geordie Posted July 19, 2003 Posted July 19, 2003 Some people say they're following Beckey's footsteps wherever they go in the Cascades. I seem to be following Stephen Ramsey's. Spring found me following SR up the NE Couloir on Colchuck with J-Woo aka TexWood. (And wondering how we managed to have such an adventure following his detailed TR). So here we are in July and I find myself headed to Buckner. Stephen has just posted and my partner, Baby Z, has printed a copy of the TR. There is talk of a full on expedition. Admiral Ackbar, bows out before we leave the Valley. Leithal, Baby Z, F'n Faehner, and I have a nice hike up to Sahale where Agent H joins us for dinner. Come daybreak there are three of us headed up the mighty Sahale Glacier. Soon F'n F is threating the technicolor yawn of curious cause. We grab the rope from him, send him down and continue on. Once again, it's me and Baby Z. The traverse across Choston is not what we feared. A little class 2/3 with some removable holds, but not the scariness I feared. Cruiser. The Boston Glacier was equally accomodating. A few snowbridges seemed to be heading south, but lasted long enough for us. Not much wandering around cracks either. The North Face sat above us, still in shade. The snow was firm and took pickets nicely. There were Stephen's footprints again. The only way is up. I know I need to find a way to use flatter feet. My calves remind me it's been a while since Banff in December. There is nothing subtle about their message. We simul with our 4 pickets and reload when we need to. Baby Z places a pin, just because he can. Soon enough we are on top. We are having so much fun. Look at those tracks. (They must be Stephen's) I can't believe we just climbed that. Not scary, not hard. Fun Plus. Where to now? Stephen's tracks lead down into Horseshoe Basin. Traverse or straight down. Multiple tracks diverge. We traverse. It doesn't matter. (Down would have been quicker.) It takes too long to get down to 6400'. Somehow we need to get back onto Sahale Arm. The snow gully is obvious enough. But from there. "There's got to be a better way" says Stephen of the class 3/4 nastiness we encounter. Baby Z tries to kill me with a football of granite. I duck and look forward to tromping along the moraines of Sahale. It's still light out and we finally squirm out on top. The weather starts to turn as we return to camp. Another nice day among friends. Where to next Stephen? Quote
BigWave Posted July 19, 2003 Posted July 19, 2003 Nice work Slaps! Were ya on the clock on this one? Sorry we missed ya on the weekend of the fourth up on the Basin. Did you get to respond to the accident near Logan that weekend? Quote
Gary_Yngve Posted July 19, 2003 Posted July 19, 2003 geordie said: Where to next Stephen? I xeroxed some stuff from Beckey for him the other day... I'll let you know his top-secret plans for Quote
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