Very nice light (and subject), Stew -- sunset on Jeff Park glacier, right?
I've been up there (Jeff Park Glacier route) on the way to the summit...but it was dawn light at that point. By sundown I was waaaay too tired to appreciate the view up -- and we still had to hike out that night. (we were so late getting back that the wife of one of our party had called the sheriff/S&R )
Thanks, Mark. This slide was made in 1974 the night before we tried for the summit, and you are right about it being the Jeff Park Glacier. We failed on that trip to complete the climb because we couldn't get around the final bergshrund clearly visible in this shot--heavy rockfall. I did make the summit 10 years later but by one of the ridges to the west. Kinda loose on top, eh?
I used to be a member of Eugene Mt Rescue, maybe I was out looking for you that night.
[quote name='Stew' date='06 November 2010 - 08:35 AM']
I used to be a member of Eugene Mt Rescue, maybe I was out looking for you that night.
[/quote]
Fortunately, the sheriff had a surprisingly cool head and told the wife that "a lot of times climbers underestimate how long it will take...let's wait a bit", and no search was launched before we were able to get to a phone and call (I think this was pre-cell-phone).
We hiked out in the dark...I can still remember that dark hike...my tired feet bashed into roots crossing the trail, banging my already-abused toes against the end of my boots -- oh the agony!
We actually didn't make summit either that day (I did on another trip by the same route), though we reached the base of the summit pinnacle. The two guys I was climbing with were as physically fit as me but were not experienced climbers, and that loose/shattered ridge that leads from the top of Jeff Park to the base of the summit freaked them out...so we were too slow to have enough time to summit and get out in the same day. One of the guys was a high-level hang glider, so he would have gladly jumped off the ridge into space suspended by aluminum and nylon, but walking on the ridge freaked him -- "this is nuts!" were his exact words.
[quote name='Cal' date='06 November 2010 - 09:57 AM']
I like to color in this shot.
[/quote]
Thanks, Cal! As Mark knows, I just happened to be in a nice place at the right time. Here's another alpinglow shot that Durango Steve liked. This is in Far East Oregon.
[quote name='MarkBC' date='06 November 2010 - 10:09 AM']
The two guys I was climbing with were as physically fit as me but were not experienced climbers, and that loose/shattered ridge that leads from the top of Jeff Park to the base of the summit freaked them out...so we were too slow to have enough time to summit and get out in the same day. One of the guys was a high-level hang glider, so he would have gladly jumped off the ridge into space suspended by aluminum and nylon, but walking on the ridge freaked him -- "this is nuts!" were his exact words.
[/quote]
I recall the summit area as being stacked dinner plates of stone with a long way to fall if they moved. My partner and I moved with great care--but also with great haste--through that area!
