altitude slickness » Climb

Ozone

Seth — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:51:00 +0000

In an effort to kickstart this blog back into action, I present a quick vignette of a recent climbing trip to Washington’s Ozone area. A relatively new cragging destination, it’s a great mix of trad and sport routes with a super short approach and only 30 minutes from my door. I’ve hit it twice in the last week, and after months of relative inactivity, it’s felt good to wake up sore again…

Over the next week or so I’ll be trying to catch up on this a bit, including TR’s from an attempt on the Grand Teton and other misadventures.

Stay tuned.

Mt. Oly – Stream of Consciousness Version

Seth — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 07:27:47 +0000

Day 1:

Jeff picks up Seth around 8 PM
Drive down
The Tavern
Meet up with Mark
Jeff gets friendly with the natives in the bathroom
Stash the car
Onwards to Aberdeen!
It only takes a few tries to get on the right road…
The Olympic Hotel
Night Clerk is obviously from Aberdeen
Up and showered and on to Denny’s

Actually pretty good food
Heading up the coast
Stop at Ruby Beach to check out the sea stacks
The Open Door Lady – “YOU LEFT YOUR DOOR OPEN!”
First ones in the lot pretty much
Sort out Jeff’s gear
Pizza and Brownies, yeah!
Craig, Alaina and Meaghan
Meeting the crew and signing stuff
Load up the manties
Mules are cool
Pick out yer food and drinks
Saddle up and off we go
10.5 miles to Lewis Meadows
Stopping here and there to talk about things and eat Craig’s chips
Riddles – home, left, left, home – 3 switches and a lightbulb
Olympic guard station water fill up
green green green green forest – easy trail
arriving at Lewis Meadows
set up the tents
jump in the river and freshen up
salmon burritos for dinner
introductions in the tent
pretty cool group of people
steven
sue
craig
alaina
meaghan
al
glenn
seth
jeff
mark
jim
karl

where’s nathan?

clean up the food and get it up on the wire
asleep, but it’s pretty hot out and muggy…

Day 2:

Up around 7?
Breakfast
On our way up to Elk Lake, then to our high camp above the Blue Glacier
Light packs
trail soon starts to steepen
meaghan heads back – feeling sick
high hoh bridge
lots of slides and washouts
mountain goat
up to elk lake – hang out and eat lunch
load up the heavy packs and group gear
mark’s friend
on with the boots
stopping at the ranger yurt to water up before breaking the treeline
up the drainage to the foot of the moraine
wildflowers
steep
hot
garbage can for blue bags
change clothes – long pants, shirt, gloves, etc for the glacier
down the moraine – steep and loose
rope up below -
alaina -> mark -> seth -> jeff
across the slush
gotta ask permission to snap a pic
across the blue – get water at the foot of the rocks
up through the rocks and steep snow to the base of the snow dome
sue gets left behind with alaina
high camp
set up the tent – carve out a platform
stomp stomp stomp
craig goes and gets sue’s pack
repack for the morning – very light gear again
ramen and pudding
and then some more ramen and pudding
snow school – how to self arrest
beer grip
and off to bed – around 8?

Day 3:

up a little after 1 – dressed and ready to go
eat a hot oatmeal or two
harness on and helmet and roped up
sue stays behind
moon glow over the summit to the south
start the climb up the snow dome – same ropes as before
craig tells mark to be quiet
at the first rope step over, seth stabs himself with his right crampon
alaina does some first aid
and back to the grind – onward and upward
to the top of the snowdome
across and then hang left – angled towards the notch on the east
up and over
alaina kicks steps in the dark
up to the rocks
karl’s cramps and blue bag
across and over the rocks and up to a steep snow patch below the haystack
here comes the sunrise
craig and alaina prep the entrance to the rock
short roped
dump the crampons and axes
ramp our way up – a few slings here and there
draping the rope over horns as protection
5.6 little chimney maneuver
our rope screams up the thing – no problems.
awesome summit.
summit register is manky – i wrote on the thing itself
mark takes the summit photo
30 mins or so
4 hours from high camp + a few breaks and first aid
back down we go – down-climb the 5.6
back to our gear
kinda cool to see what we passed in the dark
lots of big crevasses
beautiful blue ice
clouds starting to come in pretty fast
pass a group and a solo guy
back around to the top of the snow dome
finally i can pee!
glissade – 4 at a time and roped up
back to camp
rest up
eat up
clean up
sort and organize
the “B” team
down to the glacier – roped up
back across to the moraine

