SW Face of Stein's Pillar --> Free Lunch, Picnic Lunch Wall

The SW Face of Stein's Pillar

This past weekend finally marked the arrival of Indian summer in the Pacific Northwest, with moderate temps, clear skies and calm winds.  After several weeks of rain and recent mountain snows, a lot people were focused on the upcoming ski season, waxing their boards and scanning the web for the long-term forecast.  But I was still holding out hope of squeezing in some more rock climbing.

The seasonal window for climbing longer routes is closing quickly, and I had my eyes on the SW Face of Stein’s Pillar near the Mill Creek Wilderness in the Ochoco National Forest.  I pinged Guy to see if he was available and he responded with a “hell yes” and “oh by the way we should climb Picnic Lunch Wall on Sunday.” 

Barad-Dur

Barad-Dur

Barad-Dur, Wolf Rock, Oregon

IV, 5.11

Tucked away in the Willamette National Forest outside of Eugene, Oregon, the largest monolith in Oregon towers over the landscape of the western Cascades.  Inspired by previous tales of loose rock, runout route finding and monster roofs, Jaime and I drove south last Friday evening to check out Barad-Dur, rumored to be one of the best long routes in the state.  Enough with the cragging! 

A few days after the climb, I can safely say that the route lived up to its fabled reputation.  The two crux pitches climb out a monster roof system way high up on the wall.  And then there's another 3-400 feet of climbing on 4th and 5th class to a narrow ridge of choss to the summit.  Exciting!

Hells Canyon 2013

Doug enjoying sunny limestone in Hells Canyon

Three years ago, I made a pilgrimage to Hells Canyon over Memorial Day weekend.  Armed with just enough beta to find this remote valley, we explored numerous unknown sport climbs of unknown grades, met a few committed regulars and even picked up some tidbits of information that I filed away for future trips.

I promised myself a return trip but fast forward three years later and I still hadn't managed to make the time.  When the weather gods recently washed out a planned trip into the mountains for Memorial Day weekend, Hells Canyon immediately came to mind as Plan B.  The forecast looked a bit marginal but drier than pretty much everywhere else north of the Sierras.  By 10 pm Friday night, we rolled into Allison Creek campground and unloaded our kit down by the river.  

A Week in the Creek

Evening light on the Disappointment Cliffs

With only a week to burn, Kristin and I recently made a dash for southeast Utah and the splitter cracks of Indian Creek.  Our most recent and only prior trip was in the fall of 2010, and we had been dreaming and scheming of our return even since.  Having sworn off of recreational air travel for the year, 2013 was the perfect time to make it happen.  The opportunity to plug into an incredible landscape is one of the great attractions of climbing, and Indian Creek did not disappoint.

St. Helens Easter Day Corn Harvest

The "new" lava dome and the Mt. Margaret Backcountry from the crater rim

Last weekend saw unseasonably warm weather with a ridge of high pressure locked in over the region. Fresh off an incredible week of powder skiing, I figured it was time to go harvest some spring corn.  After climbing at Ozone in perfect weather on Saturday, I drove up to Marble Mount trailhead with some friends and crashed out in the parking lot.  Up at 3:30 and on the trail by 4:15 or so, we topped out around 9 am to clear skies, calm winds and the promise of a buttery corn cycle on the descent.  Enjoy the pics.

Fairy Meadow Brain Dump

Bohle dropping the pow

On those cold, early mornings, standing above a face of untouched fluff, a chemical reaction inside my head starts to etch a permanent image of that moment in my memory.  I can recall those times when everything falls perfectly into place and I drop into bottomless, blower pow (or even coastal cement), as if it happened just last week.  Like a rolodex, I can flip back through 35 years of history, pulling out cards on individual runs, complete with notations on snow conditions, mental state, and partners.  The human brain works in mysterious ways . . . especially on powder days.

Sunday on the Zig Zag

With just one day to play this past weekend, I kept it local and headed up to Mt. Hood to check out the conditions with JB and Ryan.  We'd received a bit of fresh snow and the temps were pretty moderate, so we decided to check out conditions higher on the mountain.  Persistent W/NW winds had scoured the Palmer, but lee slopes held some nice, windbuffed powder in between sections of an icy death crust, which sat on top of 2-4 inches of unconsolidated sugar.

Just as we arrived at Illumination Saddle, a couple of skiers dropped in off the east side, and I captured some nice images of the ever photogenic Illumination Rock.  After some lunch and a quick beer, we repeated their line and enjoyed some nice turns down the Zig Zag until we traversed back in towards the top of the Magic Mile.  The best snow was tucked away in the little gullies and depressions, where we could carve super fast turns on a smooth surface.  Good times and well worth the drive from Portland.