[pct-l] mountains

[Greg Kesselring]

Great post, Mark.

I would add this:  Hiking on crevassed glaciers should never be done 
alone.  The safe way to travel on a glacier is roped up to two other 
people, with everyone in the party having the skills to do ice axe 
arrest and crevasse rescue (should one of the party fall into a crevasse).

Rainier's standard routes are glacier climbs.  There's one route, Fuher 
Finger (sp.?), that may avoid glaciers, but you have to deal with very 
steep snow instead.

I don't know Hood, whether there's a route to the summit on the south 
side that avoids glacier or not.

If you want to do any of these, do your homework, research the route you 
plan to do and if you need technical skills, equipment, and competent 
partners, make sure you have all of those with you on the climb.

Good luck!

Greg

mark v wrote:
> Whenever you're talking about climbing mountains, it's
> very much YMMV (your mileage may vary).  I've done
> several mountains where i've heard descriptions
> ranging from "easy walk up" to "death defying
> technical climb" ...referring to the SAME mountain. 
> So i'll add my 2 cents worth on the mountains i know,
> and in the end you have to figure out what it all
> means to you.  You should also ask at
> cascadeclimbers.com and summitpost.com, but be aware
> there are some hardcore climbers there that might
> paint an easy picture for you.
>
> Thielsen.  Not an easy walk up at the end.  The summit
> pinnacle scared the bejeezus out of me, but i made it
> to the top.  On the way down, i was grateful for
> someone below me to tell me occasionally where to
> place my foot.  I know i would have made it down if i
> had been on my own, but it may have been a much
> "quicker descent" and forceful landing.  If you're a
> real rock climber, you'll have no problem.  But if
> you're a normal hiker, this is serious exposure and to
> be considered with caution.
>
> Hood.  It depends a lot on the snowpack that year, but
> it's not altogether an impossible climb even in late
> July of some years.  I climbed it in mid-July, and i
> would rate it less scary than Thielsen, but maybe
> that's because i have some glacier experience but no
> real vertical rock experience.  The key is, if you're
> doing it late or post-season, is to start EARLY.  As
> in before midnight.  You have to be down off the
> mountain by 11am when the sun is hot and the rocks
> start to rain down.  Know what you're doing, research
> it (lately the favored route has been to the west of
> the bergschrund), careful with the weather, helmet,
> crampons, etc.  But it can be done.  Late August, when
> most thru-hikers come through...i probably wouldn't
> push my luck.  That seems to me past the safe time
> even in snowy years, but hey, people do it then too.
>
> Rainier.  Just way too big of a deal to do during a
> thru-hike, unless you're superman.  It's long,
> exhausting, technical.  If you have to ask, don't try
> it.  (On the other hand, if i were in thru-hiker shape
> when i did it, maybe it wouldn't have been
> exhausting?)  2 day climb for most people, crevasses,
> etc.
>
> Shasta.  The Clear Creek route is supposed to be a
> straight-forward, safe slog on scree in July and
> August.  It's not supposed to be the prettiest way up
> the mountain, but if you really want to get up there
> in those months, and you don't have full glacier
> regalia, it might be the way to get up there.  One
> LONG day climb.
>
> Personally, i'm expecting to be too exhausted while
> hiking the PCT to do anything more than something like
> San Jacinto.  But i hope to go back and get Shasta,
> Adams, Jeff, and more in the future.
>
>
>
>
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