JosephH Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Just a note for folks who may be new to the area. Climbing on Beacon Rock's South and West faces is now closed until July 15th for the Peregrines. The Northwest face (by the road and around to the tourist trail) is still open. While July 15th is the official date to reopen, monitoring the Peregrines in cooperation with the WDFW will resume at the end of the month and could possibly provide another early open in 2008 depending on how things go for the resident breeding pair out at Beacon. Please respect the closure as it causes considerable problems and could easily rollback the progress made in recent years in working with the WDFW and WSP relative to opening earlier than July 15th if the monitoring observations provide for it. From now until Beacon does reopen is when Ozone really shines as a great resource for PDX climbers. Make good use of it, Trout Creek, and Smith this spring and Beacon will be open again before you know it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephH Posted February 1, 2008 Author Share Posted February 1, 2008 I'm preemptively re-posting the following from the 'Beacon Outings' thread for anyone interested in the details and current status of Peregrines out at Beacon Rock... ================================================================ Unless stupid birds are nesting... Funny how the rock stays open to the hundreds of thousands of hikers/walkers, yet they close the south face to the 50 climbers that climb there every year, due to those “stupid birds”. One could speculate that closing the entire rock to protect these “stupid birds” would be the most beneficial for the birds mating season. But NO……the climbers are scape goats. Oh well….same story every year. Kevin, at just what point does this tired diatribe yield to reality? Sure, nobody likes that it closes to climbing - hell, David Anderson and the BRSP don't like that it does - it's a friggin' royal pain in the ass for them as well as for us. And how many times does it have to be written that David and the WDFW did try to close the hiking trail as well - but that the legal terms of the transaction creating the BRSP precluded it? WDFW had the choice of burning political capital fighting WSP on an issue or letting it go. They knew they were going to lose that fight to close the trail in the end so chose to let it go - but they did try to close it. No one 'scapegoated' the climbers, period. You know exactly how many routes climb to, past, or traverse Big Ledge - the Peregrine's preferred eyrie - as opposed to the trail which is 140 meters way at it's closest point. The closure is consistent in every respect with, or shorter than, all the other Peregrine closures in the country. Also, there is nothing 'dumb' about the Peregrines - they fucking lay their eggs out in the weather on a bare rock ledge on a verical wall in some of the worst weather the Gorge has to offer. They teach their young how to explode meals out of thin air, and are one of the burliest creatures on Earth. Pretty much no other creature besides mountain goats better represent what it means to get out and survive on one's own on a vertical surface than the Peregrines. And no one despises the fact that the stone closes more than I do - hey, I and a few other nuts actually get out there this time of year every time it's almost dry. But let's not 'scapegoat' the Peregrines because we're asked to time-share with them so these 'dumb [magnificent] birds' can try to reestablish their historic natural range. They are 3/4 of the way there and every single successfully nesting pair is critical to their species succeeding at that goal over the next 15 years. The year-round pairs at Beacon have made it among the most consistently successful eyries in the country which is the reason behind the closure. Again, no one wants it opened more than I do and it has taken four years of the steady investment of a shitload of time and gas (22 days last year at six hours at a shot while you folks were climbing away at Ozone) to re-establish a working relationship with David and the WDFW so that climbers are vested in the process of monitoring the Peregrines' progress and the details of the closures. That has allowed early opens and, if and when the Peregrines ever decide to stop using the South Face eyrie, it will allow either not closing or a very early opening. But - to be excruciatingly clear as to what that means - that means the Peregrines have to not even attempt to nest on Big Ledge in consecutive years based on strict monitoring protocols (which I meet in my monitoring). And contrary to public rumor and myth. That has not yet occured - what has occured is they have failed in three years of attempts on Big Ledge and were successful somewhere nearby in two of those years (we've never been able to pin down where). So where is it all at right now? As of last summer the latest resident Peregrine pair have established themselves high up on the East Face roofs at a point about two o'clock on the Southern/lower of the two main arches that make up the East Face. They have been consistently using this location every visit I've made to Beacon since September. Does this mean we don't have to close? No, they have no track record using this location and certainly have not successfully bred there. They could easily abandon it for Big Ledge starting anytime around the end of the month. We will close, but I will be monitoring them earlier and as heavily as possible this year starting in the second half of next month. If they conclusively don't attempt to use Big Ledge AND are undeniably and verifiably continue using the new East Face location, I will work with David and the WDFW on an much earlier open. Establishing the facts of such a scenario under the monitoring protocol would likely take through April sometime if it actually played out that way. If it doesn't play out that way, then it will be business as usual attempting to either verify the date of any fledging or summarily conclude they have failed to successfully breed altogether (last year's outcome) so we can hopefully open sometime earlier than July 15th. The best possible outcome for this year and next is the new pair continue to use, and successfully fledge at, the East Face location remaining and returning there in spring 2009 without ever attempting to use Big Ledge in either year. But however it plays out this year and next, you folks now have Ozone to get by on until we know for sure what exactly is happening at Beacon. And given how many cars I drive by at Ozone to get to an empty parking lot at Beacon even after it's open, I'd say you have enough going on to keep you in enough climbing until it does. Anyway, that's the whole story on the Peregrines at Beacon so there is no misunderstanding about just what is going on out there this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbone Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 as opposed to the trail which is 140 meters way at it's closest point. 140 meters? I dont think so. More like 200 feet. You can rap to big ledge with two 200 foot ropes. And remember all.....just the south face is closed. Still good routes on the NE corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Frieh Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Does this mean you guys will stop talking about beacon for at least a couple of months? Please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_forester Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Does this mean you guys will stop talking about beacon for at least a couple of months? Please? not until someone can retrieve that excalibur-esque green alien from blownout direct! