Beacon

[JosephH]

and Joe, I don't buy its part of the rock climbers responsibility to "manage" the rockfall for the railroad. If the railroad were to ask us to do it, then we should become involved. However, your suggestion seems like trying to cause problems where there are none.

 

Well, what you don't buy and what you outright fabricate would fill a shipping container so I can't really say I'm surprised by your comment. But if you think there's no risk to climbing access from Beacon rockfall onto one of the busiest rail corridors in the nation then, simply put, you are mistaken. And that doesn't even include the risk to climbers. The 2010 ridge tree rockfall which destroyed everything at the base of Young Warriors left endless rock and debris hanging above YW that would still be raining down on that route on a regular basis today if we hadn't organized a removal effort.

 

But that you have no real interest in any form of managing the resource that requires actual initiative, cooperation, time and effort comes as no real surprise.

 

And of course some people are famous for that, with their silent agendas hidden from view.

 

Ah, the holy invocation of Opdyckian conspiracy theories - gotta love it (you are definitely the heir apparent on that front). Come on Steve, please do elaborate on and list out my 'secret agendas', I for one am dying to know what you think they are. For the record, I had and have only have one agenda: keeping Beacon routes from being retrobolted - my list of agendas begin and end there. Bummer that isn't the agenda of folks who are always claiming to be 'keeping it real', but seldom are in practice, when it matters, or whenever that requires anything more from them than talk. Same clueless shit, different day - again, no real surprise there.

 

 

[ivan]

I would like to come crawling

ditto, but when? tomorrow's a bit short order this wendsday's our rick's b-day i know and i got it off as always - would dig some rainy day adventure...

[ivan]

 

 

Ah, the holy invocation of Opdyckian conspiracy theories - gotta love it (you are definitely the heir apparent on that front).

 

heresy. i'm pretty certain jim can't be topped on that account. steve's ned fucking flanders by comparison

[billcoe]

LOL, I guess that there is no need to look outside the window to see that it's raining again, just check the CC.com Beacon thread. More rain = more acrimony.

 

Steve, just a side note. The pre-opening cleanings that JH did an excellent job organizing were done exclusively to be timed so that climbers had less rock fall to be concerned with opening day. They have been very effective. We get a crapload of loose rock off climbing routes and other predetermined potential trouble spots where rock might land on climbers from above. Have had a great time doing it and I hope I keep getting invited to these kinds of parties. I enjoyed working with Joe. That the south side of Beacon is where us climbers go and thus tend to focus our efforts is coincidental to the RR running important and occasionally dangerous cargoes by right under us.

 

When that upper corner of the rock fell onto the base of Young Warriors it must have providence alone that occurred when the rock was closed and nobody was present. My speculation is that a massive and typical gorge windstorm blew that huge Doug Fir that was the end belay of Lost Warriors/SE Corner Lost Variation off and the roots took all the rocks with it. I happen to see the RR and the ecology of the whole region as an additional beneficiary to the climbers efforts.

 

BEFORE Loose rock picture (this doesn't accurately capture the amount of it, we took out some teetering massive blocks not pictured that would have easily taken a train out had it been timed bad. You can see one of them to JH's left that we moved along though, need to compare b4 and after shot) You can see Hanme in her lawn chair way below sitting off to the side of the tracks spotting the tracks to ensure no damage occurred to them. We were attempting to direct blocks away from the RR, and were successful in that effort. She only appears close, she was back quite a bit. You can see the green rope causing a mini dust storm/ rockfall as it touches rock below. Notice the hidden wisdom of this photo. ie, who went first. One of us is above looking down at this shitshow and the other is below looking up. above. LOL. "HEY JOE, YOU WORK THE BOTTOM AND I'LL WORK THE TOP". heh heh. (actually I'm kidding, he went down, tied the loose rope off around to the North out of the line of fire and then came back up and we worked side by side.)

 

 

Finished and heading out. And AFTER only one application of "Loose rock be gone" too. The area out of sight/not visible in the picture below and to the right as far as I could get the rope to go had extensive cleaning as well.

 

 

This was just the 2 of us. JH had layed out an effective overall south side strategy of teams in other locations where it was thought they were needed. People had paired up and worked other areas per a plan JH had worked out in advance, coordination between teams was critical as was coordination with the parks and the RR.

 

Of interest and surprisingly, I didn't see any scorpions this go round. Not sure if that was due to their dislike of newly configured habitat (too much dust?) or my poor eyesight as I age. I learned a long time ago not to move any rocks up there without gloves on. (OK, I got stung by Scorpions 3 times out there over the years before I finally figured that out). Was wearing gloves when I got the hit to the thigh that made hit #4. Grrr.

 

OK, there is a glimpse of sun outside right now for some strange reason, so I'm gonna go grab a slice of it. Take care all.

 

 

[stevetimetravlr]

Bill, I have no concerns with you on the job, @ Beacon Rock climbing committee. You should go with us through Deadhorse Cave.

Ivan and Powderhound, Wednesday sounds good.

Edited November 8, 2015 by stevetimetravlr

[JosephH]

Yeah, that was quite a day. A lot of prepwork went into setting up for it in order to get the track closed, a railroad crew to be on-site observing and fixing the signaling fence, and to have a specialized track calibration train come through and verify after the clean up. And that day's cleanup effort of the ridge was followed by two top-down cleaning sessions of YW.

