Water

we had the exact same plan but ended up bailing, very regretfully, after seeing sundays forecast. couldn't justify the drive from portland--sunday was showing high chances of suck. figured best to wait for a weekend of sun.... and yes we 2nd guessed it all weekend under the sun in the wallowas. thanks for the updated condition report and details about the crux (chimneys). Bummer about the turn back but sounds like the wise choice even if shuks didnt get bombed. cheers

if you are planning to camp, starting earlier will make it more pleasant (12-1pm is sunny and hot...makes your hike to camp through the hottest part of the day). That said there are camping spots 1) at tree line 2) just below crescent glacier 3) just above crescent glacier 4) lower lunch counter 5) upper lunch counter.. certainly the higher you are, the less you have to go for your summit day, but, also the less you have to carry as high. Honestly I'd consider 2-4 as options to keep open. being at LC doesn't make you radically higher-just a better preview of what your summit day starts with (Slope to pikers peak/false summit). You can probably go from a lower camp to upper lunch counter twice as fast without full packs. (just a guess). it is not unreasonable to get to LC, just, in the hot part of the day. No you don't need helmets. It is extra weight and truly not a route for rock fall. try to take as little as possible without putting yourself in harms way. The kitchen sink will kill you but skipping a book, a single shirt, or something little extra will likely not matter. Scree pant is fine. you can use normal hiking pants that zip to shorts just fine. What top advice do you need? a shell jacket to block the wind is great. if you have a light weight puffy down or synthetic thing that stuffs to 1liter size/16oz or less that is good but a fleece will do the job too under a shell jacket. you can wear an outdoors tshirt/long sleeve shirt/or whatever you want. dont take a heavy soft shell windblocker thing and a hard-rain shell. look at the forecast before you go--if it is clear you can get by with the lighter of the two/one you like best/etc. if it is not clear, take the rain shell. words of wisdom: there will be cold in the dark, BUT, the heat of sun will be worse than the cold--prepare for sun--hats/bandanas/sun screen/chap stick. lather up good once the sun is upon you or you will get thoroughly fried.

yes two can sit up in it sure. I'm 5'8" and it is fine for me. If I was 6'2" it might be a different story. my winter bag has event shell so i dont worry about side touching really. You could definitely rig a hanging stove, tho all you have is door for venting (that is why I am slightly dismayed no rear port or top vents that would kind of help the whole cooking in the tent deal. I have summit mnt which is 'normal' vs the summit bivi or the version that is only 30 inches high--that one has a rear port at least (oddly missing from the summit mountain). It is very solid and not a complaint with how it functions as it is suppose to, so maybe in the world of gear that is all you need in a review. But at the time I was a little obsessed with RAB and eVent and was able to get it for around 300 so I moved on that vs the 500-700 for some of the other tents i looked at like exped polaris, etc. If I could lug it to the top of adams or rainier I have no doubt about its performance once guyed out--burly and cuts the wind from 3 directions easy, and from the front door if you used the guys on either of the front vertices.

try to get johndavidjr to chime in. He has some serious tent knowledge that will help save some coin. I can't speak as highly of my RAB Summit Mountain as mneagle or wfinely of their tents. But haven't had a bad experience of it--but it has never wowed me other than just being uber-bomber once guyed out (zilch flap). It is made of eVent, so breathes decent. But it is no frills at all--no vents/windows/ports. Door, screen door, built on triangular guy pouches on 3 sides. 2 donut tie-throughs if you're camping in that sketch of a place. not for all people. winter bags with 2 will make edges and foot contact for sure, not a lot of extra space inside. 4 'hanging' side pockets. Could rig a gear loft pretty easy tho. fairly easy to setup. I find the vestibule for it to kinda stink--not easy to setup, too many lines and cords and tie-offs. 5# with the vest, 4#s without.

appreciate the follow-up. Hope my query didn't sound like it was critical - definitely dealt with bottle necks before! still trying to decide between this and fisher chimneys for our group, but all this info is very helpful. cheers

$15/hr is solid for recent college grad! Unless you have an engineering or biz degree and looking for more--liberal arts grads who like the outdoors would be well to pursue something like this!

$100? Local pickup in PDX or buyer pays shipping. Bought this rope at the detour rock fest thing at smith rock in 09. Been used to TR twice, carried in pack on one climb, and used for mt jefferson traverse (about 30 minutes of use). No falls, no core shots. Always stored in rope bag, inside of large tupperware container in home. When I bought it, I was under the impression (and influence of a few beers) that the Beta Shield coating was a dry-coating.. Well this is not a dry rope so great for any cragging or TR stuff, but I don't do that much. Beta Shield coating provides high-quality yarn protection to help keep dirt and other harmful substances at bay while also adding abrasion resistance Thermal Stabilization process applies heat treatment to the yarns in the core and sheath, creating excellent handling characteristics and a soft touch Thermal Stabilization treatment cannot be removed or washed off, ensuring excellent performance throughout the life the of rope 63 grams per meter 10mm x 60m

in the backcountry some carry bear spray on the hip maybe on the way to the crag carry some raid on the hip your eye got swollen shut but imho that does not seem like a highly allergic reaction to being stung (that said it was a wasp vs bee--not sure if bees can yield more prolific reactions). it doesn't look that red either, fwiw. my wife got stung on her ear a few octobers ago when the flowers are gone up high and the bees are angry. that entire side of her face swelled up including down to around the neck. Didn't really impact breathing but was on the margins where it would have if it swelled a bit more or the sting was a bit lower. If she got stung on the eyelid today or around the eye I bet she would not be able to breath out of her nose. The swelling lasted I think for 2 days, but still visible on the 3rd. we carry an epi-pen for that reason--if she got stung on the neck, chin, cheek, or upper torso it could be serious, even if its not not fullon anaphylactic shock. for the sting above you can take an antihistamine I think and it will help.

