JasonG

Trip: The Wapta Traverse - Peyto to Sherbrooke and lots in between Date: 4/20/2016 Trip Report: In mid-April, at the height of the existential electoral malaise sweeping the country, five Skagitonians trekked to the Great White North on the first ever "Make Canada Great (Again?)" International Alpine Trump rally. Why the Wapta you might ask? That's a good question that we still don't know the answer to. We do know that we had perfect weather the entire trip (six days!) with the sun high in the sky each day, mimicking the golden glow of Trump's tan. It was an omen that we were on a divine mission to spread a special sort of ignorance to our kind (and very white!) neighbors to the North. In the end, we were able to shout the good news from the mountaintops of Baker, Habel, Rhonnda, St. Nicholas (no presents up there, we looked), Olive, and Balfour, while sleeping in the highly adequate accommodations provided by the ACC. However, we ran into very few converts on this first ever international Trump rally- much to our dismay. While the Canadians were polite, they seemed quite distrustful of the coming tanned savior. Except for one guy. His steely gaze, small hands, and healthy sled dogs (Truth and Valor) marked him as someone who understands power and the love of a trophy woman. His name was Justice Bowie. Justice convinced us that the plush alpine accommodations, lack of brush, good weather, and general pleasant ski terrain had forever taken the edge off our (very white!) brethren to the North. It was almost as if they were (gasp!) European. Well, they do have a Queen so it sort of makes sense. That's the first thing they're going to have to take care of if they want to be Great (Again?). Next, they're going to have to do something about that food. And the beer. Justice is working on it right now, I'm sure. Gear Notes: Hunter oats for the ponies Approach Notes: Some sort of planks for the up and down. Make sure the lakes are frozen.

I would give it six stars if I could. And Timmay??!! The planets have aligned, it is an auspicious day.

That's ridiculously fast!

There have been at least two more deaths at Baker in that same spot (just skier's left below the top of the hogsback) over the past decade. BMR actually ribboned it off after pulling a couple people out in one week a few seasons ago.

No, sorry Dan, you're right. I blame my over the hill brain. Given the number of times I've been to the north side of Stuart (last year even!) you'd think I could get it right.

If you would like something a bit mellower than Stuart, I would recommend a hike up Wolf Creek and a scramble of the Gardners. Very lonely back in there and beautiful. Also, Silverstar is a nice summit that can be done in marginal weather. That one is a bit more of a climb than the Gardners, but still mellow to an aesthetic summit. You might want to look into Black Peak as well (although a scramble as well). The NE ridge is a good climb but might be more than you want. Lots of good east side options if the forecast keeps trending the way it is.....

But there were BEARS!

You might want to give the ranger station a call if you haven't already. They patrol up there nearly every week. Also, a lot of climbers from out of the area use the BB trail. These folks aren't likely to check cc.com, but they will maybe turn your gaiters in at the ranger station.

We just climbed withing a couple hundred feet of this wreckage yesterday (most is still there): http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article27313879.html Sobering.

It's got to be Scott, hands down. He's climbed Baker 27 times, and I'm sure half of those or more are ski descents. I'm probably not quite at 10 ascents total.

Trip: Mount Baker - Coleman-Deming Date: 5/30/2016 Trip Report: Memorial Day weekend is never one that you can reliably count on for good weather around here, and this year was no exception. However, Monday got better and better looking as the weekend unfolded and some hasty plans were hatched to help Scott with his annual tick of Mount Baker. The telemetry and forecast suggested we would find some settled powder(!), and so with little sleep we left the Skag in the trusty Civic, pointed North. First we needed to get Spiceman some breakfast so we stopped at Aarco in Sedro at 0415. The scene was not exactly normal (what did we expect?)..... and we left quickly, empty-handed. At the trailhead we left right behind team Rando at about 0600, clomping up the hill in our ski boots while they dashed onwards in much lighter footwear. Though you might have been able to skin up a bit lower, we didn't end up taking the skis off our backs until the top of the Hogsback. From there we kept the uphill plod going, skinning to the col with the help of ski crampons (necessary). The bootpack this year goes much further left (east) than normal, though the normal path looks like it might go. We weren't in the mood to routefind though so we followed the masses (there were about 40 on the hill that day). Above the col we carried the skis for a bit up the pumice ridge, but were eventually able to put them back on and skin all the way to the summit, which we had to ourselves (surprisingly). Some meat, cheese, chocolate, and pictures and it was time to transition before the sun did a number on the snow. The Roman wall was firm wind affected snow, pumice ridge softening crust, settled powder below the col, and varying degrees of butter and corn below that all the way to the Hogsback. Basically good to excellent the whole way and perhaps the best conditions I've skied Baker in. But the warm weather at the end of this week will change all that......so long spring. Gear Notes: skis! and ski crampons. The boot pack was knee deep, and looked slogriffic. Approach Notes: Nothing out of the ordinary

Near Sunset Slabs.

Awesome! Can't wait to take my boys on some of the classic alpine routes when they get older. That is a good one.

PM Oly and he will get the TR up. Unfortunately they haven't come up with a solution to this issue with the site yet.

Found a couple weeks ago on the approach to the Boulder Glacier Route on Mt. Baker. Describe it and I can get it back to you.

Based on the temps and radar, I'd say there is a lot of new snow up there today.

You might want to look around the north side of Mt. Hardy and the South side of Graybeard.

I must be technically challenged. I didn't hear the props at the 50 min mark, but I have no doubt they've taken notice of Marc. How could you not? It's been very cool to watch the rise of the young Jedi.

Indeed. Quite the story, I'm impressed. That stinks about T.E., they threw a good deal of cold water on the beginning of a grand adventure. The thing I don't get is that El Capitan is an international destination, and May one of the peak months. Free climbing El Cap is also becoming a thing for more than the uber-elite (although certainly something I'll never do!). T.E. thinks they can single-handedly hold back the ocean?

I find that so strange, that android and iphones are so much better at panos than most cameras. Why can't they add better functionality in camera??

It's true, modern iphones take great photos.

This is a known bug with the site that Oly and Jon are working on to remedy. It's not you. PM Oly and he will get the TR up. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1148286/Problems_posting_TRs#Post1148286 Please don't give up!!

That picture is pretty awesome. Nothing like a J-tree midget toss to get the blood flowing.

Shoot RAW and get good at Lightroom post-processing. You'll be amazed at what most cameras can do. That said, the S120 is a great little camera. My go-to for more technical routes or carry-overs. If you want to spare no expense, the other one to check out is the Sony RX-100 IV.

All climbing deaths are bad, but to me these are the worst- experienced climber dies after falling unroped from 3rd/4th class terrain. Cameron Tague, Dallas Kloke, T.J. Langley etc., etc. How many of us could that have been?