up up up

change back to shorts and tshirt

hustle back to elk lake
painful feet
painful everything
pull the boots -
mules are waiting with shoes!
lighten the packs
powder your feet, not your balls
all the way back down to lewis meadows
wash up in the river
chicken bacon spaghetti w/garlic bread
asleep by 8
one long successful amazing day.

Day 4:

early morning rain
muffins and blueberries for breakfast
pack up and leave around 8 with light packs
mark runs it out
long walk, but nice in the rain and coolnesss
i ran the last couple miles just to stretch out
back to the car – wash up and change
hang out and wait for the mules
marks group photo
pack up and head to the hard rain cafe
big burgers
chit chat
hats
on the road
drop off mark
drop off seth
see ya jeff

THE END.

Four Days on Mount Olympus

Seth — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 15:44:56 +0000

I keep meaning to write something up for this trip. It was really really good – the weather was perfect – we made it.

See for yourself:

4 Days on Mt. Olympus from untickalock and Vimeo.

Mount Adams Mostly

Seth — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:46:56 +0000

Although the end result was a sore body and only a handful of photos to share, my trip to Mt. Adams this last weekend was actually pretty fun. Friday morning I woke up around seven, only having gone to sleep a mere four hours earlier, and immediately jumped back into work. I was staring down the barrel of a pretty tight client deadline, and still had to pack, so I was moving pretty quickly to get away from the computer for the day. Noon rolled around and I was finally able to step back and start loading the pack for that afternoon’s climb.

Garlic Triscuits™? Check.

Hard salami and pepperjack cheese? Check.

Even though my best intentions were to go light and fast, I still managed to pull together around 43 pounds of stuff to schlep on my back.

Mark and Dean showed up around noon and we loaded up into the Subaru and headed over towards the Gorge.

To make a long story short: (I’ll have to come back and write this out when I get a chance)

Quick drive
Hood River pit stop
Country Store pit stop
Gravel roads
Horses
Pushing past the first bit of snow
Busting through snow patches
Still a bit farther from the actual trailhead than hoped for
Hitting the logging roads
The Napoleon Shirt
Snowmobiles
Snowpack
Pretty dang tired
Hitting the treeline
Sunset
Through the rocks
Snowmelt
Up the steep ridge at dusk
Finally there.
Dinner behind the rockwall
Dean and Mark go up
I stay back…
Perfect weather
Long hike down

Etc etc.

There you have it, the world’s worst trip report.

Begin Again

Seth — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 05:10:22 +0000

So the whole “pulling plastic” thing has never held a whole lot of attraction for me, but what with work paying for it, and the weather, and the general lack of physical activity over the last few months – it’s looking pretty good. It’s somewhat frustrating to start out with the basics again, but it’s really ok, as it also feels like a chance to relearn habits and really improve, rather than just cruise for the rest of my life at 5.9. I only climbed 4 routes tonight, a 5.7, two 8′s and most of a 5.9 before pumping out. My endurance just isn’t there yet, but it should improve as long as I’m consistently showing up. It was just a good feeling to walk out of there today with a fresh belay card on my harness and some vertical feet under my belt.

