Chimney Rock , on +Mountain Monday I like this climb because it is both a remote location and technically...

Chimney Rock , on +Mountain Monday 

I like this climb because it is both a remote location and technically challenging. This photo was taken near the top of Chimney Rock in the Washington Cascades. The evil looking peak in the background is Overcoat Peak. Chimney Rock is only climbed a couple of times each year. Others summits like Mt Rainier get a lot more traffic. Chimney Rock is not an undesirable climb, in fact it is just the opposite. Chimney Rock is on the to-do-list of many climbers. Because it is a technical climb and takes two to three days, most climbers resign to do it later. I can recall seeing the attractive alpine summit from the distance and wanting to climb it, only to put it off for another day when the logistics work out.

Photo
I took this photo as we dashed towards the summit. Just before this photo, while my climbing partner was organizing the rope and climbing gear, I went around a corner to find a ledge system leading to a ramp. I scampered up the ramp and then some to the top and back to get my partner. It was not a simple straight path, more like a puzzle. There were ledges, ramps, and couple of gymnastic moves transitioning from hold to hold with hyper exposure. It was probably a thousand feet to the next ledge below if you were to fall through the clouds. Most of the way to the summit was extremely exposed with and a narrow ledge system one to two feet wide. We left the climbing rope behind and most of our climbing gear to dash to the summit. This photo was taken on a wide ramp that had very little loose rock just a a hundred feet or so from the summit.
   
Climbing Junkie Story
There were four of us arranged in two ropes of two climbers. My climbing partner and I made it to the summit while the second team failed for various reasons. After finishing the climb the sun was setting and it was time to get off of the face. After we regrouped, I asked to pull out the headlamps and can you believe it? With four experienced climbers and all of the technical equipment anyone could ever want, we had just one headlamp with us. The other three were around the corner a few hundred feet away in a climber’s cache. Brilliant!

Being the most experienced, I volunteered to climb down in the dark and retrieve the gear. I have done this before and had no issues with this solution. The guys I was climbing with, I know well, and against my instincts we held up for the night on a ledge. It was a little chilly that night and none of us got any sleep. We just stayed tied-in sitting on a ledge and tried to stay warm leaning against each other. The morning came soon enough and I couldn't wait to warm up by moving plus the wonderful sunshine. I was fairly cold by sunrise and was uncontrollably shaking, but not deeply into hypothermia. I was concerned about the others getting down and was the last one off the ledge. I can remember trying to double check everything since judgement and coordination fall off when you are hypodermic. Once moving I quickly got back to feeling normal and we all enjoyed the beauty and challenges of our exit.   

With all of that time spent sitting on that ledge, we admired the view of Overcoat Peak before us. I studied the West Face and hatch up a plan to climb it. This face had never been climbed before and was at least twice as high as the East face on the glacier side. Later I came back and climbed it from Snoqualmie Pass in a two day blitz.

Similar Climbing Junkie Story
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/67107497

********************************************
From Chimney Rock
A Fantastic View of Lemah Mountain :
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/18005127

We Spent the Night on This Ledge with Great Views
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/32913760

We climbed the overhanging dark area on the right skyline;
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/18327811

Chimney Rock(right) near Spectacle lake.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/19130955

Hero Shot on the Summit
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/18635791

Early Morning Light on Overcoat Peak
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/23794262

Chimney Rock(left of center) from Tank Lakes
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/28410271

A nice shot of the overhanging crack towards the top
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/40927060

*************************
Congratulation! If you made it this far, there is more good stuff to come. I have included some slide shows that were taken while climbing.

The Ptarmigan Traverse, Washington Cascade Mountains.(Including photos of this trip) (Use arrow keys)
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Ptarmigan%20Traverse%20Slide%20Show

North Ridge of Mt Stuart Slideshow (Use arrow keys);
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Stuart%20Slide%20Show

Some Personal Favorites (Use arrow keys)
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Personal%20Favorite%20Slide%20Show

Slide show of nameless lakes, un-mapped lakes and others;
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Tarn%20Slide%20Show    (Use arrow keys)

Climbing on Eldorado and others on an Ice Cap
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Eldorado%20Trip%20Slide%20Show  (Use arrow keys)

Mt Daniel Area   (Use arrow keys)
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Mt%20Daniel%20and%20Dip%20Top%20Slide%20Show

Mt Olympus slide show
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Mt%20Olympus%20Slide%20Show

Lake Lyman Area Slide Show
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Lyman%20Lake%20Slide%20Show

Goat Slideshow
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Goat%20Slide%20Show  (Use arrow keys)

Thanks for taking the time to look. You comments are always welcome!     - Randy
*****************************
+Dana. k 
*****************************
#mountainmonday   +Mountain Monday  +Michael Russell 
*****************************
#landscapephotography  +Landscape Photography +Margaret Tompkins +Kevin Rowe +Toshi Nakamura +Tony Phillips +Jeff Beddow +Kevin O'Connell Photography +Krzysztof Hanusiak +Dennis Hoffbuhr +Dave Gaylord +Doug Hagadorn +Eric Drumm +RJ Wilner 
*****************************
#breakfastclub  +Breakfast Club  +Gemma Costa +Rob Heron
*****************************
#stunningmoment +Stunning Moment by +Alycia Tsai +Zvonimir Fras
*****************************
#hqsplandscape   +HQSP Landscape curated by +Michael Garza +Leo Schubert +David D +Jesse Martineau +Mike Hankey +Peter Marbaise and +Albert Vuvu Konde
*****************************
#promotephotography +Promote Photography   +Nikola Nikolski +Naghmeh Khadembashi +Milena Ilieva
*****************************
#showyourbestwork  +ShowYourBestWork  +Britta Rogge
*****************************
#cascades   #cascademountains   #chimneyrock   #overcoatpeak   #climbing   #rockclimbing   #adrenaline   #adrenalinejunkie   #climbingjunkie   #randylikestoclimb   #alpine   #alpineclimbing    #fearless     #inspirational