Rad Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Climb: Terror basin – exposed to the elements. Date of Climb: 9/16/2006 Trip Report: West MacMillan Spire in a day. It sounded good on paper, but the paper got wet, drenched in fact. It misted, rained, sleeted, hailed, and snowed on us. West Mac spire was socked in all day and we never even saw it. We topped out on a knob on the saddle above Azure lake. Swirling clouds, precipitation at the snowline, and wet rock may make for poor climbing, but they make for great photography. ................... Lichen in its element. Pickets baptism for Tell. Terror basin treeline. Raindrops and berries. Hey! Shine over here! The terror basin camping area. The closest we came to climbing. Inspiration for future trips. From Terror to Triumph. After fifteen hours on the go, Ed and I barely mustered the energy to push-start the car when we discovered the battery had died. It started, and we headed home. Gear Notes: Ax for possible heather arrests and digging into steep snow covered dirt on the descent to the campsite area. Alas, the harnesses, slings, nuts, and 60m rope were just dead weight on our 7000 feet of elevation gain and loss. Approach Notes: The soaking wet brush, cold conditions, and slick roots made the descent to the overgrown logging road rather unpleasant. 2-4 inches of snow above 5400, but that will change soon. All in all, a fitting Pickets introduction for Tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted September 18, 2006 Share Posted September 18, 2006 Nice report and excellent tale of baptism. What are you actually climbing in the "one climbing image"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Posted September 18, 2006 Author Share Posted September 18, 2006 What are you actually climbing in the "one climbing image"? We were traversing from the camping area to the base of Terror Glacier and took a ledge too high. We did the short downclimb/scramble you see to get back on track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mos_Chillin Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Excellent! There but for the grace went we. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 beautiful wetness. i love the rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zloi Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 Nice pix, but quite a bad weather work-out to get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatboy Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 Terror basin treeline. This one is actually my favorite -- evokes vivid memories and sense of place! Nice one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Posted September 20, 2006 Author Share Posted September 20, 2006 Nice pix, but quite a bad weather work-out to get them. The forecast suggested it might be semi-decent. We (or the forecast) were obviously wrong. I've never been good at sitting in front of the tube watching sports all day like normal people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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