Index - 06.16.11

Adam and I had planned early in the week to head out to Index on Thursday. Initial weather reports were favorable for climbing, but not ideal. The forecast when we left Seattle in the morning was perhaps even less ideal, but still favored climbing with a predicted partly cloudy/partly sunny day.

Pulling into the parking lot there were low clouds and not much sign of the sun. We walked the thirty seconds to the lower town wall to see much of it wet, including potential starts to routes we were intending to do. I walked around for other objectives while Adam took a party separation. Godzilla was dripping and Princely Ambitions was plenty wet. I met Adam back at the base of Aries crack where I told him we might as well climb since we were already there. We geared up at the base of Aries crack hoping to continue onto Taurus after we gained the first ledge. Or at least we would see if things looked dry enough to continue.

I led off, finding the rock not thoroughly wet, but damp enough to cause a loss of friction. Upon reaching the crux I could not get enough traction on my left foot smear to make a move and slipped a few times. After repeated attempts with my arms tiring I gave up on finding enough friction to move upward. I lowered and we committed to setting up a top rope on the pitch by climbing the gully to the right.

I took the first shot on top rope and was now stymied by my inability to get a good fist jam higher up. After a few attempts I let Adam have a go at it. I told him his smaller hands might be the ticket as the crack was a bit too small for me to get a fist in, and it might be just right for him. Adam climbed on top rope and was surprised I made it as far as I did on lead. Then he worked the crux for a while before finally pulling the moves to gain the ledge. I came up and once again had to work on trying to make a jam work before I finally found the only thing that would work for me. A solid forearm jam/cam with my right arm gave me the needed hold to move up and complete the moves to the ledge. And some people think it is a good thing to be a tall, big handed climber?

Heading into the Aries crux

Once on the ledge I told Adam I'd like to have a go at the rest of Taurus. After getting a short distance up on the following crack, my foot slipped. I repositioned and tried again. I was able to make the next move, but the following moves had less positive options for feet and the crack looked a bit thinner and harder to protect, so I came down pulling my pieces and waiting for dryer conditions.

I told Adam I'd head up Great Northern Slab to reach the rap station. The climbing on GNS was fun and when Adam reached me I told him I'd like to lead the next pitch as well. After some slightly damp moves pulling around the roof, I was on the ledge at the base of the next crack. Somehow I did not see the easy way up and attempted to go up and gain the crack after a few moves by coming in from the left. This involved an awkward move where I was mantling from a horizontal crack while side pulling with my right hand. I couldn't manage the move and told Adam that "I am probably going to fall here." After a few tries I realized I could down climb a few moves and take the proper beginning to the crack and continue easily. That little episode left me a bit frazzled, and that remained with me the rest of the pitch. Although I did feel I climbed it fairly well. I brought Adam up and we rapped.

Adam on GNS

In typical fashion, I try to go to Index when it is a little too wet for Index. Hopefully I'll be able to get out there and climb when it is dry and then I will not feel too sketched by wet rocks and slippery feet.

Bryant Peak - 02.11.11

[200th post!]

Adam and I headed for a short climb of Bryant Peak on Friday. The cloudy weather and recent lack of snow should have combined to give us good conditions for this type of climb without it being a snow slog. More importantly avalanche conditions were low, which is helpful for climbing some steep snow slopes.

We arrived in the parking lot before 8am and were on our way shortly. We packed snowshoes with us just in case the snow got deeper higher up. The cat track was freshly groomed and firm and we made good time on it. Once we left the track for the luge run the footing became increasingly less firm. But we still did not require snowshoes. Just before Source Lake we headed up into the woods toward the hanging valley. Since we were no longer following a track, the snow was a bit deeper, but the steepness made bare booting easier than snow shoe travel. I stopped for a "bathroom break" while Adam kept going. I eventually caught him and took over the step kicking duties until we got into the hanging valley to take a break.

After our break we climbed a bit higher and cached our snowshoes and poles behind a snow mound for retrieval later. We each pulled out an axe and started to ascend toward the gully. The gully was fairly skied out and we found some snowboarder boot tracks up that we followed for bit before they disappeared into the gully. Then we forged through some deep snow before we gained the more narrow section which had been compacted by skiers and boarders. We were now at the col and it was windy. We took a brief stop mostly to put on soft shells and then we started up the ridge.

At the steeper section we decided to go around as Adam had only one axe and was concerned about needing a second on the short steep pitch. Going around didn't prove significantly easier as we got out on firm snow that some times required a few kicks for a positive hold. The runout was longer and bit more dangerous too. And it didn't appear to be much less steep. We continued around a rock outcropping and then I took the lead again to head back up to the ridge. The snow was firm and shallow in places. I aimed for a group of trees. Adam and I were eager to get to a point where we could stand comfortably again. The small clump of trees was the spot.

It was around Noon and we decided to have lunch and contemplate continuing to the summit. The wind was pretty strong and both of us were feeling like we had had enough steep snow considering we would have to down climb anything we went up. We viewed the next step and decided against it as we were finishing lunch. We packed up and left the puffies on for the down climb. I pulled out a second ax for balance. It was slow going and after getting back to easier ground we plunge stepped back to the col. Adam started down while I removed my puffy and I followed. The going in the gully was easy, although we opted to climb it mostly face in. Even when the snow got softer it was a bit messy to face out. We eventually did face out and stomp our way back to our poles and snow shoes.

The snowshoes and axes went back on our packs as a light snow started to fall. We headed toward the mouth of the valley and down to Source Lake. Somewhere around 4000' the snow changed over to rain and we had a soggy hike back to the car.

This was a fun trip, and nice to get out. With the precip starting to fall once we got back to our cache, I feel good about turning around before reaching the summit. But after feeling pretty good on the down climb, I feel like we would have had no issues continuing to the summit if we had decided to do so. I'll save the summit for another time. It was a good day.

My pics are here.

Alpental Falls - 01.04.11

Finally weather, schedule and partners cooperated for ice this season. We had been experiencing high pressure, and the temps did not rise above 20° at Alpental for nearly five days. Surely there had to be ice.

Adam and I had a casual start and arrived in the Alpental parking lot before nine. We donned snowshoes and headed up to the falls. Upon scoping out our options, we once again went to Alpental IV, or the farthest on the left in the clearing. Adam took his snowshoes off for the last bit before we geared up and found himself wallowing. I didn't fare too much better on snowshoes, but mostly because I didn't have a balancing tool out, like a trekking pole. Last winter this lower tier was never climbable. This time I was going to give it a go.

We geared up and I headed off on the lead. I was slow, concerned with the running water behind much of the ice. Surprisingly, the ice took screws well and I even tied off a tree branch at one point. Then I stalled for a while trying to figure out how to proceed. It seems some bit of ice had come off and now there was a window with a thin pane of ice to the running water. I needed to not be brutish around it and contemplated going left of it on a steeper bit, or going around right on lower angle terrain that had plenty of water behind it. After exploring both options, I finally decided on the left steeper bit. The climbing was a bit easier than I expected it to be once I committed to it. Due to the snowy top, I used my left hand to grab a few branches on the way over. Once over this short section the going was fairly easy on lower angle ice with water behind it. Then I got into snow and exited the falls to a tree to belay. I brought Adam up.

We eyed the remaining portion of the climb and decided that it did not look fat enough for us to continue. We scouted around in the woods for something to climb and saw a few items, but I really didn't feel like breaking the rope out again for 25' of ice. So we checked the next gully. That didn't pan out and we started to head back to our packs. On the way we passed the ice we climbed back in November. It was fatter still, and I gave it a go on lead. The climbing was alright, with a bit of a sketchy top out. After I brought Adam up we returned to the packs.

We ate lunch and chatted with another party who were packing up after having climbed Alpental III. They seemed to have a good time and we decided to get on it. The sun came out for a bit and one of the fellows leaving warned of high temps. But his buddy dismissed him saying he was from Alaska. Having checked the telemetry when I got home, the air temp never rose above 28°, but I'm sure it was a bit warmer in the sun. That gave me pause to leading it, but once I got on the lower section, the ice felt more secure than the first route of the day, and I kept going.

After the initial steeper section was a scary unprotectable slab with less than a 2" thick sheet of ice over the rock. I high dagger tip toed up the slab and stopped at a convenient tree to belay Adam up. When he arrived he asked me what I thought about the next section. I told him I'd have to be at the base to get a feel for it. Just because I see running water behind ice doesn't mean I automatically can't trust it. I like to tap and poke it a bit before I make a decision. Adam thought there was an easy bypass on the right of the main fall. He offered to lead up and we would top rope the ice. After going about a body length or more up and not finding any protection, Adam came back to the tree. We swapped leads, and I went to check out the ice.