 

Hanging loose rock circled in orange

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The railroad guys understand rockfall happens, that it happens at Beacon due to the proximity, and they appreciate being given a heads up and help with clearing it when an active threat to their tracks exist. In this case there was an active threat to both climbers and the tracks, but we couldn't clear the threat to climbers without the park and railroad's involvement.

 

And, yes, Bill (and Andy Fitz) being on the committee is a confidence booster.

[denalidave]

Anyone know when Young Warriors was first climbed and by who?

 

 

Jim Opdyke and Michael Jackson and they worked on it for years... I think Ken Pasquinelli did the 3rd Pitch...

I Had no idea MJ was a climber. Who'da thunk it? He did have some sweet moves though...

[denalidave]

I would like to come crawling

ditto, but when? tomorrow's a bit short order this wendsday's our rick's b-day i know and i got it off as always - would dig some rainy day adventure...

If'n you cave crawl on Thur or Friday, I'd like to go.

[Teh Phuzzy]

Bill, I have no concerns with you on the job, @ Beacon Rock climbing committee. You should go with us through Deadhorse Cave.

Ivan and Powderhound, Wednesday sounds good.

 

Do you think all the recent rain has created a plunge for the end? You were talking about how much "fun" that could be when were chatting out at Beacon.

[ivan]

adam, you got time to come w/ on wensday?

 

[ivan]

1/9/2015 - day #1 - couldn't let a full week of january go by w/o putting in an appearance - thanks kevbone, absentee landlord-ye-be, for getting me on the kick years ago of noting what was worth NOT bitching about over the course of the beatard year

 

did 3 solo laps last january, but 1's plenty enough for me a year later - the classic approach through the lulls n' roars of the gorge - plenty windless at the lot though, barely w2 conditions, though still plenty chilly - took a dump n' renewed me year pass in 4 minutes, then galloped off for the main show - cold n' darkish but good enough and done in a saintly way, me pious n' piss skert in places, but nothing to really worry about

 

a long rotation home - holy shit i wish the whole year could be so balmy

 

1/21 - day 2 - VICTORY!!!

 

not that i ever need an excuse to get me some bacon, but today i was compelled to put in an appearance at the skamania court house - larry the tool (you know, the new one who was a lot like the old one?) saw fit to write me a 138$ ticket last november for getting back to the devil an hour after dusk, as apparently the current regime wants to say that's the same as bivying or doing a midnight ascent - don't know what the new feller was all butt hurt over, maybe it was just the shame of having to be bailed out of a bad spot last summer after his incompetence made itself plain before the very people he aspires to lord it over?

 

anyhow, i asked for my day in court and had a capital time today seeing justice in action - took a half day off and got good enough weather for a quick stop at beacon- gabbed w/ old man jeff n' coastie adam about the gubimint - they then were off to see what those rat bastards have been up to over on the what-have-you lately - i romped down to the base for a solo in street shoes n' shirt n' tie up the first half of the first pitch - then raced back up to the lot and hopped into the devil and bounded on in to stevenson in time to take my seat

 

the courthouse reminds me a bit of church - same sad old faces all around - same smell of worn wood and the same deep solemnity suffused through the assembly - the judge was a jovial looking chap at least

 

sat on the group W bench awhile reading my national geographic and grinning to hear all the cases of my fellows next to me who'd gotten the big dickie from the beacon man since thanksgiving - it was a mort of my fellow 'mericans, and they mostly got their fines reduced and a friendly reminder to Render on to Ceasar What Is..

 

then it was my turn to take the big oath and do my song and dance - i was delighted to see the Man With The Robe quickly warming to my argument - a decade of getting back to lot after dark with nary a ticket - the custom quite clear: pay yer 10 clams if yer bivying on the rock or doing a moon-light ascent, but never this nickel and dime "yer back 10 minutes after dusk" bullshit

 

i'm paraphrasing for the purpose of comedy i concede, but the Man in Black basically said repeatedly: "i get it, i get it, the bastards out there at beacon are little bitches, but i can't tell them what to do - all i can do is throw out their tickets, which is what i'm going to do" - SCORE!

 

and then the best line of all: "have you posted about this on cascade climbers? i hear that's a good place to discuss these issues"

 

so anyhow that's how the ball bounced - with a healthy reaffirmation for yer friend and humble narrator as to the virtue of our montesquien machine of government - one hand wacks on the other, eh?

