JasonG

I always love, love, love the tales from your international adventures. This one is no different! It seems like the skies were rarely clear for you in China, was that mostly due to the humidity, pollution, or just general cloudiness? Some nice clear air would really make those landscapes pop.

Cool, I'd forgotten about that one. Thanks for the reminder to put it back on the list!

Thanks guys, glad you liked the report and photos! I couldn't resist on that Poison video.... It is often a pain to lug my SLR around, but I'm happy that I do when I get home and start working up the pictures. If others are excited to see the end result, even better! OK, now to answer some questions. Bronco- Kit was pretty nervous in the burn (and thus, Scott and I) since he know better than most the danger that those charred snags pose. Lunger- I'd say about 5-6 hours moving at a steady but casual pace. It's probably another 1-2 hours over to the base of the south Face of Fallen Angel from our camp. You could add on how much time from the south face to the base of the Grim Reaper. And you guessed right on the picture. Slesse left of center and Triumph right (with your FA facing the camera!). Triumph looks a little odd since Despair is peaking out around the sides. And, as promised, a couple close-ups of the Hunich Pipe (and Pipe Cleaner):

Steph has tied in with the Dogs on occasion but I wouldn't want to give the impression that she is in any way closely linked to our

The secret it out- It is true I know the climber's of which you speak. They are an insular Tribe that has yet to organize an annual party (though that may change). I am just a chronicler of their summit register rituals, however.

Forgot a picture of the Hunich Pipe! Will upload one in the next few days....

Trip: Teebone Ridge-Traverse - Little Devil, Baksit, Big Devil, Trapezoid Date: 9/11/2016 Trip Report: You'd think that a ridge that is only a few miles from the highway wouldn't feel so wild, but Teebone ridge gives the impression of remoteness. No campsites, no climber's paths, and no human tracks in the snowfields. In these days of permit lines at 7am in Marblemount it is refreshing to see. But you must be prepared pay the price of admission on the exit.... Of course we didn't know about the exit as we were hiking up the Monogram lake trail on a sunny Sunday, chatting with Ranger Erin (the last person we would see) coming down from a patrol. Spirits were understandably high- the southerly approach to Teebone ridge involves basically no bushwhacking. Just walk up the Monogram trail until you can see the lake and hang a left. From there until the last few hours you will be in the alpine..... The Sound of Music and all that. As the sun got low in the sky the first day, we ran around under Little Devil looking for a spot to camp. We found a tilted slab that was passable with a bit of work, set up the 'mid and went up Little Devil as the light got better and better. What a vantage! The clearing sky made for some dramatic views but a chill wind blew, driving us back towards camp and the Hunter relatively quickly. Luckily our whiskey supply was a match for the temperatures, and our dinner was accompanied by a great show of stars. It was good to have the band back together again! The next morning didn't feel like summer at all and we were all a bit chilled, Scott especially so. Kit may have even called him crabby. So we dawdled until the sun hit our camp and didn't get an early start to head over to Baksit. Like Little Devil, Baksit is an easy class 3 romp, but leave packs at the saddle where you drop around the east side of it. Returning to the packs we had a bit of steep snow to get down into the basin between Baksit and Fallen Angel where we easily made our way over to the base of the Angel. We had brought gear to head up the "regular" route put up by Roper et al. on the FA, but about this time Scott began to feel not well, not well at all so we decided to keep the team together and limp north towards Big Devil. Oh well, another day Fallen Angel To get to Big Devil, you first must get past the Hellions which appear to be pretty easy to skirt, at first. However, the last Hellion surprised us a bit- you'll want to stay low. Past the Hellions the way up Big Devil is straightforward....and dramatic. Fantastic views all around, it is one of the most commanding vantages in the Skagit. Highly recommended (you can bypass the summit on the traverse, but you shouldn't). We didn't know where we were going to camp for night 2 but spied the perfect location from the summit of Big Devil- a lake that isn't on the map! We christened it the The Lake of Fire and it was an easy romp down mellow snow from the summit. We got in early enough to kick off the boots and marvel at the surroundings. Plus 4G service, interestingly, better than sitting on my couch at home. One of the reminders that the highways isn't far. The fair weather continued on day 3 and, due to extra Hunter rations, Scott had made a complete recovery from the day prior. We quickly hiked up easy ground to the col between Hunich's Pipe and the Trapezoid. Thankfully we didn't have to carry our kit over the mountain and we left our packs at the col and scrambled up to the summit (very exposed class 3). From here we had a great view of all the peaks we traversed past over the past several days and I could tell that Scott finally felt at Peace after a long summer toiling on the fishing grounds. Now, how to get out of here? The way we came up had a bunch of loose blocks, so we opted to set up two clean raps down the steep rock to the skier's right of the ascent line. This worked out quite well, and I'd recommend it if you brought a rope all the way to this point (because you know you are going to climb Fallen Angel, right?). Soon, we were back at the packs readying for the gentle alpine stroll before the business end of the traverse. The 2015 burn. You can see it's extent from Newhalem and it didn't leave the preferred exit from Teebone ridge unscathed. In fact, I'd hesitate to recommend this exit as there are MANY widowmakers that seem to be held aloft by the hand of the Devil. Thankfully it wasn't windy, but still we were all spooked traveling past large burned out trees swaying gently in the non-existent breeze. A few more winters will probably make it less dangerous (you'll still have to dodge cliffs strewn with fallen timber), but more unpleasant, as the jack-strawed mess gets worse and the brush begins to take over. The problem is that a quick scan of the map and aerials doesn't show convincingly the lesser of the potentially evil ways to exit the traverse. The Devil always gets his due. Gear Notes: Crampons, helmet, ice axe, crampons. Rope for Fallen Angel, also was nice for a couple clean raps off the Trapezoid Approach Notes: Monogram Lake trail to the high country. Exit thru the burn, north of the NPS marker on pt.5362. BE CAREFUL IN THE BURN. Numerous widowmakers!!!