thanks for write up -- looking to head up to shuksan this weekend. Really appreciate the fresh beta and detail. If I may clarify your camp-summit-camp time -- it seems long but having not done the route just trying to get a sense of it -- is that long or par for the route more or less. If a bit slow, was it due to group size of 6, bottlenecks with other groups, etc? coming from PDX our preference is to get back to the TH before dark on sunday. Though I think we will be inclined for more of an alpine start than sunrise start. thanks much

my wife has acrophobia to a varying degree, and MSH was her first climb out west after thru-hiking the appalachian trail. she cried a bunch and hated those boulders that you're referencing. her mind freaks out irrationally about all sorts of stuff with it--that going down is going to be horribly worse or that shes going to lose grip/fall 50ft.. (when in reality if she fell it would be 3ft). She even gets wigged quite a bit TR in an indoor gym. She has slowly improved over time though. A lot of patience and support on my end has helped during the climbs. Having done a climb once also makes the second time much, much better, even if ahead of time she is anticipating the 'scary' part. Normally after she has done something the second time she'll still say some portion was scary but really she will have conquered the majority of her fear and is much more enthusiastic to consider doing it again--though its not like she wants to repeat dog routes on the volcanoes weekend after weekend. once a year is fine i think. The only climb she has turned back from was the Matterhorn in the Wallowas--but we hadn't even been in Oregon for a year then nor had we done St. Helens -- it was a bit sketch with some sandy ledges and I understood. Shes been up the easy volcanoes twice at this point (MSH/S. Sis/Adams) I think they were surprised probably because most people don't have that big of a fear of heights so, well, it caught them off guard--but it is great they rolled with it. MSH is a fine first climb, though for reference climbing Mt Adams or South Sister--I don't believe you have to touch a single boulder like you do on St. Helens just past treeline. shoot me a pm if you want to chat more or speak with my wife.

sent a pm

pm on pully and hillsound trail crampons

i use a bachmann knot just around a typical old oval to help since for instance have this issue on the pully i have when using 8mm rope. works great

pretty rare in NW overall unless you traveled to wisky or the NE. able to identify the tick at all? deer tick primary vector, very very tiny - dealt with a lot of them on the AT. immediate prophylactic Doxycycline regimine. get it early get out clean.

my buddy went up with his wife this past weekend http://loomisadventures.com/blog/climbing-south-sister-oregon

looks like a good climb, bummer bout the altitude - if no rangers/high camp help were available what would you guys have done--just curious--course of action? I too am puzzled by the honkin cameras and almost bought one, thank god I didn't. You don't need the bulk of a dslr to get dslr sensor size and image quality. Sony NEX-5! nex-7 has more features and comes in a few months.. basically a DSLR in the size of a pop can. check'm out

just buy the dang REI Endeavor convertible pants http://www.rei.com/product/808791/rei-endeavor-convertible-pants-mens-32-inseam they are the cats pajamas in my book. love'm for all things 3season $80 if you buy during one of their sales. And comes with lifetime warranty so you can abuse them as needed and return as needed

honorable roy bean jr, it was a statement in jest, of that I promise. I'm not actually in the business of re-hashing hardy climbs from my relaxing bardo-state pre-zygote days. june is summer, más o menos.

that looks delicious. truth be told i ate a 7-day old McDonalds Sausage biscuit last weekend and it tasted the same as 1hr 'old'. Holds real well in the mnts

needle-: were all those before or after june 21/22nd?

there will be snow on most or all of the route through june I am sure, unless we have a low low snow year. true point on the long approach. Thing is back in the day there was no alternative to a long approach. If you adjust your time there is no approach and other volcanoes await, along with more time high on the mountain. 10 miles along a road in snowshoes may get a bit monotonous after the first mile. i'd rather spend an extra day lounging up at a high camp, all things being equal.

you know accessing the mountain didn't happen until around july 1, this year? And that has a long approach. Just, if you're here truly in the spring of 2012, unless we have a low snow year you're talking 10+ miles of snowy approach. i can't answer the north cleaver. If doing a glacier route--will you have a partner? Otherwise I think the decision is made for you. south or cleaver. cleaver is better with snow but what kind of ice/snow are you looking for on the cleaver? you want some snow so it isn't a total scree slog.

yeeup, hump day aint over still a bit of juice left to squeeze out of this one. I'll add a bit of lime.. it is 'you're'. Sorry, when it is internet insults, grammatically correct just goes a long way. Judge Roy Bean is new to me but i dont have any words to say about that guy - what a life. only in 'merika

juicy reading for humpday. keep it comin folks if you ever get tired of being Dane you could always transition to Gandalf or Nicodemus (rats of NIMH). You've just got that presence here on cc, in this youngin's eyes. hehe

rosy crowned finch not the best, not the worst. i only have 3x zoom and was about 20ft away or so. taken 2011 on middle sister, oregon