JasonG

Riding over a dead whale with Xtra tuffs, classic!! Gotta be in AK . . .

...and you gotta love the fact that he was near the summit pyramid, with the guard still on the adze!

Nice work on finishing the list after 25 years! Seriously, that was some funny stuff. I don't think the Bulgers knew what hit them . . I was especially wondering what guys like Joe Firey and Dee Molenaar were thinking through the movies. I know Fred was into it, I think the explosions woke him up. I will add you to our heshing contact list, I think you may be able to teach us a thing or two. I was looking for you after the presentations but, alas, you had already split.

Well, it is falling out anyway (darn kids), so I decided I might as well get used to having less hair.

Many thanks to Chris Weidner, who recently wrote an excellent piece on Dallas for a Boulder, CO newspaper: http://www.dailycamera.com/recreation-columnists/ci_16440528 Well said.

Yowza. If the ice had fallen earlier in the day, would you have been wiped out? I've never liked the look of that left side route on the headwall, the right side was spicy enough for me . .. nice work though.

Dallas on one of his many winter ascents of Sauk Mountain. Hi all- Those who were close to Dallas have set up a fund to help defray the cost of a memorial installation (design and type TBD) on Mt. Erie. If you would like to contribute here are the details: Send donations to: Anacortes Parks Foundation PO Box 1902 Anacortes, WA 98221 It is important that " Dallas Kloke Memorial" be put in the memo field on the check, or a note included mentioning that this is for the Dallas Memorial. Thanks everyone! P.S. If the moderators could make this sticky for a while, that would be great.

Thanks for the history lesson Matt, good stuff! And thanks for the bit of beta on the last pitch . . . I can't wait to go back to back and try some of the other routes Curt pointed out in the area. As Mark pointed out, I hope the winter is relatively kind to the road . . .

I should have made it more plain that this is really, really good route- four stars!

Thanks to all who attended the memorial service yesterday, I know I came away with a much better appreciation for the force of nature that was known as Dallas Kloke. My personal favorite Dallas quote related at the service: A climbing partner once asked him what his secret to climbing longevity (50 yrs!) was....... "You either got it, or you don't." Here's to you Dallas, I hope I got it!

Trip: Darrington- 3 O'Clock Rock - Total Soul Date: 10/13/2010 Trip Report: I just wanted to put another TR plug into the database for Darrington and specifically the Total Soul route on 3OCR. MattP, Dave Whitelaw, Don Brooks, Mark Hanna, and many others are to be commended for their tireless work in support of Darrington Climbing. Between new routing, and advocating for continued FS road maintenance, their efforts over the years are much appreciated. The area can handle a lot more traffic than it now receives, so I hope everyone reading this goes out and climbs a route in D-town soon (and writes the FS in support of access)! OK, here's our story: Tired of the unrelenting weekend rains of September, Curt contacted me last week to see if I could get away on a midweek climbing jaunt. Being an out-of-shape, off-the-couch, dad type these days, I was a little apprehensive about the length and grade of Curt's first choice- Total Soul (~8p, .10b- I think). I shouldn't have been it turns out- a little finesse and technique go a long way on slabs (It wasn't all without struggle though, I did slip a few times). I think I may be a convert! Anyway, the climb is really fun and safe with a mixture of bomber bolts and good natural gear- all belays are bolted too. Funnily enough, both Curt and I thought the hardest single couple of moves came on the last short pitch (rated .10a), but the bolts are right there. Kudos to Curt for leading all of the harder pitches, it was a good way to ease me into "D-town slab dancing". Enough blabbing, hear are some photos . . Curt on the third pitch: Curt at the end of the "Rubber Soul" pitch I think. This was a sustained and impressive pitch given the history of it. Nice views abound when climbing the route, here's Exfoliation dome Gotta love the little touches like this: And the bomber rap rings: Midweek, the climb felt as wild as the sign implies. We were the only party on 3OCR that day: A trip to Darrington isn't complete without a stop at the Shell station. Good people watching, you may spot the yahoos in this photo: I should add that if anyone is going to climb Total Soul before the snow flies, we forgot Curt's #3 BD camalot clipped to the first belay (the last rap bypasses this station). Beer for anyone returning it to its rightful owner! And while Curt was the rope-gun on this trip, I would be remiss if I didn't point out the kid-gun making the whole thing possible- my understanding wife, who stayed at home with the two wee ones (2 years and 6 months) while I goofed off in the hills. Thanks! Gear Notes: two ropes for rappels, pro to 1.5", beer at the Shell Station Approach Notes: Maintained trail right to the base of 3OCR. Road is 2WD to Squire Creek Pass TH. Write the Darrington RS in support of keeping this road open (and the spurs)!

Thanks for the report! A stark and beautiful landscape, I just may have to make my way over to Borah one of these days . . .

