Gold Bar Freshies

I thought I would post some pictures from the last several weeks in Gold Bar. The warm temps here in Washington this August have pushed us further into the woods, seeking shelter from the open swelter of lower, more recently-logged venues...

There is no word yet on progress with the road. We have recieved indication from DNR that we may be able to get a key to the gate by getting a written statement from Manke Timber that we are licensed to use their land. We are on our way to working this out, but need to get initial DNR approval that Manke's easement will even allow it. And then there is the logistics issue: one key, several keys, a key drop, RF cards for everyone, poaching and an eventual shutdown, who knows what will happen? I will post updates here.

The road's closure has definitely reduced the traffic in the area, but there have still been a good amount of people hiking up. Cortney, Joel, and I have been hiking up to the top of the clearcut on Friday night with all of our stuff and camping for the whole weekend. We have been joined by the occasional non-climbing friends, and having great campfires with the whole hillside to ourselves. It's a bit of a slog to hike all the way up with overnight weight, but on Saturday morning you've got the world at your fingertips for two whole days...

Anyhow, here are photos of some new problems. Most of these are so far up the hill it's impossible to give directions. I hope these pics encourage everyone to get out!!!

Cortney and I Warming UpJoel on the Back of the Volition Boulder, 150 yd NW of the DojaCortney on a New ClimbMe on Use It or Lose ItCortney in Frog Pose above Isabel CreekJoel on His New 5-Star Problem Tres

Warmenworth

I went out to Leavenworth this past weekend with Cortney and a big posse of monkeys. We had spent several much-needed months away from Little Bavaria after going there every weekend during the spring. It was great to return to the sunny, happy slopes of the Wenatchee Mountains.

Happy CampingMilk Thistle - Silybum marianumRespect These Signs!

The weather was a bit strange and altogether not that great for climbing. On Saturday, it was 90 degrees by 9:00 a.m., but by 2:00 p.m. it was chilly and drizziling! Sunday was a little better, with temps in the 80s but decent cloud cover and no rain. On account of the elements, we didn't spend any time trying to crush sick grips, instead opting for fun adventures and quality hangin' out time by the river. We weren't disappointed.

Cortney on the TyroleanJoel is Wary of the TyroleanJoel's Shoe Almost Fell Off!Bad Self-PortraitDrew Schick On and Off the Mothermilker

The highlight of my weekend was definitely climbing Annie's Climax. This climb is located at the Muscle Beach crag in the Icicle, which bulges and slabs out over a deep pool in the creek. Viktor Kramer's new guide (which is fantastic and everyone should buy, even if they have the last edition), featuring a sick picture of John Stordahl on Annie's Climax, has this to say about the climb: "Recently recleaned, this route has become a somewhat popular but hairy deep water solo." I had witnessed several monkeys solo this climb last summer, but had never worked up the guts to commit to either the sun-soaked grips of the top-out or the chilly dip in the waters of the Icicle's fresh snowmelt.

Drew Schick Approves of Annie's ClimaxMichelle Is About to Jump Off of Annie's Climax

On Sunday, Cortney and I top-roped the climb (thanks Michelle!) and were hanging out on the ledge with our friends. Michelle took two tries on the climb, both of which ended with a nice 30+ foot plunge into the cold water. I top-roped the climb again and opened a beer. After a good, long rest, I downed the dregs of my Miller High Life and decided to go into autopilot. I put on my shoes, stepped off the ledge, and started doing the moves. The climbing felt easy, but I was so nervous I couldn't stop shaking! After what seemed like only a few seconds, I was rocking up on the final holds, and could hear the cheers of the audience below. I'm definitely not cut out for soloing, but this climb presents a really unique opportunity for safe, exhilarating ropeless climbing in Leavenworth's fantastic mountain setting. I'm still savoring the feeling of doing this climb. Here are some more pictures. I hope everyone has been getting out!!

Me on Annie's ClimaxJoel on a Project at Muscle BeachJoel and Drew on Turbulence

Index Problem

As a short update, here are a few pics from Index about a month ago. Joel, Cole, Cortney, and I checked out some boulders above the Frankenstein area in the woods below the Index Upper Walls, and we did a new problem on a short but cool hidden face. Hoepfully this is just a taste of better discoveries to come...

Cole and Joel Working on the Low Start

Back In Action

Well, it's been over two months since I last posted here on NW Granite. I have plenty of excuses, like finals, vacation, and starting a new job, but nobody wants to hear those. I'll just say sorry for the delay, and that I'll try to do better...


Cortney and I got burnt out going to Leavenworth every weekend this spring, so We've been spending a lot of time climbing on the west side of the mountains this summer. The weather has been fantastic, with only a couple days of rain during the last two months! I've been spending a lot of time in Gold Bar in particular. The hike is less daunting each time, and it is pretty nice when you and your friends have the whole place to yourselves. There hasn't been too much in the way of new development, but the dry weather and warm temps have been luring folks to deeper and deeper parts of the forest (keep posted). Here are some pics from the past several weeks.

Hikin' in the HeatThe Bricklayer - Best Climb in the World?!?!Cortney on a Fun Boulder Near the Five Star (kudos to Gabe and Jonah)Drew Schick and Me on Appeasing the GodsDrew on Hagakure (the other one)Hikin' Honcho

Leavenworth Pics

Cortney and I have made it out to Leavenworth during the last two weekends, and have had lots of fun adventures. I'm continually amazed at the amount of new development occurring in the Icicle; there are probably three or four new small areas that have popped up this spring.

