invinciblejj

The snowy section is really short. Nothing is needed for it. Just some kicked steps if they are not already there. Should only take a minute or two to cross. Hope that helps. JJ

Trip: South Sister - Sleeping up top - Climbers Trail 36 Date: 9/1/2011 Trip Report: Last week when the weather cooled off quite a bit a buddy and I decided to tackle the South Sister. While it is more of a glorified hike this time of year. We added some spice by planning on sleeping on the summit and coming down the next day. We ended up heading out on Thursday September 1st at 12:30 and made good time up. Our packs were not too heavy, about 25 pounds each. The route was mostly rock but there was one 100 foot section of snow that was not difficult to cross. Getting to the crater rim took us roughly 5 1/2 hours. We set up camp in one of the wind breaks on the rim, choosing the one on the eastern side. The wind was blowing about 20 mph and kept that up all night long. It was not too cold and actually got warmer throughout the night. I could tell because I got out to use the restroom and tighten down a loud tent during the night. I was smoky from the fires when we went to bed but clear when we awoke. We could see up to Mt. Rainier in Washington and Mt. Shasta in California. We messed around a bit on the summit in the morning and heading down around 10. It took us 3 hours to get down and we passed 50+ people going up. Overall it was a fun trip even though I did not get as much sleep as I like. If you want to read a more thorough trip report with a list of some of the gear I took with me, it is at my site here: YMMV Reviews

Good to hear I am not the only one going without any sleep. Altitude has been hit and miss with me up until now. I have done Adams twice and the South Sister. I guess it was just more of a hit than miss this time. Other than my stomach, my legs and strength were great. Thanks for the kind comments.

Trip: Mt. Hood - South Side - Old Crater Variation Date: 6/25/2011 Trip Report: This is my first post on here. I have been a long time lurker using this forum to get updates on conditions for my trips. The help has been much appreciated. I have written up a longer version of this trip report on my own site if interested: YMMV Reviews http://ymmvreviews.com/adv/mt-hood-climb/. This was my first trip up Mt. Hood and I had been planning it all spring. The other 3 guys I was going with did not have a lot of experience so we decided to take the standard route to the top. Friday night ahd a favorable forecast with a lower freezing level and gusty winds dying down after midnight. I know a lot of people climb Mt. Hood but I was still suprised by the amount of people I saw on the mountain. We all had to work on Friday and we were not able to get any sleep before heading to the mountain. For next time we know we need some sleep before going. We got to the mountain at about 11:15 and started hiking around midnight. We were all a little envious of those taking the Snow-Cat's up. The snow was nice and crusty and made for good hiking up to the Palmer Lift. The wind was blowing pretty solid so we wanted to keep moving to stay warm. Up from the cat-track we tried to follow other steps in the snow and looked for headlamps above. After descending in the morning we found out we could have taken a more direct route than we did. One of the fellas had to bail on us around 7,000 feet and another one did at Devil's Kitchen. I myself was not doing well with the altitude and I felt worse every time I got a big whiff of sulfur. We continued up from Devil's Kitchen with our Ice Axes out and followed the throngs of people. The morning had broken nice and clear and all the features I had studied and read about we now in my view. On top of the hogsback you could see the bergschrund was open and I did not think there was much space for my climbing partner to arrest if he need to if we climbed above so we opted for the Old Crater Variation. This seemed like it was the route almost everyone was using so we just got in line and followed everyone up to the summit. The snow conditions were pretty good with just a little loose ice on top of crusty snow. The climbing was relatively easy up the chute, at least for me. We topped out at 6:15 AM and the view was great. Due to the wind and lack of movement we only hung out for a couple of minutes. We headed back down the way we came and downclimbing was no more difficult than the climb up. I unfortunately had to do a little puke and rally above the Hot Rocks and battled the upset stomach all the way down to Timberline. Overall it was a great climb and I was surprised how much altitude effected me on this occasion. Must have been the lack of sleep, maybe some dehydration, or combination of those. It is now a couple days later and I have most feeling back in my toes from the pounding they took on the descent. Thanks to all those who have posted trip reports and condition reports before me, those are a great resource for us first timers on Mt. Hood.