TR Replies
Ah yes, it was really a great day!!! This was easily one of the most spectacular hikes/tours I've been on. I couldn't believe the 360 degrees of perfect mountain scenery. I'd recommend this hike to anyone willing to drive 2.5 hours and hike 14 miles round trip in one day (and about 5100ft elevation gain). The bugs weren't bad in the morning, but during the first 3 miles in the forest, watch out in the afternoon-bring your bug juice!
Thanks Greg & Eli for such a great...
Thanks Greg & Eli for such a great...
if the snow isn't pristine, I don't like to go. I mean it needs to be good.
Indeed ;) At least our ~1,600+ vertical ft of skiing in the "Greater Muir Metropolitan Area" was much easier earned than the late July turns [packing a 25-pound inflatable raft for 7 miles to cross Blanca Lake and ski, uh, 'pristine' snow ;D ]
Well-worded report, sir.
THAT is a VERY classy report, Skipman.
Glad you guys had a good time and got some great turns in.
Glad you guys had a good time and got some great turns in.
hey gravy,
That's quite a busy weekend. I was waiting for someone to ask again so I could just say "Your obviously not a golfer?".
It was fun when I got away from the throngs going up the mountain.
Check out jw's video from last month. I watched it this morning, great production. Seemed there was quite a bit more snow in the video than I found.
That's quite a busy weekend. I was waiting for someone to ask again so I could just say "Your obviously not a golfer?".
It was fun when I got away from the throngs going up the mountain.
Check out jw's video from last month. I watched it this morning, great production. Seemed there was quite a bit more snow in the video than I found.
Way to go for it! I did it the day before you did and mine also was a solo mission. Boy oh boy I agree a lot of work went in for the skiing that was had! I can't complain, I needed to work out. Yeah, after the umpteenth 'Did you really ski? Are you crazy'? I got creative with my answers. Like, "Oh these, No, it's a style thing". Realizing I'd be down for a ton of vert with less effort, I slept in the Timberline lot and lapped the chair on Sunday. It was a blast! Tons of high spee...
Sky, the new VA ski factory will be up and ready soon. you have the graphics for the HARDCORES all figured out right? can you remind me again what they look like? oh, and how much reverse sidecut did you want for those skis...
Kam,
I think that would violate the TAY photo policy, if not the generally couth and amiable atmosphere here. Suffice it to say that they'll be totally HARDCORE. I could refer...
Alright! Thanks Charles. It's nice to see the BP is still looking good.
First off, great photos Kam, as usual. Best of luck in Virginia!
Jason, those are great photos. I need to scan some old photos myself.
Charles, perhaps you should just keep the 'rules' as they are, but just mention that the rule is enforced more in the spirit rather than the letter of the law. I like the TAY policy, and linking to photos rather than posting them has become a distinctive TAY flavor. :)
Jason, those are great photos. I need to scan some old photos myself.
Charles, perhaps you should just keep the 'rules' as they are, but just mention that the rule is enforced more in the spirit rather than the letter of the law. I like the TAY policy, and linking to photos rather than posting them has become a distinctive TAY flavor. :)
Kam, we will miss reading about all of your Cascade adventures with skis as well as viewing your great photography, but I suspect that you will find a way to continue with similarly adventurous ski trips on the east coast. Just think, you can (or may have to) do "patches-all-year" trips even in the depths of winter!
Jason, don't worry about the extra photos posted in this thread. I instituted that rule about one photo/thread because I didn't want threads to become packed with nu...
Jason, don't worry about the extra photos posted in this thread. I instituted that rule about one photo/thread because I didn't want threads to become packed with nu...
Good Luck Kam, "Never stop coloring outside the lines" ;D. Hope to see you out here for a few turns in the future. Will miss you at the Glacier Travel class this next year.
Y'all know it won't be long before insiders are insisting on the words "Made in Virginia" on their skis . . .
wow! thanks everyone for sharing photos of the caves. i had no idea they were that big! it makes me sad they don't exist anymore...
well, i'm here. arrived yesterday at 5pm. stepped out of the airport and the heat blast nearly killed me. 95+ degrees. and the humidity was stiff as can be. home sweet home. Doug, you asked...
You're moving to Richmond, VA permanently ???
