Water

Just to chime in from the 'fat person' perspective. I was in the best shape I'd been in since finishing an Appalachian thru hike in 07 when I fell a mere 3-4 foot climbing the day after Christmas in 2013. I ended up needing surgery, and only in the last month have I started "hiking" again (6 miles).. I'm not really in bad shape, prob lost 4 lbs of muscle gained 7lbs of fat. But everything has gone better than average for me. This year has actually been pretty wonderful for the car-camping experience. A wedding two weekends ago at the learning center on lake diablo I was relegated to measly pyramid lake hike. I have a lot of sympathy and compassion for those who are not able, this injury could have very well been the end of pain free walking. So...maybe there are already more than enough "accessible" places and we don't need to make the last few remaining spots conform to car culture--but please have just a smidge of sensitivity for many many people who are not fully able bodied through no direct fault of their own.

Hope I didn't sound like an ass in questioning your route choice, not my intention. Sounds like you've been getting out a lot since your posts this spring--that's great! If you like rainier I'll have to just plug 'the book', by Mike Gauthier (Gator), previous lead climb ranger, http://www.amazon.com/Mount-Rainier-Climbing-Guide-Edition/dp/0898869560 It has route info up the wazoo, routes overlayed on photographs, all the 'deets' you need. great book. two TRs that start at Comet Falls TH. Take a look at a map, you'll see the trail up to van trump park, from there just follow least resistance, veering more towards wilson than kautz. I haven't done it but would guess based on the contours and such you'd hit the 'regular' path up around 8200-8600? Consider a call into the rangers as well/ask when you register. http://www.ericsbasecamp.net/trips/Kautz/Kautz.htm http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=493589

Go up via van trump park by way of Comet Falls TH. No glacier crossing down low. Nate I see you posted in the forums earlier that you are relatively new to climbing as of this year and were looking to take some type of RMI/AAI training. You've investigated the Kautz route, especially at this time of year? I don't mean to poo poo if you are solid for it but I probably wouldn't recommend doing this route now if this is your 'first' time climbing. Get up Adams, St. Helens in the winter.. Hood in the spring.. all great test pieces to get you dialed in for Rainier.

bumping this. Great resource. Don't have to donate $25 either.. I threw him some cash earlier in the year. For those who cannot live in the mountains, a high quality HDR shot updated every few minutes with the click of a button helps keep the sanity..

awesome! Maybe I should peg that for my 35th.. I'm a bit surprised there is still plentiful snow on the traverse, this being a warm hot summer..with rain events in a non-banner snow year, though I suppose snowfall at 9k+ was probably not hit. thank's for sharing. Bummer about the crampons/beers..had that happen once, a real shame. Cheers and happy belated birthday!

took me a second..when I saw tech and ski I was thinking ski crampon and at first was trying to figure how this 'screwed' or clipped into the ski. Novel idea..thanks for sharing. I like the idea behind it.. do wonder about torquing forces--if you would get any unusual slot-wear where the pins go in---probably not tho

Rephrase: making the choice to climb it at this time of year (south side at least) is generally done from a depth of expertise or a lack thereof. If I may so graciously quote from Bill Mullee's wonderful Mt. Hood Climber's Guide: (and apologies if this is not allowed--delete/I'll remove) ---- not a forum conspiracy that most people don't climb this time of year and generally avoid it. There is anecdotal evidence (a few TRs and such) and there are trends and guidelines (book recommendations). Some characters go up in late season...this first one you linked is an anti-guide to climbing this time of year, a real 'how not to do this'. Like the instructions for installing a gas stove that begin with 'make sure the gas is on':

South ridge route on Jeff, long killer scree but beautiful and solitaire. North sister more burly navigation but right time of year to scramble it without all the hardware. Tack on middle for extra fun. Hood, you could go for it but the only people who really climb it this time of year seem to be experts or idiots, not trying to offend but that's the honest to god truth.