 

celebrated the greatest civil rights victory of our modern age by gulping down a pabst and sprinting up the trail in the dusk, taking a slight detour into the weeds after my hat got blown off my head at the top of uprising - then it was back to the big city and a union meeting

 

in closing, if there's anythign serious to discuss here, what think you to a nocturnal version of the annual 30$ park pass? i'd easily get 30$ of night climbing in each year, plus be protected against this penny-ante crap

 

1/25 - day 3 - a day to die for - the circle complete - beacon set to close up shop for a mighty long season but fate vouch-safed to chuck this plum in a poor fools lap before it could sling off into spring

 

'twas a week for settling old scores - my court-date a comely kick-off, it was time to finish the climb adam and i had started that ill-omened late autumn day - we'd bailed from 2 pitches up, having to leave a tangle of biners and webbing to make the 5 lbj-era bolts up there work - hate to let a year go by w/o climbing jensens, and lordy didn't the stars align to reclaim the gear and get lit like a lord in doing so

 

first it was me n' adam on the list - then it was me n' adam n' goeff - it grew then to the 3 of us n' bryan too, then finally even fucking mike was coming out of his homo-biking hermitage to have at it w/ o - a 5-spot for fortune n' fleeting greatness

 

started poorly enough - me n' mike sitting at the b.k. for a good bit waiting for the assembly of demi-gods to gaggle together - eventually bryan and goeff showed a half hour late but i didn't mind - heavy fog in camas but frequently giant flocks of geese would go raging by above, gaudy as ghosts, gallumping off north - we gave adam 3 minutes to arrive then called to discover he was still snoozing in bed - damn, my cheap oregon smokes were in danger (and shit, i never did give that boy his 5-spot! remind me when next we meet, hear?)

 

sunny on the south side but a bit of a breeze - quite the clown-fucking convention we had to contend with - eventually we got it settled - geoff lead p1 whle mike belays and bryan and i get to guzzle beer and recollect it as recreation

 

geoff got his redemption for shitting between the sheets last month in a steel breeze - mike followed then bryan - adam was there by then, and goeff chucked down the other end of a 70 as bryan was climbing so i could send up another line and the li'l dawg - bryan cast off on p2 as i started jugging and i had a penthouse view of him slip-slidign away on the awful slippery lichenated stone - i had some gut-chuckles w/ the boys n' a butt too as we buttoned-up against the breeze, then bryan was there and i went on up to him to help out in getting An Anchor For a Modern Era

 

bryan was over his dream of repeating a free-ascent of the money pitch and suddenly i found myself delighted to get that pithy peach - adam was still on the ground, connected to us w/ a 70 - geoff came up on the new anchor as i launched into the incredible start that is jensen's 3rd pitch

 

just starting the 11a crack on a blind placement

 

time went by - jim and bill arrived below - lichen populated my eye-balls - the laughable # of 3s, 4s, n' 5s i had got whittled away and then i was there - bryan followed, panting in the odd hibernal-heat as he made the pillar-top - he rested and sorted as geoff followed then was off lickety-split, ending up aiding plenty of the pitch

 

mike jugged up in a jiffy n' got a spiffy pano

 

 

need to put a decent anchor in the lower nothc of jensens as i was a wee bit unhappy in my pee-pee places to see what had been holding me from flying through the sky down to the sea - an ocean of ants, the fould reek of formic acid exploding on the scene - frogs creek n' croaking, the whole world in wonder at the folly of winter with her guard down, panties askew and napping

 

suddenly we were all at the railing w/ jim n' hogsheads of tourons trundlign up down and all around - butts n' beers n' bullshitting and a fine heady-brew of homo sapien comraderie - the parking lot in the dying lot - pbrs n' pleasant conversation as adam went down to fetch the what have yous, then we set our sights west and went back to being ordinary men

 

poor adam - he ripped 50 feet of poision oak cables out of lay lady lay and the vicinty w/ not even gloves on his hands - he'll be in intensive care till next christmas i fear

 

1/26 - day IV for the annum - 2nd corner lap of this crisp season too - a warm night of good vibes after yesterdays jensens gang-bang - peanut noodles n' kids games, tv on the couch and a soft slink off to slumber covered in cushions

 

monday off for grading but i'd binged and purged friday night to get that dispatched - a sound sleep-in after somnambulating upstairs this side of dawn - book reading in the bright fog outside my bedroom window - the simple life of simon peg sounded n' sorted out before i need to take the first dump of the day

 

bacon w/ the kids, math-book bound though they were - a bit of wine n' honey and off i was down the sacred highway - beacon not near so balmy as so soon ago - a filtered light came greyly through the high cloud murk, the airs light and limp and heavyish with dampness

 

a couple on the corner already but i breezed by at tree ledge - read an old translation of beowulf on the party ledge and nursed a beer, then up and out via the ridge - more beer n' book by the pin in the last bit of direct sun that could be brought to bare there - croc-shod i clamber up to the trail and the site of former students, their names not recollected till i was several switchbacks further down

 

the long binge home w/ a 3-buck hat pulled low down where my eyes glim - the sun's near set and i sweat not to see the last part of this annual campaign ably dispatched

 

1/29 - day 5 - wholly shiite muslims, 5 days of fine beacon climbing in the king-of-winter and 2 more days left in the month n' fine weather forecast for each'o'them too! - my 3rd solo lap of the year

 

beautiful balmy thursday - the sun bright through the window of my classroom trailer - had no thought of beacon but by noon the desire-burn was bright - an annual bit of adjudicating upon the appeals of the absent in the afternoon, then that dispensed with, a desperate rage down the road into the sudden howling winds of the gorge - where did that wicked wind come from? it was so sweet before - like another fall of man, the ledger long unbalanced, the measure made right with the meat thrown against the wall

 

two ladies rambling up the trail as i lounged down after a frenzy of dressing n' dandyning meself up decent for the big blow in the parking lot - 2 more fellows earning the Ascent of the Day on young warriors, deep in shadow and bounding up unabashedly despite it

 

the breathe of the lord upon me - only the penitent man will pass - my doom diverted for now, i made my way up the windy hill and rumbled on down soon thereafter, my soul done up and ready for glory to the heavenly tune of tom waits' "come on up to the house"

 

my quotidian quote n' a personal favorite, a t.j. classic: "calamity was our best physician"

 

1/30 - day VI (holy fawk, did i really just hear the nfl's throwing in the fucking towel on latin numerals?!? jesus fucking fuck fuck!)