Dallas Kloke 1939-2010 The Kloke family would like to invite all to a celebration of Dallas' life, scheduled for 2:00 pm, Saturday, October 16, 2010 at Anacortes High School (Brodniak Hall). This will be followed by a reception and fellowship in the high school cafeteria. Obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/skagitvalleyherald/obituary.aspx?n=dallas-steven-kloke&pid=145823031&fhid=6903

Good idea, thanks, I'll do that.

Bumping this up a bit to remind folks that the memorial is coming up this week.

Hi all- The memorial service for Dallas will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, October 16th - Anacortes High School. All are welcome.

Thanks for the in depth report on the incident. http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/665615/vesper-peak-accident-rescue.html Bummer. Stay safe out there folks.

At the request of a few folks, I'm going to post up a bunch more photos of Dallas, not all by me. Dallas, Brooks, and myself went up Sauk Mountain this past winter: Gotta love the woolen knickers! Scott, Dallas and myself did the Kangaroo Temple, Half Moon,and Wallaby link-up last fall: Dallas climbed Boston Peak this summer with Jill (like J'Berg, he probably had climbed it 7 times or some crazy number), she passed along a few photos: Some photos from Scott: Dallas was THE MAN!

Although I usually take media coverage of climbing accidents with a grain of salt, this article actually has the details correct: http://www.kirotv.com/news/25172987/detail.html

A little extra background on the accident so those in the party don't have to retell the ordeal: Dallas was part of a five person party on a day trip to the Pleiades on Saturday, September 25th. While scrambling loose 3rd/4th class terrain approximately 10 vertical feet from the summit (~1:30pm), Dallas dislodged a large coffee table sized block. It knocked him off the route, and he fell ~300 down a gully before the rest of the party lost sight of him. The portion of the fall that was witnessed was thought to be fatal. One member of the party down climbed several hundred feet of sketchy terrain and found a couple articles of clothing, but no Dallas. He estimated that Dallas had fallen considerably farther, and that survival was not possible. The party could not get cell reception on the peak, and had to get partway to hwy 542 before they could contact the Sheriff/SAR. The mission to recover Dallas is ongoing . . . To close, here are some photos taken within the last year- as you can see he was still active in all seasons and always fired up about climbing. Although I only began to climb with Dallas in the last couple of years, I really admired him as someone who has been in the sport for a long time- someone who balanced family, work, and climbing. I will really miss him. -Jason Griffith

Thanks for the info John!! So, did you notice if that slide path was there when you guys flew in in August? I took a look back at the full resolution photo, and for sure a pretty big slide did happen this year, perhaps within a few days of when I took the picture (9/3/10) judging by how fresh the debris looks. But, you might have a better idea of when it came down . . .

Thanks for the info, I hadn't heard about that slide from 2006. In the full res. image you can see fresh tracks in the snow, so I think some amount of material came down recently. But, given the volume that was released in 2006, some of the dirt visible in the photo is probably left over from that. Regardless, the fresh debris looks to still have descended several thousand feet down approximately the same slide path as 2006. Objective hazard indeed . . ..

I was up at Anderson Butte on a family hike last week and took a few photos of the southeast side of Baker. Did anyone see/hear this slide when it came down? The path looks pretty impressive- it appears to have descended at least a few thousand feet. Since it looked to have originated in/near the crater, perhaps some minor volcanic activity is to blame?

OK . . .back on topic. Interesting tidbit from the NOAA site today: .CLIMATOLOGY... SEATTLE WAS ON A STREAK OF 5 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES /THROUGH AUGUST/. JULY AND AUGUST ENDED UP PRETTY CLOSE TO NORMAL...JUST A HALF A DEGREE BELOW NORMAL FOR THE TWO MONTH PERIOD. THE HOT SPELLS OVER THE SUMMER HAVE MASKED JUST HOW COOL IT HAS BEEN FOR SEATTLE. TAKING A LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF DAYS WITH HIGHS 70 DEGREES PLUS SO FAR THIS YEAR THE NUMBER IS ONLY 54. THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS WITH HIGHS 70 OR ABOVE DURING THE YEAR FOR SEATTLE IS 84. ON AVERAGE...SEATTLE WILL GET ANOTHER 11 DAYS BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR WITH HIGHS 70 PLUS. THE RECORD FOR THE LEAST NUMBER OF DAYS 70 PLUS IN SEATTLE AT SEA-TAC IS 46 DAYS IN 1955. THE TOP 5 IS ROUNDED OUT BY 53 DAYS IN 1954...65 DAYS IN 1980 AND 1964 AND 66 DAYS IN 1956. 1954...1955...1956 AND 1964 WERE ALL LA NINA YEARS. IT IS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE THAT THIS YEAR WILL END UP IN THE TOP 5 FOR THE LEAST NUMBER OF DAYS WITH HIGHS 70 PLUS. FELTON Although I hate to admit it, the whiners may have a point....

Any update? Hoping for the best . . .