nolanr

So that's it, somebody came up w/ a hybrid of a rat and a bobtail wildcat, that's why them damn snafflehounds are so ornery.

What, some ranchers from E-burg are driving their herds right up the side of the mountain to fatten up on talus and dust? Looking at Daniel from Spectacle Butte last weekend, the thing looks about bone dry and snow free.

I'd like to see somebody do the complete Deming Glacier, man that thing looks nasty in places.

I don't know about the late season conditions, but Memorial Day weekend I climbed up above Glacier B. and was sitting on the dividing ridge, looking down on Columbia Glacier and Blanca Lake. I think it could have been doable easily enough at that time. It's a great area for rambling around, highly recommend hiking there from whichever entry point you want to choose. Twin Lakes w/ the massive wall of Columbia Peak rising above them is one of my favorite views I've come across yet.

We've been thru this before, but here goes again: TRAIN AT ALTITUDE (sorry for the all caps everybody). Jogging a whole bunch at sea level around the Sound doesn't do much to prepare you for 14 1/2 K in elevation. I think I saw something about you hiking up to around 8 K. Do that. And lots of it. Try spending several nights at higher elevations, too, helps a lot w/ acclimitization. As for schlepping a lot of weight around and doing hikes w/ lots of elevation gain, that's good too. Good luck and have fun.

Doing climbs midweek should cut down on the crowds. Some of the easier graded classic climbs around here are the south face of The Tooth (5.3 or 5.4) and the Beckey Route on Libery Bell (maybe 5.6, but the rock is totally solid, the climbing is pretty casual, no shortage of good places for pro). Both are pretty short approach hikes away from highways, almost like crag climbing in an alpine environment. There's endless numbers of walkups and easy scrambles. Maybe it would be easier if you zeroed in on a specific part of the Cascade Range you wanted to see, and then we could bombard you w/ suggestions. One of my favorite areas is along the Mt. Loop Highway east of Everett (north of Seattle), you can easily go up Pilchuck, Dickerman, Del Campo, Sperry, Vesper, Columbia, and others. Ranging from 5300' to a little over 7000'. Also, the Tatoosh Range immediately south of Rainier, within the national park, offers several good options.

Sorry to get off topic, but damn Caveman, how did you get that little icon thingy shooting a lightning bolt out of his finger or whatever? I'm a techno dunce and then you bust out stuff like that, I feel so unworthy.

Okay, all this talk about ravenous, vicious snafflehounds brings to mind the almighty Monty Python and the Holy Grail, w/ the deadly rabbit beast... "What'll he do, nibble your buns?" "He's got big teeth..."

Office Space, If you've been lurking for a while I would think you would expect the sarcasm and sometimes unhelpful responses mixed in w/ the helpful. Just the way it works here. One advantage of approaching from Ingalls Creek side is there are no restrictions on number of people that can be in the area. From Colchuck/Stuart lakes side, number of campers is limited and maybe even dayhikers, but I'm not positive about that. I'm curious, too. I don't doubt you can climb any kind of 5.9 route, but have you done multi pitch alpine routes? Not trying to be condescending, just curious.

Dude, I piss on or right beside trails all the time. The puddle dries up pretty fast. I wouldn't worry about it. Especially if you go tromping thru horsey country where the damn foul beasts (and I'm sure there's at least 1 horse lover out there who's going to jump on me) leave lakes of piss and shit landmines all over the trail. Climbing Beckey route on Liberty Bell last year w/ my buddy and his wife, we were about halfway up and I really had to take a leak. There wasn't much to do about it. I told her "I hope you don't mind," turned my back to her, she was about 2 or 3 feet away, and did my business. I can understand not charging right past the sentry and trying to get a peep show, but also try to get behind a bush or tree. And when it really gets down to it, if a stranger sees you partially or fully nekkid, so what, it's not like you're ever going to see them again. I risked all at Spectacle Lake yesterday taking a skinny dip during the middle of the afternoon, passed 3 tents but didn't hear or see anybody moving around. Didn't get caught as far as I know.

I shaved my legs during college one quarter 'cause I was taking an athletic training class and I was too damn cheap to buy pre-rap for when I was the guinea pig practicing ankle and knee taping jobs. Damn are my legs white, glad to say I let the hair grow back after that.