While there was considerable water running behind the ice, it was thick and fairly solid (for Washington ice.) I poked at it a bit, and scouted a route. I wanted to stay where the ice was thicker, and where there were some ledge type features to ease my lead. I took a few swings and really liked how they stuck. I told Adam I was going for it. I sunk a 19cm screw and was on my way. A bit higher I placed another screw and was even able to get another in a little higher. Then I was struck with a decision. Climbing left of my position meant steeper ice with some good ledges, but more tricky protection. Climbing right meant thinner ice at a lower angle closer to the main flow of water under the ice. Since I seem to prefer less steep to steep, I opted to go right. At the last great stance I contemplated the terrain above me. Adam suggested sinking a screw. I didn't think one would go, but I pulled out a 13cm and sank it. I clipped it and cruised upward.

Adam said I climbed the last bit better than the earlier part. He found it funny as he thought that was the more difficult section. I guess I just focused for that section and felt good about the screw I placed. After Adam reached me he offered to lower me and for me to top rope the section again. He lowered me, and then I took the steeper line to the left which was also enjoyable. I cruised the whole portion a lot quicker and felt good to finally be on top rope.

Adam lowered me to the packs, and set about doing two rappels to get back to the ground. It was around 3:30 and the sun had gone behind the clouds making the air noticeably cooler. At the packs we packed up and took the ten minute hike back to the car.

This was a nice outing to get in before the temps warmed up the rest of the week. Hopefully some ice will remain. Otherwise it will be skiing for the rest of the winter.

My pics are here.

Leavenworth Ice - 12.21.10

Adam and I once again set out to find some ice on the shortest day of the year. This time we were headed to Leavenworth where we were sure we could find something climbable.

The plan was to head out early and get there just after the sun was up to start climbing. But a later than planned start and some travel delays put us in the Icicle around 9:30am. Icicle road was not yet plowed, and we slowly made our way to the Bridge Creek area to hike in and see if there was ice.

The road past the closure was well packed by snowmobiles and we made good time walking the short distance to our cut off into the woods. The woods were a different story. We did not bring snowshoes on the poor assumption that there was not a whole lot of snow out in Leavenworth. Well there isn't a whole lot compared to the west side, but we post holed our way up to the flow we were interested in only to find out it was not ready to be climbed. So we headed back to the car. That burned an hour of time so we headed elsewhere.

Our final destination was most likely the Snow Creek parking lot, but we decided to take a look at Chicken Gully on Icicle Buttress on the way there. We parked on the side of the road and gave it a closer look. There was enough ice to climb and protect early, but the slab was definitely mixed climbing and protecting it looked difficult. We once again hiked back to the car.

This time we parked at the Snow Creek parking lot. We opted to have lunch since it was already 11am and it would keep us from packing sandwiches up the trail. Since the trail receives steady traffic, we felt encouraged about our progress up the trail, especially considering there was a car there and some snowshoers ahead of us. We headed off at 11:30am and made good time up the packed trail. Then the snowshoers passed us on the way back to their car. A short distance beyond and we ran out of freshly compacted trail. But the going wasn't too bad. Someone had been there in the past week with snowshoes.

As we navigated the switchbacks, we ran into some snow drifts that were waist deep. I almost decided to stop when I couldn't find the trail on the other side of one particular drift. But we found the trail and continued. At some point around 2000' we were only following a boot track which we believed was at least nine days old. The narrow compacted track was buried under 8-12" of snow and falling off of it meant plunging down calf or thigh deep. This occurred frequently and Adam and I took turns breaking trail. At this point we were committed to getting up there. I think the challenge of making it to Millennium Wall had become the goal of the day.

A hike that takes an hour or less in the summer took us two and a half! We arrived at Millennium Wall where there were a few freshly downed trees making our getting to the base of the wall even more difficult. After more wallowing we got to the base where I didn't feel so up to leading the wall. I think mostly due to how late in the day (2pm) and my tiredness from trudging up the trail without snowshoes. We looked for an easy way around to set up a top rope. But the additional wallowing left us frustrated, and we opted to do a bit of "ice bouldering" at the base as a consolation. We shortly tired of that routine and packed up to head back to the trail.

On the trail we dropped our packs and navigated numerous downed trees to head up the trail a short distance further to get a look at The Goatee. Due to the low visibility, it was hard to tell the exact condition, but it did not look like it was climbable to me. After making our way back to the packs, we trudged back down the trail. Both of us at one time or another attempted to cut a switchback, but this proved more energy and time consuming than staying on the trail. We made it back to the car just as the remaining light left the sky.

It is frustrating to want to climb ice in Washington. If Adam was a skier, we could have gone out skiing. But we quested for ice and while we found some, we were somewhat out of time when we arrived there. I think I'm going to stick to skiing for the next few weeks until it looks as if ice is in.

My pics are here.

Scotty Creek Exploration - 12.15.10

Adam was interested in heading back to the Swauk Pass region where I had been during the weekend. I showed him few topo maps and we thought it would be a fun adventure to see if there was ice.

We got a fairly early start and arrived at the Sno Park around 8:30 am. There was not nearly as much snow as driving up on Saturday. We donned snowshoes and headed down the road. This time we were going to head downhill toward Scotty Creek. We also had the advantage that the trail was packed with some previous snowmobile traffic which made walking easier. Off the trail was horrible breakable crust conditions which impeded movement.

On the way down to the valley we passed a few small streams. While it was cold enough for ice formation, none of the streams were icy. And they were also too low of an angle to make sense to climb even if they were. Within an hour we arrived at Scotty Creek. While it is a named watercourse on the map, it is little more than a three foot wide low flow creek. It too was not icy. We followed the road a bit and came upon some mountain lion tracks in the road. The tracks appeared to be used a few times, but perhaps for only one trip back and forth. We followed the tracks into the woods a bit where they went to a 4" log to cross Scotty Creek. While it would have been tempting to follow them to a den, I am not a big fan of disturbing wildlife, especially if it could threaten my own life.

We turned around and started to head back. But we had decided to follow a watercourse up to see if it would produce ice at any point. We snowshoed through the woods taking turns to break trail. We found a short section of about twenty feet that would have made a nice easy WI2 climb, but it was just running water. Perhaps the recent Pineapple Express washed away any ice that had formed and these creeks were starting over again? As we went higher, we started to see some rock pinnacles, so we headed to them. We first crossed a road and then investigated the pinnacles.

It turns out these are the Swauk Pinnacles and they had some routes on them. Adam and I contemplated climbing one since we had a rope and draws, but when then sun went away, it became much less appealing. We then attempted to hike back using the road we had found. It was heading slightly downhill, and did not have the packed surface our previous road had, so the going was a little more energy consuming. At one point the road forked. We opted for the left fork which went uphill while the right fork continued downhill. This proved to be a bit of a mistake because in ten minutes the road appeared to end. We opted to try some cross country travel to make it back to the car. This tactic involved attempting to gain a ridge and then side hilling until we made the ridge top a mile or so further. Once on the ridge top going was a little easier but we were getting tired and wanted a familiar sight. After a few hours, we made it back to the road and had a half mile hike out.

Even though the search for ice proved fruitless, we enjoyed finding the rock pinnacles. It was also a fun exercise in cross country travel. We definitely got a workout as well. I was enamored with the mountain lion tracks too. There were also many other tracks we saw in the snow, some we could identify and some we couldn't. One set was possibly ermine tracks. I look forward to hitting the pinnacles in the summer.

Some pics here.

Some Aid Practice - 11.10.10

Since we were blessed with another nice (not raining) November day in Seattle, Adam and I decided to hit the north wall of the Mountaineers Clubhouse for some light aid practice. It had been over a year since I had been in aiders, leading or following, so it was shaking off the rust.

I geared up and led a pitch with a short traverse to the chains at the top. I continuous ran into problems the whole pitch with my easy daisies, not having cut them loose and occasionally clipping through them. These issues stayed with me at the anchor as I had to lower down and right to get on rappel. It wasn't pretty. Once I sorted all my issues, I rapped and Adam followed.

Adam started with difficulty until he sorted the easy daisies and got his jugging setup right. Then he cruised to the top and re-aided the traverse to the chains. He enjoyed it, but we didn't have time for him to lead a pitch, so we packed up and called it a day.