the pearly gates would better be called the fecal chutes about this time of year--i was showing a friend the lodge and took a look with binocs--it looked pretty nasty and dirty up there--and melted. Though there were signs of ski tracks.. this is not the ideal time of year to climb, to be clear--most hood climbers would say it is done with right now. most. not all.

to reiterate I've had my corolla back some pretty bad roads--40kms up canadian mining and logging roads, down miles and miles of washboard, dirt roads where I've spanned a many-foot deep rut, etc. Truly almost any small city car (honda civic, fit, toyo corolla, IQ (apparently ), ford fiesta, etc etc), if driven carefully, can be taken to just about all snoparks or backwoods spots. The amount of attention and speed of driving will be a factor, as will the ease (AWD vs putting on chains..etc).. My personal experience is small cars can do about 98% of what a brand new subu outback can do as far as getting to the trailhead (or as close as possible). Gear storage, ease of driving (AWD is nice..), lack of worrying about hearing a scrape, etc are other factors. But getting to the TH.. If a small car can't do it driven with some skill, you probably want/need a truck or jeep.

http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/tnb-death-on-forbidden-peak-was-the-nps-complicit?A=SearchResult&SearchID=2435575&ObjectID=4250920&ObjectType=35 http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1112476/1

Hear great stuff about Honda Fit.. An old corolla has been our city and woods vehicle for a long time. Though not sure corolla is as competitive for cost these days.

Definitely get that it is your opinion. But if it is based on logic then if you did liberty ridge 10 times and never saw ice or rockfall you'd say that's a safe route? What route on the mountain would you recommend? Only Emmons? DC has not just observed plenty of ice fall but also had the worst accident in the history of the mountain when 11 people died on the Ingraham due to ice fall.

superb route and a great write-up! We hit it last year july 22nd and I thought descending the DC was far and away the most dangerous aspect. Having not been on it before it seemed crazy to me that it is the dog route--kautz seemed so much safer overall. One part I liked was being able to look over and see the tracks going up to muir and all the action over there from high on the turtle, definitely hear you about seeing things from a diff perspective. great write up, dig the route drawn and such at high res--that is always nice to have, esp helpful for those who are researching/not done it before. cheers small clarification: Kautz glacier/chute is the route you did. The Kautz Ice Cliff is actually the ~vertical ice cliff above Hazard (which apparently has been/gets climbed). See Gator's Rainier book for details.

i am ted turner and rupert murdoch's love child. PM me the details right now and it will be on the AM news shows coast to coast tomorrow morning. seriously amigo, you apparently already know of Oregon Field Guide, Backpacker Magazine, and the Mazamas. http://mazamas.org/about-us/contact-us/ http://www.opb.org/about/contactus/newsroom/ <--here is your starting point. They'd be a great org to get in touch with. You're hoping one of us on a lark has Gary E. Knell on speed dial? Sorry but the number of cranks who've popped on here for a minute, a day, a week.. to talk about their epic e-mountaineering plans or epic experience and then are never heard from again. The cave is cool. I'm sure you found something cool out there. No need for all the backstory and buts/coulds/whens, if it is as impressive as you say, it will get a feature like the sandy glacier ice caves or more. it doesn't matter one iota if it is first revealed in a forum like this or the cover of nat geo--if it is worthy on its own it'll get all the attention it needs. good luck, you're highly unlikely to get anything more than the same loop of suggestion. Unless you're going to post more actual info you'll probably feel antagonized if you keep coming here and replying, not to discourage you from enjoying this fine website.. (but it sounds like you have a very busy summer ahead of you). I'll be stoked when I actually learn about what it is you found. I'm stoked when someone posts a TR, not when someone asks for beta or tells of how they plan to do something impressive.

sounds cool (and very vague--lots of backstory, nil details on the geologic aspect), but why do i feel like: talk to field guide, reach out to mazamas--you dont have to be a member to give a slide show. But you'll have to show them some goods before they're going to spend much time entertaining this. You could also register a website domain that describes the place "diamondcraterOR.com" or whatever and just write your own version of everything up there and disclose that you're the discoverer, be the authoritative source. That route can be done for $20~ or so.

