JasonG

I guess I've been paged.... Bob's right, though unsightly, garbage in and off itself is rarely a problem for salmon (unless we are talking toxic chemicals). The problem is large numbers of people, and the landscape alteration that typically follows them (clearing of forests, draining of wetlands, dikes/levees, pavement, housing, etc., etc.). You can pretty much figure out which rivers produce a lot of fish from aerial photos. Salmon ecology ain't rocket science (thank goodness for me!) Sorry for the thread drift.....

It actually was much better than I was expecting (I had heard stories....), but it is no West Ridge of Forbidden. The hardest climbing (around the gendarmes) tends to have quite good rock, with a bit of junk above and below it. The top 1000' of 4th/low fifth actually has some pretty good scrambling/climbing and was a lot more fun than I was expecting (even after an unplanned night out). Overall, this route is quite an adventure given its position and length, and I would recommend it for the Cascade Connoisseur. In the words of Bruce Fairley though, "don't expect to be back for tea."

These smash and grab ascents continue to amaze me. Pretty crazy what one can get into in a long weekend from SEA or PDX. Looks like some quality climbing, thanks!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This might be one of my favorite posts of all time! So very, very true.

The rock is just fine (by Cascades standards), at least on the north side detours that most folks use when not on the crest. That looks like quite the stout winter objective. Good practice for some of the bigger AK objectives I suppose....

Way to close out the season Tom!! Your glowing report almost makes me want to climb the NE buttress again. Almost. Although that bivy is certainly one of the most memorable around...... Strong work as usual!

No Josh, it was a great TR! Finally got around to reading it, and I'm glad you made it out OK. Sounded a bit tense for a bit. I didn't seem to remember any rappelling on the way down Jack, but the bottom is pretty darn exposed. I remember zig zagging on ledges to keep the scrambling reasonable. Also, for future reference, it is a bit easier to reach the saddle above Crater Lake if you continue up the trail past the lake for a bit. That way you don't have to mess with the cliff band and can hike across easy scree/talus to the saddle.

A good idea, yes, and yes. No.

Caleb- No, those were all taken with my cheapo Powershot 300HS. Of course, Lightroom always helps!

Wow! That is quite the honeymoon. Spiceman didn't tell me that you like to climb rocks too. Small world. I will take your advice and go over during our winter; Mt. Kenya has been on my list for a long time. Thanks for posting, and don't stop there with your TRs!

Trip: Eldorado - West Arete Date: 9/24/2012 Trip Report: For those that have suffered through enough of my TRs, you know that writing isn't my strong point. I'm not eloquent, poetic, or even very funny. Thankfully, I can be brief. I don't climb to find the "answer" or to prove anything. Mainly I'm in it for the view, the personal challenge, and the camaraderie. On a recent climb of Eldorado, I got all three...and then some. Oh, and I like to take pictures. Trent and I were looking for a way to end the summer with a bang, and after our recent uneventful (and sub Beckey) climb of the Northwest Face of Forbidden we were feeling probably a bit on the cocky side. We both had the West Arete on our lists and a plan was made to give it a go over 2.5 days. There are several ways you can go about approaching this thing, and we opted for the standard Eldo approach with a camp at the base of the east ridge. I think it took us about 4.5 hours to camp or so, with breaks. The next morning we were up at 5 in the dark and off in the dim around 6. Wind and light rain dampened our enthusiasm, but we decided we should at least go over and take a look. Worst case we could always go for the regular route on Dorado Needle or Klawatti. A couple hours of easy glacier travel and snowfields brought us around and down, down, to the intimidating start. By this point the weather had cleared, so we were left without an excuse. Trent gamely took the sharp end and led runout slabs to a dirty, wet gully where I took over and simuled a ways up to the crest and upwards. We were making good time at this point (about the first 1000' vert.) and thought Beckey's "Grade III, 9 hrs" was going to be spot on. Then we hit the middle 1000' of vert., and the sun started to speed up its transit across the sky. We didn't feel comfortable simuling the large amount of looseish 5.6-7 between 5.8ish bits (wasn't this supposed to be easier than the NW face of Forbidden??), so pitched it out. And, for being an arete, the way wasn't always as obvious as we had thought. Tick, Tick, Tick. But what a position!! The climbing in this section was often good (esp. around the gendarmes), and always spectacular. The Marble Creek Cirque is a special place and this was the last of the "select" climbs that I had to do in there. By evening, there was no question (at least for me) that I had saved the most challenging for last. We ended up running out of daylight about 1000' vert. from the top near the end of difficulties. Rather than push on into the unknown with headlamps, Trent wisely advocated to stay put on an OK ledge and get ready to shiver. Luckily I had thrown in a space blanket at the last minute and this proved to make it merely unpleasant rather than miserable. I should have brought long johns though, nylon pants don't cut it in September! But the weather was warm for the date, and calm, which helped tremendously. I ran out of water though, which made the night (and a "dinner" of bars) a bit on the dry side. We stayed tied in. Tick, Tick, Tick. The night dragged on (no snaffles though!), but eventually light came to the eastern sky and we shook off the chill and got ready to roll. The rest of the climb was mostly 4th class (with bits of low fifth), but careful routefinding was still needed to keep it at that grade. Trent had made the right call. Luckily we were planning on another night back at our camp after the climb so nobody was thinking we were overdue. The summit views were grand as usual, but maybe more so considering the work that it had taken to reach the top this time. The smoke from the various fires added a dreamy texture to the views as well. In the North Cascades, I'm always reminded that we live in an amazing part of the world! Luckily we arrived back (~10am) to find our camp all in one piece, with our food unmolested. We immediately started to eat and drink as much as we possibly could, while packing to get down reasonably fast. In the end, I think it took us something like 13 hours on route, thus managing to turn a Grade III into a V. I think we are reasonably competent (but maybe not?), so if you are a fellow weekend warrior this might be a climb best reserved for the longer days of summer. That said, I think it certainly deserves to be left in the "select" category (Why did Nelson pull it from the second edition?), loose rock and all. It is a grand adventure that you won't soon forget. Gear Notes: The full kit: single rope, full rack, crampons, ice axe, etc. Space blanket may be key if you end up pitching much of the middle out. Bring 3L of water, not 2 like me. Approach Notes: We went via the standard Eldo approach, with a camp at the base of the east ridge. Free water, and a crapper, what could be better? ~2 hours to the base of the route from this camp. We started on the SW side of the toe on some slabby, wet junk for a couple of pitches of easy 5th.