Leavenworth - Givler's Dome - 11.03.10

Adam and I discussed an outing, but I had to be back in town in time for my class. So cragging was an obvious choice. I wanted to do something that involved placing gear and not just clipping bolts, so I convinced Adam to head to Leavenworth. Being that it is November we didn't get an early start, as it is usually a little too cold in the mornings to make climbing not fun. When we arrived in the Icicle, the temp was around 36° and clouds/fog were keeping us from direct sunlight.

November morning in the Icicle

Our plan was to hike up to Givler's Dome to climb Givler's Crack. This extra 45 minutes of hiking would give us more time for the day to warm up. Within ten minutes or so we were above the fog and receiving the warmth of the sun. We got off route a few times on the way up and had to scramble a bit to get back on track, but eventually made it to the base.

Since Adam was not up to leading the route, I would lead both pitches. And for whatever reason, the first pitch scares me. Perhaps because I flailed on it the first time I climbed the route. I've climbed it twice since then with no problems though. I placed a nut high and started up. I found the hands difficult as I had placed the piece where it interfered where I wanted to put them. I down climbed to the ground and restarted. After a few moves, I placed a second piece which then interfered with further hands. But I was able to move past it and continue. I finished the pitch feeling like it was the worst I had ever climbed it.

I brought Adam up and he had to hang on the rope to remove my stuck #4 from down low. He then climbed the second half of the pitch not using much crack technique for his hands. He arrived at the belay stating the first section wasn't as hard as I made it look.

Adam on the first pitch

We exchanged gear, and I was off leading the next pitch. I don't recall how I previously climbed it, but this time I wanted to try and keep my feet in the crack as much as possible. This proved a bit uncomfortable, but I persevered. Instead of going all the way to the top, I set up an intermediate belay once the angle eased, so I could see Adam climb. Unfortunately, the best spot for a comfortable belay did not offer a good view of the pitch, and I only got pics of him on the last portion of the pitch.

Adam on the second pitch

When Adam arrived at the belay, he kept going to the top finishing with the easy section to the boulder. We quickly hiked down to our packs. We took a lunch break and basked in the sun before heading to another destination, Rare Earth.

Adam finishing the route

For the second time this year, the Rare Earth crag has eluded me. Adam and I hiked around trying to find it, but wasted all of our time. Even consulting the newer guide book was unhelpful as it shows the crag to be down and right of Mastodon Roof. Turns out it is really down and left of it. After almost two hours of scrambling, hiking and bushwhacking, we found it but not with enough time to complete it and get back to Seattle. So we made note of where it was at, and hiked out.

It was great to be out on such a beautiful November day. It was a bummer that we only climbed one route. And even though we pitched it out to three pitches, it really is only two. I think we'll have a better idea of how to find Rare Earth the next time as well. I think this trip satisfied my urge to get out and rock climb, and perhaps my next trip this year will be to climb snow or ice.

Static Point - Lost Charms - 10.12.10

I wanted to get a multi pitch trad climb in before the season really ended. Adam was game for something and we set about a plan. Adam wasn't interested in something too hard, so we came up with a plan to climb Lost Charms. Adam tried to suggest climbs I had not previously done, but I wasn't feeling so great and opted to do something I know and would enjoy.

Unfortunately I forgot how arduous the approach feels for Static Point. But in 90 minutes we were through the wet overgrowth and out of the convergent zone jungle where the sun started poking through the clouds and warming us up. We geared up leisurely before doing the scramble to the Lost Charms tree. Once there I debated about the real first pitch and even considered doing the Pillar first pitch. Last time I was here with Julie, we took more of a Spencer's Spaceport approach to reach the anchor, and this time I wanted to climb the real first pitch.

We looked at the topo, and I eventually set out in an upward direction to the right. I aimed for a seam shown on the topo and was able to plug a tiny nut in before stepping out onto the slab with the seam. It turns out the seam took some gear and I was off. I had to go through some run out sections and eventually reached the fixed piton listed on the topo. From there I ran it out right to the belay on ledgy ground. This was the same station Julie and I were at, but now I believe it to be the correct belay station and not Spencer's Spaceport. When Adam arrived at the belay he stated the first pitch scared him too much and he was not interested in leading. I found that OK, as this route was well within my abilities to lead every pitch, and hopefully not get too mentally frazzled.

I led out, this time on the correct second pitch. It went up the mossy corner and broke left for a large ledge that became a right facing corner. It was easy terrain, which was nice as it was not well protected for the traverse. The corner section was really fun and protected decently. Above that there were a few choices. I went straight up as I thought that looked like the right way. There were a few unprotectable moves on some shallow cracks/seams before reaching some easier knobby terrain just before a big ledge that marks the end of the pitch. I brought Adam up and we had lunch. The remaining pitches would be on familiar terrain.

I hadn't led two of the three pitches we were about to do, and I was quite excited about the prospect. After our lunch break, I headed out on the next pitch, which climbs a blocky corner to the right of the pillar and then heads through a more blank slab before gaining the Bridge Flake. I found the moves easy, and while the crux of the pitch did not protect well, the rest of the pitch did. I didn't have gear for a belay at the end of the flake, and had to go a few steps further to build an anchor for the belay in a less comfortable stance. Adam cruised the pitch on top rope and declined the offer to lead the fourth pitch so I was on my way after we sorted the anchor mess.

The fourth pitch I remembered to be fun, and it was. Gear was a little tricky and I sewed it up where I could, and ran it out when I had to. Mostly it was reasonably protected, and I ran it out on the ledge to the anchor location. I set up another gear anchor, and brought Adam up. He attempted to climb a variation different than mine, but got back on track once he realized the flake he was on petered out. We re-racked, and I was off on the crux pitch.

I hesitated a touch on the lower portion where there are some thin ledges to gain a ledge system that bring you just below the bolt. Once there I clipped the bolt, and eyed my foot placements. About four steps up the slab, and I was able to grab the flake. It seemed so much easier than the first time. I then lie backed around the corner and headed to the next belay. The terrain was not well protected and it was traversing left. I contemplated the easy out of heading to the 5.8 finish, but did not want to deal with the rap route that would lead us to. So I continued with rope drag to the dirty corner for the finish at the chains. When I brought Adam up, he commented about the pitch three section being potentially harder than the true crux, and then we contemplated finishing the route by doing the sixth pitch. Adam told me it was around 4pm and that was all I needed to start rappelling.

The rappelling was a bit awkward as they stations are usually longer than 30m apart, but not even 50 m apart so there is a lot of extra rope leading you to think you can skip a station. Once at the bottom, we snacked and packed up for the uneventful hike out.

This was a fun route to return to two years after my previous climb. I wanted to check out other routes in the area, and now I have a better idea. There is no way I'd be leading most pitches of Online any time soon as the run out is a little unsafe for my pleasure. But The Pillar looked tamable, and I tried to spy The Curious Cube as much as possible, but it was difficult to see protection opportunities. Compared to Darrington crags, Static Point is more run out, and in a fashion that does not make sense to the mind. For instance, the Green Crab Traverse has a .10b crux between the first and second bolt. A fall there leading to bad consequences. Of course, they had to place bolts where they had good stances, and the crux was not a good stance. Lost Charms protects well and I did not mind most bits of run out. I'll return to Static Point, but not too soon, as I do not imagine there are too many other routes I would do there.

My pics are here.

Mount Thompson - 09.29.10

So it was time again to make another attempt at Mount Thompson. After last year's long walk in the rain, I was ready for another try. This time the forecast was for solid sun and I partnered up with Adam. We were going to use the super secret shortcut to shave 6 miles off the round trip.

We met rather casually for this adventure at the park and ride at 6:15am. We then drove to the shortcut and proceeded up the road. Unfortunately the road was closed in less than a mile. But we felt we still had a chance to do the climb and drove a few miles to the standard trail head. We knew there was another shortcut we could use that would shave some distance off as well. We headed up the Commonwealth Basin in an attempt to do this shortcut. Things were working well, but then the trail disappeared and we were heading up a dry creek bed. When the creek bed was no longer dry, we left it for bushy terrain where we eventually made it to a talus field. We went about half way up the talus field before ducking into the trees on the left when we saw a passage through cliff bands.

The going got immediately tough and we were yanking on blueberry bushes to make progress in solid BW3 terrain. The first slope was steep and we were under huge bushes. Continuing got me to a point where my head was above the blueberry bushes, but we were still bushwhacking. We knew this travel was reducing our chances of a summit. The crux came shortly after a small waterfall which I climbed but Adam went to the left of in the trees. There was some steep terrain where we both at some point used our vege belays to "save" us. For me it was having both feet give out on a steep wet slope where I belly flopped onto the ground still holding a berry bush in each hand. Who knows how far I would have slid had those bushes broke.

