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I want to be on the summit after sunset and before sunrise for photography purposes. I'd also like to get a good night's sleep flat on my back and in a small solo tent to stave off bugs. I'll be loaded down with camera gear and don't want to carry overnight gear higher than necessary. How high can I go and still find a flat spot to camp next week?

And as an addendum to gene, nothing wild about finding the remaining gear/tat from "traditional" rappel anchors... I agree. If you have to use gear to build a rap anchor then leaving it behind is unavoidable, but most tat I find consists of slings wrapped around trees or rocks. You can avoid leaving slings behind by using a long "closed" sling draped over a rock or tree trunk, like you're going to girth hitch it, but don't. Loop the rope through the two loops at the ends, and tie a tag line to one of the loops, or even an end of the rope you're rapping with if it is long enough, and then you can pull the sling. LNT.

First of all I want to say that my heart goes out to everyone involved in this tragedy, especially the family of the deceased and for the fellow who apparently lost control of the rope. There, but for the grace of God, go I. May we all take his pain to heart and reaffirm our commitment to rappel safely. No matter how convenient or fast simul-rapping might be, you are ceding control for your safety to someone else. You also do that if you fall while being belayed, or if you are being lowered under top rope, but you have no choice under those circumstances, other than to not participate. Here you have an easy choice. Don't simul-rap. Simul-rapping adds complexity to an already dangerous activity.

Nice to finally put a face to your name Wayne. I've enjoyed your TRs for years. I recognize you in your pics because my son and I were on Burros Might Fly while you and your gal were on Burros Don't Gamble. We both remarked on how good you guys were on rock - fun to watch. I'm lucky to have a son who wants to share his spring break with me. We went to RR for spring break two years ago as well. What a great place to escape the cold and lots of nice people to boot.

All good points. The biggest value to me of the inReach Explorer is the peace of mind it gives family members. I travel solo almost exclusively and I like the freedom to wander and make changes to a pre-determined plan. I can do all this and still have my location and status updated so that others can access it, without my having to think much about it. Two other nice features... -Two inReaches can communicate with each other (never used this) - Weather forecasts. I have used both the free forecast and the more detailed forecast. It takes a few minutes at most to get a forecast once you have submitted a request.

Suppose you are carrying a standard PLB that does not have a tracking feature and you are injured and cannot activate the PLB, or you are injured and immobile and activate it, but the signal is not received because you are shielded from satellites (cliff, forest, whatever). Then what? Eventually people will realize you need assistance, but how will they find you? If you had been carrying an inReach with tracking on, all they have to do is go to the web and see your trail. I understand that Iridium is not the military satellite network, but it works everywhere. During a recent outing after a minor emergency occured (no injuries) I was able to text details to a family member using an inReach Explorer (not paired to anything) from inside a tent in pouring rain in a treed area - not a dense forest, but I was surrounded by leafed-out trees, including overhead. PLBs are supposed to have a stronger transmit signal, but once again, if you cannot activate it, or if it's blocked, you're screwed. I don't carry a Smartphone so I can't speak to the pairing feature, I will say that texting from the inReach Explorer keypad is slow and tedious if you are creating a custom text, and not using a pre-created message. It takes a while to get used to, but it is pretty nice to be able to communicate with someone from a remote location anywhere in the world, and I like knowing that if I need assistance and cannot activate the SOS, people will at least have a very good idea where I am. If the inReach's signal is not blocked, they will know exactly where I am.

Snow Dragon collapsed a year ago. http://glacierhub.org/2015/04/07/hot-winter-collapses-mt-hood-ice-cave/ Here's what it looked like August, 2016

I took a Mountaineering First Aid (MFA) course through the Mazamas some years ago and was pleased with what I got vs. time spent. It is somewhere between WFA and WFR. I think it was 5 evenings of 3 hr. class/practice and then a weekend in the field, with lots of hands on simulations. You didn't have to be a member of the Mazamas to take the course. Maybe Mountaineers has something similar?

If you are putting up new trad routes in the backcountry, I encourage you to not create bolted anchors for belay and rappel stations. Trad climbing used to mean traditional climbing, which entailed building your own anchors. Leave it wild for the next person.

And they need to be sharp. Don't overlook this.

Got my answer. Thanks.

Great trip and thanks for the report! How much snow is left in the Cascadian Couoloir? I've never seen the steep section at the top steeper than 50 deg. Was it steeper than that? Is it still an easy decent on snow the rest of the way down the couloir?

I do too and I still am not comfortable rapping on tied ropes. Even an EDK has been known to roll. Some good info here... EDK knot testing Instant Death Knot - the Figure Eight I HATE continually hearing of rapping accidents. So sad and so tragic.

Just to be clear, it sounds like you are creating short bights at the end of the runner, when really the knots should be much closer together to avoid extension if one of the pieces of pro should fail.

road-kill deer?

Probably a good time to remind folks that this is a wilderness area and drones are explicitly outlawed. No Drones! NO DRONES!!! NO DRONES! NO DRONES! NO DRONES!

Because it's the law and that's what the people of Oregon want. We've voted on this twice and I voted with the majority. Why? Because I don't like to get out and pump my own gas. Gas stinks. It gets on my hands. It's cold outside. It's warm in my car. And please don't tell me that if self-serve is made legal in Oregon you can still find a station that will pump for you. Really?

Not true, Mazamas basic course registration starts next Tuesday... www.mazamas.org

Goodness, folks seem a little uptight. I think I just posted my first spray. Does this count? Is this spray?

Goodness, folks seem a little uptight.

and so do the French! I was skiing on Hood some years ago and happened upon Matthias Giraud and friends waiting for him to ski off Mississippi Head. They had been waiting for two hours for a helicopter which was going to film the event. I showed up and was there maybe all of two minutes and the heli appeared and off he went. I couldn't see the landing from my viewpoint - just saw him fly off the cliff and throw out his drogue shoot. Crazy! BTW that video is just sickening to watch.

Yes, except for the canyons. White River Canyon and big and little Zig Zag canyons. Also I've seen people skin/hike right up the middle of Salmon River Canyon just above the upper parking lot - a classic terrain trap.

+100 This is true, but here's a navigation tip if you make this error... If the visibility is even ten feet (it can be zero) you can actually use this feature as a navigation aid. In actuality if you follow the fall line you will likely encounter Big or Little Zig Zag Canyon, instead of Mississippi Head, which is several hundred yards to the north. Where people usually get in trouble is they drop down into one of those canyons, then continue west down into the trees and eventually get cliffed out. Instead, when you reach the corniced edge of either canyon, go south (skiers left) perpendicular to the fall line. If you are on skis just stay on as shallow a line as possible and you will hit the lift station at the bottom of the Magic Mile ski run. I should add that if you are on skis in very poor visibility I have found it is better to just stop and not move if you think the visibility will soon improve (visibility often comes and goes during a storm) as continuing on slowly and blindly risks falling into a blowhole.

Land mines are only off-piste. Stay on groomed trails like the signs say and you'll be fine.

Probably because if they let the loggers build their own roads, we would end up with bulldozer tracks filled with rock that would wash out and create far worse problems as soon as the loggers had vanished.