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 this could be redone to fit the beacon closer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denalidave Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Does this mean you guys will stop talking about beacon for at least a couple of months? Please? not until someone can retrieve that excalibur-esque green alien from blownout direct! That thing still there? I worked on it last summer and gave up once I realized I'd never want to use it anyway if I did get it out. Now that we can't climb at Beacon, the next best thing will have to be spraying about it for 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbone Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 this could be redone to fit the beacon closer... If you posted a picture....why cant I see it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Does this mean you guys will stop talking about beacon for at least a couple of months? Please? not until someone can retrieve that excalibur-esque green alien from blownout direct! Did you place it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbone Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Now that we can't climb at Beacon, On the south face…… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Does this mean you guys will stop talking about beacon for at least a couple of months? Please? not until someone can retrieve that excalibur-esque green alien from blownout direct! Did you place it? no, but a certain playa hating on da beacon in dis thread did - about a foot from a purty-pin just fun'n... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 this could be redone to fit the beacon closer... If you posted a picture....why cant I see it? wierd - shows up on my preview, and i can see it now - don't know if it shows now? the original far side cartoon was better than this thing, but i couldn't get it on da interwub linky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 neither your link nor your picture works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 neither your link nor your picture works. jesus - i feel like i don't even work - i've entered into the fawking digital twilight zone - put "far side screw the limit" into google image and it's hit #1 - the old far side cartoon showed 2 yokels fishing with mushroom clouds sprouting in the distance and one cletus to the other ejaculating "ya know what this mean's norm? no size restrictions and screw the limit!" i kinda like the comparision to beaconites - the larger implications of world events mean nothing to us, just our access to a few thousand square feet of moss-wrapped, bird-carnage detritus strewn basalt. additionally, the view the slack-jawed yokels gaze upon is not unlike the view of the south face from the boat launch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillygoat Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 ...Ozone really shines as a great resource for PDX climbers. ... Quoted for posterity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Just a note for folks who may be new to the area. Climbing on Beacon Rock's South and West faces is now closed until July 15th for the Peregrines. The Northwest face (by the road and around to the tourist trail) is still open. While July 15th is the official date to reopen, monitoring the Peregrines in cooperation with the WDFW will resume at the end of the month and could possibly provide another early open in 2008 depending on how things go for the resident breeding pair out at Beacon. Please respect the closure as it causes considerable problems and could easily rollback the progress made in recent years in working with the WDFW and WSP relative to opening earlier than July 15th if the monitoring observations provide for it. From now until Beacon does reopen is when Ozone really shines as a great resource for PDX climbers. Make good use of it, Trout Creek, and Smith this spring and Beacon will be open again before you know it... i remember early openings back in the 90's. whatever happened to those meetings that climbers attended prior to the closures? whatever happened to steve johnson (the ranger), one year they opened it early and dave anderson ( the biologist ) changed his mind the day it opened. steve johnson turned his back to the situation and said climb away. steve really liked the climbers, even after many of us were caught climbing during the closures, i guess avery tichner was his his cousin or some relation. areyoumydude and i got caught climbing one year and charged with harassing an endangered species. the court appointed attorney thought it was such a crock of shit he fought it for us and we won. the federal agent was a real cock sucker and the lawyer didn't care for him much, lucky for us. in fact i got caught climbing out there three or four times and merely got a my hand slapped. i guess they got the punishment down to a T these days. nothing like a little civil disobedience, proply reminds you of your greenpeace days hangin signs from the sides of buildings fighting for a cause you truly believe in, huh joseph. nothin like gettin busted fightin the good fight. those were good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 ...Ozone really shines as a great resource for PDX climbers. ... Quoted for posterity! i thought jh couldn't stand ozone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 as opposed to the trail which is 140 meters way at it's closest point. 140 meters? I dont think so. More like 200 feet. You can rap to big ledge with two 200 foot ropes. And remember all.....just the south face is closed. Still good routes on the NE corner. so the trail is about 460 feet from the nest? hell, i'd say the trail is about that distance from the ground. joseph, what's up with the meters, i had to look it up on the internut to find out what a meter was. you gotta break that shite down to feet for this dumb blonde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Don't see it Ivan. I could see it would make a good point to your story. I see lots of other interesting things though: ----wait---got it right here: ______________________________________________________ Who can photoshop Beacon in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denalidave Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Don't see it Ivan. I could see it would make a god point to your story. I see lots of other interesting things though: Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Frieh Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 i kinda like the comparision to beaconites - the larger implications of world events mean nothing to us, just our access to a few thousand square feet of moss-wrapped, bird-carnage detritus strewn basalt. additionally, the view the slack-jawed yokels gaze upon is not unlike the view of the south face from the boat launch. Beacon Rock: Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea. Ivan: So if the green alien is excalibur does that make me Merlin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 could be, does merlin wear a windshirt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephH Posted February 5, 2008 Author Share Posted February 5, 2008 ...Ozone really shines as a great resource for PDX climbers. ... Quoted for posterity! i thought jh couldn't stand ozone. Gotta read the whole quote - not just the part philly sampled. Sorry about the 140m business, screwed up my my meters + feet in the rush - good thing a satellite didn't crash into Mars. Trail to Eric's rap = about 20m Rap to first anchor = about 25m Rap to Big Ledge = about 40-45m So about 85-90m... And it could be worse - lots of the 2008 closures around the country are like this one in NC: 1/15 - 8/15... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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