JasonG

I agree Tom/Rad, and I think it points to how bears behave differently across the west (sometimes its related to species, sometimes not). I've often been struck by how easy we have it in the Cascades compared to AK, MT, WY, CA, BC, AB, etc. And it isn't because we don't have many bears about.

There are pretty big behavior differences between Black bears and Grizzly/Brown bears, at least in my experience.

Oh yeah! I was waiting for this. Nice work keeping it together on a stupidly hot day. The "Terror Pitch" is sure to keep the crowds at bay.

Finally some spray I can get behind!

As a child of the 70's/80's, old VH is a guilty pleasure of mine. So good!

I've never been through the impasse before, that is a great shot!

Ah......youth. Way to make it happen!

Such fortitude, I think this is one of the best battles I've heard around here in awhile!

I like it, alpine thuggery for sure. I was going to think of another to add, but I think there really isn't another that has the same flavor as those three. At least a route that you'd recommend to someone.

Hey Matt- Do you have a complete list of the (your) Blue Collar Tour?

Ah, but you forget Pink.....spray is eternal.

Nicely done! That IS a beast of a mountain, one you will never forget.

I knew I was more of a mountain "hiker" than "climber", but you've officially confirmed it.

That looks like a north cascades approach, without the alpine reward at the end. And I thought I was crazy.

There's a fine line between clever and stupid.

I guess that is where I disagree on the purpose of National Parks. I feel that they should be responsive to their users, provided that the wishes wouldn't irreparably harm the parks for future users. For a long time, this is how the parks were run. The fact remains that just traveling and camping in the alpine damages the meadows and leaves a mark that everyone will see for generations. Fish or no fish, we are leaving our mark whenever we visit the hills. The Rotenone kills everything in the lakes, salamaders included, and the amphibs recolonize from nearby habitats. Why not wait until the public is more behind the need for such anal ecological restoration? And I don't need a salamander to tell me that I'm not a nice person.

That's unfortunate. I certainly don't get that upset over the issue but I can't see how this is a good use of tax dollars. It has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to implement, and meant many heli trips into the wilderness. This money could be much better spent on trail work, but I admit I'm biased. I think the whole situation typifies the NPS attitude towards recreation in the park. I get the sense that they feel human influence must be minimized or eliminated to the maximum extent possible. I could be wrong, but I would think that vast majority of park users would be just fine letting the stocking and fishing continue. And it would be way cheaper. I have to admit that I think the high lake fish eradication program is borderline insanity. I have a hard time understanding the rationale. Of course, I'm a fish biologist and a life long fisherman!

And then there's this. I hiked into Blum lakes this weekend only to find that the NPS has killed all the fish in the lake with chemicals. From my sources at work, I guess they flew 20+ 55 gallon barrels of Rotenone(or some similar pesticide) up there a few years ago and killed all the fish in both lakes. These lakes were teaming with trout 15 years ago when I was last in there. This time we had our fishing gear, but no fish were to be seen. I heard that this has been done to 26 lakes in the park in the last 5 years. I'm trying to find out which ones so I don't haul gear in for no reason. The USFS sees eye to eye with fishers such as myself, which unfortunately isn't the case with the NPS. I couldn't care less about salamanders.

It's all gonna burn, Wenatchee style.

Truly don't care, or don't think it will make a difference?

Great trip and some spectacular pictures! My theory on the goats- minerals.

Sweet.

Wow. This is the year for the Slesse casual approach.

I'm not sure how it looks right now, but when Steve and I were in there a couple summers ago it looked pretty spicy to down climb from the raps with at least few tricky crevasses to negotiate (would need to go back and look at my photos to refresh my memory exactly). As the glaciers are continuing to thin in there I think it isn't as straightforward as in years past. But maybe it was always a bit spicy?

And no snow in the Liberty Concord gully. Significant snow remains in the chockstone gully on NEWS.