 

a rare auold junuary, the right kind really - 1 more day of winter afore the winter avalanches in n' shuts the cliffs for the fornication of the falcons - mike's after 3 - beers and bullshit'n on the way in - breezy for sure, but not batshit-so

 

adam in the lot - we ambulate to the base in the big wind and Walk Around the Issues

 

who can't love this life, it passes so even as you piss away the dregs of yesterday?

 

 

 

closing day 2015 - 7th day out at beacon this year - foggy and chilly-chilly at home in the dawn, lately dusted off from the couch - the boys at the b.k. soon thereafter - into the gorge the wind gathers wicked force - cruising w/ cold fingers, we fumble on up the rest the corner ducking and dodging through the plaid-man

 

the rest of the day rightly desposed, beer drinking and fucking around on the sunny side where the wind ramped up beyond all expectations

 

and so the sun sets on the southside - we shall see it soon enough i wager

 

2/22 - Dia VIII - sunny sunday - predictions for Big Wind but it wasn't really there - a weekend w/ the brudder n' family big n' small on saturday, also biking by the shrieking birds w/ the chilluns - a sound sleep-in - bacon n' eggs n' toast n' streaming sun through the windows - my beer gut hated upon by my helpless forebears

 

the plan was for a solo of pitch 1 of THE WORLD FAMOUS STONE SOUP - binged n' purged on the big orbit in after noon - racked up in the baby breeze - big flakes down the past few months, the bric'a'brac of busted trees all around - scooted up to the pin n' remembered rather drunkenly you need a pretty-durn big cam just there that i didna have, so after a come-to-jeebus session of thrashing around on untrustworhty shite i rapped off that n' a bit of booty, cleaning as i went

 

allright, looks like i have a reason for living come monday afternoon

 

roamed around the base abit w/ friendly pbr's n' saw steve up high on the spring routes, n' fir-krissakes, how's that good-ole'boy always manage to be climbing w/ a girl?

 

2/23 - 9th bite of bacon for 2015 so far - darted out soon after the final school bell to rescue my bail gear on stone soup from yday - a much easier pitch when you have the proper gear

 

about 30 minutes from ground to the 1st anchor - the 2nd pin came out in my finger-tips but it never was all that necessary - suuuuure hope the same knifeblades on pitch 4 are in better shape this season - need to actually carry a hammer next time i ramble on up there...

 

3/4 - day 10 - took the day off to do some union agitating but it abated soon after noon - winged it out to beacon and got another solo lap on stone soup in despite my snot-filled senses wrecking my equilibriums

 

full spring in the fucking first week of march, the world flipped on it's frack'n vernal maidenhead

 

Beware the Ides - day 11 - beware indeed for it was a day of woe stacked on woe - started amiably enough, a good sleep-in to the dull roar of rain outside the open windows (what a joy of summer to have come so soon) - met geoff at 9, gusts of raining galling the rain-wracked parking lot - our plan was siege tactics, always dry despite the worst the weather can offer

 

geoff got lap 1 and misfortune 1 of the day for me was some odd bit of grit creeping in my open eye and progressively offending me w/ every passing minute - within 2 hours i was almost blind - got my lap in and even moved onto the other unnamed wonder under the roof (starts on the headspace bolt but goes right thereafter) before the combination of continuous crying and sketchy hooking sent me home

 

geoff drove the red devil to camas at least, and by then the predicted wind had whipped up something fierce, him dodging downed trees n' sizzling power lines the whole way back, me keening n' cursing my old-skewl god's condemnation - my leg back to home was classic - one eyed, finger-pushing the offending orb into its socket to gain its pain-surrender, swerving out of the way of every wind-blown, coursing sprig of cedar, ignorant n' uncaring of the 3rd dimension - woe #2 on the arrival, the big breeze succeeding in blowing down 2 of my 4 backyard fences, to much horror to handle n' for certain the problem of the future - the rest of the day couch-bound n' crest-fallen, fresh-showered n' well sodden...

 

5/3 - day 12 - off my pace for the year - too busy doing other cool things - a trip to tower rock - union agitation on an increasingly grand scale - a week in red rocks and city of rocks

 

today was stone soup - went extremely smoothly - bryan did p2, which i still haven't led since hurting myself on it last year - i was sorta dreading p5, with all of its fixed funky knifeblades, but they all held, so i reckon it's all good?

 

anybody know what's going w/ the evergreens in the gorge? am i crazy or does damn near every pine near beacon show serious blight right now? tons of brown on most of the trees for miles - looks likely to burn like mad this summer if it continues.

