JasonG

Might as well bump this back into the light of day. I happened to stumble onto it and found it a great read . .. c'mon post the pictures!

I'll bet: 2 more than the number of handguns, 1 more than the number of Bud sixers, and the same as the number of women Scott brought. Four years has been too long, I need to go back. So Purty! -JG

Dallas too?

I know what you mean, after some of the loosey goosey outings of 2009, I hope 2010 will be a year of solidness. Or somewhat solidness . . . OK, just not super-scary, cross your fingers, I don't think this is gonna hold, sort of loose. And yes, Curt, it is amazing how well the route comes into shape with a little fine weather. Certainly a good way to prep for the big 35! JG

The BD Quantum 55 will wear out prematurely, but the upside is BD will replace it at no charge. I know from experience . . .Great pack other than durability (mainly bottom, and lining behind hip belt).

Nevermind . . . should have checked your profile. D'oh!

Hey Tom- Nice work on Rainier . .. Tim and I were remarking how cold and windy it must have been. That Ingraham descent is pretty fun in lean conditions eh? I remember rappelling off ice bollards and generally being pretty sketched a few years ago . . . I think I might have a photo you'd be interested in . . . but I didn't bring my SLR so it isn't super high-def. Shoot me a pm with your email (I don't have it on my home computer). -Jason

Trip: North Twin Sister - West Ridge Date: 12/27/2009 Trip Report: This is such a well traveled route, I don't expect to tell anyone anything they don't already know- more of a conditions update with some pretty photos . . . The good weather was taunting me over the holidays so I jumped when Tim said he could get out on Sunday. After hemming and hawing and generally avoiding some sort of overnight deal (we're too soft for such long nights), we settled on the North Twin, figuring it would give us a good, scenic alpine workout with some skiing for good measure. We were right on one count . . . Leaving the car about 7:20, we had arrived just in time to see a group of four head up the road with bikes. Bikes?? What do they know? Skis were going to be the obvious choice for the day, but we just had to hike for a bit-right? Turns out we hiked all the way to the turn off, and only started skinning because we felt stupid and wanted to destroy our gear. We could have pushed or rode bikes most of the way to Daley Prairie, oh well. We left our skis at the overgrown turnoff and trudged up the thinly covered road (nearly bare in places!!!) to the wilderness boundary where the snow was still only a foot or two deep. Stinkin' El Nino. The good thing was that Tim was pretty psyched to climb the route in tele boots and who could blame him, it was a great day to be in the hills . . . It started to get a bit more wintry near the top and we finally got to use crampons on some ice- they also helped on the descent down the extremely variable ice and snow of the north slope. On the ascent, we belayed a short, icy step just below the summit- otherwise the rope stayed in the pack. The views from the top were grand as usual: Hoar frost formations were pretty cool, but perhaps won't be so cool when covered by a good storm cycle: We were lucky and never had to use the headlamps - while on the climb. Driving home, however, they came in real handy when we had to change a flat tire. Gotta love "winter" in the Cascades! Gear Notes: Skis if you feel silly. Crampons, single axe, short rope, some rock gear, headlamp if you are unlucky. Shortbread cookies if you have a flat tire and need to bribe the Mosquito Lake Rd. neighborhood dog. Approach Notes: Long, if you hike with ski boots.

C'mon Wayne, was I right about the picture you posted near the beginning?

Not the NF of little J'berg? If so, the late, great Roger Jung soloed it a few years back. His quote in the summit register- "No route description, no rope, no problem". He didn't give it a grade and I'm sure never reported it . . .

. .. leave it to Drew to make things interesting . .. nicely played.

Nice work guys, love the name too . .. . but how about this quote from the movie? "Welcome to Costco, I love you. Welcome to Costco, I love you. Welcome to Costco, I love you. Welcome to Costco, I love you." Nope, definitely "brawndo". JG

It certainly wouldn't hurt if all of us climber/hiker types made lists and sent them to our electeds. Nothing may come of it, but it certainly won't if we don't speak our minds. It seems like too often ordinary folks don't comment on things anymore . . . . and then wonder why their views aren't represented. And I agree, the Dose and Westside roads (five and counting .. .) would be on my list too ! I think I am starting to see a pattern with the Park Service . ..

