(no subject)
I leave tonight. We're doing this thing Doug-style, which means minimal use of vacation time (I don't think he's even taking a day off, since he works a 9x9 shift). We'll drive straight there after work today, catch a few Zs in the back of his car, eat breakfast in town and then hike in. If all goes well we'll climb for 2 days and spend Monday coming back home.
I made a map of the Bugaboos to show some relevant landmarks. If you look at it, make sure to put it in "terrain" view, I don't know why Google maps are so difficult.
There are basically 3 places to stay in the neighborhood. The Conrad Kain hut is plush, with bunks, toilets, electricity, stoves, and running water, and a it's a bargain. I have stayed here on both my previous trips. Unfortunately it's about 1500 feet below any of the climbing. And it's crowded so it can be hard to get to sleep on time.
There's a campground higher up called Appleby Dome, and it's pretty cushy as far as campgrounds go. We will probably be staying there at least part of the time.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions that we'll try to hash out in the car, but a lot is going to depend on the weather, and any information we can get from other climbers at the hut, campground, or on the trail. Our ideal plan, I think, is to stay at Appleby, spend Saturday climbing the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire (a classic in it's own right) and scoping out the approach to the Beckey-Chouinard.
If conditions are perfect, we can do the approach from Appleby very early the next morning, and drop our crampons and ice axes at the Pigeon-Howser col before dropping down to the East Creek Basin and getting on the route. It would be very nice to be able to climb with a light pack and no axe sticking out catching on things. But it will all depend on what snow coverage we find. Another option is camping in the East Creek Basin, which would put us near the base of the route, but we'd have to haul our gear in, and then go back down there after we came off the route.
I've prepared myself about as well as I could this last month, and overall things have gone better than I had thought they would. Still, I'm nervous. That's pretty much a constant with me and big goals. Fortunately, I know I have a very strong partner, and the weather forecast is looking really good.
Keep your fingers crossed for me! I will see you on the other side of the weekend.
I made a map of the Bugaboos to show some relevant landmarks. If you look at it, make sure to put it in "terrain" view, I don't know why Google maps are so difficult.
There are basically 3 places to stay in the neighborhood. The Conrad Kain hut is plush, with bunks, toilets, electricity, stoves, and running water, and a it's a bargain. I have stayed here on both my previous trips. Unfortunately it's about 1500 feet below any of the climbing. And it's crowded so it can be hard to get to sleep on time.
There's a campground higher up called Appleby Dome, and it's pretty cushy as far as campgrounds go. We will probably be staying there at least part of the time.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions that we'll try to hash out in the car, but a lot is going to depend on the weather, and any information we can get from other climbers at the hut, campground, or on the trail. Our ideal plan, I think, is to stay at Appleby, spend Saturday climbing the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire (a classic in it's own right) and scoping out the approach to the Beckey-Chouinard.
If conditions are perfect, we can do the approach from Appleby very early the next morning, and drop our crampons and ice axes at the Pigeon-Howser col before dropping down to the East Creek Basin and getting on the route. It would be very nice to be able to climb with a light pack and no axe sticking out catching on things. But it will all depend on what snow coverage we find. Another option is camping in the East Creek Basin, which would put us near the base of the route, but we'd have to haul our gear in, and then go back down there after we came off the route.
I've prepared myself about as well as I could this last month, and overall things have gone better than I had thought they would. Still, I'm nervous. That's pretty much a constant with me and big goals. Fortunately, I know I have a very strong partner, and the weather forecast is looking really good.
Keep your fingers crossed for me! I will see you on the other side of the weekend.