 

5/9 - day 13 - way off my pace from last year

 

weeks on end it seems union bidness dominating my thoughts - so sad, prime weather for poaching

 

saturday at noon - the revenge rolls into a sun-soaked parking lot as i make parley w/ long-passed students

 

n side climbing - love all dem new routes - we do one n' enjoy life - a foolish rap back down - jim gib-jabbering soon therafter - a quick run up the alpine route and we top-route the shit 'round stone soup

 

the summer soon upon us - what fool sets this sorta shit aside?

 

6/11 - day 14 - seniors on the wing, graduation goes off tomorrow - an easy day of dispensing w/ the care-taker tasks before summer - practice walking w/ a pack of restless fools

 

out to beacon for the big what-have-you - pulled in for some soloing-aiding on the soup aforehand - salvaged me some russki steel on the first pin - nastia says she's american, but her 'biner color-scheme is still solidly russki

 

sudden politicking w/ suds out in godfirsaken stevenson - a good bit of the brethern assembled - lords know what will lay as a result, but let's not worry about that on the cusp of summer - a long orbit back, w/ a big semi-wreck sending my addled self of a disastrous detour

 

ah, the simple time of summer is soon

 

7/15 - day 15 - opening day 2015 - hangover at dawn - plans for a big trip to tower rock so a 6 a.m. ascent it was - can't remember a thing about it but i'm sure it was great

 

7/21 - day 16 - back after a long trip to tower rock, bill n' i nonetheless rallied the morning after to do a corner lap in the wondrous cool of the mid-morning - clouds and breeze - a pair of bros pleasant enough to let us pass at the base - goddamn i still haven't figured out a way to start p2 w/o fucking up my shins and scaring shit out of myself - hidden treats - a lengthy yack-yack at the ledge - then home to prepare for the arrival of the family after a month n' a half away...

 

bootied 2 phat steel biners off the base of p2 - might could make a present back of them if the feller who left them wants them n' understands it was either going to be me or the next party through to claim them as a prize

 

8/20 - day 17 - dod's w/ kenny, me rather rusty after a month of a whole lotta not climbing - practically a full division of armor heading west over the rail-head, a site i'd long wished to behold - christ, is summer so near deceased?

 

8/26 - day 18 - solo lap in the afternoon, moonlight climb at night - shared the stone w/ 2 lovely shielas on the first round (we bootied your nut if'n you want it back) n' the night round was w/ the silverman crowd - hooting n' hollering down on the dock w/ a drunken dave n' a krunked kenny - gripped drive home as the goddamn check engine light came back on

 

8/31 - day 19 - last day before returning to work - all good things....

 

takes fist w/ ben - hadn't climbed this in a coon's age, it sure hadn't gotten easier in the meantime

 

9/16 - day 20 - wow, all the signs show this'll be my least productive year at beacon since i rolled into the nor'west - only my 2nd solo lap since summer came - reckon i done been doing other things...

 

squeeze job of a climb, 'twixt the regular end of the day n' back 2 skewl night - nobody about - grey, gloomy, still - lost some of the muscle memory of the route, occasionally stopping n' down-climbing little parts in order to do them right - free pink tricam if'n you want to pry it out of the 3rd pitch in the infamous nut-eating crack, i would but i already bootied 2 pinkies that i never ever seem to use... dead chipmunk gathering ants on the walk off up the ridge, poor li'l feller, but best to leave summer at it's end rather than suffer through the winter for no fawk'n reason, no?

 

9/19 - day 21 - steady mob'n'in'da morning - rocked the bofa the night before, waking up bright eyed n' whatnot, wrenching me neck a wee bit in the dawn - went to work for a spell, strange for a saturday, but sallied forth just a shade shy of noon n' noodled on out to the beacon-wand w/ geoff

 

adam in the lot, then soon tim n' winter n' we hobnobbed a spell - shuffled on down to cruising w/ intent to check out cloud 9 - by the time we were there my time was shortish n' nobody seemed to relish the pg-nature of the newly cleaned route, so we settled for moving on up the normal way

 

back in the lot started to build meself up into a towering jesus-based rage at the sight of a ticket on geoff's ride, me having scratched out the license # of the newly defunct red devil on my parking pass n' substituting his on in - walked into the ranger station, ticket in hand, feeling much like a feller rambling on into a liquor store in the depth of a meth-binge w/ a sawed off shotgun barely obscured beneath his grimy coat - all went well inside, in shah allah, n' happy i was as i had but 20 minutes to make a family photo-session in the 'couve n' had no time to dig deep holes in the woods or slip a 7-state man-hunt

 

9/21- the double-deuce day - solo lap 3 - busy monday, but belated plan to blast out to beacon w/ mike after beating down the union-bidness after skewl - late getting to his place n' i need to borrow everything but a pair of shoes to make a go of it, but a bit late we bounded out east into the impending evening

 

hit the lot n' got all sorted n' soon sussed out Our Boy had brought no rope - was to be his first beacon climb of the year so maybe a bit of a bummer, but we settled for slumming it at the base w/ jim n' a fantastically furry old larry - a beer or two and some other thing sto boot n' mike n' i had a contest - who could make it to the top of uprising first: the feller on the trail or the feller soloing it? i lost

 

laughs w/ dave in sadly shortened no-bo-trifecta soiree, then back for a short session of family time

 

9/24 - 23rd beacon trip for the year, solo lap #4 since summer broke

 

crazy traffic on the drive, whatever...a parcel of folks gang-raping the first pitch - a feller doing his first gear lead on top rope, if only we all had such a gentle break-in

