climbtheplanet

DPS- Good tip on the zipper pulls. I think if you bury properly its not a problem. I have seen a video of Ravens pulling up fixed fishing lines to rob them of the caught fish. Another of a Raven dropping nuts in a road so cars run them over and break them and when traffic clears they run out and get the nut. Pretty awesome. Those are the caches we have planned as well (if we don't do a one night stop at 17 and "gun" for the summit), plus a base camp one for extra food/fuel and other gear we will need for routes out on the Ruth for after the West Buttress. Did you carry any route wands up high just in case? Waste of a couple hundred grams? Good insurance in case the shit hits the fan? Just curious.

Thanks for the beta. Good to know about the donated wands bin. I figured that the route would be well wanded by the guide companies but I also know that leaving wands is prohibited so I did not know if people were carrying any for route marking. As for all the people, I figure this is going to be a climbing party and I am preparing myself for the cattle trail. Not exactly the route you go after for solitude. I read somewhere that in addition to burying that the proper depth, it is best to not mark your cache directly because the ravens are such brilliant pilferers. Sneaky Petes'.

Hey all- Going to try and revive this thread before posting a new one. Im leaving to try the West Buttress next weekend and I was wondering about wands. Aside from wands for marking caches and sites, are individual groups taking wands to mark the route or at this point do all the guided groups make route wands unnecessary. I have read reports that range all over from people taking 20 to 100. I'm generally not into relying on the services of other groups but I have been on routes that I definitely did not need to carry wands (e.g. Desolation Cleaver, Rainier). Thanks. Brad adventuresforaction.org