Excellent work Caleb! I know, when I climbed the buttress I was expecting more in the way of solidity as well. I actually took a small fall when I yarded on a hold that broke. Silly me. But....as you saw from the descent, what a line!!

Agreed, with a couple of exceptions, most of the pitches felt 5.0. The 5.8 pitch felt truer to grade, though maybe that was the lack of bolts. And Mr. Dog, why yes Gordo is a very handsome man. While he is much in demand in Europe, his guiding career in NA has not quite taken off yet. Book a trip with him today!

That is fantastic! Dallas would be happy I'm sure...

Very true, but it is nice to get away from the masses and stand on a summit. Of course, that is probably why I've never been a great rock climber....

Trip: Yak Peak - SOMWOW Date: 9/15/2012 Trip Report: A year or so ago I found out about this relatively new route on the SW side of Yak and put it on the list to check out. Now that I'm not getting on the rock so much, I'm always keen to try a new multi-pitch 5.8. I'm glad somebody out there is catering to the shaky weekend warrior. An good topo can be found here . As the link states, it is quite runout (2-3 bolts per 60m is common), which isn't really a problem for many of the pitches as they are low to mid fifth. I did get a little excited on the 5.8+ pitch as it only had two bolts in the first 40m or so with NO gear. There is gear, but only after the climbing eases considerably. It seems odd to not up the bolt count on the hardest pitch, but hey, I can't complain. The FA party did a lot of work on this climb, and a new approach trail to the west side of the slab, so kudos to them. Other than the "crux" pitch the climbing is pretty fun, if a little on the boring side. Some of the pitches are mellow enough that you could probably walk up portions of them. As neither Gordo or myself had climbed Yak before, we continued on to the summit for the walk off. This seemed much better than rapping the route (rolling ropes down the endless slab), and the scrambling to the summit is fun and scenic. Plus, walking down puts you right underneath the harder climbs such as Yak Crack and Reality Check. I will certainly need to come back and give Yak Check a go, it looks great! SOMWOW goes up this side of Yak Looking up from the base of the route Yes, the highway is right there. Noisy, but the approach is quick. Gordo about pitch 13 or so. He is just above the 5.8 bit View south past Needle Peak from the summit of Yak The Steinbok Area I think. Yak Crack area from the hike down. Walking back along the highway to the rest area is like perusing a junk yard. Makes you think that keeping the helmet on might be a good idea. Gear Notes: The topo says to bring a full rack, but really you only will need a few small/medium cams. You won't be able to place much on the 5.8 pitch. Certainly no doubles needed. Approach Notes: Follow the instructions on the link, they work perfectly. Scramble up and walk off.

Shouldn't it be M0+? I know you are a sandbagger at heart, but c'mon! Think of the children.

Sounds good and one to add to the list.

That's a really cool blog! I went back and lived vicariously thru some of the Vansion adventures. Pretty inspirational. I need to get back out traveling one of these days.....

My sister in law just came over for a few days because of the smoke. Seriously, don't head east!! She said she could see the house across the street, but nothing else. As in 100' away. Telemarker isn't exaggerating, you need to wear a respirator when out of doors it seems.

How long was your roundtrip? Thanks for the TR, I don't seem many reports from Gunn!

Strong Work! You might want to keep the permitless camping on the DL. Kelly and Co. check the site often....I think you can self issue after hours for zones outside of BB?

Holy crap! That is some fine looking climbing. Nice work Ben, I can't believe how much stellar climbing you guys have packed in these past few months.

Thanks for the info, I was surprised by the amount of snow on the north side. Were the other faces mostly melted off? That summit bivy is fantastic. Did you get the full snaffle treatment to round out the experience?