 

after a year of fumbling w/ the crux on p2 i finally appear to have figured out how to do it calmly

 

loose block on p5 up to the notch - can pull a grape-fruit sized chunk out w/ your fingers - tucked it back in carefully after noting there's no decent place to put it short of chucking it off the cliff

 

started the long slow process of moving our friend n' humble forest feller the recently deceased chipmunk on down the way

 

9/26 - trip 24 - sunny n' damp n' foggish on the way in - geoff n' the revenge - beers and some big big laffs - cheating on little wing, that unrepentant li'l prostitute - tr'n on jills n' fear of fly'n - the artist-formerly-known-as-jimbo n' geo-orge n' more merriment at the base - time's up, i make my amends n meander on up the corner (lap #5) mal-fucking the crux for christ's sake - time for date-night n' the pickle-tickle

 

9/28- 25 beacon days for 2015 - lap #6

 

last night's blood-soaked full lunar eclipse left me feeling a bit like i'd blown a fine opportunity - how kewl it'dve been to have been clambering around like a demented lizard under that doomed sky

 

settled for a quick redemption lap after school today, union-thoughts buzzing through my head and needing frequent beat-downs to focus on the next step ahead

 

sunday someboyd must have put in a directional on the big broken block on snag ledge while tr'ing their partner on cruising (or fallen while doing the traverse as part of the corner) - the 100 lb chunk that once made up a big part of the traverse is now on the trail

 

for only the 2nd time i managed to do the crux overhang move right - i need to intentionally focus my eye on where my left foot needs to go before committing into the sequence - it's freaky b/c i can't see the foot once my hands are on the block, but i think in theory the left really doesn't have to stick in order to move the right foot where it belongs - sure do like how it feels when it goes right...

 

found a 60$ piece of lovely booty on p3 - describe it and offer me 15$ of a 12 pack of your choosing (i'll drink damn near anything) and it's your's again felt rewarded enough to finally deliver The Man the 2 rescue biners i bootied back in july - old boy's wing was all busted from doing the nutcracker recently - i hardly styled the thing mself last summer but at least emerged unscathed

 

the first fall-ish climb of the year for me - done in shorts n' t-shirt but there was a big-old breeze that portended bigger things to come - had to pull up short just past the se corner notch to drink my pbr in piece from the wind - scampered on up afterwards and saw my friend n' humble forest-squirrel's corpse now Sleeps Beneath the Sands

 

9/29- 26 beacon days right-ill disposed in brawl ridiculous - 7th lap

 

how patterns assemble at summer's end and would they could go on forever, these lazy days of dead september - a simple time really, w/ the faint wisps of dire responsibility - the orbit out - a puff, a butt, a beer - the radio soon turned off - a zen cloud descends - focus finds us in the name of fear

 

a parcel of fools aroudn the rock - what a difference a day makes - yesterday righteous and lonely and lordly in the big presence of the rude weather - today the lot packed - jeff t, joey h, geoff, kenny, arndt, pilgrims all bent to a thousand seperate wheels and fates - i forfucked them all and crawled up the corner alone w/ my thoughts - only the penitent man will pass i said once and since then i've grown sour on salvation - i scraped up to the second pitch overhang, cocky w/ 2 recent right-sends and started to fuck it up - hemmed n' hawed, beating down back-mindedness, saved it and set meself straight

 

boomed up the rest of the track - hidden treats - breezed through the ledge w/o taking in the sights - the optional hard exit - uprising - then down the trail and through the Twight-like Zone to hoot n' holler at our local beatards banging it out On The What-Have-You - who am i to judge the One True Bowie, after so many editor's scoldings? enjoyed soloing up to the 4th bolt then thought the better of it, retiring to the rocks to yelp n' yammer n' yee-gawds them goddam fools as they soared up straight like true warrior-clown-poet-god-hero-kings up rip-city

 

9/30 - september's not fucked dood, cock-tober's for abuncha goddamned frak'n amateurs - Ernie Bank Day at the park (#27)- "let's play two" that anti-poltroon opined, ain't it? lap 8-9 at any rate

 

kenny n' new-guy jason it was at the start - never met a man w/ that moniker that wasn't a down-right psychopath i fear, yet was pleased to see such simple-isms ain't always so certain - breezed by Our Boy rattling his way up little wing, woe-be-gone-ish it was - i don't judge, it's for others to project their jurisdiction over me i see had no smokes n' cans for my fair-cousin, feared i was that to have brought them would have prejudiced me against a second lap, the likes i've not tempted since the big rock fall on the corner last summer - promised him i'd bring the poison on my second passing - it's a sweet ticket that carries us to our salvation

 

yet another member of the nom-de-guerre club crumple-fucking his sad father-time fuck-show down to the party ledge i found upon uprising- for tax reason's i'll not lay his rude christian name on ye, save to say his sadistically sad stories yielded a rather more appropriate nom-de-not-cum result - shit, you had to be there i'd assert - the gawdamn internets w/ its nutty protocols, who can you please if you would be you?

 

ran back into our boys on round 2 - enjoyed ourselves a spell - the summer re-visited - stories - what compels the human monkey to be so interested in his fellow mammals, it's a mystery, no? the good, the bad, the ugly recited. gut-laughs, lord how we need them.

