JasonG

Way to make it happen!! That takes some guts heading up into the steep unknown, strong work. I would imagine that Richard would be proud, if he ever got off the toilet.

Holy crap, that looks wicked hard (thus very French). Strong work boys and girl!! One of these days I will get back to honing the rock skills, but until then I can live through TRs like this one. 5.11 in the mountains?? Completely silly! BTW Ben, I met your OB boss and co-workers on Eldo this weekend. Small world....

Oh yeah, it is a five star pitch for sure.

Between you and me . . 99.9% Now, if I could just figure out a way to leave the camera at home altogether, I'd be set!

Trip: Dorado Needle - SW Buttress Date: 8/20/2011 Trip Report: When this is your plan B, you know you live in a pretty good part of the country. Unable to secure a permit for a particularly well known locale in NCNP, Gord, Curt and myself pulled the only permit for Friday night in the Eldorado XCZ. The only one! The trail doesn't mess around, so we tried not to either, arriving at the camp at the base of the east ridge in about 5 hours. There is now a composting toilet here, and it is easy to find meltwater just east of the camps. Gord and I went up to the summit of Eldorado for the evening light and were treated to one of the best views in the park. It never gets old. We turned in pretty early anticipating a long day, and set the alarms for 0430. It came early, much too early, interrupting my dream of Concrete yahoos burning donuts by our camp (on the glacier!)with their jacked up trucks. Imagine my surprise when I only awoke to a slight breeze, stars, and endless quiet. We were off about 0545 and traversed down, around, and up to the base of the route in about 2 hours. We were climbing by 0800, and Nelson is pretty spot on with his written description of the route (the line on the photo is a bit off, however). The route is pretty long (10+ pitches) and we were glad to have rock shoes for most sections. Most of the climbing felt hard enough to pitch out, and the rope drag would be pretty bad for simul-climbing unless you were pretty close to one another. There is one pitch in particular that is stellar, and Curt enjoyed every meter of it. About as good a pitch as I have climbed anywhere in the mountains! Most of the other pitches have some looseness, but not bad at all for the mountains. It took us about 6 hours to reach the summit. On the descent, we down climbed back to a rap anchor and did a 10 and a 30m rap to the glacier. We had to swing over the gaping moat to get on the snow, but it was better than it looked from above. We quickly (well, slowly) returned back to camp (@~1700)to pack up and descend before dark. We just made it, arriving back at the car at 2015. Unfortunately Good Food was closed, as was Annie's, so we settled for Bob's in Sedro. Good burgers to round out an excellent trip!! Photos are much better than my writing though, so here is our trip, flip-book style. Let me know if you want captions. The SW side of Dorado Needle, the buttress is left of center in the photo. Taken from the summit of Eldorado the day before: Gear Notes: Medium rack to 3" seemed to work well Approach Notes: The trail just gets better by the year!

Wade- Upload to the Gallery then click on the camera icon when you edit the TR, easy as 1, 2, 3! Glad you and the gang had a good time!

That is some of the worst blister carnage I have ever seen! "My blisters sure are painful, but at least the hike out is long and uphill."

Excellent work Josh! Your alpine apprenticeship is progressing quite quickly.

Send a pm to Trent...He has some knowledge of the flight patterns of those crazy Oak Harbor Fly Boys. I believe that area is on one of the EA-6 regular routes...the usual aircraft I've seen very low in the Cascades.

Oh Yeah! That is a climb you won't ever forget. Great work! I remember that sketchy pitch well- somehow my ice axe came loose and went bouncing down, landing on a ledge. I had to get lowered down and climb the thing twice. That bivy is tough to beat though. The calm in the eye of a hurricane.

Much thanks to CC.com, the voters, and all the sponsors! Cool!

Thanks for the Glacier TR!! I spent a summer working for the FS on the west side of the park and have many fond memories of scrambles there. It seemed like once you left the trails, you never saw a person (but often lots of bears and goats). Considering how they look from afar, I was always amazed at the summits you could reach without a rope.

It is good to have you back writing TRs! Although I miss the explosions.....

You might try posting in the climbing partners forum also....

Given the slow melt and huge snowpack this year, I'd say that it won't be a normal Oct. on the mountain. Probably much better snow and ice conditions than normal.....Good luck!

