JasonG

I am very sorry for the loss of your brother @eeelip- I am sure this was a hard TR to write. I appreciate the reminder that climbing is a dangerous game, and that when things go wrong, there are wide ramifications. I hope Noah's passing gets a little less harsh with time, and that your faith can continue to comfort you and your family.

Until we get the TR search feature fixed....Google search with cascadeclimbers and the route/mountain... and yes, @Bronco is exactly right..... Snow conditions and weather will control all!

The Zipper is a good one.... Whistler Peak, East gully (bit of mixed 4th to the summit) North Couloir on McClellan Butte (some mixed spice at the top) Big Four, Dry Creek Route (also spicy up high) North Buttress Couloir on Colchuck. Sherpa Peak, NE Couloir (bit of 5th at the very summit) East Face ramp on Harvey up in BC, when it gets fat. Early season there is some ice climbing. Not couloirs...but NF of Maude, NF of Observation Rock East gullies on Mount Angeles in the Olympics. Sort of less moderate, since there is glacier travel (but it is often soloed), Leuthold's Couloir on Hood. The Cascades aren't really known for couloirs, but most everything in the spring has steep snow somewhere on it and could be viewed as a challenge.

The bugs weren't AK bad when we were there, but I suppose it varies a lot by the time of year and how wet it has been. I don't remember Overhanging Tower very much so probably not too bad nor too good of rock! Wolf's Head and Pingora have excellent rock though.

Oh I'm sure your kid could make it happen @Lostbolt! My boys were 14 and 16 last summer and the three day pace didn't push them- it was pretty casual.

Trip: Kings Peak - Via Henrys Fork Trip Date: 07/04/2024 Trip Report: After Borah, we drove south for a few days swimming at Bear Lake (recommended) and fossil hunting around Kemmerer, WY (also recommended) before settling in Lyman, WY for the night to prepare for a three day trip to climb Kings Peak over the 4th of July. Although people do the 25+ mile RT in a day, I figured with the altitude that a more leisurely itinerary would be much more family friendly. In the end, this was a good call. Any way you approach it, Kings Peak is way back in there. We chose the most shortest and most popular approach via Henrys Fork and it was a pretty mellow ramble of about 9 miles to a tarn just beyond the masses at Dollar Lake. The first night we had it all to ourselves and it was a glorious spot (~11,000) to take in the views, which included KIngs, about five miles away. Kings Peak from camp: The next morning dawned clear and still, but this area is known for thunderstorms so we didn't waste (too) much time getting out of camp and up the hill while the day was young. I had been worried about how much snow we would encounter on our way to Gunsight Pass (~12,000), but we only needed to cross a few small sections, all with steps beat in. All the snow we encountered was pretty hard and icy in the early morning so if there is more snow you'll need to plan accordingly. When you reach Gunsight Pass there are two ways to reach Kings- short and long. We chose the shortcut which angles up steeply and right from the pass, mostly on a climbers path, but also with some rock hopping and scrambling. In the end, this was probably the better way to go, though it seemed to be not much faster than dropping down and around (we saw another party do this just ahead of us). As we climbed higher, the views got wider and the day remained perfect. No thunderstorms to worry about as we meandered upwards, talking about how different the Uintas are compared to the North Cascades. A bit of minor scrambling along the summit ridge brought us to the top of Utah late in the morning. After another couple parties left, we had the summit to ourselves for about an hour. I was a bit surprised at the lack of crowds, given that it was the 4th of July, but we found them that evening back at camp, ready to climb it on the 5th. Reversing the route back to camp was simple and much easier that wheezing upwards and we were treated to another calm and beautiful evening back at camp, with a dozen more tents scattered around. The State high points are not lonesome! All the remained for us the final morning was a quick hike back to the car and then off to Nevada and a few more summits.... Don't let them fool you, they could hike for another 10 miles with enough sugar and bad jokes. Gear Notes: hiking poles Approach Notes: Follow the masses up Henrys Fork. All the beta is found here: https://www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/northern-utah/kings-peak