 

the 2nd crucial jug-hold on the 2nd pitch over-hang is loose - jesus.forking.christ - didn't we just deal w/ this?

 

10/2 - day 28 - lap 10 - 5 laps this work week, 7 beacon ascents in 7 days - who can't like fall?

 

grey n' gloomy this friday - dull air - cool - spitting a thin spray on the windshield on the skedaddle in at the close of the working day

 

ruminations at the base w/ a bespectacled beacon-boy-o in search of missing metal - damn gravity will get us all - some fat-jokes made at your friend n' humble narrator, but i guess i'm a big enough man not to begrudge'em

 

father-time further up, deep in don quixote - i left a beer as a blessing n' boomed along n' back down in time for phriday w/ the family fiends - pizza n' do'watcha will, we'll all be pissed n' sated soon...

 

10/5 - day 29 - lap 11

 

indian summer is set upon us for a few more days at least - my birthday weekend sadly to be scuppered it seems by the soon-come falling goddamn damps - what can you do? thought for sure i had a Serious Bidness meeting afterschool but suddenly found meself free at the last minute so cast off in a frenzy just a few moments after the masses made their exit

 

the orbit out obsessed w/ the same old mystery - the cuckold's enigma of the simple n' complex - the burden and wreck of the butterfly's breath on our noosed-necks

 

old arlo sporting a curious queue, i breezed by quiet unawares

 

father time and the mangled mayor n' the Keeper of the Ken - the world half-digested n' soon spat out - the setting sun n' the return to the sane and mundane

 

10/6 - deo XXX - 12th lap

 

the rain threatens - doom upon us all - salvation is distant and saviors hesitant - desperate days and short time - the gods grow grim as the sun goes gaunt, the skin of the world is paper thin

 

ruminations upon the libido rightly considered on the cruise out - the Lion Behind the Glass - the allure of danger safely contained, the frenzy in the fear, the prospect of passion set free upon an unprepared world - what waits said is goddamn-straight and will always be so, you just gotta keep that devil down in the hole

 

a lonely corner crawl, light wind and cool commons - frogs for friends - beer n' a book on the ledge - the long way off

 

the Keeper of the Ken on the verge of the Second Coming - his one hand washes the other - He Fears Nothing

 

10/8 - a proudly prime one, trip 31, lap 13 - the rain of yesterday quite dissolved - lord i got lit up on the front end of the day - the Panda Problem Considered - the teacher's year quite systematic - day 1 you pick up a ball and start tossing it around, day 2 they hand you another, then another, then another - somewhere near the 15% mark you start feeling awed by your own power, True Master of the Impossible, then soon thereafter get the first solid cold of the season, struck down like a simpleton on the path to damascus, even as the balls pile up, and often give in to base despair

 

my tower rock trip quite tossed out, i look forward to 3 days worth of tending bulging buds n' shifting out smith-wards w/ Big Ben

 

10/12 - day 32, lap 14 - by my rough calculations it's been 14975.25 days since i left the womb - my 41st birthday at any rate - felt a wee bit nervous on the ascent, who wants a fuck'n snarky foot-note on their fell tome?

 

large meteorite strike near the young warriors cleaing - a 100'lb'er i'd say, half-buried in it's impact crater - musta fallen since last friday - nut booty on p2, should you wish to slum it...

 

10/14 - 33rd beatard day - my 15th lap - rommel died this day - hastings happened and harold wept w/ a worried eye - i wandered away in the afternoon after ambivalent amusements of the professional kind, curious and cruel, is it so for all i wonder?

 

beers and bright wind - worrying i wind away alone along a crooked course - the lot loaded w/ citizens of all sort - the rock redounds w/ reprehensibles of every strip - steve n' kenny, dave n' that-dude-who's-name-escapes-me

 

sea-lions in strong numbers stirring the waters - a sordid country tune you've no reason not to give a chance...

 

[video:youtube]

 

10/15 - day 34 - lucky 16 - a sight i'd never seen, as sweet and serene a by-product of initiative 502 as could be - sultry beauties on the descent, quite surprised, as sure as they'd been of a lonely summit - We could not help but tarry and oh-sweet-jesus it was lovely despite the big, big breezes

 

10/16 - #35, lap 17 - union bitterness n' beer-drowned badness at the back end of the working day - out to the royal rock as the rays grew red n' stretched - so many men in motion - i romp up in a half-reef wind, realizing the brethern will be rounded up right soon - adam n' kenneth, cocooned in comfort - steve n' nastia, creeping up soon in course - me in the middle, mindless n' mirthful - the world is wicked but i am fucking good, and so goes friday

 

10/20 - #36, 18th lap - macarthur fulfilled a famous pledge this day, and after 3 days of solid soaking, so did i - w/ temerity i plied the pilgrim path, tremulous at the prospects of a slimy ascent - topher n' his shiela alone at the base of the southeast corner - pleasant conversation n' a slow plodding paw-up for me soon after - a simple climb through a sordid, somnolent sky followed by a fast descent to fetch the boy-child n' carry him off to scouts

 

the fall is fast fading, the big blows of ancient autumn hovering hard-upon the eastern edges of the gaunt gorge n' threatening to descend - what hoary-haired centurion could not tremble at it? the dice will be cast, and who will count the dead?

