nolanr

Where the hell are they? From a picture in the Beckey Bible, it looks like they are right below the east face of Overcoat and Chimney. Looking at topozone.com, it put a little x marks the spot somewhere in the Necklace Valley area. Not exactly the same place. I scrambled south from Dutch Miller Gap and got fairly high on a subsidiary ridgeline and was looking (I think) at the east faces of Little Big Chief and Summit Chief, everything south of that got hazed out in the late afternoon sun and hard to distinguish. I think I did pick out the 3 Queens, so I could guess where Spectacle Lake was, and thus Chickamin, Lemah, Chimney. Anyway, I'm curious what the best way to get up to the lakes is.

I was out at the Monte Cristo CG Memorial Day weekend, and I saw a bunch of cars out there all along the road, most of the way out to the CG. Not sure how you get a key, it would save a boring 4 mile walk, but you can schlepp thru that in an hour. I didn't know whether to be jealous or feel sorry for the bastards 'cause they can't get anywhere on their own 2 legs.

Damn, I thought Whillans was Capt. Caveman. With all of your aliases it gets a little confusing.

The road was most definitely closed beyond Bridge Creek CG on Sunday 9/2. Don't know about now.

If you peruse the Bible some more, you'll find Jesus was a climber, maybe one of the first ones. No route beta or Yosemite decimals ratings given.

I saw a dude up in Glacier NP in B.C. wearing black leather pants and a black leather jacket. It was a warm sunny day. Couldn't quite figure that one out.

2 weekends ago I passed some larch trees in the Ingalls Lake area that hadn't turned colors yet.

I've heard of it being done in 24 hours. Have to warn you, the last few miles to Stevens Pass must be one of the ugliest stretches of the PCT in WA, I was just there. You get to pass under power lines, ski lifts, thru clear cuts, even cross a dirt access road. The stuff around Spectacle Lake and Cathedral/Deception passes is a lot better, I've hit several sections of the trail this summer. Have fun.

I wouldn't pull yours either, so don't even ask.

We were going to do the upper portion of the N. Ridge last weekend, didn't have ice axes or crampons, and ended up bailing out on the climb because crossing the main body of the glacier w/out above mentioned gear looked pretty scary. Keep an eye out for a pair of friendly goats up there, they hung out w/ us for half of Sat. and Sun. morning. And as of last Sunday, the road is closed past Bridge Creek CG, you can't drive up to Stuart/Colchuck Lake TH, have to come from Ingalls side.

Hammer, let us know how it goes. I've been curious about Thielsen for several years, but I haven't got that far south to give it a try.

Had a pair of goats following us around in the Goat Pass area (how ironic). I kept hearing and seeing them around our bivy sight off and on all night. Don't those guys sleep? Saw them at various times of the morning, afternoon, and evening too. Any biologists out there? They were all over our piss, but they didn't get pushy, just hung around waiting patiently.

Oh yeah, I had a ranger threatening to arrest me and my buddy for being in a closed area on Sunday. We went in on the Teanaway side and came out Stuart Lake trail, area was shut down for rockslides (what the...?), so the dude was pretty pissed at us and my buddy's wife who was picking us up. But he calmed down and nothing came of it.

Cavey, that's so unneccessary. He was around, and no I wouldn't have pulled his pecker for him.

Butt rock, heard of it, I think it's anything Beavis and Butthead would've listened to. Lynnwood would probably be a prime place to still hear some of it.

"Wool keeps you warm and dry no matter how wet and cold you are." I don't even remember the source of that one, that's one of my all time favorites.

Dru, did you drink any of that without filtering or treating? Ha!

Went into the Mountain Light Gallery in Bishop, CA this week, which is a showcase for the photography of Galen Rowell, and Mr. Rowell was in his office. But he was on the phone the whole time, so I didn't get to meet him. I think that qualifies as a legend, and not local.