This is one of the three roads I really miss, the other two being the White Chuck and the Suiattle. Sounds like they are moving ahead on the White Chuck repair up to MP 5.6 or so . . I don't know about the Suiattle. I see your point about fiscal responsibility, but it is a pretty special area that isn't very easy for families to access any longer. I guess if I was going to have to pick a road to repair, The Stehekin is pretty high on my list. I understand that it probably won't happen for some time, if at all, but still I thought the Park Service's position to be a little out of step with my own. It really isn't about the Stehekin residents, I'm interested in my family's access! I know there is a lot of passion around this issue, I'm just explaining my perspective- right or wrong.

H.R.2806 passed the House, on to the Senate! I, for one, am in support of it . . .especially now that I have short legged ones I would like to take to areas I remember fondly as a kid.

Noah- that's Sloan

Strong work guys! We were on Vesper wondering about how things were going. After seeing the condition of the face, we were relieved when we saw your car at the dry creek pull off. Little did we know that you were heading back to the North Face! Do you have a shot from Dickerman that you could draw a line on? Cheers!

Sold!

Trip: Repulse - Original Date: 9/12/2009 Trip Report: All I have to say is that those Fireys were tough. In September, I was joined by Scott, Tim, and Gord on a Silent Lakes peak bagging extravaganza. Although all of us didn't summit all the peaks, our group managed to get up Fisher, Arriva, Little Johannesberg, and Repulse. I wasn't on Lil' J'berg (write it up Scott!), but I was on Repulse so I thought I would share some photos and a bit of text. Here's the Beauty: Near as we could tell from the summit register, we were the second ascent of the original route, and the 8th party overall (4 parties in 2009 alone!): It was loose, intimidating, and most certainly not our modern definition of 4th class! We found some vintage Cassin pitons left by the Fireys, Scott had the fortune of pulling one out while on rappel (I kept it as a souvenir)- luckily it was backed up. I kicked another one loose and placed it using a rock to back up the next particularly suspect anchor. Fun! This one was pounded with a rock, it rang true: We also had some good times cowering, trying to not get hit by party inflicted rockfall- here are Scott and Tim enjoying a sheltered spot while Gord rappels: And the gang negotiating a particularly fine gully enroute to the the peak: The business end of the climb: The view from the start of the business end: And, the summit views from the apex of chossville: Needless to say, we wouldn't recommend the original route, but the route from the col between Repulse and Hoot Owl (I think?), looks like a promising early season way. This route is the one that most folks have used in recent years, and looks quite quick and direct from the highway. Also, Gordy Skoog reports a new, moderate route on the north rib of the peak- "Fun route, Good Rock, 5.6 III". I would like to hear how it went . . .. Details? Anyway, for those that have driven by this peak often and wondered, you could be the 9th ascent!

Trip: Spickard - NW Ridge Date: 7/27/2009 Trip Report: Well, it sounded good . . .but turned out to be quite loose, and a bit on the sketchy side. The route traverses the right skyline in the photo below- We were up in Depot Creek for an extended trip during the infamous heat wave of 2009, and a loop over the top of Spickard sounded better than going up and down the regular route (the glacier was in poor shape with lots of exposed ice). In hindsight we would have had more fun if we stuck with the standard way . . .Oh well. It was quite spectacular though . . . The first problem we found is that the route description is just plain wrong. Beckey talks about staying on the south side of the ridge, but that clearly wasn't going to happen. Very steep, loose, and a lot of 5th class. The north side wasn't any more solid, but it was a little less exposed, and easier to traverse (still some low-mid 5th). We had many gendarmes to traverse and one spot where we had to do a single rappel. At times, we used the old growth lichen to our advantage, and full body frictioned across some exposed blank bits. Good times! We never saw any evidence of passage, so I don't think this route gets done much. Good views, though, so I really shouldn't be such a whiner. It took us quite awhile to work up the ridge (~5 hrs), much longer than we thought it would given the description. I think there is a semi-epic sounding TR from the 80's on Bivouac.com, so I doubt we are the first to underestimate it. Anyway, I'm probably making this sound worse that it actually was. I'm certainly no hardman! Gear Notes: Brought 60m half rope, slings, tat, small rack (not much pro). Crampons and axe handy for lower snow slopes. Approach Notes: Thanks to whomever cleared out the trail this past year. Would you please keep that up? Don't listen to the park service rangers!

