cascadesdj

What an inspiring excellent adventure! Ahhh, the West!

I'm 62 and have messed up back (multiple times), knees, neck, shoulder. Still climbing, though. Things got better when I quit road biking all the time (that position just ain't right, despite being "fitted" on the bike) and when I started a light weights program. I don't lift heavy, just fairly light weights and lots of reps. Eat right, use common sense and get lots of rest if things start hurting. At our age, you're probably better already!

You take some of the best pics! Keep 'em coming, it's inspiring to look at your TRs.

Nevermind drips a lot in the rain.

Funny but it's the rich WA Democrat fat-cats who are voting themselves and their staffs tax-payer funded college educations at the expense of running necessary services like the State Parks system. A good point. The Dems also bear some responsibility, but it's the repubs who are trying to do the impossible in a very intransigent way--balance the budget purely starve the government agenda. We need to look at the revenue side at least as much as the spending side. There's no other way.

heading up there next week. Thanks for the great stoke.

And how many of you voted for the income tax in WA last November? It was to be assessed only on the rich, and was a minor marginal rate tax (applied on income over a certain level, not on all income). The people in this state were suckered into voting it down. The rich already get a great deal in federal income tax. The highest marginal fed rate is now 35% (thanks republicans and bush). 50 years ago it was 90%! And if you don't work for a living and just live on investment income, you only pay 15%! That's why the richest 400 Americans pay an average rate almost identical to mine, and they make an average of $341 million per year! Real fair, huh. So don't complain if you don't vote or voted against the income tax on the rich in WA last year. This society is losing all kinds of amenities and necessities because the treasury is being starved by the rich repubicans who have figured out how to game the system (big $ contributions to the gop) and the dems are too wimpy to spell it all out and fight for what's right. Wake up, or it's just going to get worse.

Me too! +10 on this comment. As for IB, I don't really see how it was ruined, as stated earlier. Don't like it? Don't climb it! It's been a helluva adventure for hundreds (thousands?) the past few years.

Those B&W photos are true classics.

Anyone have any more details? http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/theblotter/2015289564_climber.html

Sounds like a testosterone contest to me. If it makes you both feel any better, I bet I can't climb either one of your guys' routes.

Now that is one of the worst insults I've ever read!

Anybody care to give directions to this crag? Or is this one of those "secret gems"?

Don't do Cathedral on a busy weekend, and if you do it at all, get an early start. We were the second group on the route and it was still a circus to the point of being distinctly unpleasant at times. That unpleasantness included a party behind us cursing over and over for everyone above to hurry up and a large dropped cam from the first highest party that went clanging and bouncing all the way down the route. Also, surprisingly, a few loose boulders sitting on ledges high up in places. It did, as mentioned above, have a nice approach, descent, views, etc.

What a great read and great pics! Thanks for the vicarious adventure.

75 degrees and dry all day today at Frenchman Coulee! Perfect climbing day.

Statistically, Vantage is probably the driest climbing venue in the NW, although I've been rained out there about 3 or 4 times in the past 15 years.

And where are Salmon and Frenches? Sorry, I often don't know where places are if the writer gives no clue.

I've got a stack of old climbing and rock and ice mags going back to the mid 90s. We are cleaning out closets and ready to get rid of them--free giveaway. I live in Roslyn but come west often enough that I could arrange to meet somewhere if anyone's interested. 509.260. 0920 Doug

You give the gear back. It's not yours. You did not buy it. Twice, I've found gear and gone to considerable effort to locate the owners and returned the gear via mail. That's no big saintly deal, just the right thing to do if you did not buy the stuff. That's just the way I look at it. It doesn't matter if the guys made mistakes, etc. Hey, it's a short time on this earth. Try to make it better. I think the "booty" is otherwise somewhat tainted. Just another opinion.

Trip: Mt. Triumph (bailed, stormed out) - Date: 7/22/2010 Trip Report: My son Dylan offered to schlep me up Triumph, and I was not to refuse. I've been drooling over the books with the 5.6 looming large in my imagination. We hiked into the bivy on the ridge on Wednesday, 7/21, enjoying the spectacular views of the Devils Mountains to the south, Eldo to the east, and, near the bivy, Triumph and the Pickets. the approach sucks, as Lower Thornton Lakes not an appealing destination for the alpinist--low, woodsy, buggy, etc. It all gets better when you get to the second lake and start up the steep slopes to the col. there is lots af snow around the glacier on the east side of Triumph--no slab walking below the glacier this time this year. We awoke to whiteout fog, blowing winds, and drizzle mixed with hard rain at times. We were not set up for climbing in that, as we were expecting bluebird days, as predicted by multiple weather reports. We got the one day in 2 weeks on which the conditions up high sucked. Oh well, we'll be back. The route looked very appealing from the bivy at the col. iPhone pics: That's Dylan at the TH. Middle Thornton Lake Pickets from the col (bivy area) The route is the obvious right ridge, and you have to cross the glacier in front. There is a lot more snow that I've seen some of the photos of this place.

Ballsy. Who's the lady singer and what's the song?

Last weekend moderate to extreme avi danger was predicted! Careful!

Nice pix with some great lighting.

Good work, son (Dylan). We're proud of you! You've come a long way from Slug Rock in '94! Mom and Dad