The Toothache

Seth — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 16:24:37 +0000

In a desperate move to squeeze out one more trip before The Move, Dean and I had a bit of a late start to knock out the Tooth after work. The weather was perfect, and I was able to slip out of work a bit early without feeling too guilty. With Ames and the kids gone, it was now or not for a very long time, so we picked up our packs and headed up to the Pass. We hit the Snow Lake trail at exactly 4:30, knowing we’d be coming back down in the dark. The question was how much of the trip would be by headlamp…

It took a little over an hour to reach the Source Lake overlook, and from there it was another hour across the talus and ridges coming down from the peaks above us. We picked our way through the rocks, sometimes on a boot track, or following cairns – and sometimes not. In retrospect we should have marked our path a bit more, as following cairns in the dark isn’t always the most effective way of returning to civilization on time. Reaching Pineapple Pass and the base of the climb, we decided we’d go as far as we could without having to rappel in the dark, and hopefully make it back down to the talus in time for the full moon to help us back down. I started up the first pitch and soon reached the first belay station, or at least the last rap station in order to let Dean get some climbing in sooner. The next pitch I ran out the full length of the rope, and quickly brought Dean up again. The sun was setting on the western horizon, silhouetting McClellan’s Butte and causing us to decide to get out. The summit was so close, but we could easily be back any time we wished, so we felt it was better to set up the raps in what daylight was left.

TBC

The Toothache on Vimeo

Mount Rainier

Seth — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 23:25:15 +0000

I’ve been afraid that if I wait too long to put something together, I’ll forget the good parts of this trip. Honestly, this was a pretty dull trip as far as my usual epics go, but the fact that we summited in perfect conditions makes for as good a trip report as any. The progress on this thing will be spotty – I plan on just throwing notes and such up as I remember, and then going back and re-organizing when necessary. The important part is that I document what we did, both right and wrong, and hang on to it for the next time, which hopefully is soon.

The pain is quickly forgotten.

The weekend of the 18th was the second date we’d planned on this year. The first was Memorial Day weekend, but due to weather and such, the trip was canceled. I had originally planned on going with the group then, but as the date approached, and with everything going on just then – I bailed. It just didn’t feel right, and with family coming into town that weekend and my impending jobless situation, I made the right decision and backed out.

Luckily, things came around and the new date showed up. With the perfect combination of good weather and my ducks in a row at home, it was a sure-fire winner. The plan was to meet up Friday morning with Steve, Jordan, and Ryan at the White River Ranger station. They had driven down on Thursday night, while Chris and I cruised down early that Friday morning. The permit situation had been taken care of, and we were pretty much all set to go as soon as we arrived. We drove up to the trailhead and unloaded everyone’s packs. After distributing the group stuff and making sure everyone’s pack was nice and heavy, we started down towards Glacier Basin. The weather was absolutely perfect. Bluebird skies, and a nice cool breeze coming up from the river made the three miles or so up to the foot of the Interglacier quite nice. We ran into snow about two-thirds of the way up the trail, which is when I stashed my approach shoes and laced up the plastics. In retrospect, I probably should have waited a bit more, just to save my shins those first few miles of flatfooting it. There was still enough dry trail coming through the snow that it wasn’t the best experience to hike in those big green boots…
Interglacier
long slog up
ryan slows down/cramps
rope up above camp curtis
sooo hot
descend onto emmons glacier
schurman
tent, eat, sleep
watching the clouds coming in – looks like thunderheads
up at 1, hiking at 2:15 under clear skies
not much moon, lots and lots of stars
not feeling so hot
psyche out
keep on truckin
sunrise
passing groups
only a few crevasses
crampons rock the casbah
feeling the pain
blue ice
windy
summit!
traverse to columbia crest
no register found (wrong place?)
nap time
decision time (ice or new route)
plunge step for 5 hours
Steve’s beat
trying to glissade
too slow, too hot
back to camp pretty late – 4:30?
pack up
back down unroped onto emmons
pellet snow
up the ridge to interglacier
best glissade ever
shovel buried
longest 2.5-3 miles ever
boot bang sucks
perma-smile
mexican food
fin

Mount Baker

Seth — Sun, 15 Aug 1999 23:25:36 +0000

August 1999

marty
the other guy
orange beetle
off trail
rope practice
up hogsback
camp
early up
wanding it
marty’s light goes down
sloppy snow
roman wall
bonk!
falling over
foodage
back home

Mount Baker

Seth — Wed, 15 Jun 1994 23:24:21 +0000

June 1994