KevinC71

A warning to anyone thinking of camping in their car at the Snow Lake trailhead. A friend was sleeping in his vehicle at the trailhead this past weekend. He was startled in the middle of the night when a group of guys first tried to break into the vehicle parked next to him then his vehicle. He chased them off to a waiting SUV and they didn't come back. I can't say if this was a chance event or not but we both think this was an organized group of thieves.

Here's what Millennium Wall looked like on Jan 1. Mostly snice and hollow ice.

The camping spots at the base of Sahale glacier were mostly snow free two weeks ago. With the recent heat should be plenty of sites to choose from.

Did the West Ridge July 2 - 3. There's still some small patches of snow as you make your way to Long John Tower but they can be avoided. We had ice axes but they were not needed. We setup our bivy just behind Long John Tower where we found pockets of snow to help rehydrate. The heat had definitely taken a toll on us so make sure you hydrate! There are still minor trickles of water in the first gully so fill up whenever possible. With the high temps the remaining snow pockets wont last much longer. We headed to the West Ridge notch in the morning and found it after some minor route finding issues. From the notch we worked our way up to a ledge just below the final pitch and after a few short pitches of off route low 5th climbing were finally made the summit. To our surprise we hadn't seen anyone else during our climb and had the summit to ourselves. We descended via Urlichs which has small patches of snow which can be avoided. When in doubt trend right. Lots of flowing water so fill up whenever possible. About 2/3 of the way down we came to a constriction and steep waterfall. We thought about rapping this section but decided it was easier to traverse skier's left for 10 minutes or so. This gave us easy access to the next gully which we followed down to the trail. Pics can be seen here: https://picasaweb.google.com/112659747688504533474/Stuart

Trip: Sahale - Sahale Arm Date: 6/27/2015 Trip Report: My wife and I left the Cascade Pass trail head about 4:30am. There was already enough light so headlamps weren't needed. About 30 minutes into hike we came across two deer on the trail. The deer were pretty stubborn and it took about 10 minutes of yelling before they moved on. The trail is snow free up to Sahale Arm where you will encounter small patches of snow that can be easily avoided. There are good water sources about half way up Sahale Arm. We reached the base of Sahale Glacier just before 8:30am. It was already starting to get very hot but the snow was in good condition so we left our crampons in our packs. Some very minor crevasses on the glacier but easily avoided so we decided not to rope up. We had intended on taking the normal scramble route up the summit block but as I kicked steps up to the right of the summit it became clear this approach wasn't going to work. There's a pretty significant cornice to deal with and given the heat and snow conditions I decided to traverse across the slope (~40 degrees) to my left. I worked my way directly under the summit block and then headed up for about 100 feet. Once on the summit block we had another 100 feet or so of class 3/4 scrambling to reach the summit. We gained the summit just before 10am after another party had rappelled down to the Boston/Sahale col. We had planned on linking up with Boston but it was too hot so we decided to head back. One 60m rappel will take you back down to just above the snow line. We had to scramble down about 10 - 15 feet but very easy. I setup another anchor (just slung a rock feature) at the top of the snow so we could rappel down the steeper section. From there it's a quick descent back to the base of the glacier. Despite the heat it was very a perfect day in the amazing north cascades! Some pictures can be seen here: https://picasaweb.google.com/112659747688504533474/Sahale Gear Notes: 60m rope, ice axe, helmet, crampons (not used), glacier gear (not used)

Cool, glad to hear you had a great climb.

It was a perfect day. Couldn't believe how warm it was on the summit just past 6am. Here's a few pictures that show our approximate route from Crater Rock to the base of the Old Chute and then our route up the chute to the narrow gully that lead us to the summit ridge. You can't see the gully in the picture but you can't miss it. There's actually two gullies you could take. The one of the left was snow filled so we went with that. The right one was half rock and half snow.

Went up the Old Chute Sunday morning. Here's some pictures. https://picasaweb.google.com/112659747688504533474/Hood# We did not go up the Hogsback and then traverse over to the old chute. Much easier to drop down to a patch of bare rock/dirt directly below the old chute and then head straight up. We climbed a small gully (~45 degrees) at the top right of the old chute which dumps you off at the summit ridge, past the short but exposed section of the ridge. Guides were short roping clients up the old chute and then belaying them up/down the small exit gully.

Sport Climbing in Malta & Gozo: A guide by Simon Alden, Jeffrey Camilleri and Stevie Haston Price: $20 This is the updated 2013 edition. ISBN: 978 99957 0 619 7 Book is in good condition. Only used on a recent climbing trip to Malta.

Has anyone been up to the Haystack on Mt Si lately? I've been debating what pro, if any, is needed to climb the Haystack this Sunday. Cheers, Kevin

See http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinC1971/MtShuksan2009#