. Can survive without the pzips but they would be nice. Montane has a handful of jackets with 3 layer event that come in around 13-15. What size are you--medium or small you may be able to hit 12, but you're talking a lightweight shell then I think. No pzips for sure at that weight. Take a look at Integral Designs Thru Hiker jacket--not sure they make it anymore but you can still buy it. Hard to beat that weight and it is cut a bit long which I think is good for climbing in a shell.

have RAB Latok Alpine.. sent one back due to weird wear/delamination issue but they said they'd only had a few out of thousands like that, so, I'm guessing it was me, not them. They sent a new one out (tomato red.. not my fav) for free none the less--solid customer support. It is burly enough, solid jacket, arms a bit long which I like, wire brim great. Though maybe it is because I am derived from swamp foot DNA or something, no fabric will replace pitzips, and the the Latok Alpine is sans pzips. Take a gander at Montane and Westcomb. Montane has some nice getups for sure. Westcomb as the specter or something, comes in a little under a pound. Whats your criteria for best? burliest, lightest, most breathable, etc...you can only pick two.

ditto. Saw this last night. I'm impressed! Care to elaborate on the non-G rated parts? or was it that you used the power of curse words to will yourself up bachy? congrats, sweet accomplishment

was camping with my wife on mcneil point sat night and scope out reid a bit on the drive out--looks fairly busted up--i'll be the first to label myself a wimp but I probably wouldn't head across reid at this point. My guess is leuth has some nice runnels and some brown streaks going down it.

2.5 miles as the forest service website says updated July 10th!

i found starting from lunch counter at sunrise or a touch after, yielded a good glissade by the time i got back to top of pikers peak from summit.

no

use google maps - factor in you will go faster on highway miles and slower on final dirt road. say 2hrs? to 2hr 30 minutes? and a sunrise/sunset calculator. figure the distance from the end of the road to lunch counter (what, 5? miles, plus add whatever isn't melted if you can't drive to end). how fast do you move with gear? and if it is a hot day, on soft snow. add 30ish minutes for additional dusk-light the higher you get, factor in you are more north than a good portion of the country so that dusk-light kinda lingers. do you want to arrive at 'sunset' (ie before dark) or like, 1hr before sunset?

not your fault. and a total, complete racket with the private, non-profit (yeah right!) Mount Saint Helens Institute. If you do the math out on all permits sold each year (based no number of sold-out days and the fact that once sold the cost is non-refundable)...they get a mandatory $5 donation from each permit sold. This ends up from $50,000-65,000 a year. To maintain the climbers trail, supposedly, on Mt. St. Helens. Their executive director makes $75k or so a year, and they pay other employees not listed on the W-9 or whatever their tax form is.. total racket. Where does that money go, zilch accounting for it. Entirely IMPOSSIBLE for it to come back to the actual trail. You'd think 5-6 years at $55,000 a year we'd have an escalator. MSHI certainly has no responsibility for maintaining or servicing roads or trailheads.

ignore me if you find it offensive, but, do you have any experience with the gear you have listed? Like, have you used an ice ax and crampons before? what would you do with a climbing harness....do you have a rope? your renting should be fine. i'd worry more about using the tools correctly if you are new to them, than whether you can get them. bring a helmet for hood if you're on that. Adams...i personally do not think a helmet is needed. if I had to pick either, do adams. it is easier than hood. well. it is longer hike, more elevation gain, but, harder to get yourself killed or injured, generally speaking. probably can skip snowshoes, but, depends on a lot of factors. skip them on hood, maybe on adams...for approach if snow is soft/its hot out. or just slog and deal with it. won't need them to go from lunch counter up

prolly dont have to walk far at all..like a mile extra or something. parking will be a cluster and mess of people putting their rigs off into the woods and such..if you are going friday night-sat AM.

wish the rab summit mountain (not superlite) had a rear port/vent... it is great but that would go a long way to helping some airflow

not so great of reviews here: http://sectionhiker.com/brooks-range-mountaineering-ultralight-tent/

i have rab summit mountain (not the smallest one).. made in china

These your top 10? sounds cool! Mr. Steen being the only outlier with no top 10 buddies around. Mt. Hood 11239 Mt. Jefferson 10497 South Sister 10358 North Sister 10085 Middle Sister 10047 Sacajawea Pk. 9838 Hurwal Divide 9776 Steens Mtn. 9733 Aneroid Mtn. 9702 Petes Point 9675

you will have infinitely better discussions of things like this and most of your other questions on http://www.whiteblaze.net and http://www.backpackinglight.com

getting to baxter park in maine will be a trip. you'll have 10x more luck getting to springer mountain in georgia for being at a terminus of the Appy Trail. From virginia south people are much more amenable to hitchers than in the northeast--as far as just thumbing by the road, looking grubby, bearded, with a backpack. more pickups too. but katahdin is a much more majestic place than springer mnt, truth be told. spoken from experience. also, doesn't hurt to travel with a woman.

i just thought i'd throw that out there since a lot of stuff can get send down there, maybe you saw mito's TR a about two weeks ago. the point-forecast is just a computer extrapolation. The Zone Area Forecast (for Northern Oregon Cascades, OR) i find to be more accurate about freezing levels. love to see a TR if you make it that way - have fun, be safe!

talk to johndavidjr or something, he will outfit you with THE BEST from walmart for $50 for the full package (socks, footwear, tent, sleeping pad, stove, etc).

Saturday Night...Partly cloudy. Free air freezing level 10000 feet. Pass winds northwest 5 to 15 mph. Sunday...Partly cloudy in the morning...then mostly sunny. Free air freezing level 11000 feet rising to 12000 feet in the afternoon. Pass winds west 5 to 10 mph.

what about something like keens that are a closed-toe shoe but have a lot of openings like a jesus sandal? some people wear by those. or them new fangled vibram toe shoes, wife uses them at the gym since a lot of running shoes give her blisters. but she had dry feet even after exercise so dunno on your case. good luck