Water

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

#1 looks like oregon blackbear #2 looks more like alaska stream to me. guess its that way or the other!

you are such a troll with your walmart tent talk. I am flying to michigan tonight for my wedding this weekend and would like to give you a punch in the face. just kidding, promise. your consistent walmart pup tent talk and arguing with people actually cracks me up. My only thought about gear comes from a thru-hike on the AT when twin brothers (Brian and Glynn) (we just thought it was Glenn with a drawl until we saw it spelled out) from west virginia or georgia were also thru hiking. 1 had an ospray pack, the other an army surplus ALICE pack or something. They carried lots of canned food, a can opener like you have at home, thick heavy rope for bear line, heavy sleep pads, and a heavy army surplus wool blanket they slept on together. They hiked in off brand athletic shoes. Basically their gear was dirt cheap since they couldn't afford jack. Their aunt had bought them the Osprey pack--they came from hard background parents ran out on them or died or something. but those two guys had the best attitude and were very positive and made all the miles as everyone else and never complained one iota about their gear. Just thinking of them put me in my place if a bunch of us were at a shelter talking about how we didn't like the cut of our neodynium uber bla bla fabric uberlightweight.

with the advent of pre-holed jeans and paying top dollar for a 'distressed' look, my friends and I have often joked we would start a line of outdoor climbing gear and outer-wear to hit this demographic. Now you can have the look of a dirt-bag hardman climber without having to do the work: dinged, bent, burred, and worn biners dirty rope with frays and core shots busted harnesses fixed with overhang knots rain jacket with dirt in arms, fire singes, half-assed looking repair to a few strategically placed rips boots with no tread, or laces pants with only threads on the butt from glissading crampons with bent spikes/broken spikes pre-hit helmet (looks like you made it through 24hrs of huddling under steel cliffs during a heat wave) ice ax with huge dings and slight cracks in shaft ... have not yet moved into the sleeping bags or tent/stove hard goods area, but we felt the above could really sell a certain image to a certain crowd, if $150 jeans with holes ripped in them is our baseline

not just you. took me a few. categories hidden in with the prizes: Alpine $330 AAI Gift Cert* Cragging $120 PMS and $120 Backcountry Gear Gift Cert Scenic $330 AAI Gift Cert* Skiing/Boarding $330 AAI Gift Cert* Bouldering 6 month pass to Seattle Bouldering Project valued at $432 Ice $250 PMS Gift Cert Humor $120 PMS Gift Cert

is a NW forest pass required to park at a road that has been gated? doesn't it need to meet 2 or 3 out of a set number of criteria (like developed parking, picnic table, portojohn, etc).?

scheissami: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1021295

how can i get photos in a gallery to show up full size. i can see the resolution dimensions and the size of the medium sized, and the large.........it says click to see larger but this is never an option.

Trip: Middle Sister, Oregon - Hayden Glacier Date: 6/5/2011 Trip Report: Was suppose to climb Middle with my friend Al. Posted a message here just to clarify about roping on Hayden. Lo and behold got a message from another individual that was aiming solo for middle via hayden, that weekend. Al calls me friday afternoon to tell me his work has shafted him and he cannot go. So, Paul and I make plans to meet around 7,000ft a bit beyond treeline, Saturday around noon. Good place to meet someone for the first time. Paul staked out nice spot that had melted off. Beautiful day. Started getting high overcast partly cloudy with occasional blue sky windows, while looking menacing to the south. This was how the weather would remain for the weekend. Spent the rest of saturday shooting the shiz about life and swigging some blackberry brandy Paul kindly brought along. In bed around 8, slept an extra hour, up at 4:30. High overcast kept the heat in, mush snow from the first step beyond camp. I snowshoed all the way to the col, Paul donned his mid-way up. After that we just threw on the pons in case we needed them. There was some ice-blocks a bit under a few inches of snow in a few places but nothing much really. the slightest bit more firm in the final 1000ft. use ax and a pole, could have probably been fine with poles if that is your comfort level. little bit of balling on way down. cramps off at the saddle. a more serious pursuit--north from somewhere near the top of middle: back home in portland in time to watch dallas mavericks lose a close one. Mucho thanks to the couple who ended up camped by us, but who had done the saw-work on a lot of the fresh blowdown on the trail--you did a bang-up job. muchos thanks for the internet to meet a new friend and climbing partner with less than 24hr notice at 7k in the wilderness. Approach Notes: short and sweet for nice views

awesome job! ski down thayer... dropped in really from just below the summit? *bows* that impresses me! thanks for the updates from both of you. last weekend just looking at north from middle had me quaking--cloudy night and snow was mush from the first step onto it from camp--never crusted over. looked very rimed up as well.