Nah, those guys aren't into girls that much.

I'm sort of surprised that it has taken this long for the cards to come up in a thread. They have been sprouting up for the last 5-10 years it seems. Eric, do you have any theories about who these undersexed alpinists are? I never remember names from one register to the next to look for patterns.

Wow, that crux looks exciting. Thanks for the report from an obscure area (for me)!

Sounds like a full value adventure, this is certainly on my list! FYI, the photo uploader is now fixed!

Ouch. Glad you made it down safe!

Post up some TRs from over there please!

Jon and Porter are aware and are scrambling to fix it. I have a TR in the wings for when it is up and running....

Although I hate to say it....Gaia. It has completely changed how I navigate in the hills. But knowing map/compass/altimeter techniques is a good fall back. Most importantly though I think is knowing where the route is supposed to go on the map and how to translate contours to a mental image of what you should be looking for. That and paying attention on the way up so you can remember key turns on the descent. This mental map sense is remarkably accurate once you dial it in. Traveling in a whiteout on a glacier though is a whole different story. Unless you have a good track and wands to follow you'll want to have a GPS/smartphone app to help you (and spare batteries!).

When they fix the photo uploader I'll post up a TR with some images of the pipe and pipe cleaner!

La Nada

It shouldn't have changed much since the end of August, typically this route is not known to become impassible late season. But I haven't been up it in September in a long time (20 years!).

Annie's Pizza in Concrete!

Mike- It's midway along Teebone ridge, which is a major north/south oriented ridge to the west of the Eldorado/Isolation/Snowfield area. It's a pretty wild area, despite the proximity to Hwy 20.

Well worth the wait!! I can vouch for how nice the approach is from the south. You should be able to climb the Grim Reaper comfortably in three days from a camp below Little Devil or the basin to the south of Fallen Angel. More importantly, nice work digging another gem from range! That crux pitch looked quite clean from the Trapezoid so I'm not surprised that it is quality. I will get a TR up from our Teebone trip here pretty soon, we came out the day you went in, you may have seen our blue subaru along the road?

As is pretty clear, those pads work great for softmen as well. It is really hard not to have a good time with that crew! Porter- There are a bunch of Smoots over in the Olympics and I'm going to need your expertise!

I have problems with cramps as well and after doing some web research concur that nobody really understands them well. The military has done the most research and they have concluded that nothing really works consistently either, at least for most people. Being fitter is the best strategy I've found, but when you are pushing up against your limits those that have issues with cramps are going to suffer. I try and stay hydrated and not do days or a pace that totally depletes me. Basically, we have lost the genetic lottery (compared to our non-severely cramping partners). For me, it means I tend to stay away from steep, long rock climbs near my grade limit. Having bad arm cramps on lead is no fun and not fair to my partners. The older I get the more I gravitate to technically easier routes where having to stop and work out a cramp isn't usually life and/or limb threatening (and it is easier to dial the intensity and duration down a bit). If I am wrong here, I'd LOVE to hear a solution.

Wasn't that mainly due to dehydration? I found the Index traverse to be actually pretty fun without the extensive blue collar aspects so sustained on J-berg.

A piece of cake for you Eric. From the bivy upwards is pretty stellar. The lower buttress is certainly blue collar though! For most aspirants I think you nailed it Matt- happy to have climbed it but not anxious to repeat. Nice work, any north side route is an accomplishment on one of the "fearsome foursome"!