JasonG

Nice, Nice, Nice! This has been on my list for some time, and you helped remind me that I need to make it a priority one of these years before I get too old (how old is that anyway?). Well written, excellent photos, a fine TR added to the database.

Thanks much for your work on this site, it is fantastic!! One minor issue I have noticed is that sometimes the search feature causes Firefox to crash. Doesn't seem to be the case with IE though. Haven't tried it with Chrome....

Wow. That is an impressive two day effort!

Thanks Drew!!

Trip: Mt. Sloan - NE ridge Date: 9/10/2011 Trip Report: dR and I had been talking for years about a September trip up to the Hurley, but somehow it never happened- until this weekend. Leaving work a bit early on Friday, I raced home, threw the gear in the civic and pointed it north. The border wait was basically nonexistent, and soon I was loading my gear into dR's car for the slow crawl to North Van to meet Neil and his Pathfinder (a 4WD HC is highly recommended). Then we drove, and drove, and drove. It's a long drive! I think we didn't arrive at the TH till about 11:00pm, 8 hours after leaving my house (included a few shorts stops and lots of Vancouver traffic- the drive home was about 6.5 hours with a dinner stop). McLane's/Gunn's directions are just fine, though in the dark we second guessed ourselves a bit. The road to the TH is rapidly growing in with alder, so it is probably best to get on this in the next couple of years unless they do more logging back in there. Anyway, a short few hours sleep and we were up at 5 and away a little after six the next morning. We stumbled upon a flagged rough trail at the upper corner of a cut block (basically in line with the peak from where you park) that took us to the lower lake. From their we followed faint game trails up to the ridge and started scrambling . .. and scrambling, and scrambling. As a matter of fact, we never roped up, preferring to bypass the jagged fifth class bits with short traverses below the ridge crest (in the interest of speed, it is a long ridge). I think this is probably the most enjoyable way to do it (much lighter packs, though we didn't enjoy this benefit). The rock was usually quite good, making for fun, scenic scrambling. We reached the summit in about 5.5 hours after leaving the cars and took a long break to admire the fine views. I knew basically none of the peak names, but hopefully some of you Canadians can help out with the captions below. It is a great vantage! We descended the class three gully described in Gunn's scrambles book, which went quickly, and soon we were at the upper lake contemplating the bash back to the car. Luckily, there is another flagged trail on the east side of Ault creek that takes you to the lower lake. Here it diverges from the newer trail and keeps heading down the east side of the valley. We followed it for a bit past the lower lake, thinking we would just cut across the creek when opposite the truck. Bad idea. A better plan would be to bushwack around the lake and join the new trail on it's NW side. I think it was about 10.5 hours car to car, at a reasonable pace- taking lots of photos and breaks. I would highly recommend this scramble, and here's some of the reason why: Scrambling low down on the ridge: Looking south: The truck is just visible above the climber: Final bit of the ridge below the summit: Fun scrambling!: The impressive North Face of Samson. It is on list!: The summit: The view SW to Samson, Sessel, and many others: The view west to??: North to Gun and Downton Lakes: The view NW to ??: Descending the class 3 gully: Massive split boulder above upper Ault lake: Don't take this "shortcut": A welcome sight at the end of a hot day: Gear Notes: Helmet, ice axe and crampons in early season. Approach Notes: Follow McLane and Gunn

Ha Ha!! I was going to email you Kit, but you beat me to it. I remember hearing about you losing that thing....

Cool! A great line done in perfect style. Thanks for sharing an AK TR, I think it is great that more and more folks are posting their TRs from outside the Cascades. Keep em' coming!

Strong work, I'm impressed. The west face of South Gunsight is way back in there, steep, and (as you found) a bit chossy. The South face on Dome is so good looking! I bet it will be seeing more traffic thanks to you four. . . .Thanks for opening it up!

Stop it. Why do you torture us so? Scenery, splitter cracks, and a glamorous woman? Have some kids already, and scale it back a few notches like the rest of us.

Val- Franklin describes the best descent from the summit (gullies to the south of the west ridge). You can traverse across low on the south side of the peak to intersect the Fisher Creek trail.

That Mammut sling was there and we rapped off it to the south (looked pretty new at the time). While it will never be mistaken for Gunsight, the rock on the crest of the east ridge is not too bad and certainly better than the rock just a short ways to either side (especially in the gullys). I would recommend the route and descent the way we did it- your TR got me thinking that it might be time to head back and climb the north ridge! Dan- Thanks for the tidbit about the last grizzly, cool trivia!