yes, lots of rental options in portland--i dont think anywhere actually close to the mnt though: the mountain shop oregon mountain community (i think) rei have you used crampons but not an ice ax? I think crampons are liable to give you more issues than an ice ax as far as having a piece of equipment and not knowing how to use it properly. An ice ax won't cause you to trip, fall, or gore yourself just in trying to use it to go up or down (generally speaking). Crampons can have a host of issues from attachment, to balling, to snagging yourself, etc. personally my thought on st. helens is that by this time of year, you've got maximum daylight and sun angle, so, unless you are trying to be at the top at sunrise, you probably won't need crampons at all. The traction that MSR denali snowshoes you rent have is pretty damn good for St. Helen's slope angle, imho. Having the heel lift bar/feature is great too and i think is on all the REI rentals at least. That feature alone is nice even if the snow isn't so soft, since it gives you that advantage in your legs. whatever boots you'd wear in the winter on the east coast will do just fine on st helens, I'd say.

thanks for the report with all the pictures. good to see it. congrats a smooth and relatively easy summit and return. score a win for that last picture with the skis underwater in a creek! hehe

iceaxe23 you have fun going there when weather fronts/disturbances are specifically are predicted to come through? hehe. hope you finally catch a wrong forecast and get good conditions.

nice pics. the word audacity comes to mind. sounds like you have unfinished business on the west side? with it being the hottest day of the year and near-solstice sun angle, my mojo for routes that shed rime and rock drops quicker than any chunks off of hood. glad you made it back in one piece!

if you search the forums you can find a lot of advice about the route and gear required. Why don't you email your instructor, or go get a climbing book with route description (as a BCEP student you can go to the library there and read read read!), or even ask an assistant for advice? That is where I would start first for yourselves. My opinion is based off a very little window of a few sentences from you, but reading, it sounds like you need to learn more about the route and while you could muddle your way up and down okay, more research and practice on something like adams/south sister in snow.. a bit more, before hood, would serve you well. Just a consideration ie: you dont place any ice screws to go up the dog southside route...

Good to hear it on the big 10! glad they brought their school spirit up high too. so.. did they break it down for you and leave it there? or steal it down too? i can totally understand the night events now - given time of night, day of drinking. Not like joe blow walks up and takes something from a pack in front of everyone and nobody says hoot. Very very interesting situation---imagine the story that guy is telling any of his friends, or if he is bizzaro loner... the story in his own head.. of getting up to muir late and using someone elses tent... then taking it down the next morning and slinking off! camp-break of shame, haha. Maybe shelter was more full than they wanted and they made an assumption like it was a guide tent or something? one can only wonder. thanks for the clarification. and boohoo there is pee behind the shelter. how many extra feet are people going to have to walk? sounds brutal. how much piss do you (ready2climb) think ends up at camp muir in general all over in the snow? piss is sterile, UV radiation is plentiful, and between rain and melt it will be gone soon enough.

honest two cents, low chances you'll find a more experienced climber willing to 'lead' or join your team--unless it is someone from your BCEP class like an assistant or something. That said, sounds like you have a nice 4 person group who has some experience in the mountains in summer and winter--sounds like you'd be a good team to go up the 4 of you. If you need advice about the route and other factors, you can probably get that just fine here. cheers

was a great time. My primary partner ended up getting shafted at work and wasn't able to come. by chance from having posted here someone send me a msg with some info and they had same weekend plans--so we met up at 7k and had ourselves a great climb. I think we'll do a TR in a bit. Now know the mention of steepness-but I found it to be enjoyable-quite nice, glad to have finally mounted all three of those ladies. I had guessed as much that the route had crazy snow over any glacier features but just wanted to bounce the confirmation from anyone more in the know. thanks everyone for the feedback. looking forward to taking my friend out there when his work gives him the time. he'll love it. cheers

looks like a blast! awesome for sure. brawts at altitude sounds uber-primo!!! now, wtf.... a tent squatter? nobody went over to investigate????? nobody else needed the tent???? someone planning on staying in shelter who went for tent instead? so weird! btw whos got that michigan mug in the cheers photo? go blue!

thanks for feedback. i think we'll just bring the rope stuff and can mess around a bit in camp and as you said, good place to practice. i agree from everything i have viewed staying at that crest/ridge of the glacier on the north I have not see cracks going across it really--yes down to the northern edge and more to the south but not high. clarification: upper section above prouty point--you mean just getting from the col onto middle's north ridge or from hayden up to the col? either way i guess we'll see it if its such. cheers