Oregon Hikers

BTW, what was your guys elapsed time for this?

Eric Peterson wrote:BTW, what was your guys elapsed time for this?

7h30m car to car (so you would have been in trouble!)

Hiker Russ, re the "Bowling Alley" yes we walked through it but I think that is an accumulation of several years of boulders that all melt out at this time of year. I saw very few (if any) with boulder trails behind them indicating they had slipped recently. The Saddle on the other hand was very loose & I did have a certain amount of unease being there.

Here a 6 minute video of the trip.

Working for the Forest Service I piloted an alpine bird study. One of my transects ran near Illumination Rock. All spring and summer I hoofed it up to my stations to collect data. I heard about the B26 wreckage and always wanted to hike to it but never had time. Even though I was constantly in the area...I was on a ten hour shift and had to get the work done. After that particular appointment ended, I rarely went that direction again because I had done it so much. But now that some time has past, I'm really stoked to go on this hike and see the wreckage and explore more of that area.

Nice video, Guy.

Talking about "boulder trails". From my Sept. 6th hike to the saddle - At the end of this trail was probably an 8-10 foot boulder. And I stood beside this one - probably 7 foot high, with a trail behind it.... Note in the last photo the nifty view of the Castle Crags on the left.

Bill

I like the second photo Bill!

Yeah seems like there was more stuff still falling down on your visit than on ours.

We met another solo hiker up there who was doing a loop from Timberline up to the Saddle then over & above Palmer before returning down the White River Galcier side. I think I'll give that a go next year.

It's a great place to feel small & insignificant ..

Wow, adding Illumination Rock into that loop really makes for the full "E Ticket" ride! Makes me want to do it again with that addition, and maybe a few more folks, to get a chance for more of those classic cornball shots.

Can't imagine it without traction, though. I used microspikes, too, just to get over the head. Didn't want to trust I'd have a cell signal (or even still have a phone!) at the bottom of the canyon.

I've been up there with no traction devices, no problem. Not real steep. Of course, it depends on snow conditions, can be icy and impossible without traction devices.

Yeah, really depends what's there when you go. I probably didn't need the spikes, but had just bought them so it was a good excuse to give 'em a shot.

Up higher, on the glacier, I'm sure they'd have been happy companions to have along.