Shortly after the crux the angle eased and we were back to a more moderate bushwhack. We followed a few gullies littered with granite boulders while continuing upward. I knew we must be close as the rock had changed. After moving up through a few gullies, I saw someone above me. At first I thought Adam had somehow found a way up faster than me. But I looked back to see Adam below me and I shouted to him that the trail was only twenty feet above me. I popped up on the trail to see the rest of a party of through hikers pass me on the PCT. Adam and I quickly hiked the trail a bit and stopped for lunch on a rock shortly after the Katwalk. The time was 11am.

During lunch we devised a turn around time of 1pm. Of course, this was if we were not climbing by 1pm. We made great time to Bumblebee Pass and dropped over the other side. Compared to last year this was much easier as it was not wet and visibility was great. On the way down from the pass I located the trail to the start of the climb. Something Sabrina and I could not see last year due to clouds/fog. We hiked this path to the talus and started up. Right at the start of the talus are a few cairns, but then no others. I hopped around on solid rocks for a bit and was making good time. I thought we'll be climbing at 1pm.

I was more than halfway up, and there looked to be a gravel path just above me. Arriving at it, I was dismayed. It was loose gravel and each step cause a two square meter area to start sliding downhill. I had to tamp with my foot before each step to stabilize the slope and prevent this from happening. Adam was gaining on me. I left this loose gravel for more stable larger blocks, but my progress wasn't much better. I was looking at my watch after each series of moves. 12:40...12:45...12:50 Adam shouted up that it was 1pm. We still had some time I thought. My watch showed 12:55. I was still probably 100' vertical from the notch, while Adam was perhaps that distance below me. I spun around. I told Adam I wanted to at least make the ridge. But I had no desire to continue up this annoying slope. I just wanted to take a rest. We had a short discussion about making an attempt on the peak. I eventually conceded knowing we would have got back to the car near midnight even if the rest of the climb went flawlessly.

We scrambled back down the talus field to where it ended. Skier's right seemed to be better, and I'll keep that in mind when I finally give this mountain another try. At the base of the talus field we took a rest and snacked while sitting around on boulders. We saw a military jet fly by fairly low near Chikamin Ridge. About ten minutes later we saw another that appeared to come up Burnboot Creek toward Lemah. Then another buzzed Chikamin Ridge. A final F18 flew up Gold Creek not more than 500' off the ground and split the saddle between Chikamin and Huckleberry Peaks. It happened so fast I could not get the camera out in time. We waited in hopes of seeing it again, but that was our one chance. It was a wow moment that must have been a real show for anyone on the PCT in that vicinity. After waiting twenty minutes for another spectacle, we headed back to the car.

The hike out was long, tiring and uneventful. Although a bit more scenic than last year when there was little to no visibility. I find myself having more difficulty with such a long approach, and more importantly deproach to a climb. I now have the approach dialed for this climb, and if the weather does not deter, I hope to make it happen in the future. I doubt I'll attempt the shortcut again, but we did scout the shortcut a bit on the way back. Not enough to see where we went wrong though. And for all the bushwhacking through blueberry bushes, the blueberries were not all that good. (Seemed like they needed another week.)

My pics here.

Bryant Peak - 06.16.10

Adam and I made an attempt at Bryant Peak via the "winter route."

It was cold and raining in the parking lot when we first arrived. By the time we started moving it had reduced to a drizzle and after a few minutes of hiking, it appeared to subside altogether. The first bit of the trail was mostly snow free. But then we started encountering bits of snow and the further we got the more hazardous the snow became. We saw signs of fresh snow at 3600'. Then we had to negotiate some bad moats and snow bridges as the snow was very soft and unsupportive.

By the time we were above Source Lake progress had slowed to a crawl. We were probing the whole way. Poles and axes could be driven down to the handle, but then you had to assess if it was all snow or not. I found (fell into) a few bottomless holes on the way across before Adam retook the probing lead. Things were a bit easier after we crossed the basin and headed straight up to the hanging valley. We had the outlet creek to cross, but this actually proved easier than crossing the snow covered talus field below.

Once in the hanging valley, we eyed our target gully and headed in that direction. There was an additional 3" or so of new snow to contend with on top of the gloppy old snow. Within a few steps, we were experiencing near whiteout conditions and there was a light snow falling. We wandered uphill until we were close enough to see the gully again. Then we noticed fresh wet slide activity seemingly coming from the gully area. We turned around and descended to the outlet of the hanging valley. The sun came out briefly as we had lunch sitting on our packs.

Having done all the probing work on the way in, the descent was mostly a breeze. We dodged the same moats and sketchy snow bridges and hiked out on the trail.

On the way out we saw a family of 3 wearing jeans heading up the Snow Lake Trail.

What a difference a few days make. Although the temps were high and the sun was shining, the snow pack this weekend was a much better Spring snow pack. With a few days of cold and precip, it turned into glop. At least Adam and I got some exercise.

My pics are here.

Mount Ellinor - 06.08.10

Adam wanted to do something alpine and was hoping for a scramble. I wanted to head to Leavenworth for cragging and better weather. He nixed the idea of a one day trip to Leavenworth and we decided on Mount Ellinor because it had a better weather forecast than the Cascades.

Mount Ellinor is a hike in the summer, but is a favorite of unskilled climbers in the winter. Recent reports seemed to indicate there was snow from the car to summit so it sounded like a nice time. Adam had not been on top of a mountain in the Olympics, and we were both hoping for views.

After catching the 7am ferry (which was not an express to Southworth,) we were on the peninsula driving south. It took us around three hours to get to our high point in the car, a few hundred meters from the upper trail head parking area. We geared up. I brought skis, and started to put them on on the snow, when Adam who was on ahead said that the snow was not continuous. Turns out there wasn't snow for some distance, and while Adam registered us at the trail head, I put the skis on my pack. Adam put his snowshoes on his pack as well.

The trail was dry and there were no signs of snow as we headed up the initial section straight up a ridge. The trail starts to switch back and we were getting concerned about why we had brought floatation. I was simultaneously cursing bringing skis while enjoying the extra training weight of the boots on my feet. Around 4300' we turned a corner and were welcomed with continuous snow. What a relief. The boot track was firm and we continued with no need for floatation. In short time we were at the base of the chute which is the key feature of this route. Adam and I took turns kicking steps, but were mostly trying to remain in steps that littered the slope. It was warm out, but in the constrictions the snow remained quite firm. The glissade chute running down the middle of the main chute was three feet deep! It looked like a bobsled run. We marveled at it, and I wondered how I could ski the slope without falling into it.

We got to the summit plateau without ever pulling out ice axes. We then headed up the final 250' to the summit where we were greeted with a brief five-volcano view. Clouds started rolling across the sound and we lost site of Baker and Glacier pretty quickly. It was chilly up there and we both donned shells for the descent. I skied off the summit and back to the upper basin where Adam headed off to find a spot to see if we could traverse over to Mount Washington. After much post holing and two falls into moats, we called that operation a failure and decided to head down.

Since I could not find a easy way to get around the large trench (luge run) in the middle of the chute I booted down it a bit. Adam found the glissade run to be too fast and exited it before the steeper constriction and we both booted down a while. The plunge stepping was good, but awkward with skis on my back. Part way through the third constriction I put my skis on and skied back down to the woods. Bummer there was that glissade trench in the way. I removed my skis once back in the woods where the snow was on the icy end, and it was maybe only a few hundred meters before returning to dirt. Once back on the trail, Adam and I cruised out.

This was a fun trip that would be an awesome ski if the glissade trench didn't exist. There were a few options to partially avoid it, but I wasn't feeling good about them. Trying to ski it with the trench in place would have meant sideslipping down the constrictions, or trying to jump the trench between turns. Neither really seemed plausible with my skill level. At the car we talked to a "Ranger" from the Department of Agriculture. We told him about a woman we saw heading up who in conversation alluded to her desire to glissade the chute. Our concern was she only had a stick with her and not an ice ax. The ranger told us they get calls up there all the time for those sort of mishaps. The hiking is easy enough, and I guess it attracts all types.

My pics are here.

Yard Art/Lawn Darts - 05.19.10

After sadly not going out on Sunday due to the forecast rain and not seeing any rain in Seattle, I convinced Adam to do a one day trip to Leavenworth. I was hoping to get a lot of climbing in, but the forecast was against us. (40% chance of rain after 2pm) So we drove into the Icicle and headed straight for Peek-a-Boo Tower to do the three star route Yard Art, but finish with the four star Lawn Darts.

