JasonG

This is so very true. The older I get the more I don't mind shifting last minute to something that will have more sure weather. I usually have an east side backup. Perhaps the Cathedral/Grimface group? And I would not go near the south fork of the Cascade, at least based on a recon a few years ago. You're on vacation. Just rent another car and do it one-way, N-S like everybody else. 100% more enjoyable. And, you don't need permits.

The is the best Old Chute TR I've read in a long time. Keep the lame TRs coming! (and slow down)

Mainly, I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm usually working, or dealing with the kids, and basically pay the solstice no mind until late in the evening when I decide to crack a beer on the patio and remark how late the light lasts......and that it's all downhill from here.

Watch the rain for a really long time

That's quite a weekend! And great pictures as well...there is no substitute for being up high when the sun goes down or comes up. As you know, there are a lot sacrifices to make that happen.

Wow! Such a great TR and adventure, well done!

The Pickets would make a rough introduction to the North Cascades, with the exception of Terror Basin. @dberdinka is right on the permit front, and he has good ideas for a week of ass kicking beauty. Nothing will have the big mountain feel of Rainier though.

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/tripreport You may have to be logged in to use the page above though @Josh Lewis....maybe that was the issue?

Hate to break it to you @Josh Lewis, but you can do that too. Just type in the name of the mountain and the route into the search box at the top of the TR search page and presto!

Damn. How did I miss this??!! What a bargain for a durable alpine standard.

Yowza. That sounds like quite the night. I will have to go back into the database and see if you wrote the adventure up!

The snow is going fast at those lower elevations @Alisse, but I've never done that Pilchuck to Heather Lake tour before so you probably won't get any reliable info from me that you can't get from TAY TRs. I would guess it would be a bit melted out? I am old enough that I remember skiing at the Pilchuck ski area in the early 80's though....riding the tails of my parents skis.

So, when you come in this way, how did you descend? Rap the route? I guess I assumed he had Blake's book already!

A long apprenticeship will serve you well in the mountains, there's no rush. Which means you should probably find paying work for a time. Also, listen to @pcg, the most successful guides are most certainly people people- climbing is secondary.

I haven't @Alisse, but I have climbed it. I tend to stick to descents that aren't very consequential, where I can stop and take pics frequently. It would check most of your boxes. One of my favorite big days is to go up the White Salmon , thru hell's highway, hit the summit of Shuksan (time permitting), around the summit across the Crystal, and then ski down the Hanging and White Salmon back to the slide alder hell below the ski area. That would tick most of your boxes, except you will run into teams around the summit. Or you could vary it by climbing the NF with skis and doing the reverse of that orbit.

Can I take pictures from the base?

You gotta prove him wrong @topher406!

How was the weather on Sunday? Any photos? Such a fun route!

paging @G-spotter.....

I tried this with one of the larger SmugMug albums of mine and I think there is a limit to this feature on cc.com. It said my link was too big?

Oh, it isn't now required, just recommended. Here's what I do....export a lower resolution subset of photos into a folder on my desktop and then upload to cc.com. I understand that if you post from a phone or Google photos that it might not be as easy. Oh, just saw what @olyclimber posted, thanks!

Well, that needs to change!! Feel free to add to our discussion in cc.news on how to improve the site @Matt Lemke. @jon and @olyclimber will have to weigh in on whether we can improve the photo functionality of cc.com to be on par with that other site. The key is that the images need to get uploaded to the cc.com server if we want to have images that render correctly 10-15 years from now (we've had a lot of issues of TRs with bad photo links). Do images actually reside on NWhikers, or is it just linking to a web album of yours? Nice work on the trip BTW, the NF of Buckner is a fine adventure and I'm always interested in how people decide to make it happen. We opted for a camp on Sahale arm and did a RT up the NF and back to the arm and out Cascade Pass (minus Horseshoe- I don't even know if I knew it existed). But, as you illustrate, a lot of ways to skin that cat!

Often, you're right, but I have to disagree in this case @genepires. The bad weather was forecast several days in advance. And, many of us have a rule of thumb of not climbing up into bad weather on a volcano for the very situation that these Scouts experienced. Unless you're totally familiar with the terrain and have multiple means of determining your position, the margin is just too slim on our big peaks in a storm (of course I learned this the hard way as a young climber!). Add in minors under your care and the decision to turn back before the summit is a pretty easy and obvious one. They screwed up, and many of us would have said as much to them before they left camp that morning. Moreover, the leaders poor decision put not only the young boys but the rescuers at risk, given the poor conditions. I'm not saying I always make perfect decisions (I have no doubt a poor choice of mine could some day kill me), but I would say that there is most certainly something to learn from this rescue.

Hi @Josh Lewis- There is, it has just changed location (took me awhile to find it too). Go to account settings (NOT your Profile) and you'll see a signature option. Let me know if you have trouble finding it!

And I assume you browsed this excellent TR (but maybe not since it should have answered your questions?):