Great shovel, but I have others, so don't really need this one. As mentioned in the title, it has never been used, and telescopes for your digging comfort. I'm up in Mount Vernon, but could drive it south or north for a serious buyer. Shoot me a PM if interested . . .Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words Phil (we should get out again sometime!) . .. and also thanks to all the folks who packed the house at the Mountaineers yesterday for TJ's memorial service. The stories told by his many friends and family were heart warming, funny, and provided great insight into a life fully lived. True to TJ's spirit, we invaded the Six Arms afterwards and continued the remembrances over beers. Just how TJ would have wanted it .. . -JG

Just an update to set the story straight. The news outlets have most of the details wrong, and TJ deserves better. Tim called me Thursday morning (10/8) to get my thoughts on whether or not to call in a rescue for TJ. He had left the previous Sunday for a trip over Little Giant pass with the intention of climbing Clark, Luahna, and Buck. TJ discussed with Tim his probable route choices and itinerary, mentioned that he was likely going to do a couple of long days from a camp in the Napeequa. Monday he was going to climb Clark from the south side and traverse over to Luahna and probably climb the SW slope, before descending Butterfly Butte back to the river and his camp. Tuesday was going to be a climb of Buck via High Pass or Louis creek and then back out via Little Giant. Due to how ambitious this plan was, Tim thought that TJ probably wouldn't have gotten out until Wednesday, but became concerned when he hadn't heard from him by Wednesday night. After our short conversation on Thurs. AM, Tim called it in and started things rolling. The initial callout to Chelan SAR had a limited response, so I called some friends at Skagit SAR to see what could be done. A few more calls back and forth between various SAR groups and the plan was set to meet at the Little Giant TH Friday morning at 8am. I convoyed over with four Skagit SAR folks and met Tim and a growing crew of friends bright and early at the TH. Hikers had reported seeing TJ's bivy near the Napeequa river and tracks leading to Buck Mtn (on Wednesday), and a helo flight on Thursday had seen track high on the south slope of Clark. TJ's car was still at the TH. Not a lot to go on, but it was a start. We had to wait awhile for Chelan SAR to show up on Friday, and when they did, they didn't seem to have a plan. Collectively we tried to cobble one together as quickly as possible- the Skagit SAR folks were instrumental in kicking things up a notch. Thanks guys! It turns out that Chelan's helo wasn't available till the afternoon, and even then they didn't want to insert non-SAR folks. This probably would have been fine if there were a lot of SAR folks present, but there were only about 7 available for insert and we had a LOT of real estate to cover. We marked on their maps the approximate routes we felt TJ would be on, and explained that he was experienced enough that it was unlikely that he would be anywhere else. Two teams started hiking in to Little Giant (one SAR, one friends), and two teams (both friends) drove over to the White River to start up to Boulder Pass. Two teams (both SAR) were held back for a later insert high on Buck. I was in the advance team to Boulder Pass (along with Tim and Kirk) and tried to keep up with Tim as he set the usual blistering pace. We ran into the backpackers who had reported sighting the bivy, they recanted on the tracks part of their story and said that they hadn't really seen anyone in the last couple of days. We took it down to relay to base once we were in radio range. We arrived at Boulder Pass in the late afternoon, dropped stuff and headed up to check out the Walrus Gl and access to the south side of the ridge. We didn't see any sign of human tracks in the snow on the glacier, or on a possible gully route to the south side. We did scope our route around the south side of Clark for the next day, and got a good view of the Butterfly Butte descent. Our plan for Saturday was to climb the south side of Clark, check for any summit register, traverse over to climb Luahna, and descend Butterfly Butte to a camp in the Napeequa. It would be a long day. Friday night was cold (~20F), and a helo equipped with IR did a flyover of all the summits during the night. Nothing. Damn. After a fitful night, Tim and I (Kirk wasn't feeling well) headed up in the dawn gloom to Clark. After crossing to the south side of the ridge we ascended too high and had to drop to find the 7300' crossing of the SE ridge of the false summit. Here is where we ran into TJ's tracks for the first time. They were one-way tracks heading to Clark. About this time, a team from Bellingham SAR were inserted below us, their intent was to climb up and help search our Clark-Luahna route. Rather than wait (the insert looked to be about an hour away), Tim and I bombed down the gully following the tracks over towards Clark. We