What's the deal?
well, i'm here. arrived yesterday at 5pm. stepped out of the airport and the heat blast nearly killed me. 95+ degrees. and the humidity was stiff as can be. home sweet home. Doug, you asked...
everyone's pictures from the now nonexistant paradise ice caves look like they're from a different world. wow. i wish i could say that i'd been to the caves myself, but i too am one of the ones who will have to rely on others' recounts and photos of the area. amazing--thanks for sharing everyone.
professor toe--i know you'll do well in VA, and i look forward to hearing about all the adventures you create for yourself out there. i'm sure there will be many...;D
professor toe--i know you'll do well in VA, and i look forward to hearing about all the adventures you create for yourself out there. i'm sure there will be many...;D
What kind of coverage is up there in a typical August? Is the only snow going to be on the crevassed parts of the glacier, or are there any remaining non glacial patches up higher?
Cool pictures, Jason. I too remember the ice caves from Boy Scouts when I was 11 or 12, I think - it's too bad my kids never got to see them.
Well, I meant to enlarge that cutout portion of the photo more so you could see us better, but you should still be able to pick us out (we're standing there). Put your contacts back in ;D and use your imagination. This is an old, scratched photo. ;)
What's the first picture of? The one that says "That's us!". It looks like a half eaten taco photoshopped into an ice cave in which sits a large white worm. ???
I look on here and see the ice caves mentioned. At the same time I'm going through old kids pictures to eventually scan and put on my website. This was a favorite place of our families and we skied and hiked out there countless times as kids. Here are some links and a photo to pictures I was able to find in the pile:
http://www.cascadecrusades.org/WhereItAllBegan/halfman.JPG
http://www.cascadecrusades....
http://www.cascadecrusades.org/WhereItAllBegan/halfman.JPG
http://www.cascadecrusades....
Kam - we will miss you. Thanks for the GREAT help with the Glacier Skiing/Snowboarding and Crevasse Rescue course. We will also miss your excellent movies, photos, trip reports and weird skis.
Good luck in Virginia. I heard there were snow patches between the Baskins and Robbins and ice houses.
Good luck in Virginia. I heard there were snow patches between the Baskins and Robbins and ice houses.
2 years ago november, Cass, Sarah, and myself found a small remnant of the once large ice caves while skiing around the lower paradise in November. The cave was only 4 feet high and was sporting large icicles at the mouth - we had ducked in to get out of the wind.
Of course there are other icy places in which the elusive yeti may still be found!
http://www.catdaddy.com/people/kevin/images/04_11_Watson/yeti_cave_ralph.jpg
Of course there are other icy places in which the elusive yeti may still be found!
http://www.catdaddy.com/people/kevin/images/04_11_Watson/yeti_cave_ralph.jpg
Nah. I'm just the only one crowing about it.
I don't want you to be lonely Mark. I found some really good standing glissading on the Snow Creek glacial remnant next to Dragontail Peak above Aasgard Pass on Tuesday. Fun, fun, fun.
I'll miss you too Kam! We gotta get together to make the Hardcores. That's what I need to put the polish on the NW ski mountaineering scene, man. Oh wait, I'm retired....
Pictures of Kam and Mr. Mountaingoat here
That goat has been hanging around there for several years. A couple of years ago when Ron and I were wandering around in there with our skis ;) we saw Mr. and Ms. Mountaingoat with their two kids pearched high above on the cliffs of the glacier moraine. Amazing how they hop right over to the next perch without even a bobble....
Is it just me, or is markharf the only one that seems to be finding the goods with any kind of regularity these days?
Nah. I'm just the only one crowing about it.
This blows my weekend plans. Is it just me, or is markharf the only one that seems to be finding the goods with any kind of regularity these days?
-s
p.s. Toe - get used to it.
-s
p.s. Toe - get used to it.
A little googling found this report of a 1981 trip to the ice caves:
http://www.kuresman.com/Favorite_Trips/Paradise_Ice_Caves/Paradise_Ice_Caves.html
The following picture shows the extent of the (stagnant) glacier at that time:
http://www.kuresman.com/Favorite_Trips/Paradise_Ice_Caves/Glacier_Alone.html
Compare with Greg's picture:
http://www.randosaigai.com/paradiseglacier05_04.jpg
http://www.kuresman.com/Favorite_Trips/Paradise_Ice_Caves/Paradise_Ice_Caves.html
The following picture shows the extent of the (stagnant) glacier at that time:
http://www.kuresman.com/Favorite_Trips/Paradise_Ice_Caves/Glacier_Alone.html
Compare with Greg's picture:
http://www.randosaigai.com/paradiseglacier05_04.jpg
I visited the Paradise Ice Caves when I was a kid, but the memory is very faint. It must have been in the 1960s. Trying to reconstruct my memory, I looked at Ruth Kirk's "Sunrise to Paradise." On p. 25, she writes:
In the 1950s the main tunnel of the Paradise Ice Cave extended nearly half a mile, formed by warm air entering along the glacier's meltstream. In 1971 the Park Service closed the cave as unsafe. By 1991 its ceiling had collapsed.