that face/red ridge from lewis tarn up to the crater often has bare rock as early as june.. I would be shocked if you couldn't get from the bottom of the lewis up to the crater rim by staying solely on rock.

if you're asking, it is probably too late.. Call me crazy but I don't really touch it past mid June myself.. then again it is in the backyard. Maybe later if it was a banner snow year (this year was not).. I am sure you can find people who will talk about conditions and climbing it through the end of September but frankly it is much better suited to climbing through late spring, and not mid to late summer—as a general trend.

Elliott glacier, if you can drive up to cloud cap on hood. You can find your first option of tiny crack in bfe elsewhere in the state.

canisters after 11pm? find a 24hr big fred meyer or a walmart maybe? you are not officially allowed to sleep in your vehicle at the overflow/climbers lot at Paradise, but i think on any given night during climbing season it happens. I've stayed there 3/3 climb times... I have never heard of someone being booted out but you should be discrete. not sure about sign in, that is always a cluster** having to plan your climb start to their arbitrary times. edit: you might find a gracious soul here who will pick some canisters up for you during biz hours and let you pick them up and you could reward them with a 'beer fee' for their troubles--i'm in PDX so no help but its worth a shot.

great webcam to see Mt. Adams in all its glory — and great is an understatement! Mt. Adams

same.. i'd had the 'ebook' on my phone for a few weeks now and that was 'cool' and all but the book arrived today.... how did this not exist before now? DAMN what a fine job you did Bill, and all contributing authors/photographers!! This thing is going to be a hood bible--as much info is at the finger-tips on the net these days, it doesn't touch the value of a book like this. she's a beaut', clark!

see a good therapist. probably can hunt around and find someone who has dealt with people who have had traumatic experiences of a physical nature (not necessarily abuse at the hands of another--etc--but came across a body in the woods, car crash, almost drowned surfing, fell out of a tree, etc). side notes: having fear, being nervous, very healthy. If it leaves you fried though, not relaxed--consider new hobby. My father was in the crawl space under his home a number of years ago--he had crawled (truly tight space, wiggle-crawl through labyrinth of twists and turn) about 40ft back to a corner to deal with some maintenance thing. His wife was upstairs and had the stereo on loud. Headlamp went out no spare light. total darkness could not see light from entrance. Was yelling and yelling but stuck for 20 minutes or something until his wife heard him and shined very bright light near the entrance to help guide him back. two years later we're driving down a rutted forest service road in the evening in november and come around a bend to see a landslide has blocked the road entirely (happened a few hours earlier). I say "oh, I'll back up and turn arou--" my pops jumps out of the back seat mid sentence saying "I'll find us one!". I park it and my wife and I get out and say "what the heck??" -- he'd had a total reverted panic attack to feeling trapped in that crawl space. was very interesting. and side side note, part of why I climb is the austere and dispassionate beauty. To look into the maw of the mountain, the mountain, like a smell, is nothing but a canvas. Shit does not objectively stink any more than flowers are a pleasant fragrance, they both merely stimulate olfactory receptors—the the breadth of a landscape, of the mountain, the power witnessed, is seeing a deepest part of ourselves painted upon it. When cognizant that a misstep is the difference between life or death, for me, mortality can be more accessibly contemplated--the usual response is a deep-seated striving for survival and life. Indifference would indicate something is amiss, or that you have achieved an enlightened state.

Jake, Just going on your AK location listing...but not sure what you've climbed before but I'm thinking yes, you'll be fine with hikers and strap-on crampons. There is no real ice climbing or need to front point--there will be a boot pack. If your brother never climbs I could see roping up but frankly the 'dangerous' section is only about 500ft and it is normally teeming with hordes of people. 97 times out of 100 a rope would be a total encumberment and hazard imo. Here's last year on a May weekend:

you can drive to cold springs for a couple weeks now. snow starts just above that is my understanding: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=31949.0