Trail Park Pass. Wetslide used the term wilderness permit, but it isn't a wilderness area. Just the standard parking permit that we know and "love".

Funny you should ask, the exact same thing happened to me 7 years ago. We photocopied our valid trail park pass and sent a letter explaining what had happened to the appropriate office (it will say where on the ticket). Then, we left the country for a couple of months and returned home to find an arrest warrant for my wife in our mail box (the car was in her name). Somehow they hadn't connected the letter to the violation (though I had referenced the violation number in the letter) and it went through the courts with a "failure to appear", etc., etc., while we were out of the country. I guess somewhere along the way, they decided that she needed to be arrested. I called the US attorney's office in Yakima and reamed someone out for wasting so much taxpayer money on such a trivial matter. They dropped the case and left us alone after finding the letter on someone's desk. Hopefully you have a better experience. I have a hunch that a significant portion of the monies collected under this program go to enforcement, without a whole lot going to backcountry improvements. Most of the work I see done on trails is by WTA volunteers.

Wait, was along on this trip? Sounds like a good day!

Stay safe out there Steve and Scott, there will be summits to climb upon your return!

Nice work, and impressive images as usual!

I would add one more thing that the nameless ranger left out. Apparently they require folks to get permits if they plan to do overnight trips in the Ross Lake Rec Area. I have been chided for not doing so on Ruby and Hozomeen, though was not issued a ticket on either occasion. Strange, but true. So even if you are not in the park, you may need a permit. Does this count for boaters on the lake too?

Thanks for the compliments! Sometimes I wonder why I lug an SLR around, but when I get back home it all becomes clear.

His auto-signature is the link, lots of good stuff there!

To avoid all the frustrations of other parties in the gully, I think it is a good idea to bring a few nuts and tri cams and climb the SE ridge of the summit pyramid (low fifth). This is a fantastic way to finish the climb and I am surprised that it isn't more popular. I think it took us ~11-12 hrs car to car last September (not rushing) so you don't have to camp and deal with the permit fiasco either.

Trip: Little Devil and Baksit Peaks - Standards Date: 8/8/2011 Trip Report: These peaks aren't technical, but they are scenic, and worth the walk. Having hiked up to the lookout many times over the years, I had never taken the turn to Monogram lake before this Sunday. I ran into a couple that had bailed on Little Devil when the predicted sunny skies never materialized, and almost turned around myself when I climbed up into the clouds above Monogram Lake. Thankfully I had Norman Maclean to keep me company (I was reminded again why "A River Runs Through It" is one of the best short stories ever written), and an hours' rest lifted the deck enough to navigate to camp below Little Devil. It was still pretty socked in the rest of the afternoon, but I scrambled up Little Devil right before sunset. After the sun went down, the clouds lowered into the valleys and I was treated to a quiet evening out under the stars. I got an early start the next morning and traversed over to Baksit (Middle Devil), where the summit register placed by Dallas and Chris Weidner in 1995 is still there. It was good to see that Dallas had signed in twice, along with a single entry from Roger Jung. Both have passed on, but I had a good few moments on the summit with memories of their exploits. Though I didn't know Roger, I had met his dad several years ago on Corteo, and was told to keep a eye out for him. I still am. The views were spectacular, and I scoped the rest of the Teebone ridge traverse (some day!). The original plan was to sidle over and tag Big Devil, but I got lazy (and apprehensive about descending into the murk) and just sat up there and took photos of the cool marine layer spilling over the divide. A quick traverse back to camp, and I was on my way back home along a ridge as scenic as any other that I have seen in the Cascades. Ptarmigan kept me company on the walk down to the trail, and I was back at the car in no time. If you need some solitude and scenery, Teebone ridge is sure to deliver! Monogram Lake still melting out in August, and the Cascade River Valley Lookout on Lookout Mountain Teebone Ridge. Big Devil on the left, Baksit (Middle Devil) in the middle, and the Trapezoid (Last Devil) on the right Snowfield Group at sunrise Little Devil Sinister and Dome- I wish we had this weather a month ago! Summit register on Baksit (Middle Devil) Fallen Angel The Trapezoid (Last Devil) and the Pickets Slesse and Triumph Fallen Angel Cue "The Sound of Music" Gear Notes: Crampons and axe Approach Notes: Monogram Lake trail. Leave it at the ridge before dropping to the lake and go up. Julie Andrews is waiting above.