Wonderful SceneryKeri Warming Up at the Machine Gun

One really nice area that was developed last season is the Domestic Boulders, perched on the sloping hillside above the Domestic Dome crag. This is a wonderful area that seems to be the first of many mini-clusters found on top of existing roped-climbing crags. The approach is long by Icicle standards, but still only ten minutes or so, and there are a handful of fantastic problems - mostly established by the indomitable Kyle O'Meara. The problem names are all a bit strange, but the climbing is fantastic. Cortney and I returned to this area last weekend with our good friends Joe and Keri, and I was excited to finally climb Kyle's five star problem Domestic Violence - I had heard lots of good things about it, but hadn't seen it since Kyle established it.

Me on Domestic ViolenceThe Domestic BouldersCortney and Keri on Bootin' DookieThe Balls Wall - Future Hard, Dangerous Problems

Another fun area is the Scat Boulders, a spread-out upper Icicle area that is roughly a twenty minute hike from the road. I visited this area a few weeks ago with Drew Shick and Max Hasson, and was impressed both with the stone and with the basic fact that there are boulders that far up the hillside!

Drew Schick on Two Scat Boulders Problems

Finally, the whole group of monkeys put up a few problems two weeks ago on a boulder about 100 yards uphill from the Cotton Pony Pointer. This steep wall could offer a few more climbs if someone gets excited to do the cleaning...

Joel Above The C.P.P.

I'll cut this short because I have an exam this coming week, but I wanted to share some pictures of our adventures... Hope everyone has been getting outdoors!

Gold Bar Access Update

I attended the DNR Access meeting two weeks ago, and there was a decent climber turnout. We had six people there, and were the second-best-represented user group (to ORV users). The meeting was a frank and open discussion about which areas will be open to motorized use, which will be open for non-motorized uses, and how DNR plans to balance user groups within each area. Erik Hirst posted a detailed write-up of the meeting on RCNW.net.

DNR plans to open the motorized areas to ORVs on June 20, 2010. The good news is that the road up to the clearcut is generally within the non-motorized use area. Unfortunately, this is also the bad news.

The Clearcut

DNR's Reiter Foothills Area extends along the North side of the Sky Valley from Wallace Falls State Park to the top of the Index Town Wall. The bulk of Gold Bar's bouldering is North (uphill) of the Reiter Foothills Area, on private land owned by Manke Timber company. Manke Timber has expressed their approval of climbers' use of the area, but the road to the clearcut traverses about a mile of DNR land before hitting private property. Because DNR faces many contentious user group issues within the Reiter Foothills Area, and because climbers are just a small blip on the state's radar, providing climbers with access to private property is not a high priority for DNR.

DNR's current plan is to keep the dirt road closed at Reiter Road and place a non-motorized trailhead at the Reiter Pit. This would mean that we would be hiking to the clearcut. An alternative plan would be for DNR to place the trailhead just past the powerlines, where the May Creek Road and the road to the clearcut diverge. If DNR doesn't block the road to the clearcut, we could drive up the hill. Given the ORV community's poor history of complying with rules in the Reiter area, however, DNR may see this alternative as an invitation to off-roaders to 'poach' the road to the clearcut. With some good advocacy and persistence, hopefully climbers will be able to convince the state of the merits of this idea: climbers would get access to a unique and regionally important resource, and could assist with enforcement efforts in the area, and the timber company could exercise their legal easement to access their property.

Thanks to everyone for their interest, and to the couple of NW Granite readers who showed their willingness to be involved in this process. One of our next steps will be to write a letter to officials higher up in the state administration asking them to kindly recognize our interest in the area. I'll continue to post updates here, as well as any action items that come up as we move forward.

Reiter Foothills Focus Group Meeting

This is a short-notice announcement, but I wanted to alert everyone to an important meeting regarding the state Department of Natural Resources' planning process in the Reiter Foothills Area (used to access the Gold Bar bouldering).

There is a focus group meeting tomorrow, Wednesday April 28, in Everett that will discuss the various motorized and non-motorized options the DNR is considering in implementing their recreation plan for the Reiter Foothills area. It looks like there is a real chance that the road to the clearcut will remain closed indefinitely, and will be available for non-motorized access only. While this will prevent the clear-cut from being overrun with rock crawler machines, it means that climbers will have to continue hiking up the hill to access Gold Bar's fantastic bouldering. I'll be attending the meeting with Jonah Harrison and hopefully a few others to try and convince state officials to open the road to non-ORV users in order to better facilitate non-motorized access to the climbing, to Lake Isabel, and to the greater Snoqualmie National Forest in general.

It would be great if a number of climbers could show up at this meeting and make our voices heard. Here is the info from DNR:

Wednesday, April 28, 7:00 to 8:00 P.M.
Public Meeting Room #2 – West Side
Snohomish County Administrative Offices
3000 Rockefeller Ave
Everett, WA
For more information, contact Stan Kurowski at 360-854-2855

You can find information about the DNR's recreation plan for the Reiter Foothills area here.

Hope to see some of you there!