[TR] Goose Egg Mountain - Ride The Lightning 4/22/2007

[AlpineMonkey]

We walked down the gully, 1 rap, no problems.

[catbirdseat]

Did you carry tennis shoes up the route for the descent?

[layton]

We did and it was necessary, the rock in the gully is really loose and trippy-overish. I would not rap considering how ez the walk off (+1 rap) was.

[AlpineMonkey]

Same, carried tennis up. Walk down was quick and easy.

 

The only reason why we walked down was because on pitch 5 it started dumping buckets of rain on us. Thus my rainbow picture. I would have rapped down otherwise, but didn't want to do it in a rain storm. Based on what you said catbird, the rap doesent sound all that great? Would you not recomend it? How long did it take to rap?

[catbirdseat]

The rap route has numerous flakes and horns that can catch your rope when you pull it. It caught twice on us, but fortunately in both cases we only had to climb up a short distance on easy rock to free it. We were doing double rope raps, which probably makes problems more likely.

 

Twice, we had rocks come down when pulling the rope and a small one even hit one of us.

[KFed]

Our party left an unpleasant surprise here at belay # 4, probably due to some ill advised Taco Bell cuisine the night before. The impending 5.9 crux may have had something to do with the urgency of the incident. Suffice to say that future White Lightning Riders may want to wait until after a good rain before attempting the route.

 

Brooooooooooo, why the hell didn't you throw that shit off the ledge?

 

I would have thrown it at Brit fo' free!!!

[tvashtarkatena]

Uhm...it wasn't in the throwable phase, if you get my drift.

 

Brit's lost a ton a of weight, BTW. YOu could almost mistake her for mobile home rather than trailer trash.

Edited May 2, 2007 by tvashtarkatena

[joepuryear]

Hey all,

Glad you are getting out and enjoying the routes. Just a quick note on bolt placement there. That type of igneous rock (a type of andesite?) is pretty tricky to bolt. Bolt placement is more dictated by where there is an area of solid rock, not necessarily by where the bolt should be placed in relation to a move or crux. The rock is very "platey" and we were very careful to place the bolts in non-hollow sounding and non-fractured areas.

Have fun out there and be careful!

 

[AlpineMonkey]

My girlfriend and I played on Comando Pillar last weekend. Was fun to, until it started raining again. Everytime I've got half way up that face, its started raining on me.

 

Joe, One of the customers that comes into the rock gym that I work at went on an outting with you recently. She had lots and lots of fun. She was really impressed with what you guys did. I just wanted you to know. -Craig

[John Frieh]

Anybody know if Goose Egg is snow free yet (including approach)?

[sobo]

Given the time of year, this spring's weather, the elevation, the winter snowfall, and my inestimable experience with the local area, the answer is yes.

 

The more relevant question would be, "Is it dry?" I doubt it. Should definitely be in a couple more weeks.

[Alpinfox]

When I climbed it last year in mid-April, it was snow-free and dry.

 

The walk-off descent had some spots of wetness and some little scraps of snow hiding in some alcoves.

 

My TR

[Off_White]

We did it last year on Memorial Day Weekend, it was just fine. I've heard folks are climbing at Lava Point, which is only a little lower.

[SemoreJugs]

 

We rolled outta Portland at 8am, dicked around watching the 1st party atop P4, climbed our route, and were off and out before the 1st party topped out, home before 9.

 

Dirty Sanchez was a fun 1/8 of a day in the hills! Pretty solid rock all in all.

 

Such humility.

[wayne]

2 weeks ago it looked a bit wet

[Rick]

Watch for TICKS! I was at The Cave area on 5-8-09. I was afraid to set my stuff down on the ground there were so many ticks everywhere. They climb out on the ends of the grass/brush leaning over the trail just waiting for an unsuspecting host, human/dog. Luckily they move slow. We climbed at The Royal Collumns and The Bend and didn't see any ticks in those area's.

Edited May 12, 2009 by Rick

[John Frieh]

Dry? How bad will the ticks be?

[jessbee]

We climbed at Goose Egg and Royal Columns Memorial Day weekend and there's no snow to speak of. We didn't encounter any ticks or rattlesnakes either.

[frankstoneline]

Climbed at the cave a couple weeks ago, didnt see any ticks despite climbing back in some of those brush filled corners and doing my damndest to pick up the little buggers. One rattlesnake did decide to make an appearance in some rock at the bottom of one of the climbs we got on. He was near the base of a broken pillar that was the belay platform for a finger crack.

[Rick]

Maybe the day I was at the Cave Area, 5-8-09, there was a "hatch" of Ticks? If that's what they do. I was at The Bend 5-19-09. As I approached the belay spot for the climbs to the right of Ed's Jam I encountered a Rattlesnake stretched out waiting for the sun. It took me a little coaxing to get it to move along after it coiled up and rattled at me. Never saw it again the rest of the day. And NO ticks either.

[sobo]

...I encountered a Rattlesnake stretched out waiting for the sun. It took me a little coaxing to get it to move along after it coiled up and rattled at me. Never saw it again the rest of the day...

That's all they need, really. Our rattlers in the Tieton are quite well behaved. We treat them as pets, of course. Not quite domesticated, but pets all the same.

[Jopa]

That's all they need, really. Our rattlers in the Tieton are quite well behaved.

 

Unless one is chillin' on the top of a column and you happen to put your hand in that same spot as you top out. I saw an unlucky individual get bit that way at Royal Columns. Thankfully Porter was there to give him this piece of advice, "Dude, you should go to the hospital or you might die." He was very thankful.

[sobo]

Some years back, I was approaching the top of some climb at Royal Columns from the walk-off trail. As I was happily skipping down the ball-bearings-masquerading-as-gravel-laden pathway to the cliff edge, I came upon what appeared to my trained eye to be a benign branch across the trail. At the last second, just as I was about to step over said benign, large-diameter branch, it suddenly came to life, coiled up, and buzzed ominously at me. I literally pole-vaulted over it on one foot in mid-step, landed "safely" beyond it, and still on one foot, began to skate helplessly toward the cliff edge and certain death. My partner, who was behind me, said later it was quite entertaining to watch me slide, single-foot-style, down the trail to the edge of the cliff, whooping up a shit-storm of four-letter words. I never did understand why I didn't put both feet back on the ground...

[wayne]

Did Wildcat and Gooseegg yesterday. Very fun! Here are some Pictures

No ticks, just t-storms.

[andyf]

Nice pics, Wayne, especially the ones looking down Colonnade. It's been ages since I've been to Wildcat; is the bottom of Colonnade still clean?

 

We were hit by the same t-storm at South Fork.

 

Andy