Climbing the Tooth

		Climbing the Tooth in Washington's Cascade Mountains.
Our approach was about 2hrs 30min with a nice trail, it soon turned into a scramble to the base of the climb. You can just make out our target in the top middle of the photo.		My adventure this weekend really started on a nice warm day after work. John wanted to take me to exit 38 a very popular climbing spot just out side of Seattle to show me the "ropes" (pardon the pun). We got out to the short sport climbs and John went through a few of the more basic aspects of rock climbing. We were walking down the path watching the climbers hanging from little cracks and hand holds. We just happened to be watching a particular woman, John was just about to say that she had the rope in an unsafe position. Well to make a short story even shorter she lost her grip and went totally upside down in the mater of a half a second. Need less to say it wasn't the best thing for a novice to witness. Everything turned out to be fine, a quick change of her shorts snicker and she was back up on the wall. Over the next 3 hrs. John lead a few climbs that were not too high. That more than anything is what freaks me out. The extreme exposure to heights are not my comfort zone. The next day we set out for the Snow lake trail head located at the Alpental ski area parking lot. The trail was very comfortable although trekking poles would have been nice on the second part of the approach. It was more of a scramble near the base of the climb. Looks like we are in for quite an adventure.
	Here's a great picture of the Tooth. You can see the saddle, that is where we will be starting the climb. The cloud cover is on and off during the day. It made the summer day a cool one. Perfect!
I liked this spot.
	John will be leading the climb placing protection (cams and such) and I will belay him as he climbs. I was a little unsure at this point in the day, but as soon as John announced he was "climbing" I knew I was committed, mentally that is. =P
Next page...