I mostly wear contacts, glasses on occasion, and I can't get over the irriation of fogged up lenses in colder weather or constant wiping of the lenses on blustery, foggy days where there's lots of moisture in the air. I'll take the difficulties of contacts any day over prescription glasses.

Limp Bizkits songs are short 'cause dumbass singer couldn't think of any other word besides "rollin'." As for the other kind of rock, worse shit I have had the displeasure of coming into contact w/ was Castle Mountain or Castle Peak in the Norse Peak Wilderness, across the basin from a horse camp at Goat Lake. 3rd/4th classy scrambling, but it was loose, sandy, dirty, greasy, nothing good about it. Most sketched out I've ever been even though it wasn't "technically" difficult at all. I don't think hardly anybody visits that choss pile, for good reason. I don't think Beckey even mentions it.

Dru, One ball is all it takes, I just saw he and his wife are expecting a little one.

If you want to get easy top ropes in the Icicle Canyon get there early! My little piece of advice. Went out there several weeks ago, finally got out there about 10 a.m. and it was crawling w/ climbers. Everybody and there dog is suddenly a guide and there were several "classes" going on, 20 people waiting on 1 or 2 routes, essentially tying it up for the whole day. Peshastin by contrast was nearly deserted. Enjoy.

Cap'n Cavey, I don't think snafflehounds will be nearly as worthy of an opponent for you as the grizz. Hope you have a really small gun to do the job.

Bummer Bronco. If you can't drip/air dry that takes just a bit of the fun out of it.

Somebody busted out a window in my car last year at Squire Creek trailhead a ways outside of Darrington. Cost $400 to replace and all the asshole made off w/ was about $4 in quarters. I make sure not to have any change sitting around or anything else that looks interesting since then.

I hate to admit it, but you're probably right. I'm not that old, but I sure can tell a difference from 5 years ago or so.

What happened to Purcells and Selkirks? Or are those subranges? Didn't climb it, but Sir Donald looked pretty cool from Abbot Ridge.

I used to hang out with a bunch of bodybuilders. Now those were some seriously motivated dudes. But that wasn't about fun, it was an odd form of sadomasochism. In fact one of 'em once said, w/ perfect honesty "I'd eat dog shit if I thought it would make me bigger." That was the mentality these guys had. Anything to get bigger. I just can't take climbing that seriously. I'm w/ Dru, an organized exercise routine isn't for me. I go for short walks on lunch break, ride the bike around a couple times during the week, and try to go climbing or hiking every weekend. I'm not in marvelous shape, but I get around okay. I used to hit the weights, but haven't for about 3 years. It hasn't hurt my climbing as far as I can tell. Except for my knees have been getting really sore on steep descents lately, maybe bulking up my quads again would help w/ that. But I'm just not up for doing squats again. Now that was some seriously hard work, 3 sets of 10 w/ 405, by the end it felt like my eyes were going to pop out and I had this headache in the middle of my noggin'. That couldn't have been good for my overall health. Whoops, sorry, now I'm aimlessly rambling.

Aidan, your turn is coming young man. Enjoy your youth while it lasts. My line of work isn't even interesting enough to talk about. And worst of all I don't get to surf the net and waste most of my day on this sight like the rest of 'ya.

I figure if you're nekked it's skinny dippin.' I try to not have to pay for anything if I can help, except for the stupid trailhead pass thingy.

What? Our motto 'roun here is, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes. I head out most weekends regardless of the weather forecast. I mean you don't want to be doing serious rock work in a downpour, but you can always slog up something or do a scramble. I've found the rock on Vesper Peak to be extremely friendly and frictiony even when it has little rivulets running down it.

Jason, Sorry you didn't appreciate my comments. I notice no one has chimed in with the answer, probably because no one knows for sure. Too many people have climbed it over too many years to be absolutely certain what the fastest ascent ever was. I do realize you weren't claiming the fastest time or saying you were going to set the record. If you look thru some of the archives, you'll see what I was alluding to. There was a thread on fastest ascents of Rainier. Then one about climbing all of the Cascade volcanos on consecutive days, and how many hours could it be done in. Eventually it seems like an exercise in pointlessness speculating about it. But that's just my opinion.