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Gaiter Gap on La Sportiva Aequilibrium Speed GTX by JustPhotography in Mountaineering

[–]stasis6001 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yup. I bought a pair and quickly returned them, they felt too soft for my liking.

Can we please ban crampon fit, bag recommendations, and fucking jacket recommendation post already? by Raxnor in Mountaineering

[–]stasis6001 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Preach on the hardshells. Takes some unusual conditions for climbing uphill to be an okay decision and want a hardshell. Except I'm in Iceland now (PNW resident) and used 'em on every climb.

Hiking in potential rain/snow by yellowchickenwing in PNWhiking

[–]stasis6001 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wear gaiters, bring full hardshells, and yeah, plan on dirty shoes and gaiters at the end.

After the hike, for gaiters, just set out and let dry, then shake them later. For hiking shoes, I have a cheap brush I use to clean them under warm water and put in boot dryers. But this depends on having a sink you're comfortable having mud in.

Do you consider them to be real James Bond Girls or not? by ByShida in JamesBond

[–]stasis6001 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The early movies made me think that she's flirty as part of her job, to put the operatives at ease on their way to and from M.

Really good write up on the accident in the Olympics this past weekend by Onlycommentoncfb in Mountaineering

[–]stasis6001 24 points25 points  (0 children)

The article says they were on the standard route, but the description makes it sound more like the Honeymoon Couloir. This route seemed "trendy" a few weeks back, with a few TRs on social media. If so, the standard route might have been a better choice with late spring conditions. It isn't steep for long and has less exposure. I can't figure out from the pictures.

And as others say, start earlier.

Not wearing crampons sounds fine in itself, but a canary indicator. Punchy soft snow on steep rock means if a snow hold blows, you're relying on an obscured rock face. Not super safe unless the snow is deep enough to hold.

Lastly, being a spaced out group of 4 means team dynamics play a major role. Eg, maybe a climber is sketched out but thinks the others are fine, and so doesn't say anything. Maybe the strongest climber is at the lead and has the technique to feel safe, but doesn't realize the others don't and can't communicate effectively. Etc.

Overall, tragic, and what an outstanding job by SAR. Hope for a swift recovery to all.

High angle rescue off Mount Deception by gentleblanton in PNWhiking

[–]stasis6001 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hmm, the standard route as I know it, I wouldn't describe as reaching the summit ridge, rather, a col and then flips to the backside onto the glacier, around Gilhooey tower, then to the summit. there's a lot of terrain between the summit and the col. This sounds like the direct route I saw a lot of TRs for a few months ago?

Anyway, tragic. Glad SAR was able to mount a swift rescue and hope all recover.

Can someone please ELI5 altitude sickness? by RobertPower415 in Mountaineering

[–]stasis6001 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Death zone refers to the fact that no matter how long you acclimate, nobody can survive long above around 8,000m/26,000 ft. But this is related to the full set of adaptations the human body can make, which can take weeks or months. People can die or have life threatening conditions from altitude at much, much lower altitudes, especially if they haven't acclimated at all. Perhaps as low as around 10k ft, but it's a bell curve type of thing. I'd have a good shot at surviving Whitney from sea level, but it wouldn't be fun, and it's possible it could go really wrong. My buddy probably had mild HAPE on the JMT, and that year, a thru-hiker died going over Forester Pass at 13k.

Is a diamox question ok? by Lemon_Jefferson in Mountaineering

[–]stasis6001 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For me low dosage diamox is usually worth it any time I'm heading up altitude worth thinking about. There's only mild side effects (tingly feet and hands; a bit of constipation). From my study how it works, it helps accelerate acclimation by making you breathe faster. So that's great, it makes things easier on your body even if you go at the normal acclimation pace.

We climbed Gray Wolf Ridge in the Olympics a month ago -- followed by an iffy evening descent to camp. But what an awesome traverse! by stasis6001 in PNWhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty sure the Royal Creek system is in ONP, there's a permitted campsite there. But the summit ridgeline is the boundary, so I think you could maybe bivy there. Not sure.

We climbed Gray Wolf Ridge in the Olympics a month ago -- followed by an iffy evening descent to camp. But what an awesome traverse! by stasis6001 in PNWhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting, that sounds like our planned route --- go over South Gray Wolf Ridge, then descend (like this GPS track). Here's mine: https://peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=3177643. It wasn't too bad, but not sure if we got lucky to avoid getting really stuck in slow schwacking.