Adam starting the first pitch

It was partly sunny as we hiked up, but we quickly donned jackets for the climb, and I ended up in my shell before leaving the ground. Adam led the first pitch which was varied 5.7 climbing and mostly gear. (I found the crux of the pitch to be a chimney like feature about half way up.) I came up to the belay and got confused by the guide's description of the second pitch. "Scary moves off the belay" was not exactly true, as the first moves off the belay were not scary. Once you clip a bolt, there were some delicate moves (crux of the pitch) left before making a few moves upward where you are able to grab a large crack and the difficulties ease off for the rest of the pitch. I led up this pitch and brought Adam up.

Adam coming up the second pitch

Adam said he'd give the next pitch a go, but balked a bit a few moves from the third clip. He started to down climb a move and I didn't like what I saw and locked him off just before he slipped and fell. He shook himself off without any injury and got back on. He started to do the same moves again but admitted his head wasn't in it after the fall. He backed off and gave the lead to me. I cruised up the spot where he peeled, and made the few delicate maneuvers to reach the next bolt and continue to the top. When I got to the anchor, instead of proceeding to the base of Lawn Darts, I stopped and belayed Adam up. There was a wet patch on Lawn Darts, and I wasn't sure it was possible to do, so I wanted to look at it while I belayed Adam.

Adam cruised the pitch on top rope, and we briefly assessed Lawn Darts from the belay. We agreed the water did not appear to affect the route, and I belayed Adam over to the base of the climb, where he brought me up.

We put the trad rack in our pack, and I counted enough draws to make it to the top. Then I proceeded up. This long pitch starts easily and then reaches a small overlap where I slipped after clipping the bolt. (I did not fall.) That shook me up as I was just standing there, and I think it really messed with my head. I hung for a bit before getting back on. The rock near my feet had a high quartz content, and was quite slippery. I had to work for good foot placements before stepping up onto the overlap, where traction got better. A few moves higher up and there were larger features and eventually some cracks/holes that made the climbing much easier through that section. Around this point, it started to rain slightly. Not enough to make the rock wet yet but enough to make me notice.

Adam at the base of Lawn Darts

The crux of the route comes surmounting a roof. It is easy to get halfway up and clip a bolt above the roof, but I found the next move right to be difficult. In my head I just wanted off the climb, and with the slight rain, I just couldn't motivate to figure out the correct sequence and eventually grabbed the draw to move over. Once in my new position I used some "bigger holds" to gain upward movement and continue to the top. I didn't find the upper section that difficult, but my mind was pretty fried and that always makes climbing feel difficult. At the top I set up a belay and brought Adam up. He hung to rest his calves, and then fell twice at the move right above the roof. Fortunately the rain waited to come down harder until he was at my side. Then we started our rappels.

Rapping in the rain

While we rapped quickly, the rain started coming down harder. By the time we were on our final rap, the rock was wet, and we were getting a little more wet too. We packed up and the rain subsided, only to return again harder about the time we reached the car. Our hopes for other climbs faded, and we headed home to Seattle where it was raining heavily on the west side of the Cascades.

A few interesting items of note. One is that I have been noticing the weather forecasts to be spot on lately. The forecast for Seattle the other day said showers until 11am, and I think they may have lasted until 10:30 before tapering off. Today on route, the rain arrived around 2pm just as forecast. This is interesting, but I have made a new policy of going out to Leavenworth as long as the forecast calls for less than 50% chance of rain. Not sure if I'd apply that same rule to the west side or mountains yet. The other item of note is that Lawn Darts is completely within my capability and I did not climb it that well. I started off with a good head for the climb, but the impending weather and generally lackluster day wore me down. As well as my unexpected slip. I'm not sure there is anything I can do about climbing in weather, but I'll try to be more conscious of my deteriorating head space in the future.

Mount Dickerman - Trail - 05.11.10

3900' elevation gain
8 miles RT
Left car: 7:45 am
Summit: 10.45 am
Left summit: 12:00 pm
Back at car: 1:45 pm
6 hours car to car

Adam and I were hoping for a summit, so the original plan was Bryant Peak, but I made a last minute change to Mount Dickerman, because the weather forecast was slightly better further north.

I had attempted this with Sabrina and friends a bunch of years ago without success due to deep unconsolidated snow. I was hoping this time would be different. Our first snag was some construction on the Mountain Loop Highway which delayed us 10-15 minutes. When we arrived at the trail head, we were the only car.

We set out quickly enjoying some of the large trees in the forest and the numerous blossoming trilliums. We made fast time on the trail covering the first 1000' of gain in just 35 minutes. We blasted out the next 1200' in a similar time and then we hit continuous snow. This slowed our pace and we replaced trekking poles with ice axes for added safety on the hard snowy hillside.

When the terrain changed to more open meadows, there was no longer a single consolidated path to support us. Our progress slowed again. We navigated our way around glissade paths trying to find the best steps to support us. When we started leaving the trees, the snow got a little more firm and we were making good time again. We arrived at the summit with clouds surrounding almost all of the nearby peaks except for Twin Peaks to our east. We waited for over and hour on the summit for the clouds to clear, but with no luck. (Although the clouds did put on a display for us swirling and blowing around making it look like we would see a clearing.)

After our lunch and break, we headed back down. In the open meadows we tried to make out the slides we could hear across the highway since we left the car. We did see some snow come off Big Four, but we were expecting more with all the noise we had heard. The plunge stepping was not very easy on the way down and we did a couple of small glissades just to not walk for a bit. Back on the trail we hiked quickly all the way out and were back at the car in what seemed like no time.

It was nice to get out and a get on a summit. Bummer that we didn't get the views that Dickerman is known for. Partial bummer for a non technical summit, but it was nice to get out and get some exercise.

Some pics here.

Leavenworth Trip - 04.30-05.2.10

Adam and I did a three day weekend in the Leavenworth area finishing with helping out Matt with field trip on Sunday.

We took a midday ride out on Friday for some cragging at Clem's Holler. Arrived around Noon and headed up the steep trail. We had lofty goals of climbing some nice sport climbs, but decided to warm up on the first two pitches of Playin' Possum. Doing only the first two pitches keeps it at a reasonable 5.8 instead of the .10a rating it has for continuing onto the third pitch. I led the first pitch, and Adam led the second. While the climbing was not particularly difficult, my head wasn't totally in the lead, and I had to hang a bit at one point (mostly to rest my feet) before continuing upward. After completing the climb, I was not exactly ready to tackle the harder projects, so Adam and I went searching for Arselips and Elbows (5.8) a 14" wide top rope crack.

According to the book, Arselips is "up and left" of The Hatchet. We found it to be generally left, and that dropping down into a meadow was a more sane way of reaching said climb. We first attempted with some exposed moves on grassy ledges before dropping to the meadow and coming back up. I'm pretty sure we were mostly following goat trails. The terrain was sometimes steep, and had a thick coating of ponderosa needles on it adding to the slippery factor. Plenty of sticker bushes in the area too. You have to persevere to get to this climb. Once there, we had an easy hike up to the bolts to set up a top rope. Then it was time for the groveling to begin.

Looking up from the base

The opening moves were on the face while stepping on boulders to gain the crack. Once at the top foothold on the outside, it was time to move in. I found the chicken wing very secure, but it took a fair amount of trial and error to get some sort of secure leg into the crack. The left side of the crack is also a loose corner, with a small finger crack, but I did not feel too comfortable grabbing on it as I was afraid to pull it off. Inside the crack it was narrow, and a deep breath could mostly keep my in my place. I realized after some struggling that I had to exhale to make moving up easier. In my first attempt, I managed to gain the crack and move a few centimeters off the outside rock before needing my left foot to do something. I took a rest while Adam gave it a shot.

About to leave the outside world

Adam gave the crack a try and made no further progress than I did. He tried it first in his trail runners figuring that would give him an advantage. After his attempt, he decided his next attempt would be with rock shoes. I gave it a second go with a result of getting about six inches higher than my previous attempt. I was able to successfully use my left arm and leg in the attempt, but found the upward progress too much of a struggle to continue further. Adam gave it one last try and it looked something like this:

He's in there

After getting to roughly the same height I did, Adam melted out of the crack and I lowered him to the ground. We both agreed that that was the most effort we have ever put forth to move two inches! I thought I could get up any 5.8 in Leavenworth on top rope. Apparently, this climb proved me wrong. After our struggles, we called it a day and headed back to the car. Our sport climbing objectives at Clem's Holler could wait for another day.

