Lodestone

those polls are are just irresponsible journalism. disregard the facts, acquire sensationalist knee jerk reaction from gawkers. Well put. Chad

Scary. I've girth-hitched horns fairly often. Thanks for posting this. It sounds like it might be worth changing my methods. Chad

That's too bad. It seems unlikely that the guy was or attempting to climb. I hope he makes it. Which reminds me, I topped out on Blueberry Jam a month ago and there were two little boys running around and playing games near the edge of the cliff. Chad

It seems that Giant's Staircase at Broughton Bluff would be a good climb for kids. Straight line, rockfall seems very unlikely, clean, brand new anchor, and setting up a TR is a cinch if you don't have a belayer. It's not that tall but I bet a lot of kids would consider that a plus. Chad

Bill, there would be a little wooden cross at the base of the cliff as a remembrance if that would have been me. Chad

Funny that you say that. I had a friend who's a nurse that said something to that effect. I don't think he was joking either. Maine-iac, I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I only carry one (and leave another at home) because of weight savings. 15 minutes would barely get me back to the car in most cases, let alone back to civilization. Chad

For better or worse, this is very true. Chad

Wait, what; why am I not allergic to bees? My face swelled up to the point of not being able to open my right eye. I don't have much 'data' to go off of but once when I was a kid I got stung twice and started to pass out on my run home. So getting stung twice (or more) has been something I've always feared. Granted, I don't know much about this stuff, the physiology, medicine, etc. Does everyone have swelling when they get stung? Chad

I was hiking up to do some climbing on Sunday when I got stung on my face. I uttered some explicatives and sprinted up the trail. Looking back I could see a dark ball of wasps(?) just above the ground. Thankfully I was able to get in a day of climbing before the swelling got really bad. Out of curiosity, anyone here ever use an epi-pen? The though of using one scares me but I carry one just in case. Chad

Trip: Clackamas River Watershed - Coethedral Date: 7/30/2011 Trip Report: The somewhat adventurous nature of Coethedral and what seems to be an annual pilgrimage seems to warrant a trip report. The approach is not too rigorous although there are several newly fallen trees over the trail. Where’s the Beacon Rock tree cutter when you need him? I marked the trail with flagging tape as finding it at the slash pile can be a bit tricky. I had high hopes of creating a new climb that I narrowly missed working on last fall. Sometimes though, things don’t work out as planned. Climbing up the first one-and-a-half pitches of Bewitched allowed me to rappel into a suitable location for a new anchor. Rappelled in, cleaned a little, coughed from breathing some vaporized yellow lichen and started TR soloing. Holly crap, this thing is flaking off like an onion. Disappointingly, I could barely make it through this exfoliation to the sweet grapefruit section that reminded me of Lake Tahoe’s Candyland. I ended up working my way to the top but my performance was quite ugly. Rightfully so, I think that Josh was getting tired of my dangling around on a fixed line. We moved over to Excalibur. This thing is excellent! Above this, we ended up climbing the second(?) pitch of Trench Warfare before rappelling to terra firma. In an effort to maximize our time we moved over to the right side of the Coethedral formation to sample some of the (shaded) half-pitch climbs. I didn’t take any pictures but we climbed Rad Plaid and Glad and finally Runaway Weasel. Both mellow, fun climbs. Chad

I imagine the climbing is pretty good in Miami..

I'm sorry to hear this. We have a few Nates in the Portland climbing community. Would somebody mind cluing me in. I have an idea but don't want to speculate. Chad

There's a Hurricane drill being auctioned off on eBay right now. Ten hours until closing. http://cgi.ebay.com/Hurricane-Mountain-Works-Hand-Drill-w-bolts-Climb-/320727094742?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aacd315d6 Chad

See you guys out there. Chad

Awesome! Chad

Hey Ben There's a local climber who has written a very nice, comprehensive guide to Rocky Butte. The place is covered in Portland Rock Climbs (http://www.portlandrockclimbs.com/portland-rock-climbs). I'll stop and say hello if I ever see you soloing out there. Chad

Wow, that tempting and I don't even need a set. Maybe if they had the off-set Master cams for half off... Chad

I drove by there at around 6:30pm today and was surprised to not see any cars there. Chad

There's been a recall issued on some Grigri 2's. More informatin can be found here: http://www.petzl.com/us/page/recall-replacement-grigri-2-0 Chad

I've never heard of Otto and I'm pretty familiar with Broughton Bluff. What wall is it on? Chad

Similar situation here. I've free-soloed climbs occasionally. I'm also dealing with elbow tendinitis. Neither are related. Chad

The weather is looking kind of iffy for the weekend. If it ends up being dry, Ozone Wall, the Farside/Dropzone, and Broughton Bluff are nice places for cragging. The first two are in WA and Broughton is in OR. All are west of Hood River and are quick to get to. Horsethief Butte misses a lot of Portland's rain, so you could head out there for some bouldering and short routes. Chad

Woohoo, so excited about the book. Thanks for all your hard work Tim. Chad

I don't know what to say except that it's a crying shame that a young guy perished out there. Here's a little bit of info on the accident: http://northeastportland.katu.com/news/public-spaces/climber-rocky-butte-falls-and-dies/440459 Does anyone have any more information? I think Joseph was probably right when he said that Rocky Butte is the most dangerous place to climb in Portland. Chad

It was nice to meet you out there today Kevin. Great day. Chad