Trip: Borah Peak - Southwest - "Chicken Out"- Ridge Trip Date: 06/29/2024 Trip Report: This past summer I went on a month long, 4300+ mile, road trip with the family all over the West. Mostly we were seeing National Parks that my wife and kids had never been to, but I managed to plan 3 state high points into the itinerary. Borah Peak (12,662') was the first up, coming after a tour through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. As with all the state high points, Borah has an abundance of beta online so I'll spare you all the nerdy details and mostly share impressions and photos. First, I thought this was a peak worth doing. There is fantastic camping close by at the Joe Fallini Campground, which is cheap and right on a lake with decent swimming and fishing. This campground is about a 30m drive to the trailhead (if you don't blast past it like we did), which puts you in easy striking distance for an alpine start. The views start quickly and expand. There aren't a lot of trees in the Lost River Range and it was fun to see an entirely different range where I basically knew none of the summits. Soon we were up above treeline and the aptly named "Chicken Out" ridge came into view: As did Mt. Morrison: At the base of the knife edge portion of the ridge, my wife and youngest opted to turn back but surprisingly my oldest stuck right on my tail. I had a quick chat with him to make sure he understood that while it wasn't overly difficult (exposed 3rd/4th class), a fall would likely be very, very bad. He said he was fine and was moving calmly and confidently, and so we continued upward. Where the knife edge ends, there was a small snow saddle to cross. Again, not hard, but with a terrible and steep runout. Again, another chat. This time I insisted in tying on a 30m length of 6mm cord I had brought so as to keep my son from a very long ride should he slip out of the steps and not arrest. Of course, he was fine, but I felt better with the added security. And then the real slogging began. We were over 11k with the summit in sight, and surprisingly all by ourselves. My son began to slow way down in the thin air. It was by far the highest he had ever been but appeared to be in good spirits and so we just kept chugging upwards. And then, we made it, finding one other dude up there taking a nap. I think we may have surprised him. We hung around in excellent weather for at least an hour, reading the register, taking in the views, and generally enjoying a perfect day on a high peak. It doesn't get much better! But, of course, all good things must end and so we turned around to begin the 5k+ of downward staggering. Here's a view back at the summit after we had dropped about 1500': And then to reverse Chicken Out Ridge.... of which I was a bit nervous for my son, but he of course thought that it was all just a great adventure: Looking back at the upper mountain from just above treeline: We finished the day back at Joe Fallini Campground, treated to a beautiful sunset as the cattle lowed in the distance. The next day we would begin the trek SE to King's Peak in Utah for a 4th of July Ascent (in the next installment!)... Gear Notes: Poles, helmet (optional), crampons/axe if snowy Approach Notes: The trailhead is located north of Mackay, Idaho along US-93. Look for the signed turn between Mile Markers 129 and 130. Drive to the end of the road where there is camping and an outhouse. It is a bit grungy there, however, and much preferred BLM's Joe Fallini Campground close by.

4. Isn't July considered quite late for the Alaska range? I have no direct experience, just that it seems everyone goes earlier in May/June.

That is a lot of cool country and some adventure to boot! The teases of your various mini-epics are pretty great, glad you lived to tell the tale!

I'll buy it! Will send you an email....

This is nearly 20 years ago.....I doubt any of us are to be trusted with our recollections from that far back. Why now @JTCB?

Bachar

Royal Robbins Fritz Weissner Fred? Marc-André Leclerc

So psyched, so tough, so young! Enjoyed the stories in this TR @Michael Telstad, I really appreciate you taking the time to post them. But don't stop with the TRs! You had to be doing a lot more climbing this past year....

paging @Eric Gilbertson!

And, if you haven't yet, go leashless.

Great song!

And what happened to the triumphant return of @jon? Do we have to start slandering him?

\ No.

Yeah @Rad, but we're still here and still real. The mods and @olyclimber keep the bots at bay so ......it's just us. But we're old and don't care about fighting anymore. Sorry @Fairweather!

We need some young 'uns to make fun of us gentrified armchair mountaineers. C'mon, we can take it! I think?

Thanks for bumping this @olyclimber! I needed to remember to use the time height products off the atmos site! (and that's quite the storm coming in tomorrow night!)

Impressive amount of work, thanks!