denalijacob

Duuuuuuuude.

Dude! I can't believe you said that the bakery was 'to die for.' A Stehekin bus driver said that about the desserts a few years back and we still can't stop saying it. /redneck accent/ "Ooh, and there's the Stehekin Bakery. The desserts there are to die for."

Great report! Sounds like fun.

The link tells me "Sorry, you can't view this page."

@APE -- I was up there a couple of weeks ago, had a blast, then went out for Chinese food. Orange chicken never hurt so good.

Trip: South Sister - Prouty Glacier Date: 6/18/2013 Trip Report: Headed down to central OR for the past 3 days to make an attempt at traversing South Sister via the Prouty Glacier to the Green Lakes route... success. Got to the Sparks Lake trailhead around 12, hiked for what seemed like longer than it should have been. That ended up being because we were off trail for fully half of it, as the snow is very unhelpful for routefinding. Also, the mosquitoes ate me alive. However, we got to the southern end of Green Lake by 5, and went to bed early. We woke up at 4, tried to go the short way around the lake, and completely failed. We were forced to go all the way around the lake in the other direction, and while sort of a slog, it was no big deal. We got onto the E face at a scree/sand slope, and after 2 hours of slogging punctuated by staring at Broken Top, we were at a shoulder by a double-peaked moraine (wish I had a picture, trust me, it's obvious). Views of Middle and North Sister were spectacular as expected, and we got a glimpse of Hood and Jeff off in the distance, but they were quickly covered by clouds. After roping up, we headed up onto the Prouty, and switchbacked up for a while. This is where things got a bit interesting. We took a break at the 'schrund, which still has a decent snow bridge, but with these warm temperatures it won't last long. There was a steady stream of rockfall coming down, which made the crux all the more...ah...interesting. It consisted of a vertical 2.5-foot-wide horrible snow/rotten ice/crumbly rock/bulletproof ice section for maybe 5 feet, but there were seriously no good holds. This was also my first time frontpointing, so that was a 'learn quick or suffer' situation. Oh, and there was a small waterfall running down it. After emerging from that little slice of heaven, we took another break (it was exhausting, okay?). What we didn't realize was how close we were to the top. It's not more than 20 minutes from the top of the crux, so no need to stop. We reached the summit at high noon, and after some SPKs and salami we were ready to head down. We met another group coming across the crater, and were soon de-cramponed and ready to glissade. Oh man, was that awesome. The snow was in perfect condition for glissading, and we were down in maybe 2.5 hours, including a rousing round of ice axe golf. What's that, you ask? Ice axe golf is played on the descent of a gentlemanly peak with good friends. Pick a small tree around 40 feet away, and throw your ice axe at it. Repeat until you hit the tree. Extra points for hanging the axe in the tree. Par 3 is normal, but adjust to conditions. Extra extra points for doing a full 18-hole course, but we didn't have time for that. Luckily, we found that elusive way around the short side of the lake, and were soon back at camp, where I promptly fried my leftover salami. Surprisingly good. We hiked out (on trail, would you believe it?) this morning, and after hallucinating for half an hour about Little Big Burger (I could taste the bacon), I was back at the car. We drove back to Portland, and all couldn't be better. Route beta: on the approach, follow the creek, and hug the lava flows. It's quicker and easier. The 'schrund won't be passable for much longer (3 weeks?), and there isn't a good way around it, so keep that in mind. However, the crux will be passable for 2 weeks max. After that, it'll be a crumbly rock climb with no good pro and a waterfall down it. Follow the footprints on the way down from the crater if you're descending the E face, then cut onto the snowfield below the crater rim-wall-whatever when you're on the red scree slope. Gear Notes: DEET, holy crap. Approach Notes: Follow the creek, and everything will be well. Camping on the south side of Green Lake is fine, less distance with a heavy pack.

Trip: Mt. Ellinor/Mt. Washington - South(ish) Date: 5/26/2013 Trip Report: Headed up to the Olympics last weekend with some friends... long story short, weather sucked. We got to the Ellinor trailhead around 1 pm, and headed up. Passed a bunch of older folks headed down, but we weren't worried about being late. Got to the bottom of the gully, and couldn't see nada. At the bottom of the gully, we met some guys who were very proud about being the first people up that day, seeing as they mentioned it at least 15 times in 5 minutes. The gully was in great condition. Snow was relatively solid (a bit soft, but no complaints). Salivated over the glissade chutes the whole time (they're 3 feet deep!!!). Topped out onto the plateau-ish thing and it was snowing. Quite nice, actually. Summited 10 minutes after that, and visibility was fifty feet at best. The chute came right off the top, so no worries about that. Got some obligatory glory shots jumping off of the rock formation on top (I would post a picture, but I used a DSLR and the files are too big...first world problems). We were down in all of half an hour, due to the glorious chutes. They're like bobsled tracks. The drive to the Washington trailhead wasn't even 5 minutes. If you've been to the Ellinor trailhead, it's just around the corner on the other road at the junction. Set up camp, could see half of the mountain, had nightmares (it looked fearsome, okay?). I had some breathtakingly crappy Kathmandu Curry for dinner (too much water?) and went to bed early. Rained the whole night, but we went for it anyway. The approach trail (generous use of the term) was muddy as hell, and probably close to 45 degrees in places. Once we popped out onto the snow, we were quickly acquainted with George, a mountain goat with (we decided) murderous intentions. Climbed about 500 feet higher, dug a ton of pits, and after seeing some fresh avy debris we realized that with this weather and snow conditions continuing would't be fun. Slid on my ass in the mud for the whole way down (it's that bad), then scared the hell out of some poor tourists in the wrong parking lot (I was muddy, still wearing my helmet, carrying my axe, and generally looking none too pretty, and they were in cotton sweatshirts looking for Ellinor). All in all, a fun trip, but better weather would have been appreciated (though that's probably too much to ask from the Olympics). Gear Notes: Hiking boots are fine on Ellinor, but gaiters are a must. Approach Notes: MUD.

Schweet pics! Am I right that Five Gallon Buckets is kind of the best climb ever?

Oh man. We did part of this route a few weeks after you, and found the glacier to be impassable (for our ice tool-less group, at least) not 500 vertical feet above Sunrise. Then we had to get evaced by the USFS because of the forest fire... but that's another story.

near asterisk pass, smith rock

duuuuuuuuude nice pics! hows the hogsback? old chute like last year?

Thanks! Yeah... I would think wind, whatever's left from last year, and the how the crater is acting up all mess with it. So I assume you mean Old Chute?

Does anyone know how the Hogsback is this year? i.e. is it pointing towards the Old Chute or Pearly Gates?

Thanks guys! It does look like it would depend on conditions... Hopefully my maybe partner will work out and I'll post a trip report in the spring.

Hey there I'm relatively new to the cascade climbing scene (4 helens climbs and not even close to the top of hood and adams due to weather/unforeseen circumstances). I was wondering if Hood sounds like it would be doable for me (specifically the steepness around the pearly gates/old chute). I can't tell from the pictures and any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!