We awoke late (8am) on Saturday, and had breakfast in camp. By the time we packed up camp, it was about to rain and when we arrived at parking for our intended destination for the day (Peek-a-Boo Tower) there was a light rain. Looking west made us concerned so we drove to the mouth of the canyon hoping for better weather. We stopped in the Snow Creek parking lot and by the time we rolled out of there, it was raining as well. So we headed to Peshastin again.

It appeared that others had the same idea when it started to rain in Leavenworth, and many small parties of climbers dashed out of the parking lot to get to climbs quickly. We were in no rush and decided to climb Windward which we figured no one was running to. When we got there, I was not too enthused about leading it and we decided to walk around to see if we could get on something else. When we arrived at Dinosaur, and saw no one on Potholes, we jumped on it. Adam had me lead the first (5.8) pitch and he said he would decide at the belay about leading the second (5.7) pitch. I personally have always found the second pitch harder, but that may just be me. No real surprised on Potholes except for me having more difficulty this year with the crux of the first pitch. And Adam getting a good chuckle from watching me struggle with the final moves to the anchor. We rapped off and headed to Grand Central Tower to climb the West Face.

Adam past the first bulge on Potholes second pitch

It was nice to finally lead the West Face and not have any trouble on it. Well, no trouble climbing it. There was a party that was off route on Nirvana Ridge that kept raining sand down onto us. It does not make for a comforting lead. Adam followed, and even got hit by a slightly bigger rock on the way up. We rapped off to find the wind had died off and it was downright warm out. We decided the clouds cleared enough to the west to try the Icicle again.

We drove back and watched the outside temp drop from 68°F to around 60°F by the mouth of the Icicle. We stopped there to head to Surf City to climb a few moderate cracks. We started on Paydirt, a nice 5.7 finger crack that I would revisit. I was a bit too tentative on the lead on this one, and I am not sure why. (Must have been the theme for the weekend.) I had a minor slip and even opted not to place gear at one point. Hopefully I can revisit that one with a better head.

Stepping into the finger crack

Adam then led Blunt Instruments which was one of those cracks that does not really require crack climbing technique. It was a bit dirty at the top and also finished with a slab like Paydirt did. (Although the Paydirt slab was a bit more runout.)

After that I attempted to lead another route there called Undertoe. I couldn't get a decent first piece in and so we called it a day. This time we were at The Mountaineers group campsite and had a feast. Ben Evans showed up and cooked a huge pan of bacon chorizo paella.

Sunday I was pretty spent from the weekend (and sleeping on a Z-Rest) that I had the student I was with lead all pitches on Midway. I did not climb well, and even used a piton as a foot hold before attaining Jello Tower. It was nice to sleep in a bed last night.

Exit 38 Exploration - 04.22.10

Adam and I took a trip to Exit 38 to explore extending/expanding routes on the Easy Street Slab. The forecast was to be in the 60°s and mostly sunny, but when we arrived in the parking area, there was a light mist falling. We opted to at least go for a hike presuming if the weather got worse, we wouldn't be climbing.

The weather didn't get worse, and after the twenty minute hike we were looking at the wet slab.


Adam said he would lead up the least wet route which was ES1, or third from the right. We geared up. Transitioning from muddy ground to rock was a bit sketchy, but he made the lead and then traversed to the anchor for ES2 before bringing me up. Fortunately the slabs are fairly easy, so the water did not affect us too adversely.

At the belay it was perhaps raining a bit harder now, but still not a full soaking. We couldn't really see anything that we wanted to look at, so I led out on the next pitch to the upper chains. There were a few wet bits that I did not feel comfortable on and I even placed a cam on the upper section to protect a wet move to get to a bolt. I got to the top chains and brought Adam up.

We were cold and wet, but now was the exploration time. I had Adam belay me out right just to check out the terrain. I had no intention of doing a lead in the rain. The terrain above looked dirty and not worthy of bolting. The terrain further to the right (where I did not venture looked a bit better.)


I came back to the anchors and belayed Adam up a bit. We both agreed that the terrain immediately above us did not look promising, but there was a knob above that looked fun. We were cold and starting to get wet, so we set about rappelling.

On the rappel I checked out the right side where there was a decent looking corner.


There was a set of anchor bolts above the corner that may have been used to develop the crag. We considered the possibility of extending ES3 with a short second pitch to those bolts. But there wasn't as much there as we wanted to be or anticipated. It was an interesting outing at least.

Leaving

Leavenworth/Peshastin - 04.07.10

Adam and I had planned to head out to Leavenworth to check out some new routes in the book. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating, and they had snow in Leavenworth last Thursday. We figured we would give it time to melt and planned to head out Wednesday, which had a forecast of 56° and mostly cloudy. We arrived in Leavenworth to our main objective Aquarius around 9 am. It had rained most of our way down Tumwater Canyon, and when we got out of the car it was cold and damp. We decided to see if the weather was better at Peshastin Pinnacles.

While I doubt the weather was any better at the pinnacles, it felt better. We made our objective Martian Diagonal and hiked up the brief bit. There were a pair of men there as well, and one of them looked familiar and I am sure he is a locally famous guy, but I didn't ask him his name. Once at the base I told Adam I was interested in doing the Diagonal Direct start and then we could finish with the rest of Diagonal.

While easy climbing, the first pitch of Diagonal Direct had hard to place gear. After attempting some cam placements in some solution pockets, I gave up and ran it out to the first bolt some 15'+ up. More easy climbing followed and then I got a placement of a blue alien in a pocket (which later removed itself.) I continued up to another bolt and then onto the anchor. Once there I brought Adam up and he prepared for the second pitch.

The first ten to fifteen feet of the second pitch are probably the crux of the route. There are some steeper moves to regain the slanting ramp which defines the route. Adam placed a few cams before clipping a bolt and making some precarious moves while muttering "This is more heady than I thought it would be." Once back on the ramp he raced up it placing gear where he found an opportunity. I then followed.

We swapped the rack at the belay and I was off on the final pitch. I was able to place a large cam before clipping a shoddy rappel anchor and stepping out into the exposure of the ridge. I went up and over a bump, and slung a deteriorating boulder before walking up the final ridge bit. There I placed a nut on a hangerless bolt and made the short down climb to the anchor. I brought Adam up and he was appalled by the terrible anchor. (A 1" bolt with a homemade aluminum hanger.) I spotted him for the down climb and we rapped gingerly off the anchor. Before walking down to the packs, I showed him a few lines on Dinosaur Slab.

The sun was shining a bit, and we ate lunch before driving back to Leavenworth to attempt Aquarius.

It was not as sunny at the base of February Buttress, but we were going to go for it. Since we had no plans of carrying the book on the climb, we opted to leave it in the car after rereading the description a few times. Aquarius is a new route from last year that made it into the new guidebook. It runs parallel to Ground Hog's Day and is supposed to be of similar difficulty and length. When we arrived at the base we noted that it is closer than the 40' away the guidebook states. (More like 15'.) It cannot be missed, and so I got the first lead.

The climbing is easy going passing two bolts before a steep corner is encountered. The corner appears slightly intimidating from below, but it is conquered with easy moves and is well protected. Above there I could see the chains ending the pitch and I cruised easy ground without any gear to get there. I brought Adam up and we agreed that the pitch did not feel 5.7 to us.

While belaying Adam up I tried to decipher where the second pitch went. When he arrived at the belay, I told him I thought the more interesting climbing was up a shallow corner on the right. It was dirty and mossy, but the path to the left looked too easy to be the route. There is supposed to be a bolt near a corner on this pitch, but we never saw it. It started to rain slightly as Adam led the pitch eventually finding his way to a tree anchor. I followed his path until his last piece of gear and then traversed left to see if that seemed to be the route. I decided it probably was, as I could also see the anchor for the top of the pitch in line with the left route and about ten feet or so above our tree anchor.

Adam and I debated about who should lead the last pitch, but since there was a light rain falling he defaulted to me for speed. I led up and right to the anchor, although I am pretty sure I should have stayed left of the tree. Once there, I clipped it for my first piece. I remembered the book said to move right of a small roof, but going right around the roof did not look protectable. So I took the path left around the roof. There was some fun climbing but the rock had a lot of lichen on it. I was able to protect it well at first, but then when the angle eased off I had to run it out a bit. Eventually I merged left with Ground Hog's Day and finished at that anchor.