Did a 4 day, 3 night trip w/ my bro. Entered near Bishop, went thru the Dusy Basin (stunning, kinda like the Enchantments), down to the PCT, north thru Evolution Basin, up Darwin Canyon, over a col, and back where we started, more or less. Had to do a little thumbing for rides and some extra walking. Each day but the last went over a pass near 12,000', the last one was almost 13,000'. The altitude kicked my ass, by the end of the trip I was dragging. Barely dropped below 9,000' the whole time, spent 2 nights at 11,000'+. If you run up and down Rainier that's nothing, but I don't climb volcanoes much and rarely get above 8 or 9 K. Anyway, great trip, good to be back, heard I missed the torrential downpours. On the flight in Baker looked very white, did we get some fresh snow w/ the wet weather pattern? PS-Dude, it's hot down there. The sun is merciless when the wind isn't blowing to cool you down. I did 'ya all proud and went skinny dipping twice. And their marmots are wussy, they're about 1/3 the size of a good hoary marmot and they don't even know how to whistle. And the pikas are picky, they only inhabit lakefront property. Speaking of which, I don't know how there's so many lakes up in the High Sierra, there's barely any snow left, a few hanging glaciers on north slopes, yet there's lakes and streams everywhere.

If you are ever in Bishop, California, one of the gateways to the eastern Sierras, go to this gallery. It is the home base for Galen Rowell, the place is full of stunning photos. Galen was actually in his office, but he was on the phone the whole time, didn't get a chance to meet him. And there's a great Mexican place just down the street. Oh yeah, and if you're in Bishop, head west and get up in the mountains, too. [This message has been edited by nolanr (edited 08-25-2001).]

And one time, at Glacier National Park...in the Many Glacier area saw 9 bear in a couple of hours, all roadside, 8 griz and 1 black bear. A bunch of mommas strolling around w/ their cubs. Dumb ass American tourists not budging as the little guys get w/in about 30 ft. You know momma could cover that ground in about 2 seconds flat if she got pissed.

A pack of wolves on Mt. Adams? No kidding? I grew up south of there and had no idea there were wolves anywhere near. I pissed on a mouse scurrying around in the toilet at the Long's Pass/Ingall's Pass trailhead. Okay, I forgot about this one. Maybe the coolest combination of things I've seen, both in one evening. Heading east on the Mt. Baker Hwy. several years ago there was just a big ball of reddish/orangish glow skimming across our entire field of vision. Saw something in the paper afterward, it was a Russian satellite re-entering earth's atmosphere and burning up (or that's what the guvmint told us anyway, probably aliens really). Later on, switchbacking up the road heading towards Mt. Baker Ski area I happened to look out the back of the car and BOOYAH!, there's Mt. Shuksan with a huge bright moon rising over it's shoulder. This was in November, the air was clear, a little fresh snow on the mountain, it was absolutely stunning.

Better climb the mountain now, while it's still there. Maybe tomorrow it will be gone. The thing you gotta love is, in case of a real emergency, I think several river valley towns around Rainier will be flat out erased off the map BEFORE the unfortunate inhabitants have time to react.

I've had a few memorable critter encounters. Just this weekend, on the Deception Pass/Cathedral Pass Loop, saw 4 pine martens hanging out in a tree. Cute buggers. I think they were juveniles, I doubt adults are so social. Saw a weasel slinking along a boulder field where moments before I had heard and seen pika. Had a couple of up close and personal encounters w/ mountain goats (w/in 10-15 ft.), once by Kangaroo Temple and once by Yellowjacket Spire. None of them got aggressive. Had a marmot take a test bite on the toe of my boot, WHILE I WAS WEARING IT! Saw the tail of a cougar disappearing into brush alongside the Mt. Loop Highway. At twilight at a high lake in the Wallowas in NE Oregon watched trout rising up to the surface and bats skimming along right above the water surface, double teaming the legions of bastard blood sucking mosquitos. Lots of good scenery, too. Hope you have a great trip and the weather stays nice for you.

"I think it's starting to clear up" as the fog gets thicker and rain falls harder...or, "See, a star" when a low flying airplane goes by. One of my climbing buddies had a long standing tradition of being the eternal optimist.