Wow, those photos of the area formerly known as the lower Paradise Glacier are amazing. I have taken my kids there for some skiing thrills at this time of year for the last two summers. I figured that it wouldn't look too good at this point, but I never would have guessed that there would be no snow at all. Very disappointing. I guess it will take another mini-ice age to restore the area to its former glory. Thanks for the report and photos.
sssshhhhh - that's somebody's secret stash! ;)
All I can say is that I've been quiet not to tell, all of these years.
All I can say is that I've been quiet not to tell, all of these years.
i think i'm wrong...the williwakas (to the southeast of Cowlitz Rock) is probably hidden in that photo...
sad to think the lower glacier used to look like this.
http://glaciercaves.com/assets/images/Paradise_Ice_Caves_1930.jpg
sad to think the lower glacier used to look like this.
http://glaciercaves.com/assets/images/Paradise_Ice_Caves_1930.jpg
I didn't see it in any of the photos, but is that final flat snow patch before Cowlitz Rocks gone? The one that was near the base of the upper glacier? I remember seeing tons of ice worms there. I wonder if they're all gone now ???
shouldn't the williwakas glacier be in that photo too on the righthand side? did we lose that one this summer too?
Kam, best of luck with the move and new job in Virginia.
If you'd like to leave some of your spatula skis here in Seattle I know I could find a good home for them :)
Kam, best of luck with the move and new job in Virginia.
If you'd like to leave some of your spatula skis here in Seattle I know I could find a good home for them :)
Another amusing and classic Kam report. Thanks!
Over the past few years I've immensely enjoyed your reports here, Kam. Your presence is going to be sorely missed. Best of luck in VA, congrats for being brave enough to move and, in a morbid way, I look forward to reading how you will continue your streak!
Over the past few years I've immensely enjoyed your reports here, Kam. Your presence is going to be sorely missed. Best of luck in VA, congrats for being brave enough to move and, in a morbid way, I look forward to reading how you will continue your streak!
What, no pictures of me working the corn on one ski?
At least August is in the book, and the day was as nice as it gets. Still can't get over a glacier that probably took thousands of years to form disappearing that quickly.
Pictures of Kam and Mr. Mountaingoat here
At least August is in the book, and the day was as nice as it gets. Still can't get over a glacier that probably took thousands of years to form disappearing that quickly.
Pictures of Kam and Mr. Mountaingoat here
You're moving to Richmond, VA permanently ???
What's the deal? Well, if it's true, good luck to you and I'll miss reading your reports and enjoying your quirky photography.
Best of luck to you Kam!
What's the deal? Well, if it's true, good luck to you and I'll miss reading your reports and enjoying your quirky photography.
Best of luck to you Kam!
Mark,
I must say this was a pleasing report to read. Good show, Sir.
-s
I must say this was a pleasing report to read. Good show, Sir.
-s
I'd pay good money for a poster-sized print of Skip in mid- jump turn, just to answer all the people who ask me if there's really any skiable snow up in the mountains this time of year.
Great to bump into you, Doug. It sure was a nice day up there. Tom and I had a good hike to McClure Rock, up Alta Vista and down Golden Gate. I don't think I've ever seen so many people hiking the trails above Paradise. Nice to see so many people enjoying the park.
From the looks of the "patch technique/jump turn," and the water in the upper part of that photo, could Skip possibly be sneeking in some practice for next years "Slush Cup"? ;D
Way to go boys! Original always 8) Did ya spend the night and knock out August?
Awesome photo Kam... one of your best :)
Agreed. Fun to see you put it all together. Thanks for a "tour" of other images from your fantastic journey. You guys are too much fun!
Awesome photo Kam. Skip's pose, Cass rowing, the centered composition, one of your best :)