 

trafalgar day, 210 years later - lap 19, n' day 37 - sweet teen dreams, if only i could describe them - would that i could make this sultry stone my hms victory, yet happy am i to have it my simple hms sophie - "beacon expects that every man will do his duty" - could i do better?

 

indian summer un-ending, these are sweet times we live in my friend - extravagant jolly-green giants w/ so-n-so in our hands, etc., etc.

 

vexing vixens preying upon my preternatural mind, i made my way through the pierced valley, intent upon glory or disgorgement - a venerable veteran in the lot, heavy-clad betwixt wind n' water against the venomous vines n' beside himself to heave away towards obligations i can not guess what

 

light winds, easy weather - i gambole up to grassy ledge n' hoot n' holler at kendall n' kenny beset upon big ledge - i binge on beer n' butts while taking in the rare environs of the top of smooth dancer, singing n' swinging n' sailing away towards wondrous seas of my own design

 

must have done 300 or so solo ascents yet today by accident sent down the biggest block ever - right at the split on the 4th class ramble up the true sou'east ridge i tended starboard - just below the big block overhang a right-big boulder tumbled out under my half-seen feet n' plunged down over the indian face, leaving me horror-struck at it's sudden and uncertain flight

11/3 n' 9 - days 38-9 - 2 straight solid scratches, the scorching flight, senses season-addled - the dim-dead light of the lying sky fading fast as i screech out, streaming out ribbons of bitter badness - the world is dying, my raison d'etre diminishing w/ each flagging day

 

the rock a streaming slippery disaster - i treasure my skin too much to sally out either time, but i bound on down for a good look-see n' good-sense to sip down beer n' bid my time - today i figure why not set a base time for a bipedal ascent from the start of the sodden corner, walking much as i'd wander up by my hands, unconcerned w/ the clock, concentrating just on capturing the buzz - 20:20 to the top of uprising, 23:45 to the true corner railing, 28:00 to the summit - now if only a long stretch of dryness could set in so i could do some adventurous ambling comparisons...

[stevetimetravlr]

Adam, I think there shouldn't be to much water, as no snow melt yet. But haven't been there lately to know for shore. Come on out with Ivan!

Denali Dave, take the day off or call in sick or something. Wednesdaythe day! You got to do this.

[kevbone]

And, yes, Bill (and Andy Fitz) being on the committee is a confidence booster.

 

What committee?

[ivan]

the House Un-American Activities Committee

[ivan]

heard a rumor there had been some major wind/rain damage out at the fabulous bacon-wand and maybe some closures - anybody know anything about that? god knows the sun ain't shined on this dog's ass in quite some time...

[Teh Phuzzy]

Interesting. That is about all it says on the website too.

 

http://parks.state.wa.us/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=940

 

Give 'em a call eh? (509) 427-8265

[ivan]

shit, maybe the whole damn thing fell down?

 

makes little sense it'd be the whole park - the trail up the rock's been closed before of course due to rockfall - climbing could continue on the s side then and you just had to rap off

 

busy busy day for me tomorrow to call - might not be till saturday

[JosephH]

MIght be a good time for the BRCA to ask if there's anything (as in entirely non-climbing related) they can do to help...

[billcoe]

 

 

Thanks JH, good point. I had reached out but haven't heard back with any specifics. Talked to Adam B. and he says he'll be out there soon to see what the reality is, he thought that a boulder had wiped out or hit the trail (again). A good project for climbers might be to clean off/prybar off the loose rock above the trail before they rebuild the thing again.

 

We'll see. Wonder if the windstorm caused this, seems like it was timed that way. If the decent trail is what the issue is, climbers can still climb and rap off.

[Teh Phuzzy]

I just got off the phone with one of the rangers and she said the recent rock fall has caused the most extensive damage to the hiker's trail she has seen in her ten years at the park. Right now the entire rock is closed to all activity. I will call back tomorrow to chat with the park manager about allowing climbing on the south side with rappel descents only. Bummer with the dry weather forecast for this weekend.

 

I would be happy to help with trundling if the BRCA is allowed to do that.

[obwan]

Crap! Nostradamus may be right. Shit happens.

[ivan]

i'll be out sunday to at least walk the base - if there's imminent danger on all sides than a blanket closure makes sense - if it's just the hiker's trail is busted, then a blanket closure is ham-fisted - the past practice has been clear and consistent: close the hiking trail when damaged, don't shut down the whole park

[JosephH]

They have about a third of the staff and resources they once had and are responsible for managing

the park as a whole. When they find themselves in the situation of needing to focus their staff on one thing

and are no longer in a position to manage the entire park then they have to shut it down until they feel they

can again resume their full responsibilities.

 

That and it's likely there is wind damage all over the park, not just a problem with the tourist trail.

 

Look, it isn't personal and they can't simply decide that hikers on Hamilton or climbers on the South Face can

self-manage - they treat all user constituencies the same in times like this. Don't get your panties in a wad and

instead just make an offer to help and wait it out, they'll open again as soon as they can.

[Dennis H]

Joe you have your head up the Rangers asses so far, how can they even manage wiping, and thinking about the park .

[pink]