JasonG

That sounds awfully familiar! My first time up the Reid ended on the West Crater Rim as well, and not the summit. Next time you will have it dialed, nice work!

Sorry guys, I tend to shoot for beauty, not beta. The Reid itself was pretty mellow looking, at least to get over to the Reid HW or Leuthold's. It isn't completely filled in yet, so if you are headed to Yocum or Sandy HW there might be shenanigans. I think the Reid HW will be in challenging shape, though doable, with bits of rock and ice. I don't have a photo of it (sorry!), but I think you can get an idea based on the conditions of Illumination and Crater rocks: Also, a picture of the choke on Leuthold's will give you an idea of the rime extent on the Reid HW:

Gitmo made him a man! The locals at the Hangout were a bit wary, however. Steve, we missed you out there! Looking forward to having you back in the alpine this summer!

Trip: Mt. Hood - Leuthold's Couloir Date: 1/20/2014 Trip Report: If you ever want to get a trip to Mt. Hood off to an entertaining start, watch a high stakes football game at the Hangout in Gresham before heading up to the hill to bivy in the Timberline lot. We did, and it certainly was a much better diversion than expected. The locals take things seriously! But I digress. Conditions on Mt. Hood right now are pretty ideal for climbing. For skiing, not so much. We left skis at the top of the Palmer (end of grooming) and were not sorry we did so. From there on up, we had a mixture of water ice, unbreakable crust, windboard, breakable crust, sastrugi, and loose snow. However all surface types were plenty fast travel without flotation. The downclimb onto the Reid was impressively icy (blue!), and we were glad for a whippet in addition to our axes. The choke on Leuthold's has a bit of rock showing, but it wasn't bad to work thru. As we were climbing up the couloir we had a bit of snow and ice fall, but it was quite mild by Hood standards. We left the lot about 0515 and were on top by 1130. The downclimb of the old chute was pretty icy as well and the whippet came in handy again for some face in descending. I think we got back to the car about 1345. The weather overall was near perfect - light winds and barely freezing temps. I suspect that Hood will be in good shape all through this coming weekend. One downside I could see is that the steeper routes are very thin with limited rime and lots of rock. We were surprised at the lack of folks on a Federal Holiday, I think we only saw two soloists the whole day. Perhaps they were busy watching replays of Sherman's rant? L.O.B.! Gear Notes: whippet, steel crampons, helmet, axe. Roped up for short walk across the Reid, though probably not totally necessary. Approach Notes: skis to the top of the Palmer. Crampons to the summit and back.

It is ridiculous, but that doesn't mean you don't need one. Unfortunately, a myriad of passes are now needed to access our public lands, and land managers are not shy about writing tickets to enforce the regulations. http://www.wta.org/hiking-info/passes

You shouldn't feel bad about using the gear Brandon. You've done your best and, as rob pointed out, it was likely legitimately pawned. Climb on!

First hand account of the accident on NWH

Great article on Franklin in today's Herald I'm disappointed I never ran into him, he sounded like a remarkable man. Condolences to the friends and family.

Thanks for the detail guys, I appreciate it. I'm not well versed in the letter of the law, and this is helpful. It is unfortunate that the polarization in politics extends all the way into the backcountry, access is certainly suffering as a result. I'm beginning to see the wilderness through the eyes of my young sons, and it isn't easy to find solitude on well maintained trails any longer. Use is getting concentrated on fewer trails, closer to the cities. Such is life I guess, but it certainly has me writing to my elected reps more frequently to increase trail/road funding to the NPS and USFS. I certainly appreciate everyone's efforts to restore historic structures like the Mebee pass LO, and hope to lend a hand with my boys one of these summers. Keep up the good work!

One last thing. I would be in support of an amendment to the Wilderness Act specifically aimed at preserving historic structures and maintaining trail systems with motorized equipment (w/o road building). The STIHL amendment? Maybe I'm way off on this though- what do you guys think of such heresy?

Those statistics are pretty interesting and jive with my reading of the comments on things I'm more familiar with like the Suiattle road repair EA. The militant wilderness faction is often good at using the courts to their advantage, but we shouldn't treat their opinions as commonly held.

I prefer packs with dedicated crampons patches and straps, usually between the tool attachments. In my experience, crampons don't lend themselves to efficient stuffing.

Sounds like the followed the skiers out the typical Grouse Creek approach. This is the typical approach when the terrain is snow covered and you are on skis, but the summer trail is farther east.

A co-worker once found a road-killed mountain beaver and hid it in our walk in freezer. He brought it out for the Christmas party in the form of a white elephant gift. I thought I was in a David Lynch movie.

I wonder if the guy with the old Swallow's Nest van in my parents neighborhood (Crown Hill/Ballard) was one of the partners described from the early days? I don't know his name, but I believe he was the or one of the owners when it closed for good. The van's paint job is faded and peeling, but still legible. I've been driving by it to visit my parents for over 20 years.

Perhaps "most boats" is a better way of putting it.

I forgot to mention that the cable crossing IS the whole trip. We plan to bivy several times on the cable, whatever it takes. We hear water is not an issue.

No argument that a boat of any sort is the best way to make the crossing. However, we are a Catholic wilderness group looking for a unique form of penance. The wasps could add a special touch.

Great idea on the short lengths of chain, I like it!

The NPS is often good at deliberating. 7 years is impressive.

I can see your point. Should be an interesting finish, either way.

That is one of the issues with a family/job/etc.- ample time to research, not enough time for doing. I know I'm over thinking this, but thanks for humoring me.

Well, that's why I was asking about the pack. But perhaps you didn't understand that there is an upper cable to hold onto (but it does have cones and balls you have to clip past, via ferrata style). Sorta like a graduate version of a NZ walkwire. You're not balancing on a single cable the whole way! That would certainly not be the ticket.

Thanks for the info, sounds like walking may be the ticket. Did you hang your pack off the main cable and drag it? I imagine that the cable with the balls and such is a smaller diameter than the lower one that folks Tyrolean? Interesting tip Pat, but I suspect your are right about just clip and go. And, I wasn't worried about the cable, just the wear on the biner from dragging my fat ass across.

That is probably smart Matt. I have access to steel but I really don't want to carry one thru the range if I can burn an AL one on the cable. Was planning on carrying a couple to back up the weighted one & hang my pack, so I wouldn't be trusting my life to one. I ran across a TR where they said that AL worked, but that you would retire it once across. I guess I could suck it up and hike a big steel 'biner over Tantalus from Sigurd Creek, but I'd rather not. Thanks MC, I guess I will try and get a bit more detail on the exact dimensions. A typical belay 'biner will accommodate 7/8th but not >1".