We carried over Mesahchie a couple of years ago and I quite liked the east ridge. We pretty much stayed on the crest the whole way (simul climbing), with one short rappel at some point (we were in the fog the whole time). From the summit, the best way off is to down climb to the col (good bivies) with Katsuk (Holyoke) and wrap around and down into the Fisher Creek trail. A climb back up over Easy pass completes it. A very cool mountain, in a great position. You will be back.

Ah yes, a day spent riding the . Terry Tate would be proud, strong work!

What you want, then, is a PLB, not SPOT. They don't call them "the button" for nothing.

Rad did a piece in the NW Moutaineering Journal a bit ago.... My thoughts are if you really want something to work in an emergency, go with this . SPOT just seems like a gimmick, and has a fairly steep annual subscription price. As Rob has mentioned their satellite system leaves much to be desired when compared to the real deal of the PLB network. Scared has a good point, what do you want it for?

If David Lynch was into this kind of thing, even he couldn't have crafted a better TR of the modern American West. Of Course Christopher Walken would play the mayor of Modena in the screen version.

Thanks for reviving those threads Darin, good stuff. Do you use a rope bag with your skinny, or just toss it typically? Ever had much trouble with all the knots and biner jamming in cracks? Certainly seems attractive to lead on a single line rather than twins or half ropes.

Thanks for the update, especially about the rockfall. I was interested as to what happened. And if you mean sneak bivy as in you didn't have a permit, I wouldn't advertise. The rangers do look at the site (if that is your real name)...

I'm drifting but just can't help myself... Jim you make a good point about the cost/benefit of keeping a lot of the roads repaired, it isn't cheap. But I also look at it as spreading the impact of the millions who want to recreate on our public lands. Now, as a dad, I also look at it through the eyes of my young boys, who want to go to the same places I went at their ages. Making things relatively accessible (maintained trails, roads, etc.) for the next generation is important, IMO. And just because some of these road segments are still bikeable (today) doesn't make their non-drivability trivial in the long run. Without frequent brushing, they will turn into alder hells relatively quickly. We are already seeing the a dramatic decline in funding going to the FS and NPS - I think it is a refection of our overall society's lack of regard for recreating on our public lands. Per capita, I get the feeling talking to my grandparents that much fewer people travel overnight in the mountains these days as compared to the postwar era. If this trend continues, will society still want land locked up (via Wilderness Act, logging plans, etc.) that very few use?? OK, I'm done. Sorry for the hijack.

You can thank NCCC and Pilchuck Audubon for a lot of the road closures. The Forest Service would have most of them reopened by now if it weren't for the endless appeals. Not sure about the Dose situation, but I think there is a vocal minority group opposing that one also (and I think the NPS isn't for it). Stehekin Rd is mainly being opposed by NPS and above groups (but I could be wrong), Doc Hastings has a bill that passed the house and died in the Senate that would re-draw the wilderness boundary and allow the Stehekin road to be built on the old wagon alignment (where it should have been in the first place). Write you congressmen and women, and the FS, NPS, etc.- it isn't as simple as a forest pass clearing the way for road work, not when NEPA is involved. The Darrington office will be resending a Suiattle road plan for comment, hopefully this November. I will try and start a thread when I hear about it.

I don't know.... cut ropes, unwanted adventure/epic, other/wrong gully, price tag on 'biner.... sure sounds like a good story to me. Please, do tell.

Fine work! Thanks especially for posting a TR from a seldom visited area, one of the reasons it is fun to dig through cc.com. It is on the list, and the approach beta is much appreciated.

You and John Mauro need to get together and plan some crazy shenanigans next year. There's two of you?? That was a fun TR to read, thanks! Though I will probably never do the self propelled thing, it is entertaining to watch from the interwebs.

http://squamishclimbing.com/squamish_climbing_bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2495 Amazing difference from the 2009 picture....the glaciers are happy this summer.

Nice TR!! As an FYI for future trips, the NR of Whatcom isn't nearly as bad as it looks from the pass. Even with large packs, it goes pretty easily (just don't slip). Highly recommended, one of my all time favorite scrambles. I bet Anatoli is proud of your trip, no?