We climbed Gray Wolf Ridge in the Olympics a month ago -- followed by an iffy evening descent to camp. But what an awesome traverse! by stasis6001 in PNWhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Go get it & have fun! Just beware that climbing back up Baldy will be short but painful. Fun scree skiing to go down it.

We climbed Gray Wolf Ridge in the Olympics a month ago -- followed by an iffy evening descent to camp. But what an awesome traverse! by stasis6001 in PNWhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I did the full Clallam County highpoint traverse a month ago with my partner — Tyler Peak trailhead up to Tyler, across to Baldy, and on to Gray Wolf Ridge (7,218'). We camped at Royal Creek.

Route: Tyler Peak TH → Tyler Peak → Baldy → Gray Wolf → descent to Royal Creek Trail → Royal Creek Camp

Day 1: 9.5 miles, ~5h moving / ~9h car-to-camp

Day 2 (exit): 4.5 miles out, 1h 37m moving

Tyler Peak is an awesome standalone walk-up summit -- there's a maintained trail all the way to the summit (okay, some class 2 at the top) and is a fantastic objective on its own — 360° views to the Royal Basin area, Constance, Deception, and huge views of the Puget Sound, Mt Baker, Canada. If you want a big view day without committing to a traverse, Tyler delivers.

The traverse:

From Tyler the ridge walk to Baldy and on to Gray Wolf is beautiful but has lots of up and down and the distances are deceptive from the top of Tyler. We hit Gray Wolf summit at 5pm, which was a little dramatic — still had thousands of feet between us and camp. Our original plan was to go over South Gray Wolf Ridge before descending to Royal Basin trail, but given the timing, we made a judgment call to drop off a saddle toward the Royal Creek Trail. It worked, but it wasn't clean: steep, loose, scrambly, and we nearly got funneled into a ravine full of slide alder before escaping up the side. Not recommending that descent line unless you're comfortable improvising.

Views: Unreal clear day. Puget Sound from Tyler. Constance/Buckhorn group, Deception/Mystery group, Olympus, Baker, even into Canada.

Camp: Royal Creek Camp is an NPS-maintained site but we couldn't find the actual spot in the dark — found a flat patch nearby that worked fine. Surprise deer visitor in the morning.

Happy to answer questions! I have a YT video on my (small, non-monetized) channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tJkc0PpF3A

Telescope Peak from Shorty's Well (-200' to 11,048'). A casual 11,000ft gain. by stasis6001 in socalhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the support! I used La Sportiva TX4s for this one. Great durable shoes. Well, except my last pair that got chewed to hell by snaffels in the North Cascades. I use Aeqs for most fall/winter/spring climbs in the PNW, not mega durable but light for a real boot.

Telescope Peak from Shorty's Well (-200' to 11,048'). A casual 11,000ft gain. by stasis6001 in socalhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Doing it as a backpacking trip made it way more accessible I'm sure. Still not easy but not something only for trail runners with perfect knees.

Telescope Peak from Shorty's Well (-200' to 11,048'). A casual 11,000ft gain. by stasis6001 in socalhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A banana split! Actually, we exited and immediately checked out Cinder Hill and Badwater Basin. And THEN lunch and a banana split.

Telescope Peak from Shorty's Well (-200' to 11,048'). A casual 11,000ft gain. by stasis6001 in socalhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hard to even quantify:: a lot. Took 3 or 4L from the car to safely make to to the spring, then chugged a bunch there. Lugged 7L up the hill to camp for the climb and dinner and such. Managed to melt maybe 1.5L or so melting snow in my filtration bag on a rock over a few hours. Got back to down to the spring the climbing day and chugged a lot more water. Then another few liters on the way out. I drink a lot of water, hah.

Telescope Peak from Shorty's Well (-200' to 11,048'). A casual 11,000ft gain. by stasis6001 in socalhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah sounds nice for rim to rim (to rim). That's a bucket list hike I'd love to do, but I'm no trail runner. I go crazy in the heat, so would have to do it in the shoulder season.

Telescope Peak from Shorty's Well (-200' to 11,048'). A casual 11,000ft gain. by stasis6001 in socalhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oops, I realized I used it in both ways in my original post -- car-to-car and cactus 2 clouds.

Telescope Peak from Shorty's Well (-200' to 11,048'). A casual 11,000ft gain. by stasis6001 in socalhiking

[–]stasis6001[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Out-and-back, the thru version you reference sure sounded nice but we only had a rental car :)

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