On rappel, we tried to check out more of the route. But since there was light rain, we didn't try too hard and headed back to the car.

On the drive home we discussed this new route. We both felt it was easier than 5.7, but were we on any of the second or third pitch? Hard to say. If the route saw a little more traffic and therefore was cleaner, it might be a pretty fun route. As it is now, it is a little run out and difficult to follow. Neither Adam nor I were interested in going at this route again in the near future. But I also would not recommend it to new leaders as the route finding is somewhat difficult and perhaps a bit contrived. Hopefully more traffic will make things more obvious.

My pics are here.

Leavenworth Rock - 03.20-24.10

With a few of the students off from school, I decided to make an extended weekend and get some climbing in. Five of us would leave Seattle on Saturday and climb throughout the weekend. Steen would leave, and we would be joined by Sam, Andrew and Tony on Monday. Andrew and Tony would only stay the day, and Sam and Adam left on Tuesday after climbing which left only Sal, Kaeli and myself to climb on Wednesday.

Saturday I was billing as the fun day, and then there would be instruction from Sunday through Tuesday with another fun day on Wednesday. When driving out, Kaeli and Sal suggested they would like to follow trad lines on Saturday to get some practice at looking at gear etc. So after we set up camp at Bridge Creek, we decided on Domestic Dome as our first stop of the day.

I led up B.S. which I still feel is stiffer than its 5.6 rating. (Perhaps why it is called B.S.?) I then watched as everyone other than Sal had difficulty making the crux clean. Once at the top of B.S., I led Kaeli and Steen up Underachiever and Adam led Sal up Connie's Crack. Underachiever was a pretty fun route with some cracks and flakes leading to a 5.8 slab finish. Unfortunately someone stole the second bolt off the slab and I used easier ground to avoid the run out. Once at the top we attempted to hike up to the Rare Earth area. This proved harder than it should and I cursed the maps in the guidebook for making it look easy. After two hours or so of wandering around, we decided to head back to Domestic Dome and do the opposite routes that we had done earlier. To our dismay, a single rope rappel did not make it from the Underachiever anchors to the base. Adam and I were successful at changing it to a double rope from halfway down although our stance was not great and we had no anchor. Once we were back at the base, Adam and Sal top-roped Underachiever while I led Kaeli and Steen up Connie's Crack.

Day 2: Instruction at Mountie's Dome
Sunday started a bit darker and cooler than the previous day as we headed to Mountie's Dome to practice gear placement and mock lead. Kaeli and Sal did great and near the end of the day started their real leads. Steen got some practice in as well, while Adam and I got our practice of climbing in boots and trail runners. We also had a two manned pink tricam removal session. We had light showers throughout the day, but the sun came out for when the real leading started.

Day 3: Instruction at Roto Wall
Sam met us at the campground and then we had a short drive to Roto Wall to start climbing. Sal and Kaeli finished their leads and went on to climb the 5.6 on the slab. Sam worked on gear before eventually getting in his mock and true leads. Andrew and Tony arrived a bit late and did ground work before eventually getting in a few mock leads of their own. Once everyone was finished, we headed to Alphabet Rock to top rope Dogleg Crack and Hind Quarters. Since Adam and I had climbed Dogleg the previous week, we only climbed Hind Quarters. I was bummed that I slipped early on the route but successfully climbed the crux.

Day 4: Climb!
Our intention for the day was to climb R&D and then head to Ground Hog's Day to complete that. However, with five people, it makes for slower and more difficult climbing. We got a fairly late start for R&D, and were doing the Cocaine Connection variation. For a Tuesday, there was a surprising amount of people looking to do the route. One party stopped by while Adam and Sam were on route and decided they did not want to pass us. Kaeli, Sal and I had a party on our tail from below the chimney, and when we got back to the base, there were two parties on route and another team heading to the start. Lots of traffic for a Tuesday in March.

Sam and Adam swung leads on the climb while I played monkey in the middle and Sal and Kaeli swung leads around me. I did lead the second pitch of Cocaine Connection, but it was mostly a traverse as the rope drag of two 10mm ropes became too much for me. Due to my short pitch and other difficulties, we ended up doing the climb in six pitches. This was good, as it gave both Kaeli and Sal more opportunity to swing leads, and place gear. Everyone did great, but it was late in the day when we topped out. Adam stated he was going home with Sam, and Sal, Kaeli and I headed to the campground.

Day 5: Castle Rock
If Adam had stayed, the idea was to be the two of us swinging leads with the students on Midway and Sabre. Since it just three of us, I was monkey in the middle again as we climbed Sabre instead of Midway since it seemed a bit cold when we arrived. I had my shoe tear through on a crack jam near the bottom of the first pitch, which led me not to trust it too much for the rest of the climb. I also got a curved nut off the route too. The climb took a long time, and we called it quits after our "summit".

Overall it was a fun time. I did not get too much leading in, but that is what happens when you volunteer sometimes. I also didn't take too many pictures as I was concentrating on the instruction etc. The climbing was fun, but I was getting a little tired by the last few days. Hard to keep up inspiration during that time period when climbing routes I have already climbed. One way I found was to climb in approach shoes or boots for a different challenge.

My pics are here.
Sal's pics are here.

Leavenworth - 03.17.10

Adam and I went out to practice crack climbing in Leavenworth. The original idea was to climb Givler's Crack and do laps on the first part of the second pitch. However, we decided not to do the longer walk and split our time between Gibson's Crack and Dogleg Crack. We got a late start and poked around the canyon a bit before starting as we wanted the sun to warm things up a bit.

I had climbed Gibson's a few years ago, but followed Ian. This time around I wanted to lead it. But I started at the lower start and had placed two pieces in the upper section before I was half way up. Since the crack is fairly uniform in width, I got concerned that I wouldn't have gear to place higher up and bailed off. We set up a top rope and did a few laps each with the obvious crux at the top of the route. My first time through the crux was not pretty and the second time was just fine. I lamented to Adam how this sure gave me a lot of trouble being only a 5.5. I told him I have no problems on the 5.7 Givler's. Which I guess means it was good that we came out and did this as I would rather work on climbs that are giving me difficulty.

Gibson's Crack

After a short break for lunch, we drove over to Dogleg Crack. We hiked around and set up a top rope. I had tried to lead this route last season, but backed off when I found the gear to be almost as difficult as the climbing. I went first, and sort of remembered the moves through the crux, but couldn't seem to sequence them. I lowered off without getting passed it because I was tiring and hanging in the Bod harness was not so comfortable.

Adam gave it a go and was able to struggle his way through the crux before going into an awkward lieback before the climb eases a bit. He hit his high point moments later on the thinner finger crack section and I lowered him because he was pumped. I got back on and struggled and hung through the crux before completing the rest of the pitch with a little fall at the dog leg.

Adam on Dogleg Crack

We were both pretty tired but decided to climb Hind Quarters next to Dogleg. At the crux, our top rope was pulling us too far away from the route to finish, so Adam played with the finger crack a little bit before lowering off. I gave Hind Quarters a go and found myself to be quite tired but at the crux bailed back onto Dogleg to finish. I made my way up for the last time to clean the anchor and walk back down.

It was a strange day as I expected to have a positively easy time on Gibson's Crack and not struggle as badly on Dogleg Crack. I think my previous effort with Lori on Dogleg Crack was aided by taping my hands. I hate to admit that it made that much of a difference, but I really beat up my hands yesterday and struggled more than previously. So it appears to be an obvious connection.

Exit 38 - 03.06.10

Followed up an excellent day of climbing in Darrington with a not-so-excellent day at Exit 38.

Started the day at Interstate with the intention of finally checking out Off Ramp. Before climbing, we figured out the approach to Off Ramp, but noticed it did not have anchors assessable for top roping. So I decided to warm up on Eating Dust as the stump no longer exists and makes Eating Rocks a bit more difficult start than it was previously. I had no issues on the climb and set up a top rope for Steen to climb. She climbed Eating Dust and then we both climbed Eating Rocks. I brought her to the top so I could finish off with Insomniac, but I balked after clipping the first bolt and could not seem to figure out the moves. My calves were noticeably sore from the previous day and after about four attempts, we decided to rap down.

On the ground we were met by Adam, Zach and his girlfriend. They were going to climb in that area while Steen and I checked out something different. We walked over to Kiss of the Crowbar a nice 5.7 route that I had climbed a few years ago with Lindsay. I started up and found it to be runout and couldn't even locate the second bolt so I went left to climb Attack of the Butter Knives before seeing the second bolt. I then made a traverse back to clip the correct bolt and then back tracked to unclip from the off route bolt.

