JasonG

Wow, I wouldn't have thought the approach to Glacier advisable with the warmth, but it looked real nice up high. Well done. Great images (Josh is hauling some nice glass these days?) and story, as per usual, too!

Cool, thanks for that link. I hadn't seen it before, but it looks quite useful.

My personal favorite for giving me a sense of the weather: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/mm5rt/gfsinit.html Takes a little getting used to to figure out which products to look at, but I've found it much more useful than point forecasts. You can see the general patterns and extrapolate accordingly. Start with the various 4km Cloud and Precip loops. Good stuff from Dr. Mass's Lab!

I need to make the ski-in one of these years, sounds fun!

Success!! By that I mean not dying, which was a pretty big accomplishment in those conditions. That face has only been climbed a few times, so battling that high in sub optimal conditions is notable. Given the warmth of late, you are indeed fortunate that it all worked out. As you figured out, that thing is pretty serious, even in good conditions. Good writing too, thanks.

AND ALLCAPS IS LETTING YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS?

Sheesh.

Glad you made it out safe, that was way too close for comfort.

They were able to bring John out today: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/05/15/3644219/rangers-recover-body-of-skier.html?sp=/99/101/102/ Many thanks to the NPS, Hi-Line, BMR, and WSAR Rescuers for their work on this mission.

Agreed. I had only interacted virtually with John over the years, but enjoyed his contributions to the site and his images. My sincere condolences to his friends and family. These accidents are the hardest for me, because of how close to home it hits. It sounded like John was similar to me in a lot of ways (like my friends TJ, Dallas, and Henning who also died in the mountains), and each of these accidents cause me to reevaluate my approach to climbing/skiing. I haven't found the answer though.

That's a pretty bold descent with the warmth we've had the past few days. Glad you had a safe trip, and thanks for the report!

Yes, terrible news: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/05/14/3642522/seattle-mountaineer-missing-after.html?sp=/99/101/102/ The avalanche cone above Price Lake will not be a safe spot to recover a body, hopefully nobody else is harmed in the process.

Heard through the grapevine about a possible fatality on the NF of Shuksan today. Anyone have any details?

Most likely those runnels are from wet snow slides from above the crux. Rain typically doesn't gouge a bobsled track.

That was one the most enthusiastic blog posts I've read, and good writing too. Thanks! The only thing you missed was running into Bjork on your last night in town.

Ah, to only have a sled and a truck.....Thanks for posting these adventures Sol, great stuff! Ulrich's has been on my list for some time but I haven't been willing to do the road slog in early season when it's in good shape. You certainly demonstrated the proper approach.

The Nepalese government (and my guess is that it is a few officials with connections) has the highest profit margin on Everest climbs- i.e. the government doesn't provide much for the size of fee it collects. This type of high fee/poor service/widespread corruption arrangement is the way things go in Nepal, despite the Maoist uprising that was an oblique response to such abuses. Old habits die hard. Even at the new reduced rate, the fees charged by the government are probably the single largest expense on any expedition: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/14/nepal-slashes-cost-climbing-mount-everest

Ah yes, the Maoists. When we hiked up into the Khumbu during their revolution a few years back, they shook us down for a "donation".....at gunpoint. They did provide us with a receipt though, which was nice. We were able to show it later in our trip when another group of Maoists asked for another "donation". The funny thing was that the suggested "donation" varied by nationality. US citizens were asked for the largest "donation", and sometimes were given a bonus beating as well (happened just before our trip according to the State Dept travel warning). We were Canadians for a few weeks until we left the rebel controlled areas. Sullen youths with AKs were more unsettling than I was expecting. There is a lot of anger in Nepal (much of it justified), not very far below the surface. The average tourists aren't the ones to blame, however.

This has taken an interesting turn. PSA indeed.

It's true, we're alpine snobs. The best part of the Little/Big Beaver loop is a couple miles of large cedars at the middle/bottom of the Big Beaver. I found the Little Beaver to not be very interesting. On the loop, you won't get much in the way of mountain views unless you leave the trail and hike up above Beaver Pass. Of course in June, there often aren't much in the way of views on the west side anyway. The Hoh is pretty cool, but mainly I liked going from lowland old growth to glaciers and back. If you never went up Olympus/snowdome, it probably wouldn't seem quite as interesting. I've heard the Enchanted Valley is also quite a nice early season jaunt. Not sure if it has big trees, but the location is right for them.

Buck Creek/Spider Gap Loop info on WTA.org: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2013-08-13.2260548157 Water taxi info: http://www.rosslakeresort.com/transportation.html You need to arrange for a pick up in advance, or get lucky. I suggest the former, since the lake isn't as busy as you'd think. I think on that far northern section of the PCT you may find water scarce after mid August, but a lot depends on the weather this spring and summer. I haven't walked that particular section late in the season so I don't know for sure. The Winthrop ranger station would be a good source of info.

Ah ha! So there is something special going on. I guess I need to have Gordo get his guide's permit and make it official. So how do the guides fight it out for those limited reservations? Battle Cage in the back of Chom's?

There may be something special going on, but I do know that you can get them 24 hours in advance, and I've heard that the guide services will send folks up the day before. Also, they try to have their trips run during the week so as not to hog the popular spots on the weekend. During the week permits are usually not too bad to get in the park, perhaps with the exception of BB. I'm sure Kurt, Chris, Forrest, etc. can correct me where I've gotten it wrong.

Most excellent!! I can't believe you never have been on top of Hood before. Way to tag it in good style, while threading the needle meteorologically, and familially. Classy.

Sort of. It involves Fred loudly interrupting someone's slide show to discuss with his female companion the need to get pickles on their way home. I think Fred has a thing for certain foods, raisins included. I don't know anyone who has spent more than a few hours with Fred that doesn't have a good story or two.