picked up his tracks again about 8100' on the south side of Clark and followed them upwards. At a notch a hundred feet or so below the summit the tracks dropped away towards Luahna. There was not snow on the final bit to the summit, but we knew that TJ must have visited the summit before heading to Luahna. Tim and I dropped our packs and dashed up to the summit to check if he had signed in. No register, thus no idea of when he signed in (we guessed it would have been Monday). Back at our packs, we scanned for the B'ham SAR folks but couldn't see them. We requested additional resources be inserted ahead of us (or a least some detailed helo search time), but it didn't sound like they were going to send any our way. Not real pleased to be the only folks covering such a big area, Tim and I headed as fast as we could down along TJ's tracks towards Luahna. There were some sketchy parts below the notch (snow over icy rock), and Tim and I were not liking our overnight packs. It mellowed after we got out of the snow and we followed faint tracks in the scree. Along the way we got a good view of the Richardson Gl. and saw no tracks leading to the east ridge of Luahna. This narrowed our search to the SW side of Luahna and we dropped our packs at a notch with Richarson Gl. access (we still planned to descend to Butterfly Butte). We heard over the radio that the B'ham SAR folks were not able to get to Clark because people in their party were uncomfortable with the terrain. Bummed about not getting help, we took the radio, some food, and the binos and traversed around to the SW gully route on Luahna (http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=816480) and began our search. Before heading up towards the summit, we went to a cliff edge and scanned the face above us along with the talus field below. It didn't take Tim long to spot TJ's jacket a couple hundred feet below us. Damn. Tim went down to check out the scene while I climbed up to the ridge to get a radio call out to base. I relayed the jacket's position and requested a helo ASAP to scan the talus field. Watching Chelan's helo hover over the talus field, it was heartbreaking to hear the helo "confirm" that we had found TJ and hear them request the Huey for a winch extraction. I hiked down to meet Tim as he was coming back up from saying goodbye to TJ. Although not totally unexpected after so many days without contact, it was still hard to believe that TJ was really gone. We didn't bother going to the summit to see if he had signed in, it didn't really matter at that point. The Huey came in shortly to begin the extraction and Tim and I hiked down to a LZ to be flown out. Back at Base, sitting with Tim, TJ, and Terry (his dad) was by far the hardest part of the whole hard day. As a father myself, I find it hard to fathom seeing your child dead and broken. From what we could see, it appears that TJ took about a 1000' foot fall from very near the summit. He and his gear were found at about 7400' below the W-SW side of Luahna. He could not have survived the fall, so we were somewhat comforted by the fact that he didn't slowly succumb to exposure alone while we were screwing around with rescue plans. How/where exactly/why he fell will probably never be know, but it looked like he fell from some pretty exposed loose terrain. Hold broke? Slipped? Off route? This whole incident really drives home Jake's question: "How many of us could that have been?" TJ was one of the first people I ever swapped leads with; we thought we were so cool when we climbed our first multi-pitch route together- R&D! Placing actual gear- on lead! It is fun to remember cruising over to L-worth in his powder blue bug, listening to tunes- the sort of stuff that pulls us back to the hills time and time again. His optimism, humor, and overflowing enthusiasm will be sorely missed. RIP TJ . . .. -Jason Griffith

Here is a picture of TJ, probably wearing the pack he has with him right now: He's in the middle, block out the jokers on either side: Keep your eyes peeled if you are in the area! Thanks- Jason

Hey all- The Anacortes City Council is having a meeting to discuss the draft 2009 ACFL Comp Plan: http://www.cityofanacortes.org/parks/documents/comp_plans/acfl_parks_comp_plan.pdf Although dry, you can skim it pretty quick. Both the Access Fund and WA Climbers Coalition (Thanks Joe and Andy!) have concerns with the draft as it is now written. Basically, there is a provision to review and potentially close some access paths and also new routers will have to apply to a "committee" before they can install bolts. For groups that instruct there is a new $5 million dollar insurance requirement that will functionally shut most volunteer-based organizations (like WAC, Mountaineers, Skagit Alpine Club, etc.) out of Mt Erie. Anyway, the city council will be taking comments on 9/8/09 at 7:30 pm in city hall. Written comments (email is fine) have to been in by 5pm on 9/8 to Jonn Lundsford (JonnL@cityofanacortes.org) at the City of Anacortes. I hope to see some folks there! Cheers, Jason Griffith