| Steve Dougherty ~ Jul 24, 2005 |
| The climb team enjoyed a Friday night dinner of spagehtti, steamed vegetables, salad, bread and cake, prepared by the leader's wife Shelley, at Big Meadows Horse Camp, just 13 miles short of Santiam Pass. After reviewing plans for the next day the climb team drove to the Santiam Pass trailhead to camp for the night. The climb team woke at 4:30 a.m. and set about the task of breaking camp. Shelley and Steve arrived shortly after 5 a.m. with the "tailgate breakfast" which included oatmeal and a variety of toppings, yogurt, bananas, muffins, coffee, hot chocolate and tea. The gear was divied up and the group set out at 5:35 a.m. It was refreshing to see how the forest, which had burned just two years ago had already begun its recovery. On last year's climb the forest appeared dirty, barren and desolate. This year the ground was covered in a carpet of lush green undergrowth colored with purple lupen. The burned bark of the trees had dried, curled and fallen off, leaving bare wood bleached white from the full sun. In the early morning light we passed several picturesque scenes. The climb team was strong and had no reason to dally along the way. No climbers where on the trail ahead of us and our quick pace nearly assured us of maintaining our number one position in the crawl queue. The clear blue skies at 5 a.m. deteriorated into low clouds, fog and wind by 8 a.m. The wind was strong and the visibility poor as the climb team snaked up the south ridge. Upon arriving at the crawl the assistant leaders Scott Kelley and Scott Phillips readied to set the first fixed line. It had been agreed the evening before that Scott Kelley would lead the crawl and Scott Phillips would lead the pinacle. Steve Dougherty busied himself with videotaping the event. Scott Phillips was first across the fixed line that had been established by Scott Kelley and the two of them set about fixing a line up the short step between the crawl and the pinacle. Unfortunately the assistants did not recognize the correct location of the "step" and Scott Kelley led a 20-30 foot section of very loose rock. Steve was last across the crawl and recognized the error once on the scene. It was a heroic lead by Scott. Scott reported that a fairly large rock that he had used for a handhold came loose and conked him on the helmet. The entire climb team was relieved when they learned they would not have to follow Scott up that frightening section. The hidden foothold was pointed out to the climbers and each climbed the eight foot section unroped. Scott Phillips led the first pitch of the summit pinacle belayed by Scott Kelley. He set one piece of protection in the crack to the right of the route before anchoring to the slings at the top of the first pitch. Steve Dougherty and Scott Kelly were the first to follow. Steve Dougherty belayed Scott Phillips on the second pitch. Two-way radios were employed by the group to facilitate communication on the windy summit. Steve heard the signal "off belay" on the radio and confirmed that "the belay is off". Scott Phillips immediately replied in a very calm and deliberate voice. "Steve Dougherty ... this is Scott Phillips ... I am NOT off belay ... repeat ... I am NOT off belay." Then came the voice of Vincent Dunn over the radio. Vincent was leading a group of Mazamas on Mt. Washington and was on the same channel and code (10/5) as we were. These radios are only supposed to have a two mile range, but the line of sight transmission over the 12 miles between the two summits was crystal clear. Radio transmissions after this were prefaced by names so as to avoid further confusion. Climbers at the base of the pinacle were blasted and chilled by the incessant wind. The top of the first pitch was well-protected from the wind and climbers there enjoyed a nice respite from the constant hammering. Steve Dougherty was first to ascend the second fixed line and perched upon the east end of the summit pinacle where he could video tape the climbers as they ascended the fixed line and then traversed to the actual summit on the west end of the pinacle. The plan was to send climbers to the summit in two groups; each would get a summit photo and then descend completely to the bottom of the pinacle before the second group would start their climb. The first group enjoyed no views and gained little appreciation for the degree of exposure due to the lack of visibility. The sun finally began to shine through as the second group arrived at the summit. This opened up views of nearby lakes and gave one a better perspective of their actual position on this airy perch. Climbers down climbed the second pitch and then rapelled a single line to the bottom of the summit pinacle. A short rope of 50' was tied around the rock horn above the eight foot step and climber's rapelled this pitch as well. The most interesting climbing comes when climbers go back across the crawl. Climbers must do some down climbing and the fixed line offers significantly less support than a top roped belay. Hand holds and foot holds are numerous and solid, however climbers will only discover these if they push their hips away from the rock so they can see their feet. This requires climbers to be able to trust their hands and lie back placing their fannies out over the abys. This group of climbers showed remarkable skill in their rock climbing ability and negotiated the crawl quickly. The group packed up and departed the staging area on schedule at 3 p.m. to begin the three hour return trip to the trailhead. The group gathered one last time at the PCT before Steve gave the signal to return to the trailhead at your own speed. Steve swept the route meandering at his normal relaxed pace choosing to save his energy for the next day's climb. Several of the climbers ran to the trailhead. Scott Kelley set an impressive record of 66 minutes for the walk the Steve Dougherty completed in the full two hours. Several other climbers finished in 75 minutes ... an impressive time for a five mile hike. Climbers regrouped at Big Meadows Horse Camp for the awarding of summit certificates and another meal identical to the evening before. The next day's climb team joined us for dinner and stories of the day's adventure were retold before the first day's team returned to Salem and the second day's team moved to Santiam Pass to make their camp for the night. Participants were Steve Dougherty (leader), Scott Kelley (assistant), Scott Phillips (assistant), Jeff Howell, Jon Ellis, Matthew Phillips, Mike Niemeyer, Liz Redman, and Nate Skon. |