I was then able to proceed upward. However I was still balking. Steen asked if I wanted to come down, but I told her I was going to go for it. As I clipped the third bolt I realized it suffered from the same problem the second bolt suffered from. The bolt was poorly placed and caused the carabiner on my draw to come to rest on the rock's edge. This concerned me as I was afraid of the biner breaking in a fall. The wind was blowing and I did not feel comfortable climbing upward from that point. But I noticed there might be a bypass around the next steep section by going around it to the right. I informed Steen of what I was about to do and went around to the right. After going around and up, I was a bit above the previous bolt and did not feel comfortable trying to get back on route. I then informed Steen of my decision to attempt to walk off to the right. There was a grassy ledge system with some small shrubs that I was able to traverse until I got to walking terrain. I called "off belay" and untied to walk down to Steen.

I apologized for the lack of my finishing and told her to pull the rope and told her I hoped Adam would be able to complete the route to get my gear. It was Noon, and we decided after telling the others that we would sit in the sun on the talus field and enjoy lunch. It was shady and cold near the base of the wall, and not much better on the route, so the less windy and more sunny talus slope provided a welcome change.

Adam two clips up on "...Crowbar"

After lunch Zach and his girlfriend left to go for a hike while I belayed Adam up Kiss of the Crowbar. He tried to rectify the same issue I was concerned with and did it with adding an additional biner on the bolt. He made his way surely to the top and set up a top rope for Steen and I to climb. While Steen was halfway up a guy came by that was an acquaintance who was hoping to get on the route. I told him I would skip the top rope and he could have it after Steen. Adam instructed me to head to Squishy Bell to see if I could set up a top rope there. I hiked up to Squishy Bell where there was already two parties on routes (which left only one anchor open.) Instead of being the person who holds movie theater seats when others are not in the theater, I dropped the rope and my jacket at the base and went back to pick up my pack. After explaining the situation to Adam, I headed back to wait for him and Steen to join me.

Steen cleaning the anchor on "Crowbar" with McClellan Butte backdrop.

By the time they joined me, I had convinced myself that I would lead Winter Rushing In to set up a top rope for November Glaze. Thankfully, I had no issues leading the route and set up the top rope. Steen followed Winter Rushing In and then all three of us top roped November Glaze. Which is a fun route that has a difficult move to reach the second bolt. After that route, we packed up and headed home.

This was a frustrating day for me as I climbed well the previous day but had some head issues attempting to lead today. Interestingly, I did not have those issues on the final lead, so I am not sure what happened. I guess some times you have off days, or off climbs. I'm going to put it behind me and look forward to the next climb.

Three O' Clock Rock - 03.05.10

Adam had been requesting a trip to Darrington after he found out I went last week. So we hoped for the next sunny/dry cycle to make a trip. Since there was at least a full day without precip we opted to go out to Three O' Clock rock on Friday to see what we could climb.

Due to some technical complications we left later than we wanted to, but I figure that only gave more time for the sun to come out and dry off any wet rock. Driving through Arlington on the way up we could see frost on some roofs that were still in the shade. (The temp was around freezing when I left my house.) I wasn't too concerned because last week there was frost on the trail on the way up and the rock was great.

After the hike up, Adam and I reached the rock around 10am. We spied the route we were intending to climb ('Til Broad Daylight) and thought it looked wet high on the first pitch (or on the second pitch depending on the topo.) We opted to warm up on "Under the Bored Walk" to get a better look at the wetness and see if we should give it a go. This was the route we had noticed had been rebolted last week. Although the anchors did not appear to be rebolted, the rest of the route was and the hangers were stamped with the ASCA letters. We split "Bored Walk" into two pitches. I led the first and Adam led the second. We then did two single rope rappels back to base. Upon rapping I got a good look at the seeps on "Daylight" and decided we should give it a go.

We scrambled up to the base of the route only to see a seep running right down the first ten feet or more. I found an alternate start to the left up a crack and headed off. Adam and I agreed we would split the first two pitches and I would lead both. Due to my detour, the first pitch used a few cams before I was able to clip a bolt or two. The climbing was fairly easy, but the first pitch is always a place where you are trying to dry out your shoe soles, so there was not a whole lot of confidence. I reached the relatively comfy belay stance and brought Adam up.

I eyed the next pitch which appeared well protected although with older SMC buttonhead bolts. This pitch is described as devious and possibly the best 5.8 pitch on the rock in "Weekend Rock." Looking at it I thought the crux would be surmounting the final overlap which seemed quite steep from the belay. I dispatched the first overlap with no issue and was soon sizing up the next one. Due to its proximity to the side of "The Great Arch" this pitch had something I don't normally see on slabs which is some exposure. In order to gain the second overlap I had to go far left to the edge of the arch before making a difficult balance move onto the next overlap. A handful of moves further and I was confronting the final overlap before the next anchor.

Unfortunately this was the section that had multiple seeps on it. Fortunately though, they did not interfere greatly with gaining the overlap. There was also a huge bucket hold that the seeps poured into that left my hand soaking wet upon grabbing the hold. I clipped the bolt above the overlap and started to work out my moves. I thought I was going to have to grab the draw and warned Adam of this. But a few moves of my feet up slightly higher and I mimicked the move that gained me the previous slab. I made a few quick moves to establish myself on this slab and then was able to clip the next bolt. This is where I realized the water was affecting the route. My right foot was on a larger platform but this was just above the bucket I had my hand in earlier and water was running over the platform. Not a lot mind you, but enough to wet it. There appeared to be good dry rock for my left side, but I couldn't find anything for my right. So after attempting a few holds in the water I decided I did not want to be a hero and pulled on the draw to get my right foot out of the water and head up generally to the left of all the water. It was about ten or more feet to the anchor and I was able to place a small cam before reaching the not so comfortable stance. I brought Adam up and he climbed through the wetness on top rope.

When Adam got to the belay he was tying in. I said "I presume this means you want me to lead the next pitch?" To which he responded "yes." This next pitch started with some good moves before moving right to surmount yet another overlap. I moved up from the anchor and was able to get a small cam in before moving right and then I was able to clip a bolt that protected the overlap moves. It was fairly easy and then there were some moves to gain a corner where I was able to place another cam while liebacking the corner. I told Adam this was the good stuff, but it ended shortly as the crack disappeared and I was left with climbing the corner and clipping some bolts. Finger pockets appeared at the end of the corner where there was a small step up. Then a short distance up a knobby face past a couple of bolts to the anchor. While not comfortable, this stance was somewhat more comfortable than the previous and I brought Adam up.

I was concerned about time as it appeared the sun might be going behind the ridge. Once without direct sun, it gets cold on the rock and I didn't want that to happen. We had three pitches to go and my mind was a bit stressed from having led the three to this point. When Adam arrived at the belay I told him if we started the next pitch we would probably have to finish the route due to rappel anchor locations. I then told him I would lower him to the top of pitch one anchors of "The Kone" and that I would then rappel to him. After I lowered him, I rapped down while he got ready the second rope for a double rope rappel back to the base. We made quick work of the second rappel and arrived on the ground to realize it was only 2pm. So we set about to climb something shorter.

I walked to the left of "The Great Arch" and was going to eye the first pitch of "Tidbits" for Adam. It is a 5.6, but when I got there I realized there were only three bolts in about 70' of climbing, so that wasn't a good option for him to lead. I had him come by with the book, and we decided that "Magic Bus" would be our final objective of the day. It is typically climbed as two pitches, but supposedly there are more above that are now forgotten. I offered the first lead to Adam as the second pitch is supposed to be slightly harder. After some internal deliberation, he went for it, and he was on his way. During the lead he said he didn't think anything on the route was 5.8. After following it I agreed. I led the second pitch and also found it to be easier than the rating it was given. There was one tricky move at the top, but perhaps due to our height, Adam and I did not find it that difficult. Adam had left his jacket at the base and was now getting cold as we were no longer in the sun. I lowered him down to the first pitch anchors and then we did a double rope rappel from there. Once again, the route appeared to have newer bolts on the first pitch but had older hardware for the anchors and the second pitch. Perhaps someone can get more of those ASCA donations for this route. I found it to be quite a good beginner lead at Three O' Clock Rock.

After "Magic Bus" Adam and I packed up and hiked out. This was a great day with better than expected weather. We climbed approximately seven pitches. Once again, I suffered from some bad stances at the belays. It is funny when the climbing wears you out less than the belay stations.

My pics are here.